Chapter 411 Bloody Sunday
The supply ships of the Siberian Fleet also use steam power units and are faster than the cruisers of the Combined Fleet.
The key supply ship is also equipped with a 125mm rapid-fire gun, and it is twin-mounted. It is not without resistance.
"Asami" was surrounded by dangers as soon as he left the port.
Although submarines can hide under the sea, the torpedo tracks on the sea are still obvious.
As soon as the "Asami" left the port, the observers shouted a warning.
"Starboard, torpedo found on starboard!"
"Asami" Captain Tomosaburo Kato ordered a snake-like evasion.
After finally dodging the torpedo, the cruiser "Wolf" of the Siberian Fleet took the initiative to bombard the "Asami".
"Asami" has a displacement of 9,700 tons, an armor of 178 mm Harvey steel, and a maximum speed of 21 knots. It is Japan's first 10,000-ton armored cruiser.
Although the "Wolf"'s defense is not as good as the "Asami", the 203mm main gun can still pose a threat to the "Asami".
Fortunately, the distance was far away, and the shells fired by the "Wolf" did not hit the "Asami".
"Asami" immediately fired back, but also failed to hit the "Wolf".
The artillery battle lasted for 20 minutes. The "Asami"'s four 203 main guns fired a total of 80 shells, but both sides gained nothing.
At this moment, the supply ship of the Siberian Fleet had already disappeared.
When the "Asami" returned to port, it escaped another wave of submarine torpedo attacks.
"Asami" had just entered the anchorage, and before it had time to replenish its artillery shells, the Siberian Fleet supply ship left and returned.
Uemura Hikonoshin immediately collapsed.
What the hell should I do?
Are you still a fearless navy? You are so stubborn and stubborn, what a joke!
Peter was really not joking. The day after he sent out the supply ship, Kirov flew over Busan.
Since the air raid on Nagasaki, the Vladivostok Kirov airship has not been dispatched for a long time.
Compared with the last time, the Kirov now flies higher and farther, and carries more bombs.
Although the Kirov bombs were not accurate, they could not withstand the large number, so the "Yakumo" docked in Busan Port was unlucky. Four bombs were hit in a row, and the superstructure of the warship was almost completely destroyed. It was swept away, and both the front and rear main guns were severely damaged and unusable.
Of course it can be repaired if the main gun is damaged, but the cost is high because all spare parts for the combined fleet are imported from Britain at high prices.
The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 lasted from July 1894 to April 1895. In fact, all large-scale fighting ended in February.
The Japanese fought and looted all the way. They captured Busan and looted, and occupied Seoul and looted again. When they arrived at Port Arthur, they looted and killed. They haven’t received the compensation yet, but they have actually looted a lot of things. .
During the Russo-Japanese War, this approach no longer worked.
Since Korea had already been robbed during the First Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese army gained little in Korea.
Port Arthur has not yet been captured, and the Liaoyang-Fengtian line is still in confrontation. Not only has Japan failed to gain from the war, but its burden has become heavier and heavier, and the warships can hardly be repaired.
George was not worried that he could not afford to repair warships. Not only his own warships, but also the "Kasuga" were also repaired.
Although the "Kasuga" is only over 7,000 tons, it is also an armored cruiser and is more resistant than the light cruiser in Vladivostok.
If the Siberian Fleet repairs "Kasuga" and changes its name to enter service, then "Kasuga" will become an eternal pain in the hearts of the Japanese.
While "Spring" was being repaired, the Siberian Fleet was still building ships frantically.
In early September, the Siberian Fleet laid the keel of another armored cruiser, and the number of armored cruisers under construction reached 3.
The Yecheng Shipyard has completed its expansion and is in the process of acquiring destroyers and light cruisers. The heavy cruisers will have to wait because East India cannot manufacture armored steel.
The key to the difference between light cruisers and heavy cruisers is their defense. The size and firepower are almost the same.
While the Siberian fleet was fishing for law enforcement, the Kwantung Russian army took the initiative to attack the Japanese army.
After the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, the voice against the war in the Russian Empire became louder and louder. Encouraged by some so-called progressives, workers went on strike and peasants rioted. At the critical moment when the country was facing war, they did not He chose to face the national crisis with the Empire, but chose to force the Empire to end the war.
On August 25, Interior Minister Pulkhva was also killed by a bomb after Sipiakin.
At almost the same time, oil workers in Baku went on strike, and the Putilov factory in St. Petersburg also went on strike. Within a short period of time, the number of strikers exceeded 80,000.
Not long after the 100,000 peasant uprising in Poland subsided, St. Petersburg suffered another heavy blow, and Nikolai was devastated.
In order to alleviate domestic conflicts, Nikolai ordered Kuropatkin to attack the Japanese army, hoping to boost the morale of the army with a hearty victory.
At this time, the Russian army under Kuropatkin had reached 210,000 people and 758 artillery pieces.
The Japanese army only had 120,000 soldiers and 488 guns.
In terms of strength comparison, the Russian army has an absolute advantage.
Kuropatkin failed to turn his advantage into victory, and the battle was a mess.
The Japanese army was on the verge of collapse, and there were serious problems with logistical supplies. During the battle at Heigootai, the 8th Division led by Naofumi saw all the bullets used up, and an outbreak broke out between the Russian army and the Japanese army. Possibly the largest hand-to-hand combat in the world. At the most critical moment of the war, Kuropatkin's indecisive character once again became the main reason for the failure of the Russian army in Kwantung.
Just when the Japanese army was about to collapse, Kuropatkin ordered a retreat, and Dashanyan escaped.
George never had hope for Kuropatkin. After winter, the Amur Military District once again expanded two divisions. These two divisions were mainly composed of Koreans.
Before winter, the Circum-Baikal Railway was finally completed and the entire Trans-Siberian Railway was opened to traffic.
After the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway, as many as 100,000 road construction workers of the Siberian Railway Bureau will soon lose their jobs.
Like the Japanese workers, the Korean workers did not want to lose their jobs.
As usual, George sent some of them to East India, and the other part joined the army to prepare for the counterattack next year.
George couldn't stand these two idiots, Alexeyev and Kuropatkin.
The war has been going on for more than half a year, and everyone already knows the qualities of these two idiots, Alexeyev and Kuropatkin.
If Nicholas doesn’t want to accept failure, he can only ask George to come out.
Entering winter, the dispatch of the Siberian fleet was seriously affected.
The Japanese army also restarted their attack on Arthur's Fortress.
After the Liaoyang Battle, Japan mobilized again and recruited 200,000 people into the army.
On September 19th and October 30th, Nogi Nogi launched his second and third storming of Arthur's Fortress respectively.
Both these two stormings ended in failure. Meiji also couldn't bear it anymore and appointed Kodama Gentaro to replace Nogi Nogi as the commander-in-chief of the Third Army.
The six-month-long siege from June to November caused heavy losses to the Japanese army.
Heavy machine guns played a huge role in the attack and defense of Arthur's Fortress. The Japanese army's human sea tactics could not break through the Russian position.
Even if Nogi Nogi's heart is as strong as iron, he cannot withstand the pressure of huge casualties.
In order to reduce losses, Nogi Nogi had to strengthen civil engineering and relied on the stupidest method of digging tunnels to gradually approach the Russian position.
Kodama Gentaro was so lucky that when he took over as the commander-in-chief of the Third Army, the tunnel was basically completed.
On November 4, the Japanese army detonated explosives in the tunnel, tearing apart the Russian army's defense line on Heights 203.
The Japanese army took the opportunity to attack, and after a day of bloody fighting, they finally captured the most important high ground outside Arthur's Fortress.
After occupying Highland 203, the Japanese army could mount artillery on the high ground and directly attack Fort Arthur.
On December 15, the "Soul" Kondrachenko of the Russian defense force at Fortress Arthur was shot and killed.
When Kondrachenko was still alive, the Army Commander-in-Chief of Arthur Fortress Stessel suggested surrender many times, but was strongly opposed by Kondrachenko, and Arthur Fortress has persisted until now.
When Kondrachenko was killed, Fortress Arthur still had 32,400 Russian troops capable of fighting, 610 artillery pieces, and 203,000 artillery shells.
On the 16th, just one day after Kondrachenko was killed, Stessel raised the white flag and Arthur's Fortress fell.
The fall of Arthur's Fortress was an important turning point in the Russo-Japanese War.
Before the fall of Arthur's Fortress, Dashanyan had to surround Arthur's Fortress with heavy troops and was unable to concentrate all its forces against the Russian army on the northern front. The United Fleet was also unable to concentrate its forces against the Siberian Fleet due to the presence of the Pacific Fleet.
After the fall of Fortress Arthur, the Japanese army not only obtained a large amount of military supplies stored by the Russian army in Fortress Arthur, but also released a large number of troops. The Combined Fleet also learned that the Pacific Fleet had dismantled its naval guns.
More importantly, the loss of Fortress Arthur was a huge blow to the morale of the Kwantung Russian Army, and the idea of failure began to spread in the Kwantung Russian Army.
On January 2, the Russian army at Arthur Fortress officially signed the surrender document. The large amount of military supplies stored in Arthur Fortress and the battleships docked at Arthur Military Port were all captured by the Japanese army.
In the 222-day battle for Arthur's Fortress, the Japanese army suffered 15,400 killed and 44,000 wounded; the Russian army suffered 10,800 killed and 19,600 injured.
When the Japanese army opened the ammunition depot at Arthur's Fortress, they were overjoyed to see the mountains of ammunition.
In order to save his life, Stessel did not destroy the ammunition stored in Arthur's Fortress when he surrendered, nor did he destroy the warships of the Pacific Fleet.
The news reached St. Petersburg. In the early morning of January 22, St. Petersburg workers gathered in front of the Winter Palace, asking Nicholas to carry out reforms and end the Russo-Japanese War.
Nicholas was not in the Winter Palace at this time, but in Tsarskoe Selo, a suburb of St. Petersburg.
By noon, the crowd in front of the Winter Palace increased to 200,000 people. People held icons and images of Nicholas, sang "God bless the Tsar" and asked to meet Nicholas.
At 1 o'clock in the afternoon, as people's demands were not responded to, the crowd gradually approached the Winter Palace. Some people began to throw debris at the Guards, and some of the Guards were injured.
The Guards fired warning shots.
This behavior caused wider chaos, panicked people, stampede and crowding, resulting in a total of 99 deaths (one estimate is 4,000) and 333 injuries, known as "Bloody Sunday" in history.
This "blood" is shed by civilians.
On February 17, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was riding a carriage through the Kremlin when the carriage was hit by a bomb, killing Sergey on the spot.
(End of this chapter)