The war was approaching step by step, and almost everyone was preparing. Makanov was no exception. On February 3, 1899, four days before the Japanese Navy's new warships entered Tokyo Bay, the Russian Navy Lieutenant

The best generals finally arrived at the Russian Far East Fleet base in Muroran Port and began full-scale war preparations.

In fact, the Russian fleet has started preparing for war very early. It is even said that the original Russian fleet is almost ready. However, after the Russians purchased two new warships from the French, the original plan and organization of the Russian Far East Fleet have changed.

There have been some changes, and what Makanov needs is to complete the integration of the entire fleet before the war officially breaks out.

Makanov is still very satisfied with the newly arrived Prince (the battleship purchased from France). Although the armament of this battleship is not powerful relative to its tonnage, it is definitely not weak and has a high sheer force.

The high-speed 12-inch guns and 274mm guns, as well as numerous rapid-fire cannons, make this battleship's firepower very impressive.

Appearance, the armor protection is also good, the thickness is moderate and the height is sufficient. What is even more rare is its speed. The speed of 20 knots is enough for this battleship to keep up with the armored cruiser. In this way, the 10,000-ton battleships of the Far East Fleet with more than 20 knots can

There are only 3 ships, and their high speed, high protection and high firepower are enough to rival any squadron except the Beiyang battleship formation.

So far, the entire Russian Far East Fleet has 4 battleships, 2 armored cruiser leaders, 5 Azov-type armored cruisers and 1 6,000-ton cruiser. In addition, 10 destroyers are used for lightning strikes. This way

The strength of the fleet is no worse than that of a country's navy, but Makanov knows that this fleet is still not enough compared to the Beiyang Navy and Nanyang Navy under the Beiyang System.

The two fleets of the Northern Fleet and the Nanyang Fleet together have 3 Dante-class battleships, 3 King-class armored cruisers, 2 Pisa-class armored cruisers, 2 Garibaldi-class armored cruisers, and 4 Guiyuan-class armored cruisers.

In addition to this main fleet, there is also 1 Yoshino and about 10 third-class protected cruisers.

Faced with such a powerful force, there is absolutely no chance of winning in a decisive battle. Three powerful Dante-class ships can deal with the four battleships of the Russian fleet, and they still have an advantage. Simply speaking of performance on paper, the battleships of the Russian Far East Fleet are

fire

The power invested is not as strong as the Indiana, which was severely beaten by the Dante class in the Spanish-American War! What's more, the three battleships in Beiyang use twin 12-inch naval guns, and their damage ability to the battleships is definitely higher than that of the Spanish.

10-inch naval gun.

Although the Rurik and Russia are powerful, in Makanov's view, they will definitely not suffer against the Knesset-class battleships, but considering the quality of the officers and soldiers, these two battleships are at most tied with the Knesset-class, and as for the five Asian ships

For fast sea-type armored cruisers, Makanov can be sure that these battleships are no match for the Pisa class and Garibaldi class. Although they have been improved, they still cannot compete with larger tonnage.

, and compared with the Garibaldi class, which was designed for decisive battles from the beginning. As for the cruiser bought from France and named Aurora, except for muzzle speed, its other performance can only be mediocre.

To describe it in words. In addition to these capital ships, Beiyang also has four Guiyuan-class cruisers, but the Russian fleet does not have a corresponding reliable reconnaissance force. Once a decisive battle occurs, the consequences will be disastrous.

Therefore, Makanov rationally gave up his plan to compete with the Beiyang Navy for supremacy in the sea. Instead, he learned from Yang Yonglin's decision-making during the Spanish-American War and engaged in mobile warfare, waiting for opportunities to consume the opponent's combat power. However, after some research, he found that even if

Guerrilla warfare. The situation of the Russian fleet is also quite difficult.

First of all, judging from the information obtained from the intelligence, the Beiyang Fleet will enter Japan's coastal ports during wartime and implement the blockade of Muroran Port. You don't need to ask to know that the Beiyang Fleet will definitely carry out the blockade of Muroran Port under the cover of the main fleet.

Offensive mine laying, locking the main combat force in the port. Although you can do it yourself

Laying mines to protect yourself, but it is really difficult to fight them out. What's more, even if the three battleships in the Far East battleship formation get out, they will be discovered by the Beiyang Fleet, which has the advantage of speed, bite and eat them! Therefore, the Russian fleet

The three battleships can at best contain the opponent's battleships.[.

Secondly, if the Russian fleet wants to break diplomatic relations, the voyage into the East China Sea is too far, and it is really difficult for just a few warships to find targets in the millions of square kilometers of the East China Sea, and in the southeast is where the overseas fleet is stationed.

Taiwan and the Beiyang Fleet can obtain supplies and maintenance at various coastal ports at any time, while the Russian fleet will inevitably decline in combat effectiveness as time goes by. Breaking diplomatic relations will definitely have results, but whether it is worth putting precious armored cruisers on suspicion is a question.

Not allowed!

Third, the Japanese Navy has regained its large capital ships, which will be a huge threat to Russia's maritime transportation lines in the Japanese Sea! Russia has two battlefields in this war at the same time, one is the northeast of the Qing Dynasty, and the other is

Japan's occupied area. The transportation of soldiers is the second most important thing.

The supplies for the Russian army in the Hokkaido area need to be shipped from Russia! Although there are reserves, historical experience tells Makanov that once a war breaks out, no matter how much reserves there are, it will not be enough! Therefore, the Russian fleet cannot put all its energy in the Beiyang waters.

As for the division, he needs to always support the Japanese Navy.

Faced with various unfavorable conditions, Makanov fell into a dilemma. If he wanted to break diplomatic relations or engage in guerrilla warfare, he had to ensure that he always had a strong fleet on the high seas. He could deal with all the opponent's local fleets except battleships, and

It has enough endurance and speed to evacuate under adverse conditions. But in fact, the Russian Far East Fleet gave Makanov few options. The speed of three battleships

Too slow. Although the protection and firepower are good, it can be ruled out directly. The speed of 5 Azov sea-type armored cruisers is enough, but the firepower and protection are quite tragic. In a real fight, considering the quality of the personnel, Makanov does not think they can defeat them.

The Garibaldi class is the smallest battleship in the Northern Fleet, and for the guerrilla fleet, once it slows down, it means losses. After all, the opponent has enough power to slowly eliminate the laggard warships.

In this way, the only ones Makanov can rely on are the Russia, Rurik and Prince. As long as they do not encounter the opponent's Dante-class battleships, they can basically guarantee to evacuate the battlefield under any circumstances. This fleet can

As long as it can appear near the East China Sea, it will definitely pose a huge threat to Beiyang. Although Beiyang will not be allowed to withdraw its precious battleships, it only needs to allocate half of the equipment and patrols to deal with it.

Pay yourself. Simply relying on these three battleships cannot really reassure Makanov. He knows that even if he can successfully evacuate the battlefield in the first battle, then in the second and third battles that will follow, his own

Whether the fleet can survive is a question. So he must arrange a vanguard for this fleet, and this vanguard is the Aurora! The speed of up to 23 knots is enough to serve as the vanguard.

In addition, Makanov must allocate two Azov-type armored cruisers to cover the Russian fleet transporting in the Japanese Sea. This is basically the minimum. If the Japanese fleet launches an offensive, just two Azov-type armored cruisers will

I'm afraid the speed-sea-type cruiser won't be enough. If that's the case,

Makanov must leave at least one prince-level battleship to deal with the Japanese fleet. What Makanov needs is not to drive away his opponents, but to annihilate them. Otherwise, the Japanese navy will continue to harass them like flies.

, the remaining warships of the Russian Far East Fleet should not be used for anything else!

As for Muroran Port and the Karutsu Strait, Makanov believes that at least 3 battleships and 3 Azov-type armored cruisers must be left to ensure that the port and strait are not lost. If it is lower than this number, I am afraid that the Beiyang Fleet will

Just blow up Muroran Port! Makanov also thought about whether he could

Before the Beiyang Fleet and the Overseas Fleet merged, they had to defeat one fleet. However, because our average speed was lower than that of the opponent, this idea had to be abandoned. If they turned around and ran away without fighting, they would not be able to catch up. Once they merged, they would not be able to catch up.

The three battleships in the fleet will probably have to explain themselves.

So in the end, Makanov planned to divide the entire Far East Fleet into 3 parts. 3 battleships and 3 Azov-type armored cruisers will guard Muran Port to contain the main force of the Beiyang Fleet. 2 to 3 cruisers will be used to cover Russia in the Japanese Sea.

Transportation lines. The remaining warships are cruising in the Western Pacific and the East China Sea, ready to break diplomatic ties at any time. At the same time, Makanov also dispatched a large number of camouflaged reporting ships for reconnaissance and surveillance. As for reporting

Makanov did not install cannons on the ship. The reason is very simple. There are not enough experienced officers and sailors in the Russian Navy. How can there be extra manpower to allocate these raiding ships? And if a ship does not install it,

Wearing equipment can be fooled by flying the flag of a certain country, but if after loading the weapons, just fire once, the identity will be exposed, and then let the ultra-low-speed reconnaissance ship throw away the pursuit of the Beiyang Fleet? Isn't that a dream?

As for the supply of the guerrilla fleet, Makanov has also considered it. The Tsar has already arranged that there will be ships flying the French flag in the Western Pacific to provide supplies for the guerrilla fleet. As for the fleet commander? Makanov decided to send Egypt

Major General Mori personally led the guerrilla fleet to carry out this mission of breaking the engagement, because he knew that in the early stage, the real battle took place between the armored patrols.

Battleships will be restrained by each other, and only the second-tier battleships can use their speed and range to play a role. Makanov thought very well. As long as he can severely damage one of the opponent's fleets in a battle, the fleet's strength will gradually increase.

When the balance is reached, Essen will return to Vladivostok for correction, and then pass through the Karutsu Strait to join the main force of the Russian fleet in Muroran Port, and then start a decisive battle.

For this plan, Makanov decided to use diplomatic means to use French ships for supplies during the war. However, the French were not stupid, especially after getting hints from the British. France said that supplies could be provided, but it must be on the high seas, and

If losses are caused by serving the Russians, the Russian government will have to compensate for the losses, and the French government will

Fu firmly stated that he would not get involved in the possible outbreak of the Far East War. Although the result disappointed Makanov, at least in theory the Russians obtained supplies from the sea, which could increase their activity time.
Chapter completed!