() "After losing Vladivostok, I know that Muroran Port has become an isolated island. Here, it lacks complete facilities, lacks sufficient defense power, and lacks the support of other auxiliary ports. In fact, it can no longer serve as a huge Russian fleet.

It is a base against the Beiyang. Moreover, it is too close to the Beiyang and can easily be blocked. However, I still insist on retaining Hokkaido." Makarnov wrote in a letter to the Minister of the Navy.

"In five years at most, His Royal Highness the Tsar will launch a decisive battle in Beiyang. This battle will affect the fate of the empire in the Far East. Although we failed this time, General Makanov, as the best commander of the empire, I need

You plan for the next war, the Imperial Navy cannot accept this humiliating defeat." The Lord of the Admiralty wrote in his reply...

"There are still five years left before we have to compete with the Beiyang Fleet. But at this time, we no longer have a completed military port system, so things are difficult to handle." Makanov couldn't help but shook his head while looking at the reply from the Navy Minister.

Said. For Makanov, the fleet is not a problem. When the Russian Bear decides to fight a certain country, once a powerful national army breaks out, there will definitely be no shortage of fleets. But the problem is, how can the powerful fleet come to the Far East?

, and maintain sufficient combat power!

Without a base, let the fleet run tens of thousands of nautical miles and then fight to the death with the powerful Beiyang Fleet? This is to die, not to fight! This is absolutely not possible, but looking at the entire Far East, are there any ports that can provide shelter to the Russian fleet?

East Asia is definitely gone, and we can only find it in Southeast Asia. The French have a good port in Vietnam called Cam Ranh Bay. But the French have no interest in getting involved in the conflict with Beiyang, and Vietnam and China are next to each other. They come to kill them.

What should we do? The French want to keep their energy in Europe to deal with Germany, but they have no plans to fight a land war with a big country in the Far East!...

Then, the British have many excellent ports, but lending them to the Russians? Dream! Spain? It seems impossible. The reason why the Spanish government was able to defeat the United States was that Beiyang played a huge role in it. Although there is no such thing as repaying favors in the exchanges between major powers.

That's a theory. But at least the Spaniards won't get burned!

By the way, there is also the Netherlands. The Netherlands has a land called the Dutch East Indies in Southeast Asia. This is more than one million square kilometers of land and is rich in products. Logically speaking, the small country of the Netherlands should not dare to provoke Beiyang.

, but, as early as before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, the Beiyang Fleet had attacked the Netherlands

Lan conducted a shock! In order to relieve the local Chinese, from then on, the Chinese in the Dutch East Indies became first-class people. As the Beiyang Fleet gradually expanded its influence to Southeast Asia, the current relationship between the Chinese and the Dutch

The conflict has become increasingly fierce. The contradiction between the two sides has become irreconcilable.

However, the weak Netherlands does not have the strength to resist the powerful Beiyang. What a joke, eight years ago it was defeated in a single fight, but now, it is not a matter of a finger for the Beiyang Fleet to kill the Dutch colonial fleet? But, the Netherlands cannot sit still and wait for death.

.Otherwise wait until Beiyang

After the direct war with the Russians is over, I am afraid that General Xu Jie, who has never forgotten East India, will lead his fleet to sweep Southeast Asia? Therefore, the Dutch must find ways to find allies and possible actions in the Beiyang, and the Russians

They are natural allies!

In this world, the only country that has the ability and intention to help the Netherlands solve this problem is Russia! Facing the behemoth of Beiyang, the Netherlands has no choice. As long as they still want the vast East Indies, they can only choose to cooperate with Russia.

In fact, Russia did not need the Dutch to pay much. It was just a military port for warships to dock.

And if Russia can use the Dutch port in the East Indies, how will it help Russia? A stable military port, a military port that is more than a mile away from the southernmost base in the Northern Ocean. And the Russian warships in this military port can even

Attack any Beiyang ship entering from the South China Sea, and almost all the transportation lines in the Beiyang will be in your hands!

Faced with this situation, Beiyang had no choice but to trek thousands of sea miles to the East Indies to fight with itself! And he could wait and work to defeat the Beiyang fleet coming from afar! This idea is really wonderful! The offensive and defensive momentum of both sides is direct

Convert, and the advantages and disadvantages also convert!

Although he had this good idea, Makanov still suggested that Nicholas II keep Hokkaido. There are two reasons. First, although Makanov was 80% sure that the Netherlands would choose to cooperate with Russia, but if

If the Netherlands refuses due to British pressure, the Russian navy will have nothing to do.

!The second point is that the Russian Navy needs to keep a large number of raiding ships in Hokkaido to threaten the north-south transportation line of the Beiyang on the other hand. When the main fleet led by it and the Beiyang Fleet confront each other in the South China Sea, if there is a surprise force that can threaten them at all times

If the Beiyang Navy moves to the rear, the situation will be more favorable to Russia!

But there is another reason that Markanov dare not say clearly, that is, Markanov already has a shadow over the Beiyang Fleet. Deep down in his heart, Markanov is trying his best to avoid getting into trouble with the Beiyang fleet in good condition from the beginning.

Fleet battle. This shadow had already fallen as early as the first fleet battle between the two sides during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894. The Beiyang Fleet's strong ships, sharp guns, and the quality of its officers and soldiers made Makanov feel a little ashamed of himself.

Although in this war, Makanov took the initiative to attack once, but this was based on mobilizing the opponent to disperse the opponent and then attacking a weaker squadron of the opponent. But what was the outcome? He failed to calculate the opponent, but was calculated by the opponent.

, the main fleet, which gathered all the elite cruisers of the Far East Fleet, was defeated by the opponent's cruisers. The main fleet was even worse, colliding with Liu Buchan's battle fleet. Then it suffered heavy losses and completely lost the ability to fight decisively.

Although the Russian army failed in the eight-door naval battle, Makanov was not discouraged at this time. He and Essen planned a series of plans to break the engagement, and invested all the last elites of the Russian Far East Fleet. But in

In a few weeks, although this fleet caused some trouble to Beiyang, the final outcome of almost annihilating the entire army made Makanov depressed. No, it was not just depression, but a deep feeling of powerlessness.

"A decisive battle or a breakup of engagement with the Beiyang Fleet in the offshore will not succeed. The Beiyang Fleet has enough troops and auxiliary forces to turn the entire offshore sea into a forbidden area like an iron barrel. Therefore, the only hope lies in a decisive battle in the open sea. We must let the Beiyang Fleet

Without the assistance of the base and offshore support forces, it is best for us to have a decisive battle with the Beiyang Fleet in the waters relatively close to our base." In persuading the Russian government.

In the document on the cooperation between fu and the Netherlands, after much hesitation, Markanov added this paragraph.
Chapter completed!