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The sea breeze is gentle, the waves are rolling, the seagulls are shuttling between the waves, and the climate off the coast of the Philippines in May is pleasant and the scenery is charming, but Rozhestvinsky, who stands on the flagship Duke Suvorov, is not in the mood to appreciate the scenery, and the Russians, who have been adrift at sea for seven months, now feel sick to their stomachs when they see the beautiful blue.

The voyage of tens of thousands of nautical miles had tormented the Russian vice admiral, and His Excellency, who had been with a modest demeanor and elegant manners, was now yellow, his eyes were sunken, and his body was emaciated.

In Manila, the Russian fleet was able to find the long-lost tranquility and relaxation, and the Germans were as righteous as they were in Walvis Bay.

In Walvis Bay, the Russian fleet was taken care of by the Germans, fuel, food, medicine, and everything else you needed, the Germans could get you, and you could even see the British newspapers in Cape Town, which actually carried the news of the ongoing war in the Far East, which was certainly not good news.

Of course, the Germans who provide this qiē are not philanthropists, and this qiē costs money.

Although the military port of Walvis Bay was not open to the Russian fleet, the commander of the German African Fleet came to visit and treat himself to a meal, and the etiquette and specifications at the table finally made Rogerstwinsky feel that he was still a general and not a beggar.

If he could, Roger Stevensky really wanted to stay in Walvis Bay and not leave, but unfortunately this was impossible, because it was the order of His Majesty the Tsar to go to the Far East.

After a week's rest. The Second Pacific Fleet set off again for the south, then rounded the Cape of Good Hope and turned north, arriving at Nosy Be, in the French colony of Madagascar, and another part of the fleet that had previously crossed the Suez Canal.

Not long after arriving in Madagascar, the Russians got the fall of Arthur. The bad news that the First Pacific Fleet is gone, which is another heavy blow to the Russians, do you want to go to the Far East? Rozhestvinsky had no choice but to ask St. Petersburg for instructions, and he was eager to get a phrase from his own emperor: "Forget it, you can come back." "That way, I don't have to deal with those terrible yellow-skinned monkeys.

However, Rogerstinsky was given the order to "continue to the Far East", and this time Rogerstvinsky did not stay in Madagascar for more than two months, because there were no lawsuits to fight against inferior coal, and there were no ships to repair. After resting for 2 weeks according to the original plan, the Russian fleet departed.

So when more than 40 ships traversed the Indian Ocean, took the shortest route straight to the Nicobar Islands, then crossed the long Strait of Malacca, bypassed Singapore and then went straight to the Philippines, and ran to Manila Bay, Jochen, who received the news, was stunned: When did the Russians move so fast?

After being slapped twice in the face by the French, Roger Stevensky had lost hope of borrowing Cam Ranh Bay from French Indochina, which was the military port of the French Far East Fleet. So instead of going to the French to find yourself bored, it is better to go straight to the friendly Germans.

Arrived in Manila. The Germans provided the Russians with the same amount of convenience as they did in Walvis Bay, and Rodgerstvinsky even went to the Subic naval base to see the sailors of the battleship Sevastopol who had been seized there.

Originally, Jochen thought that the Russians had arrived in Southeast Asia two months earlier than in history, and that by going north immediately after a period of recuperation, history had shown its strong inertia at a time when the Japanese Combined Fleet, which had just been overhauled after the First Pacific Fleet had been overhauled and was struggling to determine which way the Russians would go. Nicholas II gave the order of the historical convulsion, telling Rogerst Winsky to wait for the "reinforcements" he sent to him

After the fall of the First Pacific Fleet, the Russian Navy's attempt to flank the Japanese Combined Fleet had been shattered, and Nicholas II did not want to let go of the yellow-skinned monkeys, and the generals of the Russian Admiralty did not want to run back with the fleet just like Rozhestvinsky. In order to prevent Nicholas II from remembering the unspoken Russian rule of "no attack without more than double the number of troops", he also published an article in a newspaper in St. Petersburg signed "Lieutenant Colonel Korat", entitled "The Russians are not necessarily certain to win."

In the article, the number of guns of the Second Pacific Fleet was counted and said: "The number of artillery guns of the Japanese is 1.8 times that of the Russians", what should I do? "It is necessary to create another Third Pacific Fleet to compensate for the lack of numbers."

It doesn't matter whether this kind of construction is used or not, the key is that Nicholas II listened to it, so a holy decree that the rest of the Baltic Fleet, as long as it was equipped with naval guns, the whole family went into battle and formed the Third Pacific Fleet, which was commanded by Rear Admiral Nebogatov, and ran to the Far East to "reinforce".

The Germans were stunned when the rags passed through the Kiel Canal, and Tirpitz said that the trip to the Far East was not reinforcement at all, but a burden.

In fact, Rozhest Stevensky was not unaware of what his majesty had sent, and he was not willing to take these things on the road, after all, the possibility of the Second Pacific Fleet, with its large tonnage, strong firepower, and short bell, was always much greater than that of those old ships with "floating irons" and "automatic sunken machines".

Almost every day, Rozhest Stevensky wanted to send a telegram asking them to cancel the order to wait for the Third Pacific Fleet, but the Admiralty's answer was always "Wait and take the Third Pacific Fleet with you to Vladivostok." ”

The Germans were not very nervous about the Russian fleet staying in Manila, and apart from asking most of the ships not to stop in the harbor and occupy civilian docks and hinder the loading and unloading of goods by merchant ships, they did not have much opinion on the Russian fleet floating in Manila Bay.

But the German Navy was puzzled by this waste of time by the Russian fleet, and Jochen knew why, or because of Nicholas II, to be precise, it was the opinion of Empress Alexandra, Nicholas II's daughter-in-law.

Empress Alexandra's opinion was: "The old warship is also a warship, and if there is a cannon, it can be hit, and it has combat effectiveness." Unlike many Russians who beat their wives when drunk, Nicholas II was very fond of his empress, and even obedient to his words, so Rodzhestvinsky could only obediently wait for the arrival of these "cannon" ships.

The Third Pacific Fleet departed from Liepaja in February, took the Mediterranean route, crossed the Suez Canal into the Indian Ocean, and then headed straight for the Philippines.

On May 9, after three full months in the Philippines, the Second Pacific Fleet received a radio signal from the cruiser Monoma of the Third Pacific Fleet, and the "reinforcements" sent by the great Tsar Xià were about to arrive, but Rogerst Winsky did not have the slightest joy in his heart.

Today was the day when the Third Pacific Fleet was scheduled to arrive, and Rogerst Winsky stood on the bridge and looked at the direction in which the Third Pacific Fleet would appear and cursed: why did the Japanese fleet not ambush in the Indian Ocean? Why didn't the Third Pacific Fleet crash or run aground? Why didn't there simply be a revolutionary rebellion in the fleet?

If something happens to these guys on the way, then they have a reason to abandon them and go straight to Vladivostok.

However, Rozhest Stevensky's hopes were not realized, and at noon, a dark column of smoke appeared in Rodgerstwinsky's eyes, and Rogerstvinsky did not order the ships to anchor and line up for the arrival of "reinforcements", because that would be a waste of precious coal.

Watching these old ships spew smoke and slowly appear in front of his eyes, Rogerstwinsky's expression became worse and worse, and he could imagine what he would look like when he hit the road with these slow-moving oil bottles.

The process is a little different, but the end result is the same. With the arrival of the Third Pacific Fleet, the size of the Russian fleet increased again, more than 50 warships gathered in Manila Bay, and observers, journalists, and spies from various countries in Manila were amazed that the Russians could really send such a large fleet to the Far East, and some newspapers even praised the Russians' voyage as the eighth wonder of the world.

However, what the officers of the German Far East Fleet saw was that the Russian navy officers and men were poorly trained, demoralized, and pessimistic, and that the ships in the fleet were unevenly performing, poorly maintained, and in poor condition.

During the three months he had been anchored in Manila Bay, Rogers, Svensky, still naively ordered divers to go into the water to clean the seaweed and shellfish that had been piled up on the bottom of the battleship, a futile move that made the officers of the German Far East Fleet look amused and pitiful.

In the end, in addition to communicating with the Russians, someone mentioned that "the yellow chimneys of Russian warships are too visible to be easily detected and help the enemy identify targets." Rogerstvinsky listened to this, and immediately painted all the chimneys in the fleet black, but other than that, the condition of the Russian fleet did not change much.

Thus, when Rogerstvinsky finally left Manila with his fleet and headed north, the German Far East Fleet's telegram to Germany ended with the following sentence: "The Russians are leaving not like they are going to the battlefield, but like they are about to go to the grave." ”

Seeing this telegram, Tirpitz said lightly: "Maybe Russia is about to become a country without a navy." ”

Jochen, on the other hand, made a decision that surprised Prime Minister Anthony Mashal. (The novel "Imperial Sea Power" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, and there will also be a 100% lottery gift for everyone!) Open WeChat now, click on the "+" sign in the upper right corner to "add friends", search for the official account "qdread" and follow, hurry up! (To be continued......)