War is approaching, and almost everyone is preparing. Makanov was no exception, and on February 3, 1899, four days before the Japanese Navy's new warships entered the Gulf of Tonkin, the best admiral of the Russian Navy finally arrived at the base of the Russian Far East Fleet in the port of Muroran and began full-scale preparations for war.

In fact, the Russian fleet began to prepare for war a long time ago, and even said that the original Russian fleet was almost ready, but after the Russians purchased two new warships from the French, the original plan and organization of the Russian Far East Fleet changed somewhat, and what Makanov needed was to complete the integration of the entire fleet before the war officially broke out.

Makanov was still very satisfied with the newly arrived Prince (the battleship purchased from France). ALTHOUGH THE ARMAMENT OF THIS BATTLESHIP IS REALLY NOT STRONG RELATIVE TO THE TONNAGE, IT IS DEFINITELY NOT WEAK, THE HIGH RATE OF FIRE 12-INCH GUNS AND 274MM GUNS, AS WELL AS MANY RAPID-FIRE GUNS, MAKE THIS BATTLESHIP VERY IMPRESSIVE, THE ARMOR PROTECTION IS ALSO GOOD, THE THICKNESS IS MODERATE AND THE HEIGHT IS ENOUGH...... What's even more rare is its speed. The speed of 20 knots was enough for this battleship to move with the armored cruisers, so that there were 3 10,000-ton warships of more than 20 knots in the Far Eastern Fleet, and their high speed, high protection and high firepower were enough to match the ......... of any detachment except the Beiyang battleship formation.

To date, the entire Russian Far Eastern Fleet has 4 battleships, 2 armored cruiser lead ships, 5 armored cruisers of the Sea of Azov type, and 1 6000-ton cruiser. Plus 10 destroyers for lightning strikes. Such a force is already no worse than the navy of a country, but Makanov knows. This fleet is still not enough for the Beiyang Naval Division and the Nanyang Naval Division under the Beiyang system.

The two fleets of the Northern Fleet and the Southern Ocean Fleet together had 3 Dante-class battleships, 3 King-class armored cruisers, 2 PISA-class armored cruisers, and 2 Garibaldi-class armored cruisers. 4 Guiyuan-class armored cruisers, in addition to this main fleet. There is also 1 Yoshino and about 10 third-class protected cruisers.

In the face of such a powerful force. There is absolutely no chance of winning a decisive battle. The powerful Dante-class 3 can deal with the 4 battleships of the Russian fleet, and they still have an advantage. Purely on paper, the firepower projection of the battleships of the Russian Far East Fleet was not as strong as that of Indiana, which was beaten by the Dante-class in the Spanish-American War! What's more, the three battleships in the Beiyang used twin 12-inch naval guns, and their damage to the battleships was definitely higher than that of the Spaniards' 10-inch naval guns.

Although Rurik and Russia are strong, in Makanov's opinion, they will definitely not suffer in the face of King-class battleships, but considering the quality of officers and men. These two ships are tied with the King-class at most, and as for the 5 armored cruisers of the Azov type, Makanov is sure that these ships are not at all a match for the PISA-class and Garibaldi-class. Although it has been improved. However, it still can't compare with the Garibaldi class, which has a larger tonnage and was designed from the beginning with a decisive battle in mind. As for the cruiser that was bought from France and named Aurora. Except muzzle velocity. Other performances can only be described as mediocre. In addition to these capital ships, there were 4 Guiyuan-class cruisers in the Beiyang, and the Russian fleet did not have a reliable reconnaissance force to correspond to them. Once the decisive battle is held, the consequences ......... unimaginable.

Therefore, Makanov sensibly gave up the plan to compete with the Beiyang Navy Division for dominance in the sea, but learned from Yang Yonglin's decision in the Spanish-American War to fight a sports war. Wait for an opportunity to deplete your opponent's combat power. However, after some research, it was found that even if guerrilla warfare is fought. The situation of the Russian fleet was also quite difficult.

First of all, judging from the information obtained from the intelligence, the Beiyang Fleet will enter the coastal ports of Japan in wartime and carry out the blockade of the port of Muroran. You don't need to ask to know that the Beiyang Fleet will inevitably carry out an offensive and minelaying on Muroran Port under the cover of the main fleet. Lock the main force inside the port. Although I can also lay mines to protect myself, it is really difficult to fight out. What's more, even if the 3 battleships in the Far Eastern battleship formation go out, they will be discovered by the Beiyang Fleet, which has an advantage in speed, bite and then eat! Therefore, the 3 battleships of the Russian fleet are at most to contain the opposing battleships. …。

Second, if the Russian fleet wants to break diplomatic relations, it will be too far to enter the East China Sea, and if a few warships want to find targets in the East China Sea of millions of square kilometers, they will indeed be trapped, and in the southeast direction, that is, Taiwan, where the foreign fleet is stationed, the Beiyang fleet can be supplied and maintained at various ports along the coast at any time, and the Russian fleet will inevitably decline in combat strength with the passage of time. The break will definitely be fruitful, but it is impossible to say whether it is worth it to let the precious armored cruiser be suspected!. …。

Thirdly, the Japanese Navy has regained its possession of large capital ships, which will be a great threat to Russia's sea transport lines in the Sea of Japan! Russia had two battlefields in this war at the same time, one in the northeast of the Qing Dynasty and the other in the Japanese-occupied zone. The transportation of soldiers is secondary, and the most important thing is that the supply of the Russian army in Hokkaido needs to be transported from the Russian mainland! Although there are reserves, historical experience tells Makanov that in the event of a war, no amount of reserves will be enough! So the Russian fleet could not devote all its energy to the Beiyang Naval Division...... He needed to keep the Japanese Navy in check.

In the face of various unfavorable conditions, Makanov found himself in a dilemma, and if he wanted to break diplomatic relations or guerrilla attacks, he had to ensure that there was always a strong fleet on the high seas. He could deal with all the local fleets of the opposing side except the battleships, and had enough endurance and speed so that he could evacuate in unfavorable conditions. But in fact, the Russian Far Eastern Fleet gave Makanov really not many options, and the speed of the 3 battleships was too slow, although the protection and firepower were good, and they were directly excluded. The speed of 5 armored cruisers of the Sea of Azov is enough, but the firepower and protection are more tragic, and it is really a fight, considering the quality of personnel, Makanov does not think that they can beat the Garibaldi class, the most inferior capital ship of the Beiyang Fleet, and for the partisan fleet, once it slows down, it means losses, after all, the other side has the strength to slowly solve the ......... of the battleships that have fallen behind.

So. In the end, Makanov could only rely on the Russian, Rurik and Prince. As long as you don't encounter the opponent's Dante-class battleships, you can basically guarantee an evacuation of the battlefield under any circumstances. As long as this fleet can appear near the East China Sea, it will definitely pose a huge threat to the Beiyang, although it will not allow the Beiyang to withdraw its precious battleships, but as long as half of the patrol is used against itself. Relying solely on these three warships did not really reassure Makanov, he knew that even if the first battle could successfully evacuate the battlefield, then whether his fleet would survive the second and third successive battles was a question. So he had to arrange an avant-garde for this fleet, and that avant-garde was the Aurora! The speed of up to 23 knots is enough for avant-garde tasks.

In addition, Makanov had to transfer 2 armored cruisers of the Sea of Azov type to cover the Russian fleet for transportation in the Sea of Japan. This is basically the bare minimum, if the Japanese fleet launches an offensive, it is not enough to simply 2 Azov-type patrols, if so, Makanov will leave at least one prince-class battleship to deal with the Japanese fleet, what Makanov needs is not to drive away the opponent, but to annihilate it, otherwise, if the Japanese Navy continues to harass like flies, the remaining warships of the Russian Far East Fleet will not do anything else!. …。

As for the port of Muroran and the Karumsu Strait, Makanov believed that at least 3 battleships and 3 armored cruisers of the Sea of Azov would be left behind to ensure that the port and the strait were not lost. If it is lower than this amount, I am afraid that the Beiyang Fleet will directly blow up the port of Muroran! Makanov also thought about whether he could defeat one of the North Fleets and the Foreign Fleets before they converged, but because his own average speed was lower than that of his opponents, this idea had to be abandoned. If they don't fight and just turn around and run away, they won't be able to catch up at all, and once they converge, the three battleships of their fleet will probably have to be confessed. …。

So in the end, Makanov planned to divide the entire Far Eastern Fleet into 3 parts, 3 battleships and 3 armored cruisers of the Sea of Azov to guard the port of Muroran and contain the main forces of the Beiyang Fleet. 2-3 cruisers were used to cover Russian transport lines in the Sea of Japan. The remaining warships cruised in the western Pacific and the East China Sea, ready to break diplomatic relations at any time. At the same time, Makanov also sent a large number of camouflaged notification ships for reconnaissance and vigilance. As for pressing the guns on the notification ships, Makanov did not do this, for the simple reason that experienced officers and sailors in the Russian Navy could not be found, so how could there be extra manpower to supply these attack ships? And if a ship is not armed...... You can also hang the flags of individual countries to fool the past, and if you put on a weapon, as long as you fire once, your identity will be exposed, and then let the ultra-low speed reconnaissance ship throw off the pursuit of the Beiyang Fleet? Isn't that a dream?. …。

As for the supply of the partisan fleet, Makanov also thought about it, and the tsar had already packed that there would be ships flying the French flag in the western Pacific to supply the guerrilla fleet. As for the commander of the fleet? Makanov decided to send Rear Admiral Essen to personally lead the partisan fleet on this mission to break diplomatic relations, because he knew it. In the early stages, the real battle took place between loading and patrolling, and the battleships of both sides would be pinned down by each other, and only the capital ships of the second class could use their speed and range to make a difference. Makanov had a good idea, as long as he could inflict heavy damage on the opponent's fleet in the battle, then when the strength of the fleet gradually became balanced, Essen would return to Vladivostok to make corrections, and then join the main force of the Russian fleet in the port of Muroran through the Kamatsu Strait, and then start a decisive battle.

For the sake of this plan, Makanov decided to use diplomatic means in order to use French ships for replenishment during the war. However, the French were not stupid, especially after receiving hints from the British, who said that supplies were possible, but only on the high seas, and that the Russian government would compensate for the losses caused by the service of the Russians, and the French government insisted that it would not intervene in a possible war in the Far East. Although the results were somewhat disappointing to Makanov, at least theoretically the Russians were supplied by sea. It is possible to increase the ......... of activity time.

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