Seventeen, Yellow Sea Battle

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  After the First Sino-Japanese War, with the encouragement of the imperial court, a wave of civilian-run factories emerged. By the year 1900, more than a dozen national textile mills had been established. However, due to the global economic crisis in 1898, imported foreign yarns began to flood into China. Under the pressure of foreign capital, the profits of various yarn mills gradually decreased, and after 1900, the situation became increasingly severe. Some small-scale and poorly managed yarn mills were even more difficult to sustain and were on the verge of bankruptcy.

  At that time, the cotton mills opened by Britain, America and Germany in Shanghai were also in trouble, while Japanese capital began to make a big foray into Shanghai's textile industry.

  Lin Qiu, for the slow entry of Japanese capital, first spent 1.5 million to buy Huishan Wharf and its affiliated shipping company and routes from Mai Bian Yang Hang, and then took over the majority shares of Yu Jin Cotton Mill, Mei Shang Hongyuan Cotton Mill and Xing Tai Cotton Mill from Ehua Dao Sheng Yang Hang, forming a new Jin Yuan Textile Group. In addition, Zhang Jian's Daxin Cotton Mill, which had better efficiency, also merged with Suzhou's Suzhen Cotton Mill to form the Daxin Group.

  With Lin's support, these mills were able to continue operating and, due to their expanded scale, basically maintained a state of minimal profitability.

  Due to the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, Japan's cotton yarn exports to China were stagnant, and the suspension of cotton imports from Japan caused domestic cotton prices to plummet. As a result of the decline in raw material prices and the sharp rise in the price of cotton yarn and cloth, the two major textile groups under his control saw huge profits, with estimated annual earnings for 1904 expected to exceed 1.5 million taels of silver.

  Due to the impact on Japan's raw silk exports, the price of raw silk rose to a certain extent this year. The sericulture industry controlled by Lin Chong has an annual cocoon output of around 120,000 dan. Due to continuous improvement and the promotion of high-quality silkworm breeds, the factory silk produced by Lin Yizhuang Silk Factory has always been sold at a higher price. This year's raw silk exports actually earned a profit of over 6 million taels.

  The tricycle produced by the factory gave Lin Xiao a surprise. This thing, which combines bicycles and rickshaws, has become a mainstay of public transportation in major cities due to its labor-saving and speedy characteristics, with a trend of completely replacing carts. Each tricycle, priced at 120 yuan, became a hot commodity for local car dealerships and wealthy households.

  Sales of over 1,000 units per month are astronomical figures in this era.

  And the monthly profit of 50,000 to 60,000 yuan makes Wang Shouchang, the general manager of the machine factory, so happy that he can't close his mouth. To know that even a large CNC milling machine or a large vertical drilling machine is only priced at over 30,000 yuan, the machine factory's monthly profit from producing bicycles and tricycles is enough to buy 30-40 new machine tools.

  On the third floor of the Russo-Asiatic Bank in Shanghai, Li Cheng'en handed a piece of paper to the bank's manager, Nalivkin. The Russian quickly scanned it and then looked up to ask: "Is this true?"

  "Since the war began until now, have we ever provided any incorrect intelligence?"

  "Oh, no, not at all. It's just that it's a big deal, so we need to confirm every time." Nalukai Shen smiled and patted Li Chengen on the shoulder, "You're doing well, I think you'll be promoted to General Manager of the Shanghai Branch of the Sino-Russian Bank soon."

  "Thank you! However, the person providing the intelligence would like to trouble your excellency to pass on a word of advice to the commander-in-chief of the fleet at Port Arthur. If the Russian fleet in Port Arthur cannot break through the Japanese blockade and reach Vladivostok smoothly, the best outcome is to head south, where although they will be temporarily disarmed, it will still be possible for the Empire to preserve some warships." Li Chengen continued.

  Nariuxin looked at Lichengen and said, "Hmm, I'll pass on this kind intention!"

  Watching Li Chengen leave, Naluke Shen carefully looked at the note again, then lit it with a match. Watching the paper in his hand turn to ashes, he stood still for a few minutes, then got up and took down his overcoat from the coat rack, put it on, and wore his top hat, holding his walking stick as he left the foreign firm.

  After going out, he hailed a fashionable tricycle and sat down. He pointed to the front with his walking stick and said to the driver in somewhat stiff Chinese: "Russian Consulate!"

  At this time, outside the Ryojun fortress, the Japanese Navy was commanded by Captain Kuroi to lead the naval heavy artillery team to transport four 240mm heavy guns dismantled from the Fuso to the back of a mountain near the port and set up an artillery position.

  Admiral Heihachiro Togo and the Japanese Combined Fleet's headquarters were aware that they had to quickly eliminate the Russian Pacific Fleet hiding in Port Arthur before the arrival of the Russian Baltic Fleet, as this was the only way for the Japanese Navy to have a chance of ultimate victory. Otherwise, once the Russian reinforcement fleet arrived, the combined fleet would not be able to withstand the pincer attack of the two Russian fleets, having already lost the battleships Yashima and Hatsuse.

  For this, the Japanese Third Army, with General Nogi Maresuke as its commander-in-chief, was reorganized to prepare for a new attack on Port Arthur. Admiral Togo believed that it was not necessary to completely capture the entire fortress, but only to occupy one or two high points from which the situation in the harbor could be observed, and establish an artillery command post there, directing naval gunfire and heavy guns outside the port to fire at Russian ships inside the port, which would put the Russians in a desperate position. However, General Nogi stubbornly refused to listen to the Navy's advice and continued his ineffective human wave attacks.

  Dong Xiang had no choice but to order Hei Jing to command the naval heavy artillery team to conduct a blind bombardment of the port, in an attempt to drive the Russian ships out of the heavily defended Dalian.

  The Japanese actions finally had a result, the Tsar ordered Admiral Rozhdestvensky to take the entire fleet to Vladivostok. The timid Rozhdestvensky had to obey the Tsar's order and also conveyed to senior naval officers the suggestion from Consul General in Shanghai, Pokotilov, that if breaking through failed, it would be best for the fleet to escape southward.

  On August 10th at dawn, before daylight, Admiral Vizevsky led the Russian Pacific Fleet out of Port Arthur. The "beat the grass to scare the snake" tactic employed by Admiral Heihachiro Togo finally paid off. The Japanese destroyer Shirakumo, which was waiting outside the port for surveillance, spotted Admiral Vizevsky's flagship, the Cesarevich, leading the way, followed by five battleships, three cruisers and over a dozen destroyers, torpedo boats and auxiliary ships, sailing out of the harbor in grand style. It immediately sent a report to Admiral Togo's main fleet waiting at Round Island.

  Tōgō Heihachirō immediately ordered the main fleet to begin raising anchor and intercept, while notifying nearby cruiser squadrons and destroyer flotillas to concentrate in the direction of the target.

  Due to the warship being anchored in the harbor for a long time without starting, the flagship of Admiral Vizov's fleet, Tsesarevich, had just left the port when its main engine broke down. After emergency repairs, it finally recovered its speed. However, its rudder then lost control, and before the flagship could be repaired, the entire fleet had to wait in place.

  The Yellow Sea's surface is crisp and refreshing in autumn, with clear skies.

  Vice Admiral T stood on the bridge of the ship, frowning tightly, this unexpected situation gave him a bad premonition.

  However, the situation was not very serious. More than an hour later, the jammed main fleet finally returned to normal, and the Russian fleet began to move again, heading due east. The Japanese main fleet led by Admiral Heihachiro Togo also sailed towards the front of the Russian fleet.

  It was now high noon, and the two fleets met on the surface of the sea at a distance of about ten nautical miles.

  Vitgeft ordered the fleet to turn left, trying to avoid a battle with the Japanese and attempting to shake off the Japanese fleet. The two fleets were heading in opposite directions. Meanwhile, Togo was afraid that the Russians would again retreat into Port Arthur, so he ordered his fleet to continue straight ahead until both fleets were on parallel courses, at which point he ordered his ships to turn 90 degrees to cut off the Russian line of retreat.

  Vizevortsev, however, paid no attention to this and ordered the fleet to advance towards Sevastopol with all its might. His goal was to bring the fleet there as safely as possible, and the distance between the two sides actually increased.

  Tōgō, seeing this, ordered the fleet to turn again in order to keep in touch with the Russian fleet. The Japanese fleet crossed the T of the Russian fleet once more, and the distance between them began to close again. At this point, Rozhdestvensky no longer appeared hesitant, hoisting the signal flag for the fleet to prepare for battle.

  At a little past one o'clock in the afternoon, the two fleets were about 8,000 meters apart. The Tsesarevich and Retvizan, leading the Russian fleet, first targeted Mikasa for trial firing, and the Japanese fleet immediately counterattacked, opening the Battle of the Yellow Sea.

  The fleet of the Eastern Ocean did not have an advantage over the Russian Pacific Fleet, having unfortunately lost two battleships in the Battle of Port Arthur, and the originally slightly inferior Combined Fleet was left with only three battleships, Kasuga, Nisshin, Fuji, and Asahi, as well as the two armored cruisers, Kasuga and Nisshin, which were barely over 8,000 tons, purchased from Argentina before the war with British help. In terms of the number of main force ships, Russia was slightly stronger.

  But the Japanese had no choice, they had to destroy the Pacific Fleet before the Russian Baltic Fleet arrived, otherwise what awaited them was likely a fate of defeat.

  The Japanese came up with a desperate formation, but Visoft didn't intend to fight the Japanese to the death.

  The cannon battle began, and Admiral Togo ordered the fleet to make a 180-degree turn, bringing out the trick he learned during his studies in Britain: the T-shaped formation, aiming to get ahead of the Russian column. However, Admiral Vitgeft didn't fall for it, ordering the Russian fleet to fire while turning right, estimating that his fleet could break through the Japanese encirclement.

  Togo thought the Russians were going to retreat back to Port Arthur, so he ordered his fleet to turn 180 degrees in preparation for blocking. Who knew that the Russian fleet would turn around and head straight in a southeast direction? It was only then that Togo realized that Rozhdestvensky's Russian fleet was not coming out to engage him in battle, but rather fleeing towards Vladivostok!

  But by this time the two fleets were over 13,000 meters apart and Vizoroff ordered his fleet to maintain a speed of over fourteen knots, according to his calculations, before nightfall the Japanese would no longer be able to catch up with him.

  Admiral Heihachiro Togo and his staff officer Akiyama Saneyuki were also stunned, at this time the two fleets were about eight or nine nautical miles apart, but it was impossible to catch up with this distance in less than ten hours, although the Japanese fleet was faster, it was only slightly faster than the Russian main force.

  The Eastern Detachment was almost desperately bringing the United Fleet behind in a frantic pursuit, and at 5:30 pm, the Japanese amazingly got ahead of the Russians.

  Originally, several older ships with slower speeds in the Russian fleet and the damaged Rurik at Port Arthur had slowed down the entire fleet. Vizevich was an extremely unqualified commander who lacked a heroic spirit of sacrifice and did not consider abandoning these deadly old vessels to bring most of the main force safely to Vladivostok.

  Everyone wanted a piece of Vissarion's action, including himself.

  About 45 miles north of the Shandong Peninsula, Rongcheng angle, the two fleets opened fire again. The Russian fleet's rear guard, Poltava, first fired its aft main gun at Japan's leading Mikasa, and a shrill whine cut across the sea surface. Poor Mikasa was hit by a fierce explosion, and the second round of fighting began.

  Vizovetz on the Tsesarevich hoisted the signal "Turn to port", and the Russian fleet began to turn, just concentrating all their fire on the leading Matsushima, which was unfortunate enough to be heavily damaged almost at once and nearly crippled.

  The battle is becoming increasingly fierce.

  Around 6 pm, the steering engine of Tsesarevich again broke down at a critical moment. The tragic scene of the Russians reappeared, and two 305mm shells fired from the burning Mikasa directly hit the bridge of Tsesarevich, causing chaos in the command tower, and Russian fleet commander Admiral Vizovtsev and his staff were killed on the spot.

  The out-of-control Tsesarevich careened wildly across the battlefield, causing Sevastopol and Poltava to scatter in avoidance, throwing the Russian line into great disorder.

  Ukhomsky, who had taken over from Admiral Vizhevich, hoisted the signal flags on Poltava and led the way towards Port Arthur, but since both masts of Poltava were shot away, he had to make signals from the bridge, which was impossible in the thick smoke.

  The Russian army lost command and began to flee in all directions under the siege of the Japanese.

  The sky gradually darkened, and the Retvizan in the rear became the focus of attention for the combined fleet. The Russians seemed to know that they were not going to make it, but instead calmed down, turned around bravely and engaged in a fierce battle with the Japanese ships, hoping to cover their main battleships' safe withdrawal.

  Smoke billowed around the Retvizan, belching black smoke everywhere. The French shipbuilding technique seemed to be better than that of Russia by a good deal, and this heavily damaged battleship still stubbornly floated on the water surface. Just when the Japanese thought that this Russian warship would sink, Rear Admiral Reischenstein, commander of the cruiser squadron, saw the Retvizan in distress and led his three cruisers Askold, Pallada, and Diana bravely into the battlefield to assist the Retvizan.

  At this time, the cruiser Novik, which had not participated in the battle so far, also appeared in front of the main force of the United Fleet with a Russian destroyer squadron. The sky was already dark, and if the Russian destroyers launched a torpedo attack at night, the consequences would be unthinkable. Tōgō immediately ordered the fleet to withdraw from the battlefield.

  A thrilling and intense battle of the fleets has come to an end, unexpectedly, both sides hit each other with a large number of shells, but neither side was able to sink even one of the opponent's main battleships. The astute British analyzed the detailed intelligence of this naval battle and concluded that under the protection of thick armor, secondary main guns could no longer pose a mortal threat to the enemy's main battleships, and the outcome of the battle would depend on the number of main guns possessed by the main warships of both sides.

  This directly prompted the British to start building the world's first all-heavy artillery battleship, Dreadnought, and announced the arrival of the era of giant warships with large-caliber guns.