On April 13, 1941, the Soviet Union and Japan signed the "Japan-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact", but the discerning people knew that this was only an expedient measure to avoid multi-front combat and the enemy under great external pressure, and the distrust and deep hatred engraved in the bones between Japan and the Soviet Union sowed the seeds of conflict in the war decades ago.
Japan-Soviet complementary encroachment agreement
After the Meiji Restoration, Japan and Russia, which were eager to embark on the road of external expansion, became increasingly fierce in the competition around the Far East, and finally in 1904, they met each other, and through several years of building the Lushun Fortress, which was originally regarded as undefeated by the Tsar, under the desperate charge of the famous Japanese general Nogi Yoshinori, russia lost 23,000 people in the 329-day Battle of Lushun, and the Japanese army invested 136,000 people and suffered as many as 62,000 casualties, which can also be regarded as a retribution for the Massacre of Lushun 10 years ago.
The fall of the Lushun Fortress and the annihilation of the main force of the Russian Pacific Fleet allowed the Japanese Combined Fleet to gain sea supremacy. The Japanese Army, unsafe, then marched into Fengtian with its head held high, and now Russia's only hope of saving the defeat was in the Second Pacific Fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral Roger Stevinsky. This huge fleet needed to bypass the Cape of Good Hope, sail across the Indian Ocean, and swoop down toward the Far East, but what awaited them would be an unusually tragic end.
Russo-Japanese War cartoons
This is a decisive battle that will determine the fate of the two countries. If Japan wins, it will lay the foundation for winning the final victory in the Russo-Japanese War and leap into the ranks of the world's first-class powers. If Russia wins, it will be able to seize control of the Sea of Japan and cut off the supply lines of the Japanese army in Manchuria, and Russia will recover its decline and turn defeat into victory, reviving its declining national fortunes.
From the Gulf of Finland to the port of Lushun, there were no Russian military bases, and neither the neutral nor Russia's ally France opened ports to them. As much as 500,000 tons of coal and more than 30 coal additions were needed throughout the voyage, most of the time on the high seas, even Roger Stevinsky shuddered at the thought of the long journey ahead.
In the course of the eastward transfer of the Russian fleet, the Japanese combined fleet also made full preparations for a decisive battle. Togo Heihachiro first repaired the ship, and then gave the sailors a vacation to recuperate. In February, all the personnel returned to the team, and intense training exercises began, often lasting four or five hours a day, and eight live-fire exercises were arranged. As a result of the desperate training, the number of shells consumed so far in the war has exceeded half of Japan's domestic artillery reserves. In contrast to the Japanese, the Russians conducted only two air-fired exercises during the voyage due to a lack of ammunition supplies.
On 14 May, Roger Stevinsky led a Russian fleet of 38 ships and 14,000 sailors from Nha Phu Bay for the final burial place. The road ahead is not easy. The Combined Japanese Fleet, led by Heihachiro Togo, with 40 warships and 18,000 sailors, has been resting for nine months.
Based on the supply of supplies to the Russian fleet and the urgency of the long-distance attack of more than 30,000 kilometers and the eagerness to enter the Vladivostok military port, the commander of the combined fleet, General Heihachiro Togo, judged that the Russian fleet was likely to pass through the Tsushima Strait directly to Vladivostok.
On 23 May, Roger Stevinsky suffered his greatest calamity since his expedition— the death of the obese deputy commander of the fleet, Rear Admiral Falkshan. In this regard, Roger Stevinsky's approach is to keep the news tightly sealed so as not to affect the hearts and minds of the military. Desperate fighting began at 10:30 a.m. For this fight, which had little suspense, 12 minutes later, the Nicholas I raised a flag that had been temporarily modified with a white tablecloth.
Battle of Tsushima
Rear Admiral Encovester, commander of the cruiser fleet, led three cruisers, oleg, Aurora, and Pearl, to flee south and finally to the U.S. military base in Manila, Philippines, where they were disarmed and detained. The Aurora must escape, or how can it become a famous ship for shelling the Winter Palace in the future? The most cattle were the Anadell, which somehow got the coal from and crossed the Indian Ocean to Madagascar in one fell swoop.
The number of Russian casualties reached more than 5,000, 6,142 were captured, and only about 3,000 were prominently encircled. The Japanese lost only 3 torpedo boats, one of which was sunk by itself, killing 117 and wounding 587. Since then, the Russian word for "Tsushima" has become synonymous with "Waterloo", and May 27 has become Japan's Naval Day.