On March 10, the Japanese Army, composed of the Guards Division, the 2nd Division and the 12th Division, officially entered the Korean Peninsula, landed on the Dagu Mountain at the mouth of the Dayang River in the west of the Yalu River, and then pointed directly to Fengtian. It was preparing to form the 2nd Army with the 9th, 10th and 11th Divisions to land in Dalian Bay and attack Lushun. It was also planned to set up the headquarters in Zhennanpu, the mouth of the river in Datong.

On the same day, the Japanese government sent a diplomatic letter to the East China government, expressing its gratitude to the East China government for rescue of 29 Japanese soldiers, and notified the East China government that it hoped to move the negotiations between the two sides to April to negotiate in March. Therefore, the Japanese military command is now busy with the Russo-Japanese War, and it really can't take time. Of course, Japan also apologized repeatedly. The East China government also expressed its understanding and agreed to Japan's postponement of the negotiations.

It turned out that Japan hoped to hold this negotiation after the second closure war. If the second closure war was successful, Japan would gain greater initiative in the negotiation. In addition, the Russian Far East Fleet Vladivostok Squadron has also begun to attack, destroying Japan's maritime transportation lines and sinking two merchant ships. The main force of the Vladivostok Squadron is two large armored cruisers: the Liurik and the Grombowi; the large protective cruiser Warrior. Now the joint fleet is going to do its best to deal with the Pacific Fleet and cannot distribute its troops to deal with the Vladivostok Squadron. Therefore, the second closure war has become a war for construction.

After careful preparation, the joint fleet had only four ships moved this time, including Chiyomaru, Deputy Inimaru, Yoshimaru, and Yahimaru, one less than the first time. Because after discussing with other staff, Akiyama Matsu, and other staff members, he believed that he had experience in the first blockade combat and had one ship sunk at the scheduled location. Only two ships needed to sink at the scheduled location were enough to block the channel. Therefore, the second blockade combat should not be difficult, and 4 ships were enough. After all, it was enough to have a 50% success rate. As for the officers participating in the blockade combat, Ma Liangjuku, the planner who had blockade combat plans, and the only Hirose Takeo who sank the ship at the scheduled location last time, the joint fleet was full of confidence in this battle.

On March 23, Hirahachiro Togo issued an order to carry out the second closure operation. The joint fleet set off from Incheon Port at 2:30 am on March 26 and drove towards Lushun Port again. It arrived at 25 nautical miles southeast of Zen Island at 6 pm. The closure fleet arrived at the south of Laotieshan at 1 am on the 27th.

However, this time the blockade battle encountered disadvantages from the beginning. Before the fleet approached the outer port of Lushun, it was discovered by the Russian coastal searchlights, and the turrets on the shore began to be bombarded violently.

It turned out that the new commander of the Pacific Fleet, Makarov, arrived in Lushun on March 8. Although Makarov took over a mess, he showed the qualities of a famous general after less than 20 days of taking office. He first quickly dismissed a group of incompetent officers and quickly promoted a group of young and promising officers to key positions. He also improved the treatment of ordinary soldiers and dock workers on the shore, so the repair speed of injured warships was significantly accelerated. In tactical terms, Makarov strengthened the operation of the Pacific Fleet and changed the original method of tugboat use, shortened the fleet's departure time from 12 hours to 3 hours, and laid mines on the coast of the Liaodong Peninsula to interfere with the actions of the Japanese fleet. He often sent fleets to sea activities, while reconnaissing the enemy situation, while also using attack instead of defense. At the same time, he also ordered the Vladivostok squadron to attack and raid the Japanese maritime traffic line.

Moreover, Makarov's work was not limited to the navy, but also assisted the coastal artillery to improve the artillery control system, set up signal poles on the top of the Golden Mountain, organize collaborative training between the navy and the army, etc. It can be said that in less than 20 days, Makarov completed the work that his predecessor had not completed in several years. It also made the Russian army in the entire Lushun Port feel refreshed and the morale of the army has been greatly improved.

In recent days, Japanese warships have strengthened their reconnaissance of Lushun Port. Makarov also realized that Japan may conduct closed operations again in the near future, so he made full preparations for the battle in Lushun Port. He first ordered the steamships Hailar and Harbin to sink on the east coast of the central Tiger Neck Peninsula outside the port to hinder the Japanese fleet's route of movement. He also arranged destroyers to patrol outside the port regularly and pay attention to concealment. If they encounter enemy ships, sneak attacks can be carried out when possible, and warship guards can be arranged in the foreign port.

When the intercepted fleet arrived near the Port of Lushun, the Russian fleet was carried out with the gunboats Poble and Atswageni, and the destroyers Shirne and Lesitrine were stationed in the outer port and were on standby at any time. Therefore, when the intercepted fleet approached the Port of Lushun, it was attacked by joint artillery by the cross-strait fortresses and warships in the port.

As a result, in just over 20 minutes, all four blocked ships were sunk or forced to explode and sink, but none of them rushed into the outer port of Lushun, let alone the blocked waterway.

And unlike the last time that only one soldier was killed, a total of 15 people were killed in this battle, including the commander Takeo Hirose. Takeo Hirose had already boarded a lifeboat and was about to evacuate, but when he was calling, he found that Sugino Sun Qibings was not there, so Takeo Hirose returned to Fukuimaru to search, but was hit on the back of the neck by a shell, splashing everywhere, and his body flew out. The people next to him did not catch his feet and disappeared into the sea. The subordinates collected his remaining minced meat, which was only enough to fill it with a wooden box the size of a lunch box.

The second closed war can be said to be a complete failure, but in order to maintain the reputation of the army, divert the attention of the Japanese citizens, and allow the people to maintain their enthusiasm and confidence in the war, the fallen Major Takeo Hirose was also fully utilized to exert their surplus value.

So far, Takeo Hirose is the highest-ranking officer in Japan, but he is just a minor. Before that, Takeo Hirose did not show any outstanding performance and made extraordinary achievements. Before Takeo Hirose was killed, it was his private life that was recognized as his Russian student. It turned out that Takeo Hirose was a Russian student, and his teacher happened to be the commander of the Pacific Fleet Makarov, who had just arrived. Later, he stayed in Russia as a military officer. He stayed in Russia for nearly 10 years and had a wide range of contacts in Russia. He even had a foreign relationship with a Russian girl named Ali Atzna.

However, as a suicide squad member who volunteered to participate in the closed battle, Takeo Hirose died due to delays in searching his subordinates. This action of not being afraid of danger and loving soldiers like a son has added a lot of points to Takeo Hirose and also provided materials to copy. Therefore, when the Navy Command's Staff Major Ogasawara Nagasawara was introduced to the media on the frontline, he described the plot of Hirose's death as if he was home to save his comrades and bravely rescued his comrades, and then shouted: "That person is the God of War!"

As a result, under the instigation of Ogasawara Nagasawara, all Japanese media started to hype Hirose Takeo. In just three weeks, a book called "The True Record of the Russo-Japanese War - The God of War Hirose" was compiled and published. In this way, Takeo Hirose became the first Japanese soldier to be respected as the God of War in the Russo-Japanese War, and of course he was not the last. Takeo Hirose's funeral was held at the Mizuko Shrine in Tokyo. Not only were the senior officials from the Navy Ministry gathered, but even the Emperor sent people to participate and decided to raise funds to erect a statue for him. It was truly glorious.

As a result, Takeo Hirose's death moved the whole country and further aroused the Japanese people, and fanatically supported the war. Moreover, under the promotion of the Japanese government, Takeo Hirose's death influence was not limited to Japan, but even European countries were amazed at the dedication of Takeo Hirose that Japan promoted. Moreover, Takeo Hirose's body was later found in the Port of Lushun. Since Makarov was Hirose's teacher, many people in the Pacific Fleet met Takeo Hirose, so the Pacific Fleet also held the highest-quality funeral for Takeo Hirose's deaths - the Navy funeral. Ju said that in Takeo Hirose's coffin was there, the pocket watch given to him by Ari Atzna.

Although taking advantage of Takeo Hirose's death, he successfully diverted the public's attention and maintained his enthusiasm for the war, the failure of the second closed war caused considerable obstacles to Japan's military operations.

Because the Army Department was quite annoyed. Since the failure to block the Pacific Fleet, the Russian fleet still maintained its ability to operate freely, and landing in Dalian Bay became quite dangerous. Therefore, the Military Command suggested that the Army Department modify the combat plan, but the Army Department had made quite a lot of preparations for the landing in Dalian Bay, and this plan was recognized by the Navy Department. Now it was modified due to the unfavorable operation of the Joint Fleet. Naturally, it was very angry and insisted on landing in Dalian Bay. It also stated that if the landing in Dalian Bay still cannot be carried out, it would be equivalent to declaring that there was no suitable landing location along the Yellow Sea coast, which means that the war could not proceed smoothly, and the consequences would be all the responsibility of the Navy. As a result, both sides almost quarreled in the Military Command.

Under the mediation of the Japanese government, the sea and the land finally reached an agreement, and the navy knew it was in the wrong, so it agreed that the army's plan to land in Dalian Bay remained unchanged. Before the army landed, the navy would conduct the third closed operation, and no matter what the result of the closed operation was, the navy would do its best to assist the army's landing.

Before the third blockade operation, in order to limit the actions of the Russian fleet in Lushun Port as much as possible, Akiyama Matsuno suggested laying * outside Lushun Port to strengthen the effect of blockade; and to lure enemy ships out of the range of fortress guns as much as possible, and annihilate enemy ships in the decisive battle. After Makarov took office, the actions of the Russian fleet became more active. Therefore, Akiyama Matsuno thought that there might be a chance, and this suggestion was also recognized by Hirahachiro Togo, so he immediately ordered to follow.
Chapter completed!