While the East China government and Japan were fighting openly and secretly on several fronts such as diplomacy, politics, and intelligence, the war between Japan and Russia was still continuing, and the scale of the war was getting bigger and bigger and more cruel.

The Pacific Fleet failed to break through, and in the end, only 9 ships fled back to the Port of Lushun, including 5 battleships, Letvizan, Poltava, Sevastopol, Peresvet, Victory, the armored cruiser Bayan, and three destroyers. The Japanese Combined Fleet had no ships sunk, but only a few destroyers were sunk.

However, after the Pacific Fleet failed to break through, the remaining Russian warships in Lushun Port still had 5 battleships and 1 armored cruiser, but due to the lack of auxiliary warships and insufficient maintenance capabilities, they actually lost the ability to compete with the Joint Fleet. Therefore, although the Joint Fleet failed to achieve the goal of annihilation of the Pacific Fleet, it did make the Pacific Fleet basically lose its combat capability. Moreover, the Russian fleet flew back to Lushun Port completely lost its combat capability.

But this does not guarantee that Japan can completely control the maritime power, because there is also the Vladivostok squadron. The one that poses the greatest threat to Japan now is not the Pacific Fleet, but the Vladivostok squadron.

So on the second day after the end of the naval war, Hirahachiro Togo received a domestic notice, and only then did he know that the East China government's fleet was just intercepting Russian warships that had escaped from the battlefield and had no other intentions. Hirahachiro Togo was relieved and immediately ordered the 4th team to rush back to Japan to assist the 2nd team to capture the Vladivostok squadron. Because Hirahachiro Togo considered that the Pacific Fleet broke through from Lushun Port, the only place was Vladivostok, and the Vladivostok squadron was likely to go south to respond, so this was a great opportunity to destroy this squadron. Send the 3rd team back to Japan to increase the strength of the remaining fleet and strive to annihilate this small fleet that has caused great help to Japan's maritime transportation lines in one fell swoop.

Heihachiro Togo did not expect it to be wrong this time. It turned out that before the Pacific Fleet broke through, it was powered to the Vladivostok squadron on August 9, informing them of the fleet's plan for breaking through, and demanding that the Vladivostok squadron attack and respond to the Korean Strait. However, there was no direct telegram contact between Lushun and Vladivostok, and it was necessary to forward it from Fengtian. However, Fengtian's telegram line failed, and it was delayed until August 11, when the Vladivostok squadron received the telegram transferred from Fengtian. At this time, the Pacific Fleet's breakthrough had failed.

However, due to poor communication, the Vladivostok squadron could not know the result of the Pacific Fleet and could only prepare to go to sea according to the order. At 6 a.m. on August 12, Major General Ethan commanded the armored cruisers Grombowi, Liurik, and the protective cruiser Warrior to sail.

At around 1 a.m. on August 14, the fleet led by Ethan arrived in the Ulsan waters southeast of the Korean Peninsula and was discovered by the Langsu, the fourth team cruising in this area. The Langsu immediately reported to the second battleship.

The commander of the 2nd Team, Hikono-seong Uemura, immediately led the fleet to the scene, arrived at the scene at around 5 a.m., met the Vladivostok squadron, and immediately started a fierce battle.

Japanese ships have a great advantage in terms of number, firepower, speed, etc. The four warships participating in the war are all around 9,700 tons, with a total tonnage of nearly 40,000 tons. The main weapons are 16 203mm artillery and 52 152mm artillery. The armor is Krupp armor with a speed of 20.5 knots, and they all entered service after 1898. The two armored cruisers of the Russian ships are not at a disadvantage and their displacement is

There were about 12,000 tons, each equipped with 4 203mm guns and 16 152mm guns, but the ship was older. Grombowi was put into service in 1896, while Liurik was put into service in 1892. The armor was made of older Harvey nickel steel armor with a speed of less than 20 knots. The Warrior was just a protective cruiser with 6,600 tons and the main gun had only 12 152mm guns, which seriously dragged the Russian ship's hind legs.

At the beginning of the battle, the Japanese fleet attacked the Rurik with the Izumo and the Izumo; the Izumo fight against Grombowi; the Takaba Takaba focused on attacking the Warriors. Since both sides were cruisers and were fast, the distance was quickly narrowed, and the artillery battle was very fierce. Even the small-caliber artillery on each ship participated in the battle.

After 30 minutes of fierce battle, the Liurik, who was attacked by two Japanese ships, was the worst hit, with a total of 20 rounds of bombs, the heaviest hit the port side. The shell penetrated the armor and drilled into the No. 1 boiler compartment of Liurik, exploded, causing Liurik to lose one-quarter of its power instantly, and the speed dropped to less than 15 knots. Another 152mm shell hit the tail rudder, causing the Liurik to destroy the steering device of Liurik. Other shells damaged the superstructure of Liurik, and fired on the deck. However, under the tenacious counterattack of Liurik, Izumo was also shot 7 rounds, 3 152mm cannons, and 1 75mm cannon was destroyed; My wife was shot 5 rounds, and the ammunition lift of the main gun was damaged.

The Warriors were also shot 15 times, and 9 of the main guns were destroyed. Almost all the buildings on the deck were destroyed. Fortunately, the power was not damaged, and the waterline belt was still intact, which was better than the Liurik. Although the Warriors also hit the Changpan 6 guns, the damage to the Changpan was not great.

Only the Iwashou was at a disadvantage in the duel with Grombowi, and was hit by Grombowi for 1 2 guns, 2 main guns, and 6 152mm guns were destroyed. The squad leader Tsubaki Haraguchi was killed. The artillery leader, the captain, and the squad leader were injured. The Grombowi was also hit by 10 guns, the rear bridge was destroyed, and the sidewalk was penetrated 4 places. Many fires were caught on the ship, but the power was not damaged and the combat effectiveness was still there.

At this moment, five warships from the 4th team of the Joint Fleet also arrived at the battlefield. Although these five warships were four protective cruisers and one communication ship, they were all under the Warriors in terms of combat effectiveness, at this time, they became the last straw that defeated the camel. Major General Ethan knew very well that once these five warships participated in the war, he was in danger of being wiped out, so he immediately ordered a retreat.

But at this time, the speed of the Liurik was only 13 knots, and the wheel rudder was broken and could not turn, so he could only circle the sea. Therefore, Captain Colonel Trosov gave the banner of "I can't accompany you" to the Grombowi. Major General Ethan had to order the abandonment of the Liurik and only two warships retreated.

Hikaru Uemura ordered that the 4th team's Langsu, Takachiho, Takama, and Takama besieged the Liurik, and led the remaining warships to continue pursuing the Russian ships.

While chasing, the two sides fired at each other. When they chased for about 20 kilometers, the tail shell of the Grombowi hit the Exit, killing 13 people and injuring 25 people. At this time, only one-quarter of the 203mm shells of the Izumo were left, and only five 152mm shells were left. The officers and soldiers of the entire ship were also extremely tired. The situation of the other warships of the 2nd Team was similar. After all, in order to capture the Vladivostok squadron, the 2nd Team had been carrying out maritime missions for nearly a month, and they were indeed exhausted, so Hikaru Uemura decided to stop the pursuit.

In fact, at this time, Grombowi and the Warriors were at the end of their strength. Both ships suffered heavy damage, with a total of 140 people killed and 319 injured. They were shot several times near the waterline and were already soaked in water. Major General Ethan had ordered the Warriors to arrange self-destruction devices on the ship. If the Japanese ship continues to pursue, there is a high probability of sinking the two ships, and at least one can be sunk.

On the other hand, the Liurik was besieged by a Japanese ship. Although he was shot again, five officers including Captain Colonel Zlsofus and Chief Lieutenant Colonel Flotuski were killed, but they were never sunk. And under the command of the navigator Captain Ivanov, he tried his best to repair the rudder, hoping to break through and leave. However, when the pursuit Japanese ship turned back, Captain Ivanov also knew that the general situation was gone, so he ordered the opening of the sea valve to let the warship sink, and the rest of the officers and soldiers jumped into the sea to escape.

At 10:40, the Liurik sank and the Battle of Ulsan ended. However, the Japanese warship did not evacuate, but rescued Russian officers and soldiers who fell into the water on the battlefield. It should be said that the Japanese soldiers of this era were quite normal. In the end, 625 officers and soldiers of the Liurik were rescued, and the remaining 224 were killed. In this battle at sea, a total of 45 Japanese people were killed and 81 injured.

Although the Japanese fleet had an absolute advantage in this battle, only one Russian ship was sunk, but this was also the first Russian main warship that the Japanese fleet had officially sunk in naval battles since the war started. The battleship Petpavlovsk sank from the thunder, not as sunk in naval battles. But tactically, this battle was not completely successful.

However, the other two Russian ships of the Vladivostok squadron suffered heavy damage and needed at least half a year to repair it again. This also means that the Vladivostok squadron is indeed unable to threaten Japan's maritime routes for a certain period of time. Therefore, it can be said that after several repeated attacks on the Russian naval forces in the Far East were indeed defeated by Japan. For a considerable period of time in the future, Japan has completely controlled the sea control from the East China Sea to the Sea of ​​Japan. The army can also launch an attack on the Russian army without any scruples.

In fact, the Japanese Army had long begun to mobilize troops and prepare to launch a large-scale ground attack from the north and south lines. The southern line was commanded by General Nogi Kidino to attack Lushun, and the northern line was commanded by General Oyama Iwai to attack Liaoyang, and the two battles could also be said to be a decisive battle. Once you win, even if you only win one game, it will give Japan the initiative in strategic direction and win the Russo-Japanese War is just around the corner. If the battles on both sides are not smooth, then the strategic advantages you gained in the early stage will be gone.
Chapter completed!