The Rise Of Australasia - Chapter 188

Chapter 188: Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Two: Encountering an Ambush

April 13th, 1904, Major General Makarov’s 36th day as the commander of the Pacific Squadron.

In this month, Major General Makarov had managed the Pacific Squadron well, carrying out numerous mine-laying missions, effectively blocking the Island Nation’s transportation lines to the Korean Peninsula and the Far East, and reducing the pressure on the main force of the Pacific Squadron stationed at Port Arthur.

This day was an ordinary day for the Pacific Squadron. Under Major General Makarov’s command, two cruisers set out from Port Arthur Port to harass the transportation lines of the Island Nation; after laying mines in a designated area, they successfully returned to Port Arthur.

This pleased General Makarov because the minefield laid by the two cruisers was exactly where he planned to engage in a decisive battle with the Island Royal Navy.

By arranging the mines in advance, the Pacific Squadron might be able to use them to give the Island Nation a taste of their own medicine during a decisive naval battle.

Just as General Makarov was about to receive a report from the two destroyers, he suddenly received news that several enemy warships were pursuing and attacking the two Russian cruisers. One Russian cruiser had already been damaged and was now in urgent need of support.

As a famous naval commander of the Russian Empire, Major General Makarov naturally had a temper, otherwise, he would not have directly criticized the Navy officials.

Under General Makarov’s order, he personally led two battleships and four cruisers to provide assistance.

As General Makarov was about to board the Battleship Peter Pavlovskiy, he suddenly had a thought. He instructed Lieutenant General Witteveen, the fleet’s chief of staff, to lead the vanguard, while he himself convened the main force of the Pacific Squadron stationed at Port Arthur, in case the Island Nation’s main fleet was lurking in the rear.

Since most of the preparations had already been made, General Makarov was not averse to engaging in a decisive battle with the Island Royal Navy now.

In this month, the Pacific Squadron had laid at least ten minefields, which would become an ideal place for the Island Nation and the United Fleet to perish.

It is worth noting that, after General Makarov, Lieutenant General Witteveen was to become the new fleet commander of the Pacific Squadron.

However, after Lieutenant General Witteveen took over as the commander of the Pacific Squadron, his series of conservative measures led to the Pacific Squadron losing its advantage completely against the Island Nation’s United Fleet.

The two Russian cruisers were not far from the Port Arthur, and General Witteveen’s vanguard quickly reached the battlefield.

The squadron that was entangled with the two Russian cruisers was the Second Fleet of the Island Nation’s United Fleet, consisting of one battleship and three cruisers.

This was why the two Russian cruisers had been forced to call for help, as current cruisers stood no chance against battleships, especially when there were still three cruisers in the Second Fleet.

The Russian Empire was already hostile to the Island Nation, which had grown into a competitor, and the Russians’ animosity towards the Island Nation, which had not followed any rules in this war, had intensified.

As the enemy met, their faces flushed red with anger. After General Witteveen saw the warships of the Island Nation’s Second Fleet, the vanguard immediately joined the battle without any command. Shells were flying toward the enemy warships as if they were free.

The advantage of the battlefield had instantly been reversed. The Russian Empire had two battleships and six cruisers, while the Island Nation’s Second Fleet had only one battleship and three cruisers, a two-to-one ratio.

The Second Fleet was chased by the vanguard of the Russian Empire, each eventually trying to flee away haphazardly towards the rear.

General Witteveen was overjoyed, for he seemed to see the first victory since the beginning of the war. He hurriedly ordered all the warships to follow up, trying to annihilate all the Island Nation’s warships.

Blinded by victory, General Witteveen did not notice the unusual behavior of the Second Fleet, nor did he notice that under his command, the vanguard had gradually moved away from Port Arthur.

After chasing for about ten minutes, General Witteveen finally noticed something amiss and ordered the fleet to pause.

Judging by the speed of the warships, many of the Russian warships had been in service for several or even more than ten years.

The Island Nation’s warships, on the other hand, were mostly new models built within the last ten years and were at least faster than Russian warships.

Yet now, the fleeing Island Nation fleet had maintained a delicate balance with the Russian vanguard. They were neither too close to fall within the attack range of the Pacific Squadron nor too far away for the Pacific Squadron to lose sight of their target and give up the pursuit.

All signs pointed that this pursuit seemed more like luring snakes out of their holes. General Witteveen had originally thought he was the hunter, but now this might not be the case.

“How long has it been since we set out from Port Arthur?” General Witteveen asked grimly.

“It’s been just over an hour, General,” one of his subordinates replied.

General Witteveen had a bad feeling. Judging by the normal speed of the fleet, the main force should not have been too slow and might have even caught up with the vanguard by now.

After all, the previous naval battle had also taken up a lot of time, which would have been enough for the main force to catch up.

“Turn around immediately and return to Port Arthur. The enemy may have set an ambush ahead, and this is a trap!” General Witteveen made the prompt decision.

In the previous sneak attack by the Island Nation, two battleships of the Pacific Squadron, the Crown Prince and Pervest, had been damaged.

If the two battleships led by General Witteveen were ambushed and suffered any damage, the number of battleships that the Pacific Squadron could deploy would be reduced to four. They would have no advantage, and even have a huge disadvantage, against the Island Royal Navy.

The Pacific Squadron could not afford such a loss. Once they lose their few naval advantages, the Russian Empire will become even more vulnerable on land.

Setting aside the issue of weapons and combat power, the Russian Far East forces, with a strength of fewer than 100,000, could not possibly be a match for the Island Naiton.

Most of the Russian Empire’s elite forces were stationed in Europe, with fewer troops and soldiers stationed in the Far East.

Furthermore, the Siberian Railway had not yet opened completely. The Russian Empire would bear a logistical cost several times higher than the Island Nation for any losses in the Far East.