I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 430 Collision! (Keep going)

After the war broke out, Japan's source of funds, in addition to British loans, was to raise money from the sale of national debt from the United States.

Almost all of Japan's sales of treasury bonds in the United States were completed by Jacob Schiff. For Japan, the funds raised by Schiff are crucial.

After the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, Japan received more than 2200 million pounds in funds from the United States through Schiff.

The "Shikishima" class battleship Japan ordered from the United Kingdom cost only 120 million pounds per ship.

In addition to raising funds from the United States, Japanese Financial Officer Korekiyo Takahashi in the UK also issued six consecutive public bonds in the UK with the help of Schiff, raising a total of 6 billion yen.

This is why Japan demands 10 billion in compensation.

From the Japanese perspective, Japan has been very restrained, because the 10 billion compensation is not even enough to repay the debt.

The Russo-Japanese War was also known as "Schiff's War" in Europe and the United States.

This fully demonstrates Schiff's role in this war.

On September 9, Witte and Komura Jutaro signed the Treaty of Portsmouth in Washington, and the war finally ended.

Schiff died of myocardial infarction and had no other causes.

Now that the war is going on, Nicholas finally understands why Werther opposes war with Japan.

Instead, Japan compensated the Russian Empire.

Money has to be paid.

St. Petersburg did not fail to notice Schiff. After the fall of Arthur's Fortress, the Russians attributed the failure of the front line to the help of the Hebrew consortium, so the Russian Hebrews were unlucky.

Werther really wanted to figure it out.

This is the result of the US government's investigation.

Since the beginning of this year, approximately 500 Hebrew villages and towns in the Russian Empire have been looted, and tens of thousands of people have been affected.

On September 9, Nicholas finally recovered and began to deal with political affairs.

But it was not the Russian Empire that compensated Japan.

If George still wants to fight, let George continue to fight. Anyway, George, the imperial uncle, is not easy for Nicholas to control.

Although it is only now that I understand that it is an afterthought, it is not too late to make amends. By signing the peace agreement as soon as possible, the empire can turn its main energy from war back to restoring the national economy and people's livelihood, which is more important to the Russian Empire.

Nicholas's first order was to dismiss Vladimir from his post, recall Witte, and appoint Witte as chairman of the Council of Ministers.

The turning point came in early September.

Root was helpless. The two of them were indeed more stubborn than the other.

Compared with Kanto, the European and Russian parts are the basic base of the Russian Empire.

Before the war broke out, Werther was dismissed from his position as finance minister by Nicholas and gradually moved away from the center of power.

After Schiff's death, Xiaocun's attitude finally changed dramatically. He no longer demanded compensation, but only wanted to end the war as soon as possible.

The Treaty of Portsmouth has a total of 15 articles. Its main content is to use the actual control line as the dividing line to cease the war. The two sides will gradually break away from the war. The Russian Empire will transfer the lease rights of the Liaodong Peninsula and the railway between Kuanchengzi and Darini to Japan.

With Nicholas' decree, all obstacles to a peace agreement were removed.

After the treaty was signed, everyone felt sad.

The expansion of the Russian Empire in the Far East was certainly curbed.

But the rise of Japan will also affect the interests of European and American countries in East Asia.

To a lesser extent, it is a benefit.

On a larger scale, it’s Eurasian, or even human race.

There were no winners in the Russo-Japanese War.

The Russian Empire failed to annex Kanto, and war broke out in the country, and conflicts further broke out.

Japan also failed to complete the extortion of the Russian Empire through war. In addition to domestic conflicts, it also had to face the national debts of the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as France and Germany.

After the Second Fleet was annihilated, Takahashi Korekiyo issued the sixth treasury bond in Europe to repay previously issued treasury bonds.

At this time, the Russian Empire had lost the possibility of victory. This time the issuance of national debt was unprecedentedly grand. The number of subscribers in London was 27 times the issuance quota, New York was four times, Germany was ten times, and France was twenty times.

Japanese government bonds pay an annual interest rate of 4 cents, are issued at 90 percent of face value, and are unsecured.

If Japan cannot afford to pay such high interest rates by then, the consortium capitalists who purchased Japanese government bonds will suffer heavy losses.

Therefore, after the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth, the people facing George changed from the Japanese government to capitalists from all over the world.

According to the provisions of the "Portsmouth Treaty", from the date of signing, the Russian and Japanese troops in Kwantung will withdraw from the front line in batches.

Regardless of whether Dashanyan will withdraw or not, George will definitely not withdraw.

On September 9, Witte and Komura Jutaro signed the Treaty of Portsmouth.

On September 9, the battleship "Yuryev" was officially delivered to the Siberian Fleet for service.

As the world's first all-heavy artillery battleship, the "Yuryev" has attracted worldwide attention from the day the keel was laid. Almost all countries, including Britain, France, Germany, and the United States, have sent permanent representatives to Vladivostok. , pay attention to the progress of the "Yuryev".

The "Yuryev" has a full load displacement of 21000 tons and a maximum speed of 23 knots, which is faster than all armored cruisers in Europe and the United States today.

The main gun of the "Yuriyev" is four twin-mounted backpack-type 330mm 40-fold electric-driven artillery. Due to the removal of the centerline main gun, the shape of the entire battleship is more slender. This is the latest version of the "Yuriyev". The main reason for the rapid speed reaching 23 knots.

In addition to the 8 main guns, the "Yuryev" only has 26 75mm guns used to defend against small torpedo boats.

This configuration is sufficient. "Yuriyev" will not sail alone. During combat, it will be accompanied by a large number of armored cruisers and light cruisers. It is difficult for torpedo boats to approach "Yuriyev". These 75mm guns have a firing angle of up to 90 degrees.

No one but George knew what it did.

Even Bai Laoyi asked George, and George said he was shooting birds.

Okay, you pay for it, just be happy.

Peter was happier.

After "Yuryev" entered service, it immediately replaced the "Ural" and became the flagship of the Siberian Fleet, which fully proved that the Amur people prefer the new and dislike the old.

When the "Ural" and "Caucasus" were commissioned, the Amur people celebrated with joy for a week, almost turning into a carnival.

There is much less noise about "Yuryev" entering service.

The Amur people have begun to look forward to an upgraded version of "Yuryev".

For the Combined Fleet, the commissioning of the "Yuryev" is definitely the worst news.

The "Mikasa" was sunk, and the "Victory" and "Eagle" that were scheduled to join the combined fleet were also sunk.

The problem before Dongxiang now is not only that these three battleships cannot be put into service, but the more serious problem is how to get these three battleships out of Nagasaki Port.

There are not many berths in Nagasaki Naval Port that can accommodate 10,000-ton battleships.

These three battleships capsized in the naval port. If these three battleships were not removed, half of the Nagasaki naval port would be abandoned.

What worries Dongxiang even more is that the signing of the peace agreement does not seem to bring peace to Japan.

After the "Yuryev" was commissioned, the first thing Peter did was to take all the main warships of the Siberian Fleet for a walk outside Nagasaki Port.

Dongxiang was very angry and pulled out all the main warships of the combined fleet to confront the Siberian fleet.

Peter did not fire his cannons, smiled sinisterly, and led the fleet away.

Before Dongxiang could breathe a sigh of relief, another bad news came.

After the Russo-Japanese War broke out, Jeju was immediately occupied by the Japanese army.

Jeju was rented by George from Korea. All facilities on the island belong to George and are his personal property.

Although the Russian Empire had an armistice with Japan, the problem between George and Japan was not resolved.

Peter did not return to Vladivostok, but led the main force of the Siberian fleet directly to Jeju.

Before the outbreak of the war, Jeju played an extremely important role as a transit point for immigrants between Amur and the Qing Empire. The port facilities were complete and could accommodate large cargo ships.

It can also dock 10,000-ton warships.

Before the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, George's hostility to Japan was very obvious, and he advocated the Japanese threat theory, which eventually became a reality.

Jeju not only has a port, but also has camps prepared for immigrants. It has nearly 10,000 acres of orange orchards and is the main citrus producing area in Vladivostok.

After being occupied by the Japanese army, Jeju’s citrus became a trophy of Japan.

Peter didn't talk nonsense to the Japanese. After leading the fleet to Jeju, he ordered to take over the defense of Jeju.

So the cruiser "Falcon" sent by Peter was blocked by the cruiser "Kasagi" of the Japanese Combined Fleet.

"This is the Siberian Fleet of the Amur Military District of the Russian Empire. Get out of here immediately and don't interfere with my mission!"

Ozdoyev personally shouted to the "Kasagi", and the content was very Russian.

There was probably no Russian translator on board the "Kasagi", so there was no response.

Ozdoev was still not arrogant enough and sent a telegram to Peter asking what Peter should do.

Peter's response was curt.

"Collide!"

The "Kasagi" didn't want to hit the "Falcon", so it kept running parallel to the "Falcon", hoping to force the "Falcon" to turn and not approach Jeju Port.

With Peter's order, Ozdoev laughed wildly and ordered the "Falcon" to turn around and distance himself from the "Kasagi".

The captain of the "Kasagi", Colonel Ryo Tachibana Arima, was very satisfied. It seemed that the Siberian Fleet could still be reasonable.

Arima Ryoju never expected that the "Falcon" circled not far away. After adjusting its direction, it suddenly turned on its full power and rushed towards the "Kasagi" at full speed.

"Nani! Are the Russians crazy?"

Arima Ryoju ordered the "Kasagi" to make an emergency turn, not wanting to collide with the "Falcon".

"Chase! If you catch up, you must sink it!"

Ozdoev laughed wildly. He was a soldier of Grand Duke Yuriev and wanted to take good care of Grand Duke Yuriev's property.

"Kasagi" is the sister ship of "Yoshino".

There are four ships of the same class as the "Yoshino". The "Yoshino" was hit and sunk while laying mines at Arthur Naval Port, and the "Takasago" hit a mine and sank. If the "Kasagi" is hit and sunk again, there will be only one "Chitose" left.

Ozdoev does not care whether Japan and the Russian Empire pay reparations.

George's personal interests cannot be damaged. It was agreed that the Grand Duke of St. Petersburg loves money as much as his life. George is not only a Grand Duke, but also an imperial uncle.

If you dare to steal Grand Duke Yuriev's money, Grand Duke Yuriev will kill you.

(End of this chapter)