The Rise Of Australasia - Chapter 184: Outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War

The time entered February 1904, and the situation in the Far East became increasingly complicated, with the whole region shrouded in a crisis of war.

The protagonists of the crisis were naturally the dominant Russian Empire in the Far East and the emerging Island Nation.

As a recently risen country, Island Nation has gained considerable land from a series of wars and incidents and has greatly expanded its own military.

However, mineral resources within Island Nation are scarce, and the small Korean Peninsula they acquired is insufficient to alleviate their resource problems.

Although Island Nation signed a mineral resource import agreement with Australia, the cost was at least double the market price to acquire valuable mineral resources.

For the cash-strapped Island Nation, this was a considerable burden. Coupled with existing loans from the British Empire and the United States, high interest rates and fiscal deficits were gradually becoming unbearable for Island Nation’s finances.

They naturally turned their gaze to the north of the Korean Peninsula, where the East Three Provinces, rich in mineral resources, lay.

This land had a sufficient population, large areas of arable land, and abundant mineral resources.

More importantly, due to its connection with the Korean Peninsula, its mineral resources could be quickly transported to the mainland of Island Nation through the ports of the peninsula, much more convenient and economical than importing mineral resources from Australia.

However, there was a problem: this land that Island Nation valued had been occupied by the Russian Empire several years ago.

As the master of the Far East, the Russian Empire would naturally not give up this land, after all, their Yellow Russia plan was common knowledge.

Would a starving hunter give up hunting in his abundant hunting ground at his doorstep just because there are strong guards?

Obviously, he would not, because if he does not act, he will starve to death. Faced with the threat of death, even the most formidable enemies must fight with all they have.

That’s the situation Island Nation is facing now. If they don’t do something, their current finances could drag the whole country down, shattering their dreams of revival and negating the efforts of everyone from emperor to commoner over decades.

Would Islanders accept such an outcome? Impossible. Moreover, before acquiring the Korean Peninsula, Island Nation had waged a gamble of national destiny.

It was this war that led Island Nation to acquire the Korean Peninsula, arable land with decent resources, and take their first step towards rising to power.

Starting from August of the previous year, Island Nation had officially launched negotiations with the Russian Empire, attempting to divide their respective interests in the Far East.

The Island Nation proposed that the Russian Empire recognize Island Nation’s superior interests in Korea, while Island Nation would only recognize the special interests of the Russian Empire in the Manchurian Railway.

This was tantamount to asking the Russian Empire to give up Korea without gaining anything in return, which the Russian Empire naturally would not agree to.

The negotiations had lasted for six months. The Island Nation sought to use peaceful means to divide interests with the Russian Empire in the Far East, but ultimately found it unfeasible, and decisively abandoned this plan.

On February 6, 1904, Island Nation unilaterally notified the Russian Empire, declaring an end to the negotiations between the two countries and severing diplomatic relations with the Russian Empire.

At this point, war between the two countries was inevitable, and the end of negotiations actually signaled the launch of negotiations through a more assertive method.

Indeed, two days later, without a declaration of war, Island Nation’s navy attacked the Russian fleet stationed at Port Arthur Harbor, triggering the war for dominance in the Far East.

At the time, the referendum in New Zealand was still ongoing, and Arthur naturally did not comment on the situation in the Far East. However, he had the Australian and New Zealand governments issue a declaration of neutrality, declaring that Australia and New Zealand would remain neutral in this war.

Nevertheless, Arthur had the military factories contact the Russian Empire and Island Nation immediately to ask if they needed to buy more weapons and equipment, and Australia could increase production to get it to them as fast as possible.

After all, declaring neutrality didn’t mean that they couldn’t engage in the arms trade. The United States did just that, initially declaring neutrality to profit from the arms trade, and joining the conflict directly once prospects became clear, securing a high position among the victors at the lowest cost.

Compared to the strongly resolute Island Nation, the Russian Empire was divided on this crisis of dominance.

The Russian Empire’s attitude could be divided into two factions: the peace advocates, led by the Minister of Finance and Minister of Foreign Affairs, who saw the crisis in the Russian Empire’s domestic and international situation and advised Tsar Nicholas II not to lightly initiate war.

The peace advocates suggested making some concessions to secure peace for a short time. Meanwhile, they would increase economic exploitation and preparations for war in the Far East. Once the Siberian Railway was fully operational and the peripheral fort stopped near Port Arthur port was completed, then they could seize the opportunity to have a major showdown with Island Nation.

The peace advocates were not purely peace-loving: their advocacy for temporary peace was simply to better prepare for war, which is in line with the tradition of Russians who have never feared war.

The other faction was the warmongers, represented by the Imperial Minister, the Minister of Internal Affairs, and the Governor of the Far East.

These people were extremely fanatical chauvinists, imperial adventurers. They were very confident in the military power of the Russian Empire and had little regard for the newly emerging country of the Island Nation.

They believed that a small mobilization of the Russian Empire’s army could easily annihilate the enemy from the Island Nation.

Such a hearty victory could also ease the revolutionary crisis within the Russian Empire, and, based on external expansions, ensure domestic stability, killing two birds with one stone.

This belief was largely due to the growing intensity of the revolutionary wave within the Russian Empire, and its upper echelons were already seeking ways to resolve the crisis from other angles.

But the Russian Empire is an authoritarian country, where the Tsar has absolute power. All decisions had to be made by Tsar Nicholas II.

However, during the time when Nicholas II was still the Crown Prince, he had travelled abroad by the order of Tsar Alexander III to visit several countries.

Nicholas II passed through Greece, Egypt, India, the Island Nation and the Qing Empire, then returned from Siberia in the Far East.

This made Nicholas II the first person in the Russian Empire to have visited Asia.

However, this Asian trip was not pleasant and left Nicholas II with a strong hatred and animosity towards the Island Nation.

In 1891, Nicholas, then Crown Prince of the Russian Empire led his close friend George, the Greek Prince, and more than 30 others to the Island Nation.

At that time, the Island Nation was still a weak country, and the visit of Crown Prince Nicholas was fully welcomed by the Island Nation Government.

To ensure the safety of Crown Prince Nicholas, the Island Nation Government made great efforts. They increased police force, ensuring stringent precautions in order to ensure everything went smoothly.

On the other hand, the then Foreign Minister of the Island Nation, Aoki Chikugo, and the Russian Ambassador to the Island Nation agreed that in the event of an assassination, the culprit would be sentenced to death for the crime of undermining the royal family as per the Penal Law, with no room for leniency.

Yet the unexpected happened so suddenly. On May 11, 1891, Crown Prince Nicholas was assaulted during his tour of the Mega Metropolis by Police officer Mitsuzou Tsuda, who was responsible for his security.

The assassination attempt ultimately failed. Although Nicholas was stabbed twice, his life was not in danger.

However, the relationship between the Russian Empire and the Island Nation cooled significantly, and Nicholas II, due to this incident, had no affection for the Island Nation and even harboured extreme hatred and contempt.

What would be the reaction of such a man, who held such hatred and contempt for the Island Nation, upon hearing that the Island Nation wanted to compete with the Russian Empire for dominance in the Far East?

Would he angrily exclaim that these yellow monkeys deserved to die, or would he calmly consider the opinions of the peace party?

As a matter of fact, Nicolas II had both views. He was clear that the Russian Empire’s current preparations were not sufficient and hoped to postpone the war.

At the same time, Nicholas II was convinced that hard-line measures were the best way to maintain dominance. He believed that the best way to postpone the war was to adopt hard-line measures, as any concession would always lead to new concessions.

Such seemingly inconsistent thoughts, in fact, were in support of the hardliners’ point of view.

The Russian Empire indeed was not fully prepared; the Russian Army in the Far East had less than a hundred thousand men, and even fewer were equipped with modern weapons.

Although a batch of weapons and equipment was purchased from Australia, more than half of these were allocated to European armies. The forces stationed in the Far East only received about one-third of this.

The entire Russian Army in the Far East had barely two hundred cannon, twenty heavy machine guns, and just over ninety-thousand combat troops.

In terms of the navy, although the Russian Navy had more than 200 warships, the Pacific Squadron, which could be employed in the Far East region, had just over 60 warships.

Meanwhile, the Island Nation Navy already had over 80 warships, with a total tonnage exceeding 270,000 tons.

Most of the main battleships were new warships built in Britain, with uniform specifications and good performance.

A battleship ordered from Australia had not been completed and was therefore not included in the statistics.

For its army, the Island Nation could deploy over 210,000 troops outside its native land, with thousands of cannon, and more than fifty heavy machine guns.

Looking at the raw data alone, the Russian Empire was already at a considerable disadvantage in the Far East. Although the navy could barely maintain balance, the number of troops, quantity, and advanced level of equipment, were entirely outmatched by the Island Nation.

However, the arrogant Russian Imperial Government naively believed that the Island Nation would never dare to provoke the great Russian Empire. They believed that as long as the Russian Empire showed a tough side, the Islanders would compromise.