After the Sino-Japanese War of 1898-1898, due to the encouragement of the imperial court, there was an upsurge in setting up private factories. Before the Gengzi Year, more than a dozen ethnic textile factories were built. Due to the world economic crisis in 1898, imported foreign yarns began to be dumped in China in large quantities.

Under the pressure of foreign capital, the profits of various cotton mills gradually decreased, which became increasingly serious after the Gengzi period. Some small-scale and poorly managed cotton mills were even more unsustainable and were on the verge of bankruptcy.

At that time, the yarn mills run by Britain, Germany and other countries in Shanghai were also in trouble, while Japanese capital began to enter Shanghai's textile industry in a large scale.

In order to delay the entry of Japanese capital, Lin Shuo first spent 1.5 million to buy the Huishan Terminal and the affiliated shipping company and route from Maibian Foreign Co., Ltd., and then took over the Yujin Cotton Mill from Ohua Daosheng Co., Ltd., and the American merchants

Most of the shares of Hongyuan Cotton Mill and Xingtai Cotton Mill formed a new Jinyuan Textile Group. In addition, Dasheng Cotton Mill, chaired by Zhang Jian, also merged with Suzhou's Sulun Cotton Mill to form Dasheng Group due to its better profitability.

With Lin Shuo's support, these yarn mills were able to continue operating, and due to the expansion of scale, they were basically able to maintain a low profit.

Due to the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, Japan's cotton yarn exports to China were at a standstill, and with the cessation of cotton exports to Japan, domestic cotton prices plummeted. Due to the decline in raw material prices and the skyrocketing prices of cotton yarn and cotton cloth, the two major textile groups he controlled made huge profits.

Increase, the annual income in 1904 is expected to exceed 1.5 million taels of silver.

As Japan's raw silk exports were affected, the price of raw silk rose to a certain extent this year. The annual silkworm cocoon output of the silkworm breeding industry controlled by Lin Shuo has reached about 120,000 tons. Due to continuous improvements, with the development of high-quality silkworm breeds

Promotion, the silk produced by Linyi Zhuang Silk Factory has always been sold at a higher price, and this year's raw silk exports actually made a profit of more than 6 million taels.

The tricycle produced by the machine factory gave Lin Shuo a surprise. As soon as this combination of bicycle and rickshaw appeared, it became the main force of public transportation in major cities due to its labor-saving and fast characteristics. It has a tendency to completely replace Toyo rickshaws.

, each tricycle, which sells for as much as 120 yuan, has become a hot commodity among car dealers and wealthy families across the country.

Sales of more than a thousand vehicles per month are already an astronomical figure in this era.

The profit of 50,000 to 60,000 yuan per month makes Wang Shouchang, the general manager of the machine factory, smile from ear to ear. You must know that even a large gantry milling machine or a large vertical boring machine only costs more than 3,000 yuan, and the machine factory only earns 50,000 yuan a month.

The profits from the production of bicycles and tricycles have been enough to buy thirty or forty new machine tools.

On the third floor of the Sino-Russian Daosheng Bank in Shanghai, Li Chengen handed a note to the bank's chief executive, Naryukshin. The Russian quickly glanced at it, then raised his head and asked: "Is the news true?"

Li Chengen said: "From the beginning of the war to now, has there been any error in the intelligence we provided?"

"Oh, no, no, it's just that it's important. You have to confirm it every time." Naryukshen smiled, stretched out his hand and patted Li Chengen on the shoulder, "You did a good job, I think you will be good soon."

Promoted to the chief comprador of the Shanghai Branch of China-Russian Daosheng Bank."

"Thank you! However, the person who provided the information would like to trouble your envoy to convey a piece of advice to the commander-in-chief of the fleet in Port Arthur. If the Russian fleet in Port Arthur cannot successfully break through the Japanese interception and reach Vladivostok, the best result is to run south.

Although it will be temporarily disarmed, it will still be able to preserve some warships for the empire." Li Chengen continued.

Naryukshen looked at Li Chengen and said, "Well, I will convey this kindness!"

Watching Li Chengen leave, Naryukshen read the note carefully again, then lit it with a match. Watching the note in his hand turn into ashes, he stood blankly for a few minutes, then stood up and left.

He took off his coat from the hanger and put it on, put on his hat again, and left the foreign store with a civilized stick in his hand.

After going out, he called a fashionable tricycle. After sitting down, he pointed a civilized stick not far ahead and said to the driver in somewhat stiff Chinese: "Russian Consulate!"

At this time, outside the Port Arthur Fortress, the Japanese Navy, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Kuroi, was leading the naval heavy artillery team to transport four 240mm heavy guns removed from the Fuso to the back of the mountain near the port, and then set up artillery positions.

Combined Fleet Commander Togo Heihachiro and the Japanese base camp all realized that the Russian Pacific Fleet hiding in Port Arthur must be eliminated as soon as possible before the Russian Baltic Fleet arrived for reinforcements. Only in this way can the Japanese Navy have a chance to finally win. Otherwise, once the Russian reinforcements arrive,

The fleet arrived, but the combined fleet, which had already lost two battleships, Yashima and Hatsase, could not resist the flanking attack of the two Russian fleets.

For this reason, the Japanese Third Army, with Nogi Nogi as its commander, was reorganized and prepared to launch a new attack on the Port Arthur Fortress. Dongxiang believed that it was not necessary to completely capture the entire fortress, as long as one or two highlands could be captured to observe the situation in the port.

,

Establishing an artillery command post there and instructing naval guns and heavy artillery outside the port to shoot at the Russian ships in the port can put the Russians into despair. However, the stubborn Nogi did not listen to the navy's advice at all, and continued to launch his plans to no avail.

Big dox attack.

Dongxiang had no choice but to order Kuroi to command the naval heavy artillery team to blindly fire into the harbor in the hope of driving the Russian ships out of the heavily defended Port Arthur.

The Japanese action finally came to fruition. The Russian Emperor ordered the acting commander of the fleet, Vyzoft, to lead the entire fleet to Vladivostok. The timid Vyzoft had to obey the Tsar's order, and at the same time conveyed to the senior officers of the fleet a message from the Consul General in Shanghai.

Lei Ming sent a suggestion that if the breakout failed, it would be best for the fleet to escape southward.

At dawn on August 10, before dawn, Vezoft led the Russian Pacific Fleet to leave the port of Port Arthur. Togo Heihachiro's "snatching the enemy" tactics finally paid off. The Japanese destroyer Baiyun, which was waiting outside the port for surveillance, saw the U.S. Navy destroyer.

Zov

The special flagship Crown Prince took the lead, followed by five battleships, three cruisers and more than a dozen destroyers, torpedo boats, auxiliary ships, etc., sailing out of the port in a mighty manner, and immediately sent a message to the Togo main fleet waiting at Yuumashima.

reported the situation.

Togo Heihachiro immediately ordered the main fleet to start weighing anchor to intercept, and at the same time notified nearby cruise battle groups and destroyer formations to concentrate in the target direction.

Because the warship was parked in the port for a long time without starting, the main engine of Vezoft's flagship Crown Prince failed as soon as it sailed out of the port. After emergency repairs, the speed was finally restored. But then its steering gear failed again.

The entire fleet had to wait in place until the flagship was repaired.

On the Yellow Sea, the autumn air is crisp and the weather is sunny.

Vezoft stood on the bridge and frowned. This unexpected situation gave him an ominous premonition.

However, the situation was not serious. After more than an hour, the rusted main engine finally returned to normal, and the Russian fleet resumed action, sailing due east. The Japanese main fleet led by Togo also sailed in front of the Russian fleet.

It was already noon when the two fleets met on the sea about ten nautical miles apart.

Vezoft ordered the fleet to turn to the left, avoid fighting with the Japanese army as much as possible, and try to get rid of the Japanese fleet. The two fleets headed towards each other. Dongxiang was afraid that the Russian army would withdraw to Lushun again, so he ordered the fleet to continue to sail straight until the two fleets were in the same position.

When they were in a parallel position, the fleet was ordered to turn 90 degrees to cut off the Russian army's retreat.

Vezoft, on the other hand, ignored everything and ordered the fleet to move towards Vladivostok with all its strength. His purpose was to bring the fleet there as safely as possible, so that the distance between the two sides would be wider.

Seeing this, in order to maintain contact with the Russian fleet, Dongxiang ordered the fleet to turn again. The Japanese fleet slanted towards the Russian fleet, and the distance between the two sides was close again. At this point, Vezoft no longer seemed timid and raised a signal flag to order the fleet to prepare.

Fight against.

At around one o'clock in the afternoon, the distance between the two fleets was about 8,000 meters. The Crown Prince and Letvizan, which were at the forefront of the Russian fleet, first aimed at the Mikasa for a test launch. The Japanese fleet immediately counterattacked, and the Japanese-Russian Yellow Sea naval battle began.

Togo's fleet did not have an advantage over the Russian Pacific Fleet. Due to the unfortunate loss of two battleships in the Port Arthur blockade, the already weaker combined fleet was left with only four battleships: Mikasa, Shikishima, Fuji, and Asahi.

The British helped to snap up two armored ships, the Kasuga and the Nikshin, with a displacement of less than 8,000 tons from the Argentine Navy before the war. In terms of the number of battleships, the Russians were even stronger.

But the Japanese have no retreat. They must destroy the Pacific Fleet before the Russian Baltic Fleet arrives, otherwise defeat is likely to be waiting for them.

The Japanese launched a desperate stance when they came up, but Vezoft had no intention of fighting the Japanese to the death.

When the artillery battle began, Dongxiang ordered the fleet to make a 180-degree turn and resorted to the magic weapon he learned while studying in England: T-shaped tactics to fight against the front of the Russian column. Unexpectedly, Wittsov ignored him at all.

He ordered the Russian fleet to turn to the right while firing cannons. He estimated that his fleet could almost break through the Japanese fleet's encirclement.

Dongxiang thought that the Russians wanted to flee back to Port Arthur, so he ordered the fleet to turn 180 degrees to prepare for a blockade. Unexpectedly, the Russian fleet turned around again and headed southeast. Only then did Dongxiang realize that Vezoft's Russian fleet was not out to fight with him.

The decisive battle is to escape towards Vladivostok!

But at this time, the distance between the two teams had increased to more than 13,000 meters. Vezoft ordered his fleet to maintain a speed of more than 14 knots. According to his calculations, it was impossible for the Japanese to catch up with him before dark.

.

The commander of the Japanese combined fleet, Heihachiro Togo, and the fleet staff officer, Machi Akiyama, were also dumbfounded. At this time, the two fleets were almost eight or nine nautical miles apart, but it was impossible to catch up within more than ten hours. Although the Japanese fleet was faster

Fast, but less than a knot faster than the Russian battleship.

Dongxiang almost desperately led the combined fleet to pursue them like crazy. Unfortunately, at 5:30 in the afternoon, the Japanese miraculously arrived in front of the Russians.

It turned out that several slow-moving old ships in the Russian fleet and the damaged Letvezan in Lushun slowed down the speed of the entire fleet. Vezoft was an extremely unqualified commander and lacked the ability of a strong man to cut off his wrist.

He was bold and did not even think about whether he should abandon these fatal old ships and bring most of the main force to Vladivostok smoothly.

As a result, Vezoft, who wanted everything, even got involved himself.

About 45 nautical miles north of Rongcheng Cape on the Shandong Peninsula, the two fleets started an artillery battle again. The Poltava, which was behind the Russian fleet, first opened fire on the Mikasa, which was leading the Japanese fleet, with its rear main gun. A shrill scream crossed the sea.

, there was a violent explosion on the poor Mikasa, and the second round of battle began.

Vezoft issued a "breakout to the south" signal on the Crown Prince, and the Russian fleet began to turn, just in time to focus all its firepower on the Mikasa, which was ahead of us. The unlucky Mikasa suffered heavy damage as soon as it came up and was almost paralyzed.

The fighting became more intense.

At around 6 p.m., the Crown Prince's steering gear failed again at a critical moment. The Russians' tragic scene reappeared. Two 305mm shells fired from the burning Mikasa directly hit the Crown Prince's bridge. Command

The tower was in a mess, and the commander of the Russian fleet, Major General Vezoft, and his staff were killed on the spot.

The out-of-control Crown Prince rampaged across the battlefield, frightening the Sevastopol and Bolesvet into hiding, and the Russian army's formation was suddenly in chaos.

Ukhtomsky, who took over the command of Vyzoft, hoisted the signal flag on the Polevest and took the lead in turning to Port Arthur. However, because both masts on the Polevest were blown off, he had to

A signal was sent from the bridge, but it was impossible to see it clearly on the battlefield where the smoke was billowing.

The Russian army lost command and began to flee in all directions under the siege of the Japanese.

It was getting dark, and the Letvizan, which was lagging behind, became the focus of the combined fleet. The Russians seemed to know that they were about to die. Instead, they calmed down and turned around to fight bravely with the Japanese ship in order to cover their own side.

The main battleships evacuated safely.

The surroundings of the Letvezan were filled with gunpowder smoke, and black smoke was rising all over. The French's shipbuilding technology seemed to be not a little better than that of the Russians. The heavily damaged warship was still stubbornly floating on the water. Just as the Japanese

When I thought this Russian battleship was going to be sunk

At that time, the commander of the cruiser detachment, Rear Admiral Reshenstern, saw the battleship Letwezan in desperate situation and took the risk to lead his three cruisers Askold, Parada and Huntsman to bravely charge.

Enter the battlefield and lend a helping hand to the Letvezan.

At this time, the cruiser Novik, which had not participated in the battle, also appeared in front of the main force of the combined fleet with the Russian destroyer fleet. It was already dark. If the Russian destroyer launched a torpedo attack at night, the consequences would be disastrous. Dongxiang immediately ordered the fleet to leave the battlefield.

A thrilling battle fleet duel came to an end. Surprisingly, both sides hit each other with many shells, but neither side was able to sink even a single battleship of the other side. The keen British analyzed this battle

After detailed information on the naval battle, it was concluded that under the protection of heavy armor, the secondary main guns could no longer pose a fatal threat to the enemy's main ships. The outcome of the naval battle would depend on the number of main guns possessed by the main ships of both sides.

.

This directly prompted the British to make up their mind to start building the world's first all-heavy artillery battleship, the Dreadnought, and also heralded the arrival of the age of giant ships and cannons for maritime supremacy.
Chapter completed!