The Campaign
x Tsar Nicholas II of Russia had determined to focus his expansion
efforts in the east and began to commit more troops and ships
to increasing Russian power there. The obvious targets were
Manchuria and the Korean peninsula. But Japan, whose imperial
ambitions were growing along with its modernized military, also
coveted these two regions. On February 4, 1904, Japan severed
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torpedo attack against the Russian ships anchored at Port Arthur.
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and an equally powerful boost to Japanese morale. The tsar
dispatched the most renowned admiral in Russia, Stepan Makarov, to
Port Arthur to take control of the situation and restore Russian pride.x 0DNDURYTXLFNO\UHÀRDWHGWKHEDWWOHVKLSVDQGUHYLYHGWKHVSLULWV
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and sank within minutes, carrying Makarov and 662 members of its
crew to the bottom.x Togo now had the upper hand. The Japanese launched a massive
invasion, ferrying hundreds of thousands of troops to Manchuria,
defeating Russian armies at the battles of the Yalu River and
Nanshan, capturing the port of Dalny, and surrounding Port Arthur.x The tsar, determined to make a maximum effort to win the war, sent
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4 new battleships, 3 older battleships, and an attendant swarm of
cruisers, destroyers, and support ships.x 7KHPDQVHOHFWHGWROHDGWKH6HFRQG3DFL¿F6TXDGURQZDV$GPLUDO
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also fair-minded and relatively concerned for the welfare of his
men. Rozhestvensky spent two years as a naval attaché in Great