Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 158



Only Noblemtl

#158. Dipping your feet in the angry waves (3)

The Russian Admiralty staged mock battles in the Far East several times in anticipation of a showdown with the Japanese Navy, and each time expected total defeat.

Of course, the main fleet at Port Arthur would have been trapped in the golden cage of Port Arthur and would have been slaughtered, or it would have been unable to respond properly if the Japanese navy had mobilized a large number of torpedo boats, as it had done when it had blown up Weihaiwei’s Beiyang Fleet.

This was because the destroyer forces that were supposed to intercept them were scattered here and there.

In the first place, the Sokol-class destroyers that had been deployed to the Pacific Fleet since 1895 were not capable of stopping the Japanese Navy’s torpedo boats.

Initially, only some of the Sokol-class destroyers were deployed in the Far East, and the rest were just large torpedo boats.

There was talk of classifying it as a destroyer, but it was woefully inadequate compared to the Sokol-class, which was built for full-scale destroyer missions.

“It will be helpful to us in its own way. Compared to the Sokol-class destroyer, the French Arquebus-class destroyer that the Korean Empire is planning to introduce is an advanced form in many ways.”

Although there was only a five-year gap between the Sokol class and the Arquebus class, which were first produced in 1895 and 1900, there were significant differences.

Compared to the Sokol class, which had an average speed of 26 knots, the Arquebus class was a very fast ship that could maneuver at a speed of 28 to 30 knots, and was also about 100 tons larger. The Sokol class was 200 tons, while the Arquebus class was 300 tons.

Naturally, since the ship was slightly larger, the Arquebus class also had better armament.

Just the number of 47mm rapid-fire guns that could be used to deal with enemy torpedo boats was about twice as many.

Here, there was a separate aspect that the Russian Admiralty had high hopes for in the Korean Empire’s naval business.

“Perhaps the Korean government’s naval power building project could be of great help to our fleet in the Far East. Until recently, our fleet in the Far East could not use Lushun or Vladivostok when it needed repairs and the like, but had to use ports in Japan, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.”

Since Admiral Alekseev’s report in 1896, no further action had been taken.

By securing Lushun, they were able to find a place to anchor large ships that the naval facilities in Vladivostok lacked, but paradoxically, it was also the perfect place to get stuck in wartime. That’s why the Navy was also targeting ports within the Korean Empire, such as Masanpo.

“Although Japanese ports are close, the port facilities are very inconvenient and expensive, and repairs take a long time. However, these are only minor issues compared to the reasons I will explain later. The biggest problem is that the strengths and weaknesses of our ships, whether we like it or not, are exposed to the Japanese. There are already concerns that information about the Pacific Fleet will be passed on to Japan.”

“Then why don’t we use Shanghai and Hong Kong?”

“Hong Kong is convenient and has the best repairs in Asia, but the British are making huge profits, making it prohibitively expensive. And it’s too far away. Shanghai can only repair small ships, and considering that most of our fleet in Port Arthur is made up of large ships, there’s not much use for it.”

This was the most frustrating aspect for the Russian fleet in the Far East.

In preparation for the dispatch of the Baltic and Black Sea fleets to the Far East in the event of an emergency, the facilities at ports controlled by the Russian Navy, such as Vladivostok, had to be expanded, but financial problems and the astronomical amount of money poured into fortifying Port Arthur had prevented any significant expansion of facilities as of yet.

Moreover, the Russian Navy’s main forces have always been in the Baltic and Black Seas. It was only a few years ago that they began to pay attention to the Pacific Fleet in the Far East.

“Besides, the relationship between Japan and the UK is not good. The French Foreign Ministry has hinted that an alliance will be concluded early next year, which would make both Shanghai and Hong Kong unsafe for our use.”

Kuropatkin nodded to the Foreign Minister’s words.

Since the Great Compromise of 1901, there has been talk that Britain and Japan have become closer than expected and have a common goal.

Perhaps it was an attempt to block the advance of Russia, France and Germany in Asia, but it was not a pleasant story for Russia.

“If the Korean Empire, while building its navy this time, also establishes facilities in the port areas of the Korean Peninsula that can be used by our fleet, we may finally be able to fully operate the fleet that is stuck in Port Arthur and Vladivostok.”

“But it is known that they only operate small ships such as destroyers?”

“We will not be satisfied with destroyers. After all, the economic capacity of the Korean Empire will depend on how well it maintains the maritime trade routes along the west coast and defends the sea routes connecting Vladivostok, Hamheung, Wonsan, Busan, and Nagasaki on the east coast. We will naturally demand cruisers and other classes of ships in sequence.”

The Navy Department had already compiled a list of potential naval bases for the Korean Empire and was weighing them.

Jemulpo, Cheongjin Bay, and Masanpo, which Russia originally had its eye on, were mentioned.

It seemed that there was a lot of discussion about that issue within the Korean Empire.

“It is not a bad thing for us to strengthen the defense capabilities of the Korean Empire. However, since it could provoke Japan, we should show external restraint in our instructors’ group and the Navy’s intervention.”

“That’s obvious. There’s no point in provoking Japan in the Far East right now. There’s no reason for us to upset the balance that was barely achieved through the agreement that the Korean Empire managed to pull off.”

Kuropatkin was secretly relieved. Thanks to the strategy of the Korean Empire, which had stabilized the situation by involving other powers, especially Germany, in the troubles of the Russian Empire’s hardliners, the immediate crisis of war was averted.

They were a weak country, but they were definitely trying to find a way to survive, and the Russian Empire was also able to buy itself some time.

“First of all, regarding the construction of Korea’s naval power, I will convey this to the Governor-General of the Far East. He should not support them on the surface.”

“then···?”

“I can at least give you some ‘advice’ on how to best deploy our Russian Navy in the Far East.”

Kuropatkin thought their flotilla was quite useful.

It could be used to reinforce Russia’s insufficient auxiliary ship force, and above all, as a forward ship that could block the advance of the Japanese Navy in advance.

He thought that the ‘military value’ of the Korean Empire was gradually maturing.

They had a force of only 10,000 men, but in just 5 years they grew to 60,000 men.

This time, the fleet and conscription system were introduced, and its size gradually increased.

At first, he viewed it as an undesirable vassal state, but recently he has been thinking that he needs to change that perception.

If it shines with its own value, we have no choice but to acknowledge it and use it.

Kuropatkin decided that the Far East defense strategy needed to be gradually changed.

Now, the defense of the Korean Empire is left to them, with a defense strategy centered on South Manchuria.

***

Under the contract, about 100 candidates for naval officer positions and 500 sailors were dispatched to France.

A considerable number of skilled crew members, including Shin Sun-seong, a graduate of the Tokyo Merchant Marine School who was working at Daehan First Company, joined the Navy.

They were to board a steamer and head towards Indochina, where they would be trained on the mainland with French naval vessels.

Afterwards, they would sequentially return home together with the destroyers that had been completed in Toulon and elsewhere.

To nurture the budding navy, several foundations were needed.

First of all, as soon as the contract for the purchase of the ship was signed, the Maritime Defense Bureau was newly established in the Marshal’s Office, and it was decided to elevate it to the Naval Bureau from the time the ship was delivered.

Of course, the process of recruiting personnel nationwide to operate the fleet was not smooth because there was opposition within the government.

“If we create a navy and take away the skilled crew members of priority companies, which are the foundation of the country, the problems will get worse.”

“Furthermore, if we take away the manpower of those who transport taxes, mail, and various cargoes of the post office, how will we be able to handle the increasing transport volume in the future?”

The Ministry of Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry’s opposition was the strongest. In particular, the Ministry of Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry’s Bureau of Shipping and the General Post Office were the most vehement in their opposition to the drafting of personnel for the creation of the Navy, which was understandable in a way.

After all, the main means of transportation and transport in the Korean Empire were at sea, not on land.

This was because the only way they could exert influence over the territories of the Korean Empire on the sea was by using steamships.

After all, it was an omnibus project and the introduction of carriages were secondary.

In the end, it was a form in which land transportation business was supported only when ports and steamships were activated.

The Gyeongin Line was completed, and the Gyeongbu Line and Gyeongui Line would be built soon, but the railroad was still not enough to take the place of the main line.

Anyway, the empire is developing, and as such, the logistics network extending to every part of the country will only increase, not decrease.

However, this opposition was resolved thanks to the president of Daehan Woosun Company, who had a firm grip on the Ministry of Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry’s leadership.

“You don’t have to worry about that, sir.”

“No, what are you talking about, Mr. Choi?”

“The crew of the Daehan Wooshin Company is more than enough, and if a small company like Hongik could play a small part in our country’s attempt to establish a navy, what greater honor could there be?”

The Korea First Shipping Company, which owned about 200 official ships and 100 company ships, responded to the labor shortage by hiring skilled crew members from Shanghai to fill the vacancies.

In the end, the Ministry of Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry’s Giseon Division and the Postal Service, which had nothing to say, had no choice but to accept it.

Meanwhile, while the Navy’s term personnel went to France for training, the Marshal’s Office established the Department of Liberation, the predecessor to the Navy.

Since the establishment of the Naval Bureau under the Military Affairs Office in 1895, a new department in charge of major affairs related to the Navy was created.

There was a lot of debate over who should be the director.

The head of the inspection bureau, Min Yeong-hwan, and former Minister of the Armed Forces, Han Gyu-seol, argued that the foundation of the Navy should be laid by appointing a former naval commander as the head of the liberation bureau, while the military advisor, Lieutenant General Baek Seong-gi, argued that although not from the navy, a person with a good knowledge of the sea and above all, someone who could build a system should be appointed.