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The Coming Storm
With the possibility of conflict on the European continent avoided, Britain began making plans for the inevitable attacks on Russian assets in the Far East. The Royal Navy had made quick work of the remaining Russian ships that were unable to escape into the Baltic in time, and had set up a patrol route across the North Sea, much to the chagrin of the Danish and Swedish. No Russian ship dared to pass through the Skagerrak, and the British were unable to secure a deal to enter the Baltic sea themselves. As a result, the “western front” of the war had come to a screeching and anti-climactic halt.

Meanwhile, in the Mediterranean, the British began to mobilize most of their Mediterranean fleet to make headway through the Suez Canal and towards India, where they could eventually rendezvous with the China Station under the command of Vice-Admiral Sir Gerard Noel. With approval from British high command, Noel began contacting Japanese admiral Tōgō Heihachirō, and organizing a possible joint naval action against Vladivostok. Tōgō relayed the request to his superiors, and both sides prepared to form a single fleet that would “spell the end of the Russian menace in the east.”

As the British fleet prepared to enter the fray in the east, the army was beginning to lag behind. Debates took place over who and what to send to Asia, some arguing that sending troops from mainland Britain would “lead to a similar, pathetic situation that the Russians have just stumbled into.” Counter-arguments posed suggested that relying entirely on colonial or dominion forces could “drain them of precious manpower in the event of a larger conflict in the future.” However, Edward VII, who had authority over all major military decisions, proposed that the primary force consist of colonial troops, and eventually that British soldiers would arrive to bolster them “in the future”.

With the United Kingdom and its empire preparing for war, a number of divisions were rapidly assigned to form the “First Eastern Intervention Group”, to consist of soldiers from India, Australia and Canada. Though it would take many weeks for the full group to be formed, as the soldiers would not only have to be shipped from their homelands, but also organized as a cohesive army group and sent towards the fighting in northern Asia. As the Japanese continued to struggle over the capture of Port Arthur, the British felt that a capture of Vladivostok would lead to a full-scale collapse of the Russian war effort against Japan, and lead to peace talks.

By the 10th of November, much of the China Station had joined the Japanese first squadron under Tōgō Heihachirō, and Noel met with Tōgō aboard the Mikasa, roughly 175 kilometers from Vladivostok itself. With nearly all of the Russian eastern fleet destroyed, the British and Japanese faced little to no threat, and were almost leisurely with their approach towards the Russian city.


The following day, with the Mediterranean fleet still more than two weeks away due to a freak storm, the joint Anglo-Japanese fleet steamed towards Vladivostok, preparing to lay siege to the city. Early on the morning of the 11th of November, the Anglo-Japanese forces were in range of Russky Island, they found themselves under fire from numerous artillery emplacements that were hastily erected by Russian defenders. Though most of the guns were of some significant caliber, their distance from their targets and lack of proper rangefinding led many of the shells to land harmlessly into the water. One shell did manage to hit the Japanese destroyer Akebono, crushing a smokestack and setting a severe fire on the deck that took some time to put out. The responding naval barrage was unable to silence all of the guns, and the ships and guns traded shells for several hours before Tōgō ordered his ships to push forwards.

The harassing coastal fire continued, and grew more serious, as dug-in Russian defenders in the fortresses across the northern half of Russky island became significant, and the large coastal guns were able to do more damage to the oncoming vessels. No ships were sunk in the defense, but two Japanese vessels, the cruiser Nisshin and destroyer Asagiri were heavily damaged, and were forced to limp back towards the rear of the formation. With help from the British, the Japanese shelled the fortifications repeatedly, keeping the defenders from being able to do any more damage.

The ports of Vladivostok itself were already in range of the division’s guns, but as the ships drew closer, they were met with a bizarre sight. A number of Russian fishing vessels had been purposefully scuttled or abandoned, with large chains linking them together, making it difficult for some ships to pass through without having to ram through them. In the ports themselves, the Rossia and Gromoboi--the only ships to have any real combat capability following the battle off Ulsan--were positioned in a way that they blocked the immediate view of the oncoming vessels.

The defending guns roared to life, and took the ships off guard, though most missed. After a few minutes of counter-fire, the engines of both Russian ships suddenly detonated, and huge fires sprung up across the water of the main port of Vladivostok. In a desperate move to prevent accurate shots into the city, the Russian defends sacrificed their only remaining vessels to create a huge smoke screen.

This did not deter the attackers, however, who simply chose to plunge shots through the smoke and into what they suspected to be good targets. Coastal batteries continued to fire on the Anglo-Japanese fleet, but their shooting was in vain, as any ships damaged simply cycled themselves out, replaced with ships that remained in reserve. However, any significant advancement towards the city was halted by Tōgō, fearing the possibility of mines like that outside of Port Arthur.

For eight hours, Vladivostok was viciously shelled by the British and Japanese, laying waste to hundreds of buildings and setting numerous, destructive fires. Hundreds were killed, thousands wounded, and thousands more fled the city for its outskirts. Civilian casualties continued to rise as the fires grew out of control. The setting sun of the 11th of November was obscured by a huge wall of thick, dark smoke of what was once Vladivostok’s harbor, and much of the city itself.

Unbeknownst to the allied fleet, a large number of Russian troops had been making their way to Vladivostok, rushed to the east after the British declaration of war. The troops quickly received word of the destruction of Vladivostok before they arrived the following day, as refugees from the city crowded the railway lines, hoping to escape to safety.

Though the Russian navy may have been bloodied, beaten and humiliated, the Russian army was still fresh and ready for battle. And now, they were out for blood.