Sarah Paine

That's not gonna go well for you.

And the Japanese know because now that Port Arthur falls while this expedition is taking place, so then the purpose of the expedition is no longer there.

They should have taken a U-turn and go home, but no, no, no, they're going to keep on going.

So there is only one other possible location for them, which is an inferior base up at Vladivostok.

So the Japanese know there are three ways to get to Vladivostok if you're coming up from the south.

You're either going to go the long, long way around through the Perus Strait, and it's awfully narrow, and it's the long way around.

You can go through the Sugaru Strait, which is a little wider, but it goes by a bunch of big Japanese army bases and also a very large port of Hakodate.

You want to do that, that's kind of risky.

So the short way is to go through the Korea Strait, which is broken in the middle by the Tsushima Islands.

And the Tsushima Strait is to the east.

It's 20 to 25 miles wide at its narrowest point.

And that's the short way, which is what the Russians take.

And guess what?

They have a welcoming party there of all these newly refitted Japanese ships that know exactly what they're up to.

And the Battle of Tsushima is one of the most...

lopsided naval battles in human history the Japanese just either sink or commandeer basically the entire fleet proving the Russians had no idea of how to do naval strategy that the Navy had been a product of a bunch of aristocrats who the one who ran it was a guy who was known for what was it fast women and slow ships it did not work out well for them

All right, while the negotiations are being held on whether to hold negotiations, President Roosevelt suggested to the Japanese that they try to take Sakhalin Island.

You can see the tip end of the Japanese home island, Hokkaido, and then there's Sakhalin.

Why?

Because it's much more valuable to the Russians than the Japanese, and it would be a good trade-back item in the peace negotiations.