The Pennant of the Dead - 1

In the history of Russia, there have been numerous wars and conflicts, but among them, the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 holds a special place. The defeat in this war became one of the reasons for the end of the state known as the Russian Empire. However, ten years before the Russo-Japanese War, another conflict occurred that allowed the Japanese Empire to realize its own strength. The First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895 became the final exam for the emerging army and navy of the Land of the Rising Sun. Yet sometimes, a single grain of sand is enough for a well-tuned mechanism to fail. And that grain of sand for the course of history was a simple, if not statistically average, young man who, by the whim of unknown forces, ended up in the right place at the right time. He saved at least one of those who had significant chances to change the course of the future war. No, the saved one was neither a member of the august family nor a multimillionaire. Neither a brilliant scientist nor a renowned industrialist. But Captain 2nd Rank Ienish was considered one of the leading artillery specialists of the entire Russian Imperial Navy.