10 FEBRUARY
Last night at Port Arthur, of the coast of KOREA, JAPANESE torpedo boats carried out a surprise attack on the Russian fleet. A cruiser and two battleships have been severely damaged and there are claims by the Japanese that seven other warships in the area have been captured. Today in Tokyo, with the success of the raid confirmed, the emperor of Japan officially declared war on Russia. In the Russian capital of St petersburg, the tsar, unprepared for such a turn of events, was enjoying an evening out at the opera Officials waited until the end of the performance before telling him the news so as not to spoil his evening. The outbreak of war comes after months of tension in the Far East caused by Russian and Japanese rivalry over control of the Chinese province of Manchuria and over Korea. Within hours of the raid, 8,000 Japanese forces landed unopposed in Korea and began to march towards the capital, Seoul.
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