Reverse Tsushima

Introduction
On April 13, 1904, Vice Admiral Stepan Makarov watched as the Japanese warships he was chasing steamed out of range. With the ships beyond his range of fire, he ordered the small contingent of battleships back to shore. However, two miles away from Port Arthur, Makarov's flagship, the Petropavlovsk, detonated a Japanese mine and sunk almost immediately, taking along with it, possibly Russia's most competent leader in the war. With Makarov dead, the Russian First Pacific Squadron, now under the leadership of Admiral Wilgelm Vitgeft, was routed at the Battle of the Yellow Sea. Maj. Gen, Anatoly Stessel, believing their postition hopeless, surrendered Port Arthur to the Japanese on January 2, 1905. The Russian postition in the war continued to move downhill until finally, they sued for peace after the Battle of Tsushima, where the Second Pacific Squadron was all but destroyed. In the aftermath, Russia lost Port Arthur, its influence over Manchuria, its good relationship with Germany, and its morale was crippled, helping lead to the failed Revolution of 1905. Japan, on the other hand, gained much prestige for defeating the Russian Empire, as well as Port Arthur, protectorate over Korea, and half of the island of Sakhalin.

Now, in the original timeline, Vice Admiral Makarov spotted Japanese ships close to Port Arthur the night of March 31, 1904, but assumed that they were Russian ships on patrol. In this alternate history, Makarov makes the realization the these ships are Japanese minelayers and goes forth to meet them before they mine the ocean outside Port Arthur.

Note: Not finished yet but it will be continued.