Season 13, Episode 17: The Russo-Japanese War, Part 2
With the area due north of Port Arthur relatively secured after the battle of Dashiqiao in late July of 1904, the Japanese Imperial Army committed troops to take Port Arthur, which lies on the very tip of the Liaodong Peninsula. Japanese high command believed that taking Port Arthur would be a relatively simple affair. Thus far, the Japanese army had proven capable of overcoming Russian fortifications. Plus, it had only been ten years since the last time the Japanese army had taken this city, and the previous battle lasted only a day. However, a lot can happen in ten years and the Russians had not been idle during their occupation of Port Arthur.
The landscape around the city itself had seen considerable alteration to improve the city’s defenses. A series of redoubts, which are fortified positions constructed atop walls with jutting corners, had been constructed in several rings around the city with an eye toward taking advantage of the natural terrain as well as creating overlapping arcs of fire. Unprotected infantry approaching the city would be sitting ducks and the artillery mounted atop the redoubts could make short work of such assaults. In addition to the 50,000 Russian army regulars occupying the city, the Russian army enjoyed the support of tens of thousands of volunteers, bringing their total number to around a hundred thousand.
The Japanese Third Army tasked with taking the port was composed of around a hundred fifty thousand regular soldiers along with another fifty thousand reservists. Both sides enjoyed artillery support, which arguably gave the Russians a bigger advantage than the Japanese. Unlike at the Battle of Yalu River, the Russian artillery was capable of targeting almost every strip of land within range and did not suffer the same limitations of previous defenders. However, the defensive perimeter which they had constructed around the city was far from being entirely impervious to assault. The construction had still been ongoing when the Japanese Third Army began appearing on the horizon and some of the redoubts were incomplete.
Regardless of any weaknesses in the fortifications, the Russians enjoyed one very big advantage; the remainder of their Pacific Fleet, which was still considerable, was anchored in the harbor and able to provide artillery support where needed. The Japanese fleet lurked outside the harbor, blockading any attempts to flee but was hesitant to initiate battle. The Russian Pacific fleet had been damaged by their sneak attack but was still in fairly good operation. It would be easy for their battleships to target any hostile vessel that attempted to cross into the harbor via its narrow entry.
Any hope the Japanese had of a quick, decisive victory like the one they had achieved during the First Sino-Japanese War quickly vanished in the reality of the new, improved, and fully-staffed Port Arthur. The siege would drag on for five months and the tactics and strategies employed by both sides would later become standard practices during World War I. The siege itself is remarkable for its incorporation of trench warfare, barbed wire traps, searchlights, electric fences, and the use of radios for communication. In fact, the siege of Port Arthur would mark the first time in history where intentional jamming of radio signals was used as a wartime tactic.
We will return to Port Arthur when the siege finally ends later in this episode, but a lot else was happening during those five months. A Japanese army numbering around 33,000 struck north and encountered a Russian army of roughly the same number holed up in Hsimucheng, a small village on the road to the provincial capital of Liaoyang. The battle of Hsimucheng happened around the same time as the siege of Port Arthur began, at the end of July. The Russians held a large mountain but this proved to be a disadvantage, as it exposed their own artillery to shelling and assault from Japanese artillery in the valley. The Russians endured about one thousand, two hundred casualties before they withdrew to help defend Liaoyang, while the Japanese army suffered about eight hundred.
The Japanese army which had just taken Hismucheng linked up with three more armies in the area and together they pressed on to Liaoyang at the end of August. The city of Liaoyang’s strategic value was clear; it was the main headquarters of the Siberian Russian army and had been reinforced and hardened with three well-stocked defensive lines. It was a historically important city as well -- Nurhaci, the founder of the Qing Dynasty, had for a time used Liaoyang as his capital in the days before conquering China. Its defenses ensured that it would be a difficult prize to win, and it is worth noting that the Russian army defending it outnumbered the Japanese attackers by a significant margin and commanded more artillery as well.
Critically, however, the Russian defenders did not know that they outnumbered their Japanese foes. In fact, faulty intelligence had led General Kuropatkin, who would lead Liaoyang’s defense, to believe that it was the Russians who were outnumbered. The Japanese, however, were under no such illusions. The Russian devastation throughout Manchuria had led residents to see the Japanese as liberators, not invaders. They happily supplied the Japanese with as much intelligence as they were able to gather regarding Russian troop counts, artillery positions, and supply lines.
In spite of the superiority of the Japanese military intelligence, the opening phases of the Battle of Liaoyang did not bend in their favor. The initial attack on August 25 consisted of an artillery barrage by the Japanese army followed by an attempted infantry assault on the Russian defensive line’s right flank. However, Russian artillery was quick to respond and after suffering over a thousand casualties, the Japanese army attempting the assault withdrew. That night, however, their fortunes were somewhat reversed when on the Russian line’s opposite side, some divisions of the Imperial army managed to take and hold one of the hills surrounding Liaoyang.
On the 27, having suffered the minor setback of losing a hill to the Japanese, General Kuropatkin ordered a general withdrawal from the outermost line of defense so that Russian forces could concentrate their efforts holding the second line instead. His commanders objected but after hearing their complaints Kuropatkin nevertheless ordered the withdrawal. Commanders in the Japanese army were stunned that the Russians did not instead order a counterattack on the recently-seized hill, but they most likely counted their blessings. Their objective was to completely encircle the massive Russian army in Liaoyang and crush them; this withdrawal would only make that objective easier to accomplish.
That being said, the second defensive line offered several advantages to the Russian army. Its smaller perimeter was easier to defend and the Russians still possessed heavier, more destructive artillery than the Japanese attackers. The Japanese took a few days to occupy the abandoned third defensive line, then launched a renewed offensive from practically every side on August 30 and 31. These attacks were brutally punished by Russian defenders and resulted in massive losses for the Japanese army.
It may have appeared that Kuropatkin’s decision to abandon the outer defenses was justified in light of the punishing losses now inflicted upon the Japanese. Still convinced that his army was outnumbered, however, Kuropatkin continued to play it safe and forbid any counterattacks. This caution allowed the Japanese to reorganize and recover and eventually plan a new assault.
While the defenders of Liaoyang continued to hold the line, a Japanese division to their north was busy severing the rail line that would allow them a quick retreat. The city was not completely surrounded, but the Japanese were inching ever closer to complete encirclement, which would be disastrous.
On September 1, the Japanese successfully seized a hill on the second defensive line. General Kuropatkin approved a counterattack the next day, which resulted in a massive quagmire. Orders to various divisions were lost by hapless messengers, commanders requesting reinforcements were denied, and, critically, Kuropatkin was informed that their artillery regiments were running dangerously low on ammunition. No artillery, no defense. Rumors of a large portion of the Japanese army moving northward to cut off their path of retreat was the final straw. On September 3, in the middle of a punishing rainstorm, General Kuropatkin ordered a general withdrawal. He and his remaining troops fled under the cover of rain, which sufficiently slowed the Japanese advance to provide their rear some security. They arrived in Shenyang about a week later exhausted and demoralized.
Throughout the Battle of Liaoyang, both sides had attempted to use an emerging technology to assist in their scouting intelligence — hot air balloons. Getting a bird’s eye view of the battlefield was not without its risks — balloons were popular targets for enemy fire, both small arms and artillery. Still, the reconnaissance they allowed was, for the most part, worth the risk. Kuropatkin’s army had been defeated and suffered about fifteen thousand casualties but they had been able to chart a safe northward path thanks in part to the intelligence provided by balloon scouts.
The Japanese moved to occupy Liaoyang and resupply as the Russians regrouped in Shenyang. They marched north after about a month’s rest and arrived in the vicinity south of Shenyang on October 3. The Russians had not been idle during that time and had no intention of allowing what happened at Liaoyang to be duplicated at Shenyang. As the Japanese began occupying positions south of the Shaho River, south of Shenyang, the Russians prepared a massive attack intent on securing a forward position from which they could eventually launch a counterattack and retake Liaoyang.
The Battle of Shaho River was a bloody, difficult slog for both sides of the affair. It’s notable that General Kuropatkin had lied to Tsar Nicholas II in his official communications by telling him that they had triumphed at Liaoyang. He did this in order to guarantee fresh reinforcements, which he needed now that Shenyang was under threat. Lying to the sovereign was a risky move, and it would only be justified if he could win a victory against the Japanese and eventually retake Liaoyang and relieve Port Arthur, which was still in the midst of its own siege.
Once more, the Russians outnumbered the Japanese, having about 210,000 troops at Shenyang while the Japanese had somewhere around 150,000. They battled for two weeks in a series of flanks, counter-flanks, strategic withdrawals and advances. Much of the fighting eventually settled around a hill which the Russians referred to as “One Tree Hill.” I assume that the popular TV series by the same name revolves around the Russo-Japanese War.
One-Tree Hill was a critical position because whomever controlled it could support infantry on practically any other part of the battlefield with the placement of artillery atop the hill. When the Japanese successfully drove Russian forces from the hill, Kuropatkin ordered that it be retaken at any cost.
Who won the Battle of Shaho River? Well, technically no-one. When the fighting ceased, the Russians controlled One-Tree Hill but had also suffered over 10,000 deaths and around 30,000 wounded. The Japanese casualties were about half that of their opponents but their forces were exhausted and they withdrew but were not driven to retreat. The Russians, likewise exhausted, did not pursue. Although the battle was technically inconclusive, this did not stop General Kuropatkin from once more lying to the Tsar and telling him all about the glorious victory of the Russian Empire over their Japanese foes. More reinforcements came streaming in thanks to the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and both sides opted to dig in as winter approached.
Meanwhile, to the south, the siege of Port Arthur continued. While the garrison in the city was starting to run short of food and conflicts between commanders of the Army and Navy were frequent, the Japanese besiegers were facing difficulties of their own. More than two months into the siege, Imperial commanders concluded that the key to taking the port city was controlling a fortified hillock called “203-meter Hill” from which artillery could be used to enable infantry assaults on the city and could also fire on the harbor itself, rendering Russia’s Pacific fleet vulnerable. The latter objective became increasingly important in September, when the Russian Baltic fleet was ordered to make for the Pacific theater as quickly as possible. If the Baltic fleet reinforced the Pacific fleet, their combined force could potentially threaten the naval superiority which Japan had been enjoying throughout the course of this war.
There was, of course, one little problem with 203-meter Hill: it was occupied by the Russians, who offered a vigorous defense. In a style of warfare which, in ten years time, would become all-too-familiar to an entire generation of Europeans and Americans, on September 19, the Japanese imperial army attempted to overrun the defenses of 203-meter Hill with massive waves of infantry who charged from their own portion of the five-miles-worth of trenches which had been established. That’s eight kilometers to listeners outside of the United States. This charge was disrupted by artillery shelling and machine-gun fire, which repulsed the attackers with alarming efficiency.
Periodically, Japanese soldiers would manage to take some of 203-meter Hill’s outer defenses but would soon be repulsed by well-organized counterattacks from the Russians. This initial strike on the all-important hill cost the Japanese around 3,500 casualties. On October 29, the imperial army attempted another assault against the fortified hill, hoping to seize control of it by November 3, which was Emperor Meiji’s birthday. After six days of mass casualties, brutal hand-to-hand fighting in trenches, and vicious counterattacks, the Japanese once more withdrew. This time they lost over 3,600 men in the failed attempt to secure the hill.
After a few more failed attempts, the Japanese were at last successful in taking 203-meter Hill on December 5. This assault cost them over 8,000 casualties but they did gain the battlefield control which they sought. From the hill, they could bombard the Pacific fleet still bottled in the harbor. Time was of the essence-- the Russian Baltic Fleet had passed through the Indian Ocean about ten days before and would soon arrive to support their fellows at Port Arthur.
The army set about destroying the Pacific fleet in a systematic fashion, sinking them one at a time by firing armor-piercing shells from artillery guns atop 203-meter Hill. Admiral Togo Heihachiro, not wanting the army to get all the credit for destroying his naval counterparts, sent battleships into the harbor to fight with the vessel “Sevastopol,” which had endured several artillery barrages but was still unsunk. The fighting was terrible on both sides of this naval engagement; the Japanese lost two ships as the Sevastopol returned fire. Eventually, however, the ship was sunk and the Pacific fleet finally destroyed.
The garrison at Port Arthur surrendered on January 2, 1905 after several of the outer defenses of Port Arthur were destroyed by Japanese sappers who dug tunnels beneath them and then detonated clusters of mines to bring them down. Much of the necessary tunneling work had been begun when the siege was initiated back in August.
With Port Arthur in Japanese hands, both sides focused on central Liaodong Province, where the Russian army now amassed and prepared for the impending reinforcements. General Kuropatkin opted for a more active tactical footing this time, intent on evicting the Japanese force which encamped in the vicinity south of Shenyang. At the very least, he hoped to force the Japanese army into a defensive footing before the army which had just seized Port Arthur could reinforce their fellows.
The Russian attack on the Japanese left wing, which was encamped near the village of Sandepu, took place across several days in late January of 1905. It was something of a disaster for the Russian forces, whose various divisions and armies had difficulty coordinating their movements. A combination of inaccurate local maps, poor intelligence, and seasonal blizzards further hampered their efforts. The Russians managed to take the village of Heikoutai but most of their other efforts resulted only in more casualties. In one instance, a large division managed to seize the town of Paotaitzu, which they mistook for Sandepu. When the winter fog cleared, Japanese troops which were holding Sandepu proceeded to shell the Russian troops in nearby Paotaitzu and they were forced to withdraw. Heikoutai was eventually retaken by a fierce Japanese counterattack, and Kuroptakin ordered a general withdrawal.
Meanwhile, back in Russia, domestic unrest was growing and public anti-government demonstrations increasing. On January 22, Russian Imperial Guards opened fire on a group of unarmed protestors attempting to submit a petition in front of the Winter Palace, killing over two hundred. What followed is known as the “Russian Revolution of 1905.” The general unrest and armed resistance required the attention of the Russian military and slowed the flow of reinforcements to the far east.
The Japanese, however, were not much better off. The army which had taken Port Arthur now moved north to reinforce the army preparing to seize Shenyang, but these troops were exhausted from the five-month siege and traveling through the snowy conditions of a Manchurian winter did little to boost their readiness for combat.
Although I have been referring to the area in question as Shenyang, the battle itself is called “The Battle of Mukden,” Mukden being the name of the royal palace in which the Qing Dynasty founder formerly held court. With 610,000 total combatants and over a hundred thousand total casualties, which includes those wounded, the Battle of Mukden was the largest battle in the modern era thus far. It would not be superseded until World War I came around a decade later. This battle was fought over a period of eighteen days, from February 20 to March 10.
General Kuropatkin was certain, thanks to military intelligence obtained from scouting, that the Japanese were planning a large-scale attack from the mountainous area east of Shenyang. However, the Japanese opted instead to focus their assault on the defenses to the city’s west instead. After the Russians redeployed to adjust to these circumstances, they attacked from the east, forcing their enemies to once more concentrate their defensive efforts there.
Yet again, the Russian forces suffered from a lack of cohesion and a general inability to perform basic coordinated maneuvers. General Kuropatkin decided to lead an eastern counterattack personally, which gave the Imperial army an opening to seize the western flank and then use that position to launch the destruction of the Russian army. The Russians withdrew after it became clear that the Japanese had gained the upper hand.
The Japanese won the Battle of Mukden, but at great cost. Nearly 16,000 had been killed, almost 60,000 wounded, and around 2,000 were captured. The Russian numbers were slightly better and also much worse: almost 9,000 killed, a little over 50,000 wounded, and around 22,000 captured. Though it was a costly victory for the Japanese, they now held the city of Shenyang and the Russians were forced to retreat into northern Manchuria.
In spite of the misfortunes of their land-based comrades, the Baltic Fleet was still sailing into Pacific waters and preparing to fight the Japanese. Obviously they would not have the support of the Pacific fleet, which had been destroyed during the final phases of the Siege of Port Arthur, but they were still determined to strike a blow for the motherland.
Any hope which the Tsar and his ministers placed on the Baltic Fleet’s ability to reverse their considerably poor fortunes in the war were sorely misplaced. The fleet arrived in the area around Tsushima Island near the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula in late May 1905 and was immediately intercepted by a much larger Japanese fleet which was able to cross the T. This is a nautical term meaning that the Baltic fleet was approaching in a single-file line and the Japanese fleet was able to meet them in a broad formation which allowed them to bombard the ships of the Russian fleet one at a time as they approached.
There was some attempt at maneuver and counterattack but the odds were against the Russian Baltic Fleet and ultimately, they lost. A few months later, in July, hoping to force Russia to the negotiation table, Japan invaded Sakhalin island, which lies just north of Hokkaido. This invasion was a remarkable success and the sparse Russian defenders were driven off with relative ease.
Now that Japan had taken actual Russian territory by seizing Sakhalin island, their western neighbors decided they were ready to negotiate. Peace did not come quickly but the taking of Sakhalin was the last combat action of the Russo-Japanese war. Next time, we will discuss the peace process, the treaty which was signed, and the American President who brought peace to the far east.