Siege of Port Arthur
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Siege of Port Arthur | |
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Part of the Lüshunkou District, China ) | |
Result | Japanese victory |
Kodama Gentarō
Ijichi Kōsuke
Nakamura Satoru
Tōgō Heihachirō
Roman Kondratenko †
Alexander Fok
Konstantin Smirnov
Robert Viren
- 150,000 troops
- 51,000 reserves
- 50,000 troops
- 44,000 volunteers
- 12,000 sailors
- 7,000 recruits
The siege of Port Arthur (Japanese: 旅順攻囲戦, Ryojun Kōisen; Russian: Оборона Порт-Артура, Oborona Port-Artura, August 1, 1904 – January 2, 1905) was the longest and most violent land battle of the Russo-Japanese War.
The siege of Port Arthur saw the introduction of much technology used in subsequent wars of the 20th century (particularly in
Background
The
Russian improvements to the defences of Port Arthur included a multi-perimeter layout with overlapping fields of fire and making the best possible use of the natural terrain. However, many of the redoubts and fortifications were still unfinished, as considerable resources were either in very short supply or had been diverted to improving the fortifications at Dalny, further north on the Liaodong Peninsula.
The outer defense perimeter of Port Arthur consisted of a line of hills, including Hsiaokushan and Takushan near the Ta-ho River in the east, and Namakoyama, Akasakayama, 174-Meter Hill,
General Stoessel withdrew to Port Arthur on July 30, 1904. Facing the Russians was the
The battles
Battle of the Orphan Hills
The shelling of Port Arthur began on August 7, 1904, by a pair of land-based 4.7-inch (120 mm) guns, and was carried on intermittently until August 19, 1904. The Japanese fleet also participated in shore bombardment, while in the northeast the army prepared to attack the two semi-isolated hills protruding from the outer defense perimeter: 600-foot (180 m) high Takushan (Big Orphan Hill) and the smaller Hsuaokushan (Little Orphan Hill). These hills were not heavily fortified, but had steep slopes and were fronted by the Ta River, which had been dammed by the Russians to provide a stronger obstacle. The hills commanded a view over almost a kilometer of flat ground to the Japanese lines, and it was thus essential for the Japanese to take these hills to complete their encirclement of Port Arthur.
After pounding the two hills from 04:30 until 19:30, General Nogi launched a frontal infantry assault, which was hampered by heavy rain, poor visibility and dense clouds of smoke. The Japanese were able to advance only as far as the forward slopes of both hills, and many soldiers drowned in the Ta River. Even night attacks suffered unexpectedly high casualties, as the Russians used powerful searchlights to expose the attackers to artillery and machine-gun cross-fire.
Undeterred, Nogi resumed artillery bombardment the following day, August 8, 1904, but his assault stalled again, this time due to heavy fire from the Russian fleet led by the cruiser
Gaining these two hills cost the Japanese 1,280 killed and wounded. The Japanese Army complained bitterly to the Navy about the ease with which the Russians were able to obtain naval fire support; in response the Japanese Navy brought in a battery of 12-pounder guns, with a range sufficient to ensure that there would be no recurrence of a Russian naval sortie.
The loss of the two hills, when reported to
On August 11, 1904, the Japanese sent an offer of temporary cease-fire to Port Arthur, so the Russians could allow all non-combatants to leave under guarantee of safety. The offer was rejected, but the foreign military observers all decided to leave for safety on August 14, 1904.
Battle of 174 Meter Hill
At noon on August 13, 1904, General Nogi launched a
After sending an immediately refused message to the garrison of Port Arthur demanding surrender, the Japanese began their assault at dawn on August 19, 1904. The main thrust was directed at 174 Meter Hill, with flanking and diversionary attacks along the line from Fort Sung-shu to the Chi-Kuan Battery. The Russian defensive positions on 174 Meter Hill itself were held by the 5th and 13th East Siberian Regiments, reinforced by sailors, under the command of Colonel Nikolai Tretyakov, a veteran of the Battle of Nanshan.
Just as he had done at the Battle of Nanshan, Tretyakov, despite having his first line of trenches overrun, tenaciously refused to retreat and held control of 174 Meter Hill despite severe and mounting casualties. On the following day, August 20, 1904, Tretyakov asked for reinforcements but, just as at Nanshan, none were forthcoming. With more than half of his men killed or wounded and with his command disintegrating as small groups of men fell back in confusion, Tretyakov had no choice but to withdraw, and 174 Meter Hill was overrun by the Japanese; it had cost the Japanese some 1,800 killed and wounded, and the Russians over 1,000.
The assaults on the other sections of the Russian line had also cost the Japanese heavily, but with no results and no ground gained. When Nogi finally called off his attempt to penetrate the Wantai Ravine on August 24, 1904, he had only 174 Meter Hill and the West and East Pan-lung to show for his loss of more than 16,000 men. With all other positions remaining firmly under Russian control, Nogi at last decided to abandon frontal assaults in favor of a protracted siege.
On August 25, 1904, the day after Nogi's last assault had failed, Marshal Ōyama Iwao engaged the Russians under General Aleksey Kuropatkin at the Battle of Liaoyang.
The siege
Having failed to penetrate the Port Arthur fortifications by direct assault, Nogi now ordered
While the Japanese set to work in the sapping campaign, General Stoessel continued to spend most of his time writing complaining letters to the Tsar about lack of cooperation from his fellow officers in the navy. The garrison in Port Arthur was starting to experience serious outbreaks of scurvy and dysentery due to the lack of fresh food.
Nogi now shifted his attention to the Temple Redoubt and the Waterworks Redoubt (also known as the Erhlung Redoubt) to the east, and to 203 Meter Hill and Namakoyama to the west. Strangely, at this time neither Nogi nor Stoessel seem to have realized the strategic importance of 203 Meter Hill: its unobstructed views of the harbor would have enabled the Japanese to control the harbor and to fire on the Russian fleet sheltering there. This fact was only brought to Nogi's attention when he was visited by General Kodama Gentarō, who immediately saw that the hill was the key to the whole Russian defense.[dubious ]
By mid-September the Japanese had dug over eight kilometers (5 miles) of trenches and were within 70 meters (230 feet) of the Waterworks Redoubt, which they attacked and captured on September 19, 1904. Thereafter they successfully took the Temple Redoubt, while another attacking force was sent against both Namakoyama and 203 Meter Hill. The former was taken that same day, but on 203 Meter Hill the Russian defenders cut down the dense columns of attacking troops with machine-gun and cannon fire. The attack failed, and the Japanese were forced back, leaving the ground covered with their dead and wounded. The battle at 203 Meter Hill continued for several more days, with the Japanese gaining a foothold each day, only to be forced back each time by Russian counter-attacks. By the time General Nogi abandoned the attempt, he had lost over 3,500 men. The Russians used the respite to begin further strengthening the defenses on 203 Meter Hill, while Nogi began a prolonged artillery bombardment of the town and those parts of the harbor within range of his guns.
Nogi attempted yet another mass "human wave" assault on 203 Meter Hill on October 29, 1904 intending the hill to be a present for the Meiji Emperor's birthday. However, aside from seizing some minor fortifications, the attack failed after six days of hand-to-hand combat, leaving Nogi with the deaths of an additional 124 officers and 3,611 men and no victory.
The onset of winter did little to slow the intensity of the battle. Nogi received additional reinforcements from Japan, including 18 more Armstrong 11-inch (280 mm) howitzers, which were manhandled from the railway by teams of 800 soldiers along an eight-mile (13 km)-long narrow gauge track that had been laid expressly for that purpose. These howitzers were added to the 450 other guns already in place. One innovation of the campaign was the centralization of the Japanese fire control, with the artillery batteries connected to the field headquarters by miles of telephone lines.
Now well aware that the Russian Baltic Fleet was on its way, the Japanese Imperial Headquarters fully understood the necessity of destroying what Russian ships were still serviceable at Port Arthur. It thus became essential that 203 Meter Hill be captured without further delay, and political pressure began to mount for Nogi's replacement.
Battle of 203 Meter Hill
The highest elevation within Port Arthur, designated "203 Meter Hill", overlooked the harbor. The name "203-Meter Hill" is a misnomer, as the hill consists of two peaks (203 meters and 210 meters high, and 140 meters apart) connected by a sharp ridge. It was initially unfortified; however, after the start of the war the Russians realized its critical importance and built a strong defensive position.[2] As well as the natural strength of its elevated position with steep sides, it was protected by a massive redoubt and two earth-covered keeps reinforced by steel rails and timber, and completely surrounded by electrified barbed wire entanglements. It was also connected to the neighboring strongholds on False Hill and Akasakayama by trenches. On top of the lower peak was the fortified Russian command post in reinforced concrete. The Russian defenders entrenched on the 203-meter summit were commanded by Colonel Tretyakov, and were organized into five companies of infantry with machine gun detachments, a company of engineers, a few sailors and a battery of artillery.[3]
On September 18, Japanese General Kodama visited General Nogi for the first time, and drew his attention to the strategic importance of 203 Meter Hill.[4]
Nogi directed the first infantry assault against the hill on September 20,
The battle continued throughout the following days with very heavy hand-to-hand combat with control of the summit changing hands several times. Finally, at 10:30 on December 5, following another massive artillery bombardment during which Russian Colonel Tretyakov was severely wounded, the Japanese managed to overrun 203 Meter Hill, finding only a handful of defenders still alive on the summit. The Russians launched two counter-attacks to retake the hill, both of which failed, and by 17:00, 203 Meter Hill was securely under Japanese control.
For Japan, the cost of capturing this landmark was great, with over 8,000 dead and wounded in the final assault alone, including most of the IJA 7th Division.[3] For Nogi, the cost of capturing 203 Meter Hill was made even more poignant when he received word that his last surviving son had been killed in action during the final assault on the hill. The Russians, who had no more than 1,500 men on the hill at any one time, lost over 6,000 killed and wounded.[4]
Destruction of the Russian Pacific fleet
With a
On December 5, 1904, the battleship Poltava was sunk, followed by the battleship Retvizan on December 7, 1904, and the battleships Pobeda and Peresvet and the cruisers Pallada and Bayan on December 9, 1904. The battleship Sevastopol, although hit 5 times by the howitzer shells, managed to move out of range of the guns. Stung by the Russian Pacific Fleet having been sunk by the army and not by the Imperial Japanese Navy, and with a direct order from Tokyo that the Sevastopol was not to be allowed to escape, Admiral Togo sent in wave after wave of destroyers in six separate attacks on the sole remaining Russian battleship. After 3 weeks, the Sevastopol was still afloat, having survived 124 torpedoes fired at her while sinking two Japanese destroyers and damaging six other vessels. The Japanese had meanwhile lost the cruiser Takasago to a mine outside the harbor.
On the night of January 2, 1905, after Port Arthur surrendered, Captain
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Pallada under fire as the Oil Depot burns
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Pallada and Pobeda
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Wrecked ships of the Russian Pacific Fleet, which were later salvaged by the Japanese navy
The surrender
Following the loss of the Pacific Fleet, the rationale for holding onto Port Arthur was questioned by Stoessel and Alexander Fok in a council on December 8, 1904, but the idea of surrender was rejected by the other senior officers. Japanese trench and tunnel warfare continued. With the death of General Kondratenko on December 15, 1904, at Fort Tongchikuan, Stoessel appointed the incompetent Fok in his place. On December 18, 1904, the Japanese exploded an 1,800-kilogram (3,968-pound) mine under Fort Chikuan, which fell that night. On December 28, 1904, Fort Erhlung was also undermined and destroyed.
On December 31, 1904, a series of mines were exploded under Fort Sungshu, the sole surviving major fortress, which surrendered that day. On January 1, 1905, Wantai finally fell to the Japanese. On the same day, Stoessel and Fok sent a message to a surprised General Nogi, offering to surrender. None of the other senior Russian staff had been consulted, and notably Smirnov and Tretyakov were outraged. The surrender was accepted and signed on January 5, 1905, in the northern suburb of Shuishiying.
With this, the Russian garrison was taken into captivity. Civilians were allowed to leave, and the Russian officers were given the choice of either going into prisoner-of-war camps with their men or being given parole conditional on taking no further part in the war.
The Japanese were astounded to find that a huge store of food and ammunition remained in Port Arthur, which implied that Stoessel had surrendered while still able to hold out for a long time. Stoessel, Fok and Smirnov were
Nogi, after leaving a garrison in Port Arthur, led the surviving bulk of his army of 120,000 men north to join Marshal Oyama at the Battle of Mukden.
Losses
Russian land forces in the course of the siege suffered 31,306 casualties,[1] of whom at least 6,000 were killed.[1] Lower figures such as 15,000 killed, wounded, and missing are sometimes claimed.[6] At the end of the siege, the Japanese captured a further 878 army officers and 23,491 other ranks; 15,000 of those captured were wounded. The Japanese also captured 546 guns[1] and 82,000 artillery shells.[1] In addition the Russians lost their entire fleet based at Port Arthur, which was either sunk or interned. The Japanese captured 8,956 seamen.[1]
The Japanese army casualties were later officially listed as 57,780 casualties (killed, wounded and missing),
There were higher estimates of Japanese army casualties at the time such as 94,000[7]-110,000[6][page needed] killed, wounded, and missing, though these were written without access to the Japanese Medical History of the War.
Aftermath
The capture of Port Arthur and the subsequent Japanese victories at the Battle of Mukden and Tsushima gave Japan a dominant military position, resulting in favorable arbitration by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt in the Treaty of Portsmouth, which ended the war. The loss of the war in 1905 led to major political unrest in Imperial Russia (see: Russian Revolution of 1905).
At the end of the war, Nogi made a report directly to Emperor Meiji during a Gozen Kaigi. When explaining battles of the siege of Port Arthur in detail, he broke down and wept, apologizing for the 56,000 lives lost in that campaign and asking to be allowed to kill himself in atonement. Emperor Meiji told him that suicide was unacceptable, as all responsibility for the war was due to imperial orders, and that Nogi must remain alive, at least as long as he himself lived.[8] Nogi and his wife Shizuko committed suicide by seppuku shortly after the Emperor Meiji's funeral cortege left the imperial palace on 13 September 1912.[9]
References
- ^ ISBN 0-89950-815-4p648.
- ^ a b Kowner, Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War, p. 400.
- ^ a b Jukes, The Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905. p. 59–60.
- ^ a b c d e f Connaughton, Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear. p. 230–246.
- ^ a b Warner, The Tide at Sunrise , p. 428–432.
- ^ a b Schwarz, Alexis von; Romanovsky, Yuri (1908). Оборона Порт-Артура [The Defence of Port Arthur] (in Russian). Vol. I, II. Saint Petersburg.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Port Arthur, the siege and capitulation, Volume 1, Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett, 1906, p. 464.
- ISBN 978-0-231-12340-2
- ^ "Aftermath". Archived from the original on August 24, 2006.
Bibliography
- Nørregaard, Benjamin Wegner (1906). The Great Siege: The Investment and Fall of Port Arthur. London: Methuen Publishing.
- ISBN 0-304-36657-9.
- ISBN 0-8108-4927-5.
- Jukes, Geoffrey. The Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905. Osprey Essential Histories. (2002). ISBN 978-1-84176-446-7.
- Charles à Court Repington (1905). The War in the Far East, 1904-1905. J. Murray.
- Sedgwick, F.R. (1909). The Russo-Japanese War. Macmillan.
- Warner, Peggy. The Tide at Sunrise: a history of the Russo-Japanese War, 1904–1905. Routledge (1974) ISBN 0714652563.
- Birolli, Bruno, Port-Arthur, 8 février 1904, 5 janvier 1905, Economica (2015) – French
- Sakurai, Tadayoshi (1907). Human bullets, a soldier's story of Port Arthur. Houghton, Mifflin and company.
External links
Media related to Siege of Port Arthur at Wikimedia Commons
- The Russo-Japanese War Research Society
- Siege of Port Arthur Stereoviews Lafayette College Library, from the collection of Richard Mammana
- PRISONERS AND SPOILS OF PORT ARTHUR. The Straits Times, May 9, 1905, Page 7
- Graham J. Morris (2005) Port Arthur – The Siege available at battlefieldanomalies.com