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Siege of Port Arthur
The siege of Port Arthur (Japanese: 旅順攻囲戦, romanized: Ryojun Kōisen; Russian: Оборона Порт-Артура, romanized: Oborona Port-Artura; August 1, 1904 – January 2, 1905) was the longest and most violent land battle of the Russo-Japanese War.
Port Arthur, the deep-water port and Russian naval base at the tip of the Liaodong Peninsula in Manchuria, had been widely regarded as one of the most strongly fortified positions in the world. However, during the First Sino-Japanese War, General Nogi Maresuke had taken the city from the forces of Qing China in only a few days. The ease of his victory during the previous conflict, and overconfidence by the Japanese General Staff in its ability to overcome improved Russian fortifications, led to a much longer campaign and far greater losses than expected.
The siege saw the introduction of much technology used in subsequent wars of the 20th century (particularly in World War I) including massive 28 cm howitzers that fired 217-kilogram (478-pound) shells with a range of 8 kilometers (5.0 miles), rapid-firing light howitzers, Maxim machine guns, bolt-action magazine rifles, barbed wire entanglements, electric fences, arc lamp, searchlights, tactical radio signalling (and, in response, the first military use of radio jamming), hand grenades, extensive trench warfare, and the use of modified naval mines as land weapons.[not in body]
The Russian forces manning the defenses of Port Arthur under Major-General Baron Anatoly Stoessel consisted of almost 50,000 men including the crews of the Russian warships in port (the total population of Port Arthur at the time was around 87,000) and 506 guns. He also had the option of removing the guns from the fleet to bolster the land defenses.
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, 203-Meter Hill and False Hill in the west. All of these hills were heavily fortified. Approximately 1.5 kilometers (0.93 miles) behind this defensive line was the original stone Chinese wall, which encircled the Old Town of Lushun from the south to the Lun-ho River at the northwest. The Russians had continued the line of the Chinese wall to the west and south, enclosing the approaches to the harbor and the New Town of Port Arthur with concrete forts, machine gun emplacements, and connecting trenches.
General Stoessel withdrew to Port Arthur on July 30, 1904. Facing the Russians was the Japanese Third Army, about 150,000 strong, backed by 474 artillery guns, under the command of General Baron Nogi Maresuke.
From the beginning Nogi and the Imperial General Staff differed on strategy, an area they thought little of his abilities in. They wanted him to attack from the northwest as he had done so successfully in the earlier conflict. But Nogi believed the Russians would anticipate that angle for that very reason and so planned his attack from the northeast, which also had the advantage of being closer to the railhead he used as a supply depot. Nogi also saw that position offering the possibility of seizing all the Russian forts in one action, preferably via the direct route offered by the Wantai ravine.
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Siege of Port Arthur
The siege of Port Arthur (Japanese: 旅順攻囲戦, romanized: Ryojun Kōisen; Russian: Оборона Порт-Артура, romanized: Oborona Port-Artura; August 1, 1904 – January 2, 1905) was the longest and most violent land battle of the Russo-Japanese War.
Port Arthur, the deep-water port and Russian naval base at the tip of the Liaodong Peninsula in Manchuria, had been widely regarded as one of the most strongly fortified positions in the world. However, during the First Sino-Japanese War, General Nogi Maresuke had taken the city from the forces of Qing China in only a few days. The ease of his victory during the previous conflict, and overconfidence by the Japanese General Staff in its ability to overcome improved Russian fortifications, led to a much longer campaign and far greater losses than expected.
The siege saw the introduction of much technology used in subsequent wars of the 20th century (particularly in World War I) including massive 28 cm howitzers that fired 217-kilogram (478-pound) shells with a range of 8 kilometers (5.0 miles), rapid-firing light howitzers, Maxim machine guns, bolt-action magazine rifles, barbed wire entanglements, electric fences, arc lamp, searchlights, tactical radio signalling (and, in response, the first military use of radio jamming), hand grenades, extensive trench warfare, and the use of modified naval mines as land weapons.[not in body]
The Russian forces manning the defenses of Port Arthur under Major-General Baron Anatoly Stoessel consisted of almost 50,000 men including the crews of the Russian warships in port (the total population of Port Arthur at the time was around 87,000) and 506 guns. He also had the option of removing the guns from the fleet to bolster the land defenses.
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, 203-Meter Hill and False Hill in the west. All of these hills were heavily fortified. Approximately 1.5 kilometers (0.93 miles) behind this defensive line was the original stone Chinese wall, which encircled the Old Town of Lushun from the south to the Lun-ho River at the northwest. The Russians had continued the line of the Chinese wall to the west and south, enclosing the approaches to the harbor and the New Town of Port Arthur with concrete forts, machine gun emplacements, and connecting trenches.
General Stoessel withdrew to Port Arthur on July 30, 1904. Facing the Russians was the Japanese Third Army, about 150,000 strong, backed by 474 artillery guns, under the command of General Baron Nogi Maresuke.
From the beginning Nogi and the Imperial General Staff differed on strategy, an area they thought little of his abilities in. They wanted him to attack from the northwest as he had done so successfully in the earlier conflict. But Nogi believed the Russians would anticipate that angle for that very reason and so planned his attack from the northeast, which also had the advantage of being closer to the railhead he used as a supply depot. Nogi also saw that position offering the possibility of seizing all the Russian forts in one action, preferably via the direct route offered by the Wantai ravine.