Port Arthur town of Knights of Round Table
Шрифт:
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 that previous conflict, and overconfidence by the Japanese General Staff in Japan's ability to overcome improved fortifications made by the Russians, led to a much longer campaign, with much heavier losses than expected.
The Siege of Port Arthur
saw the introduction of much technology
used in subsequent wars of the 20th century (particularly in World War I)
including
massive 28 cm howitzers capable of hurling 217-kilogram (478-pound) shells over 8 kilometers (5.0 miles),
as well as
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." (from Wikipedia)
"The Russian forces
manning the defenses of Port Arthur
under
Major-General Baron Anatoly Stoessel
consisted of almost 50,000 men and 506 guns
(including the crews of the Russian warships in port).
He also had the option of removing the guns from the fleet to bolster the land defenses.
The total population of
Port Arthur
at the time [August 1, 1904 ]
was
around 87,000,
which meant that a very high proportion of the population
were combatants." (from Wikipedia)
"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 Wikipedia)
The battles
"Battle of the Orphan Hills
(600-foot (180 m) high Takushan (Big Orphan Hill)
and
the smaller Hsuaokushan (Little Orphan Hill,
Ta River).
Gaining these two hills cost the Japanese 1,280 killed and wounded.
The loss of the two hills."
"Battle of 174 Meter Hill
(the Wolf Hills, 174 Meter Hill)
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 Tretyakov, a veteran of the Battle of Nanshan.
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 thus overrun by the Japanese. The assault on 174 Meter Hill alone 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 Oyama Iwao engaged the Russians under General Aleksey Kuropatkin at the Battle of Liaoyang."
The siege
"Nogi had also been reinforced by additional artillery and 16,000 more troops from Japan, which partially compensated for the casualties sustained in his first assaults.
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.