The beginning of the Port Arthur epic
30 July, 1904, the siege of Port Arthur began. The defense of Port Arthur was the longest battle of the Russian-Japanese war. For the capture of Port Arthur, the Japanese army paid a huge price. Japanese troops lost more than 110 thousand people during the siege. The fortress crushed the whole army of the enemy and chained the Japanese fleet to itself. This allowed the Russian Manchurian army to regroup, to prepare the defense.
prehistory
After retreating from the Jingzhou position and leaving the Dalniy port (Battle for the "Port Arthur Gate". Fight jinzhou), the Russian troops retreated to the Green Mountains and occupied the so-called. "Position on passes", a length of about 20 miles. She was very comfortable by nature and well fortified. This position blocked access to the Port Arthur fortress.
I must say that the Russian command was not up to par at this moment. The commander of the Kwantung fortified area, Lieutenant General AM Stoessel, fearing the Japanese offensive from the Jinzhou side, ordered the commander of the 4 East Siberian Rifle Division, Major General A. V. Fok, to retreat to the mountains of the wolf without losing other positions. Then Stoessel repeated his order: "To depart, without stopping." But the commander of the 7 th East Siberian Rifle Division, Major General R. I. Kondratenko was able to ensure that the troops retain their leading positions. Kondratenko believed that it was necessary to give battle to the enemy on the narrow plain crossing the Kwantung Peninsula, where the so-called Mandarin road.
The 4-I East-Siberian Rifle Division (4 Regiment) took the leading position. She was reinforced by the regiment of the division Kondratenko. Total defense kept 13,5 thousand people with 38 guns and eight 7,62-mm Maxim machine guns. There was a reserve in the Wolf Mountains. The position could not be bypassed from the flanks. It must be said that the head of the Kwantung fortified area issued an order to defend the forward position with great delay. Therefore, field fortifications were erected in a hurry, digging trenches and trenches, built dugouts, battery positions were equipped, wire barriers were installed, landfills were installed in places.
The Japanese were in no hurry to attack. Japanese troops suffered significant losses in the battle for Jinzhou, and engaged in the transfer of forces. 2-I army did not pursue Russian troops. General Oka left a barrier at Jinzhou and with the main forces moved in the direction of Liaoyan to close the road of the Russian Manchurian army. 3-I army under the command of General Nogi, whose main task was the siege of Port Arthur, only landed in the port of Dalny. Moreover, the Japanese themselves were afraid of the counter-attack of the Port Arthur garrison, which in May surpassed them numerically. However, the Russian command did not dare to take such a step.
Japanese troops moved very carefully and slowly. In addition to minor shootings of reconnaissance groups ("hunters") 31 in May and 1 in June, there were no serious clashes. Until June 9, Japanese troops maintained a waiting position. Both sides dealt with their own problems. Russian troops strengthened the advanced position and engaged in additional equipment of the fortress. The Japanese stepped up the pace of landing troops, artillery, ammunition, various military materials and also erected fortifications on the peninsula, in case of a Russian counterattack.
In addition, the commander of the United fleet Vice Admiral Heihatiro Togo established a tight blockade of Port Arthur from the sea. At the sea fortress, out of reach of Russian batteries, destroyers were on duty. They were supported by a light detachment of high-speed cruisers. The main armored forces were in full readiness near the Elliot Islands or in the nearest Korean ports.
At the same time, the Japanese actively mined the waters around Port Arthur Fortress at night. Russian ships also put minefields. Because of the mines, the Japanese suffered heavy losses. Thus, Japanese squadron battleships Khatsuse and Yashima were blown up on mines inserted by the Russian mine-layinger Amur in mid-May. The first of them died on the spot due to the detonation of the powder cellars, the second sank during towing. The death of "Hatsuse" resembled the death of the Russian squadron battleship "Petropavlovsk". Killed 36 officers and 457 sailors. Soon, two cruisers collided - an armored Kassug and a lighter Yosino. Light cruiser got a big underwater hole and sank in a few minutes. Killed 32 officer and 287 sailors. "Kassuga" had to be sent in for repair. This series of tragedies in the Japanese Empire was called the “black day of the Japanese fleet”.
This loss of the Japanese are not limited. In the coming days, the Japanese fleet lost several more ships: the destroyer No. 48 sank after the detonation of a Russian mine, the Miyako messenger ship blew up on a mine, the messenger ship ran aground, two gunners collided, one sank, Port Arthur blew up and went to the bottom the destroyer "Akatsuki". As a result, the mine war at Port Arthur ended in favor of the Russians.
In the same period, the Vladivostok detachment made a raid into Japanese waters and showed that the Russian command had missed a serious opportunity in this war to sharply worsen the position of the Japanese empire. For an island empire active cruising war was extremely dangerous.
Vladivostok detachment received an order to commit "sabotage" and temporarily interrupt the communication of the Pacific ports of Japan with the Yellow Sea. In July, the armored cruisers “Russia”, “The Thundercrow” and “Rurik” set sail, sailed into the Pacific Ocean by the Sangar Strait and turned south. They detained the German transport ship Arabia, on which they found military cargoes, which were sent to the Japanese port of Yokohama from the United States. 23 July at the entrance to Tokyo Bay was detained by a British steamer carrying military cargo from New York to Japan. There was no coal on the ship to deliver it to Vladivostok, so it was flooded. The Russian detachment destroyed several Japanese transport schooners, the German steamer “Tea” with a military cargo and the British steamer “Kalhas”. In Japan, they sounded the alarm, but could not do anything! There was nothing to protect against the Russian ships in the Pacific. After the coal began to come to an end on cruisers, the ships returned to Vladivostok. The fact of the appearance of Russian cruisers near the Japanese capital Tokyo shook the world. The panic began. Many of the major shipping companies in the world temporarily stopped flights to Japan. And this was only one raid.
Map source: N. Levitsky. Russian-Japanese War 1904-1905
The forces of the parties
3-I Japanese Army, Colonel-General Maresuke Legs to the beginning of the siege of Port Arthur Fortress replenished fourth infantry division, two reserve infantry brigades and siege artillery park. By the end of July, she already numbered 60 thousand people, with 386 guns and 72 machine guns. Now the Japanese army surpassed the garrison of Port Arthur by one and a half times and continued to strengthen.
The garrison of the Port Arthur fortress to the beginning of the siege totaled more than 42 thousand people. The Russian garrison consisted of 9 East Siberian rifle regiments, 3 reserve infantry battalions, border guards, Transbaikalian Cossacks, etc. In addition, there were 13 urban volunteer squads (2,5 thousand militias). The total number of ship crews of the Pacific squadron numbered 12 thousand people. The fleet could put up to 8 thousand sailors. By the beginning of the siege in the Port-Arthur fortress, 514 guns of various calibers (283 fortress, 168 marine and 63 field implements) were installed on the land side. The reserve was 9 field artillery guns. The defense system was reinforced by the 52 machine gun (10 was in reserve).
The senior military commander in the fortress was Lieutenant General AM Stoessel. The commandant of the fortress was Major General KN Smirnov (Kuropatkin wanted to appoint his head of defense of Port Arthur, and Stessel to recall). As a result, the troops received orders more than once from two military commanders — Stoessel and Smirnov. In addition, in Port Arthur there were two chiefs of artillery - Major General V. F. Bely and V. N. Nikitin. All this led to misunderstandings and introduced a certain disorganization in the management of the defense of the Port Arthur fortress. Major-General Roman Isidorovich Kondratenko, the chief of the land defense, played the most prominent role in the defense of the fortress. He more than anyone else could raise the morale of the Russian army.
Port Arthur Fortification Works
Fights on distant approaches
Break in the fighting on the Kwantung Peninsula lasted almost a month. At this time, Japanese minesweepers were working to clear the Gulf of Tallienvan from mines. The Japanese command planned to transfer here from the Far Intermediate Base for the supply of the 3 Army siege. To ensure the safety of the new base, General Legs decided to seize the observation and strongholds of the Russian troops on the mountains of Queensan and Wytselaza. From these mountains the whole of the Taliban Bay and the port of Dalniy could be seen.
The Russian command did not attach much importance to these points. Much to the surprise of the Japanese command, the Russians did not fortify Mount Queensan and did not occupy it with a sufficient garrison. On the mountain, only one company with two mountain cannons held the defense. All fortifications consisted of a stone dam, supported by the earth.
9 June, the Japanese conducted reconnaissance in force by the forces of one battalion, but their attack was repelled. 11 June, the Japanese again tried to attack, but were repulsed. On the morning of June 13, Japanese troops launched a decisive assault on important heights. The battle for the mountain of Queensan began with the appearance of the Japanese ships, which began shelling Russian positions. But, the detachment of Rear Admiral Leshchinsky, who had approached from Port Arthur, forced the Japanese destroyers to retreat.
Then the Japanese 11 Infantry Division went on the attack. She first hit the weak Russian screen of Mount Wytselaza. Here the Japanese installed two batteries of mountain artillery. With the support of artillery, the Japanese infantry went to storm the height of Queensan. Two Russian guns were quickly disabled by enemy artillery fire. The Russian rifle company could not defend its position under the onslaught of superior enemy forces. The Japanese captured the mountain.
The situation could be corrected by an immediate counterattack of the Russian troops. However, Major General Fock, and then Stoessel, gave the order to withdraw troops from the forward positions to the Wolf Mountains, although the Japanese did not continue the offensive and hastily dug in at the new lines, where the 7 battalions defended themselves. On the night of June 14, the Russian troops retreated to a new defensive line.
Realizing that a mistake was made, Kondratenko ordered to prepare a counterattack and beat off the height of Queensan. At his request, the commander of the Pacific squadron sent a detachment of ships to attack the Japanese positions. However, Fock delayed with the beginning of the attack, and the Japanese managed to gain a foothold. When on the night of June 21 the Russian troops began their assault on Queensan, they were met by a barrage of fire, and they retreated to their original positions. The mountain was stormed by a detachment under the command of Colonel V. Savitsky. In a number of cases, the assault columns approached the Japanese trenches on 400 meters, but heavy gun and artillery fire did not allow to approach for a blow at bayonets. Morning second attack also ended without result.
The third attack was decided to spend hours in 14 after artillery preparation, which attracted 32 light guns. A half-hour shelling of the Japanese positions made it possible to destroy the redoubt parapet, to suppress the enemy artillery, but it was not possible to destroy the redoubt's dugouts. Therefore, the Russian shooters met the fire of Japanese machine guns, hidden during shelling in dugouts. Infantry lay down. New attempts to destroy the dugouts with light cannon fire were unsuccessful. Could not provide serious assistance and Russian ships. At night, the Russian troops retreated to their original positions. The assault on Mount Queensan cost Russian troops more than 700 people, the Japanese losses were about half as much.
After the battles for Mount Queensan on the Kwantung Peninsula, before July 13, a lull reestablished. Only minor skirmishes occurred. 24 June, on the initiative of Kondratenko, on the rocky ridge were installed two 6-inch field mortars. But Fok, under the threat of resignation, forbade the commander of the mortar platoon to Second-Lieutenant Kalnin to fire at the enemy, so as not to "annoy" the Japanese. Only 29 Jun Kondratenko achieved an introduction to the field mortars. As Kondratenko noted: “Their action on the mountain was terribly destructive, the pillars of the earth rose up to several feet above the ground ...”.
The passivity of the garrison of Port Arthur was used by the Japanese command to supply reinforcements and prepare a new offensive. The Japanese command was preparing an offensive with the aim of knocking out Russian troops from the forward positions to the Port Arthur fortress itself. 13 (26) July, after a strong artillery preparation, the Japanese army launched a decisive offensive. Russian soldiers fiercely resisted, but under the pressure of the superior forces of the Japanese army were forced to leave one line after another with battle. By noon, the Japanese troops occupied the poorly fortified Great Pass. The Japanese army was able to strike at the flank of the position on the Green Mountains. Kondratenko organized a counterattack and in the evening the Russian troops repulsed the position on the Great Pass.
Early in the morning of the next day the battle continued. Gradually, the situation on the right flank of the Russian position began to take shape in favor of the Japanese army. A detachment of ships that had come from Port Arthur was forced to withdraw with the arrival of a formation of Japanese cruisers. During the departure of the cruiser "Bayan" stumbled on a mine and got a hole. At night, the Japanese organized a surprise counterattack and captured the height of the 93. Russian command decides to withdraw troops to a stronger position on the Wolf Mountains.
In just two days of heavy fighting, Japanese troops lost up to 6 thousand people killed and wounded, while Russian losses amounted to about 1500 people. This shows that the Russian command in the prewar period and already during the fighting on the distant approaches to Port Arthur, underestimated the importance of advanced positions. With their proper equipment and more significant forces (only one division defended), the siege could be delayed for a longer period and cost the Japanese huge losses. And with a favorable development of the situation, Port Arthur would have remained Russian.
Wolf mountains represented a line of low hills, which stretched out in a semicircle. Towards the Japanese troops the hills had steep slopes. Before the hills stretched solid fields of kaolin (sorghum, an annual plant of the cereal family), reaching 1,5-2 meters in height. These thickets served as an excellent cover for shooters. However, here, the Russian command did not take care of strengthening the positions: the engineering structures on the hills had not been built before the appearance of the enemy, the fields of the Qaulian were not destroyed even at close approaches.
By July 17, Japanese troops were located in 6-8 km from the main fortifications of the Port Arthur Fortress. The command of the 3 Army, yielding to the Stakes pressure, decided to capture Port Arthur by the method of "accelerated" assault, with the main attack on the northeast front of the enemy defense. For this purpose, they planned to concentrate powerful artillery groups in this direction in order to destroy the Russian fortifications and suppress the artillery. But in order to do this, it was necessary to capture such tactically important heights as Dagushan and Xiaogushan (Syagushan). From these mountains, Russian artillery could fire on the flank and rear of the main group of the Japanese army and prevent the installation of artillery batteries.
At 4 in the morning of 17 (30) in July, Japanese forces launched an offensive. Three hours later, Japanese troops were able to break through the Russian defense in the center and on the left flank. At 8 hours of the evening, Major General Fock ordered the troops of the 4 East Siberian Rifle Division, which had not yet exhausted all its capabilities, to withdraw from the Wolf Mountains to the Port Arthur Fortress. By 10 hours the evening the Russian troops retreated.
Resistance to the previous position continued only 7-I East-Siberian Rifle Division under the command of Kondratenko. Siberian arrows continued to bravely repel enemy attacks. Particularly fierce battles followed the heights of Dagushan and Syagushan, where the offensive led the enemy's 11 Division. It came to melee. The Japanese division was supported by a powerful art grouping: six batteries of the 11 Artillery Regiment (36 guns) and batteries of the naval artillery detachment (32 guns). The Japanese were fiercely focused on Russian positions. The defenders of heights could hardly oppose the enemy. General Kondratenko asked Stoessel to send reinforcements, but he did not wait for help.
General Maresuke Legs ordered to replace the battalions drained of blood by fresh forces with fresh forces and immediately throw them into battle. Russian companies that defended these heights, there was no one to change. The soldiers did not sleep for two days, did not have water, could not bury the dead and take out the wounded. In the end, the Japanese troops captured Dagush and installed a battery on it.
Kondatenko suggested that the commandant of the Port Arthur fortress Smirnov should withdraw the garrison from Syagushan, since one gun was damaged, there was no ammunition for the other, and it was impossible to bring them up (the mountain was almost surrounded and the road to it was swept). The height of Dagushan did not make sense to beat off, the Japanese occupied the neighborhood with large forces. Smirnov, not knowing the actual situation, ordered to repel Dagushan. But, the Japanese troops were ahead of the Russians. With a night attack, they knocked out the Russian garrison of the summit of Syagushan. The remaining Russian fighters from their three Siberian riflemen made their way to the fortress. Japanese troops in these battles lost 1280 people, Russian - 450.
Results
As a result, Port Arthur lost his last leading position on his right flank. Further development of the siege of Port Arthur will show that the heights of Dagushan and Syagushan had to be held at all costs.
In addition, the Japanese now had the opportunity to fire long-range siege artillery at the inner harbor of Port Arthur. Now the ships of the Pacific squadron were in great danger from land. Numerous besieged artillery could quickly turn the inner harbor of Port Arthur into a graveyard of the Russian fleet. The Pacific squadron was saved only by the fact that the Japanese fired on the squares. Therefore, the fleet command decided to break through to Vladivostok - on July 28 (August 10) a battle took place in the Yellow Sea.
After the last external Russian fortifications fell, the Japanese army began to besiege the fortress. Began many months of heroic defense of Port Arthur. 3-I Army Feet began intensive preparations for the assault. It took place on August 6 (August 19).
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