CHAPTER XIV.
End of First Year—Changes of a Year—Year of Disaster for Russia—The Cause of the War—Japan Acts Swiftly—The Land Campaign—Battle of Liao-yang—Battle of Sha-ho River—The Naval Campaign—Vladivostock Ships Defeated—Siege of Port Arthur—Port Arthur Surrendered—A Campaign Analysis—Gaining Mastery of Sea—Japan's Main Ambition—The Rival Armies—The Cost in Men—The Cost in Dollars—The Cost in Ships—International Incidents—Lessons of the War—Chronology of the First Year of War.
End of First Year
At this point it may be well to pause long enough to review briefly and summarize what had been accomplished in a year of the most tremendous fighting the world has ever known. One year of the Japan-Russia War had gone into history. On February 5, 1904, diplomatic relations between the two nations came suddenly to an end. On February 7, Japan seized Masanpho, Korea, as a military base, and on February 8 and 9 were delivered Togo's memorable blows to the Russian Asiatic fleet at Port Arthur. Thus the curtain went up on what since has proved one of the world's greatest war dramas.
The record had been one of uninterrupted triumph for Japan. The year had yielded a score of battles, of greater or less importance. The story of each had been defeat for Russia. Judged by the objects for which Japan entered the struggle, her task was practically complete. But Russia, humbled again and again, remained obdurate. The war was not ended and could not be ended, declared those who seemed to speak with authority, until the tide had turned and Russia was mistress of the East, as she believed herself a year before.
What changes had followed Japan's victories, Russia's defeats?
Changes of a Year
A year before Russia in addition to her own vast Siberian territory across all of Asia to the Pacific, was lessee of Port Arthur and the extremity of the Liaotung promontory. Port Arthur had been rebuilt and fortified, and the investments plus the value of the fleet in its harbor was fully $270,000,000. Dalny had been built and fortified as an auxiliary harbor to accommodate developing commerce. Here $100,000,000 had been expended. From these vantage points Russia looked out over China and Japan and claimed dominance over the Orient. Her fleet stood sponsor for the claim. For the defenses of Port Arthur impregnability was claimed. It seemed that the Slav had completed a peaceable conquest and was immovably intrenched, invulnerable against war, irresistible for commercial gain.
Further eastward her agents had penetrated to the northern boundaries of Korea. Slowly the Slav with his land-thirst was learning to covet the Hermit Kingdom. Commercial domination, political preponderance, each spreading in force and effectiveness, marked the first steps in this direction.
Year of Disaster for Russia
This was a year before. A year later Japan's flag was flying over Port Arthur and Dalny. Russia's fleet was destroyed. Her armies had been driven step by step northward 250 miles to the Sha-ho River. Japan was master in Korea. A protectorate had been firmly established, and Russia's dream of predominance there had probably been dissipated for all time. Japan's fleet was supreme in the Orient. With Russia's covetous eyes no longer looking out from Golden Hill toward Pekin, toward Seoul, toward Tokio, Japan had come into her own again.
This was the situation as the first year of the war drew to a close. Japan's task, on the face of it, seemed accomplished.
The Cause of the War
Russia's aggressive policy in Manchuria and growing prestige in Korea alarmed Japan. Events which in February, 1904, culminated in war began ten years before when Port Arthur, won by Japan from China, was wrested away and returned to China by intervention of the Powers, notably Russia. The leasing of Port Arthur and vicinity to Russia and the granting of railroad concessions completed the wrong which rankled in the heart of Japan. Finally the Mikado's Government proposed to Russia a settlement by diplomacy of questions of paramountcy and trade privileges in Manchuria and Korea. Japan proffered recognition of paramountcy in Manchuria for Russia in return for preponderance by Japan in Korea. The "open door" in each territory was proposed with right of railroad extension through Korea to join the Manchurian and thence the Siberian roads.
Russia refused to discuss her attitude in Manchuria and juggled with words relating to Korea. Negotiations ended when it became obvious that Japan's demands were not to be granted.
Japan Acts Swiftly
War was the alternative, and Japan acted swiftly. On February 8 and 9, at Port Arthur and Chemulpo, the Japanese navy dealt the first blows. Korea was invaded by an army at once, and the march to the Yalu was begun. Manchuria was invaded after the victory at the Yalu of May 1. A dual campaign from that moment was developed. The supreme object was the capture of Port Arthur. To facilitate that task the Russian armies in Manchuria were prevented from marching to the relief of the garrison there. Blow after blow was administered by the Japanese armies, culminating in the great battles of Liaoyang and the Sha-ho River, each a disastrous defeat for the Russians, each to be numbered among the greatest military struggles of history.
The Land Campaign
Chronologically, the battle succeeding that of the Yalu, May 1, was fought at Pitsewo, May 5. Here the second Japanese army defeated the only Russian force opposing an advance on Port Arthur, until at Nanshan Hill and Kinchow, May 26-27, the garrison of the fortress was encountered in its outermost position. After the defeat at Nanshan Hill the Russians withdrew to the outer perimeter of Port Arthur, giving up Dalny without a struggle. At Vafangow, June 14-15, the Russian General Stackelberg, who had been sent southward by General Kuropatkin to raise the siege at Port Arthur, was defeated. His retreat northward amounted practically to a rout. The Japanese victory, as succeeding events proved, completely isolated Port Arthur, its defenders and the besiegers, and the great drama of the siege went on without even an attempt at interference on the part of Russia's Manchurian army.
The Japanese fought a brilliant campaign of a score of battles between June 17 and July 31, which compelled the concentration of the Russians at Liaoyang, and precipitated the great battle there. Motien Pass was taken by General Kukori on June 17.
On June 30-31, after a tremendous struggle in the mountainous region southeast from Liaoyang, Yangze Pass, likewise, was captured. The Japanese armies, through these defiles poured into the vast basin drained by the Liao River, and at Haicheng dealt Kuropatkin a severe blow, which drove his lines northward to Liaoyang and compelled the evacuation of Niuchwang.
Battle of Liaoyang
Haichang was a prelude to Liaoyang. After fierce fighting, the actual struggle before this strongly fortified position began on August 25. The Japanese army numbered 200,000 men against a probable 165,000 Russians. Generals Oku and Nodzu delivered fierce and incessant frontal attacks from the south, while General Kuroki made a wide turning movement north to encircle Kuropatkin and to cut off his retreat to Mukden. The Russian General ultimately was compelled to meet this turning movement by withdrawing his entire army across the Taitse River, abandoning Liaoyang to the Japanese. General Kuroki was checked and the Russian army was extricated from a grave predicament in a masterly manner after a memorable retreat and rearguard battle of more than fifty miles. The battle had been designed as a crushing blow to the Russians, and would have proved such had Kuroki's turning movement been completely successful. As it turned out the Japanese had won a costly but indecisive victory. The Japanese losses are estimated at 30,000 men. The Russian losses were about 20,000 men.
Battle of Sha-ho River
General Kuropatkin fell back to Mukden and there rested and reinforced his army. On October 4, he began a forward movement against the Japanese, which resulted in a new disaster to his army, the battle of Sha-ho River, October 8-18. The result of this long, sanguinary struggle was again highly indecisive. The Russian advance was checked at the Yentai mines, and thereafter Kuropatkin was forced step by step to the Sha-ho River. After ten days of battle human endurance reached its limit. Almost face to face, the exhausted armies halted. Subsequently the opposing lines stretched out along a line, generally northeast-southwest, for a distance of forty-five miles. The Russian army was reinforced to about 250,000 men, while the Japanese army numbered perhaps 300,000 men with reinforcements from Japan and from Port Arthur.
The Naval Campaign
The opening of the war found the effective ships of Russia's Asiatic fleet divided among Port Arthur, Vladivostock and Chemulpo. In the battle of Chemulpo, February 8-9, theVariagandKorietzwere sunk, narrowing naval interest to Port Arthur and Vladivostock. On August 10 was fought the greatest naval battle of the war. The Russian fleet off Port Arthur was defeated and dispersed, and Vice-Admiral Witoft was killed on the bridge of theCzarevitch. The fragment of the fleet which returned to Port Arthur never again assumed the aggressive, while from that date until the surrender of the fortress Togo's squadron had only blockade duty.
Other naval operations there consisted of desperate dashes to the harbor entrance by Japan's smaller craft and the sinking of merchant ships in the entrance to the harbor. A sortie by Admiral Makaroff resulted only in the flight of the Russians to port without giving battle. The disaster to thePetropavlovskhappened just as the flag ship sped under the guns of Tiger's Tail and Golden Hill. Japanese credited the destruction of the ship to their mine-laying operations.
COSSACKS IN RETREAT AFTER A RECONNAISSANCE NEAR LIAO-YANG.
COSSACKS IN RETREAT AFTER A RECONNAISSANCE NEAR LIAO-YANG.
COSSACKS IN RETREAT AFTER A RECONNAISSANCE NEAR LIAO-YANG.
Vladivostock Ships Defeated
The Vladivostock squadron was defeated August 14 in the Sea of Japan. The cruiserRurikwas sunk. The two other ships of the squadron ultimately reached Vladivostock riddled with shells. Repairs were said to have been completed. A renewal of the naval campaign would probably involve an attack on the sole survivors of the Russian fleet. A final naval engagement was the sinking of the cruiserNovik, of the Port Arthur Squadron, which escaped after the battle of August 10. Cruisers of Kamimura's squadron overtook her off Kamchatka, and the ship was beached there, a complete wreck after a fourteen hours' battle. The last act of the naval campaign was the destruction of the Russian battleshipSevastopoloutside the harbor of Port Arthur. TheSevastopoltook refuge under the Tiger's Tail. Repeated dashes were made by Japanese torpedo boat flotillas and the ship was riddled. Her final destruction, however, was accomplished by the Russians, who mined the ship to prevent possibility of salvage on the fall of Port Arthur.
Siege of Port Arthur
Japan's greatest and only decisive achievement had been the taking of Port Arthur. The investment and actual opening of the siege began May 30, when the Japanese occupied Dalny, with their lines spreading westward to Louisa Bay, completely across the Liao-tung Peninsula. Between May 30 and November 30 the Japanese were engaged in taking position from which the attack on the main defenses of the fortress could be directed. It was tedious work. Probably between 30,000 and 40,000 Japanese lives were sacrificed. In the meantime Fort Kuropatkin, an outer defense north of the Urlung Mountain group of forts, had been captured, while on the west the Japanese, after tremendous efforts, had stormed and taken 203-Metre Hill. The final assault was delivered from saps which had been driven through limestone, up the steep slopes of the hill, a task of enormous difficulty which compelled the victors to share laurels with the engineers who at prodigious cost in men and labor made the assault possible. The capture of 203-Meter Hill gave the Japanese an observatory which looked down on most of Port Arthur. Their artillery, largely 11-inch howitzers, no longer fired at random. Sighting was scientifically directed from the vantage point. Within a week the entire Russian fleet had been destroyed and the whole city lay at the mercy of the irresistible 11-inch shells flung over the mountains with unerring aim.
From Fort Kuropatkin on the north the miner and sapper honeycombed the mountain sides with zig-zag trenches, which inched toward the crests, slowly, indeed, but surely. Outer works, one after the other, fell, and higher and higher the Japanese lines crept upward toward the fort-crowned summits. The climax came December 30. Vast mines under the main Urlungshan fort were fired. Before the smoke cleared the Japanese were flinging themselves over the shattered walls. In one grand climax to all the bloody work of the siege they annihilated the defenders of the fort and finally flung their flag from its battlements. With Urlungshan on the north and 203-Metre Hill on the west in their hands, Port Arthur lay completely at the mercy of the besiegers. The entire northeastern groups of forts fell in a day.
Port Arthur Surrendered
Then came the end. On January 2, General Stoessel surrendered Port Arthur to General Nogi. The city, forts and fleet, represented a value of $270,000,000. The cost of the siege to Japan was $100,000,000. More than 30,000 men were killed, while 70,000 who fell, wounded, increased Japan's casualties to 100,000 men. Russia's original garrison of 38,000 men was cut down during the eight months by 11,500 killed and 17,500 wounded.
The terms of the surrender were deemed liberal. All officers were offered freedom in return for their parole. Others were taken to Japan as prisoners of war.
A Campaign Analysis
Following the movements of the Japanese armies and fleets, it was easy to recognize the objects in view from the start, and to see that the campaign had been conducted with singular fidelity to the plan adopted at the beginning. The results were quite as complete as could reasonably have been looked for. There can be no doubt that a year before Russia had no serious thought of war; her policy was clearly one of bluff and diplomatic evasion and delay. With great foresight the Japanese Government had seen that war was inevitable and the sooner it came the better would be the position of Japan in the struggle for supremacy in the East. Her preparations had been made as carefully and completely as those of Bismarck when he chose his time to force war upon Louis Napoleon; and she moved with even greater celerity and skill than the Germans showed in the attack upon France.
Gaining Mastery of Sea
Japan's initial problem was to gain the mastery of the sea at the outset as an absolute essential; without it the employment of land forces would either be impossible or carried on at an enormous and perhaps fatal risk in the transportation of troops from the Japanese islands to the mainland Asia, or in supplying and reinforcing them when landed. The sea must be cleared of hostile warships before the war could really begin; and the complete success with which this problem was solved at surprisingly small cost rivals the brilliant achievements of the British navy which deprived the first Napoleon of any chance of success in war outside the European mainland, ruined his campaign in Egypt and made hopeless an attack upon the British Islands.
Japan's Main Ambition
Reviewing the results of the whole campaign, we can see that the main objective was the capture of Port Arthur; this largely from the military point of view, still more largely from the standpoint of sentiment, national pride, prestige with the world at large, and from considerations of statecraft. Japan had taken Port Arthur once before, from China, and was obliged to relinquish it to Russia. Its recapture this time no doubt meant more to the Mikado's subjects than any other result of the war; whatever else might happen, that was triumph enough.
To the outside world Japan could hardly present a more striking proof of her prowess than the reduction of this fortress supposed to be impregnable; while in the final settlement at the end of the war its possession would mean an immensely important diplomatic point of vantage. From the strictly military viewpoint, the loss of Port Arthur took away from Russia the only hope of an effective naval base to which her Baltic fleet could safely resort, and from which she might hope to rebuild her shattered sea power. Vladivostock being manifestly ineffective, from its position to the north of Japan, as well as because it is ice-bound during a great part of the year. Oyama's campaign is thus seen to have been chiefly to give General Nogi a free hand at Port Arthur, keeping Kuropatkin well away from the chance of relieving the fortress. If the Russian army could be destroyed or seriously crippled, so much the better; but Oyama had evidently been quite content to take no risk of disaster to himself by trying to do too much.
This seems to explain the apparent slowness and the ineffectiveness of his movements at times. He seems to have been satisfied to keep Kuropatkin simply in a position where he could do nothing to raise the siege of Port Arthur.
The avowed purpose of Japan in beginning war was simply to drive Russia out of the Chinese dominions, which it had agreed to evacuate in the autumn of 1903, but had failed to carry out the agreement. The first year of war ended with the accomplishment of that purpose in as forward a state as could have been reasonably expected.
The Rival Armies
It is estimated that during the year Japan in all has had 490,000 fighting men in her armies and navy. Of these 100,000 invested, besieged and captured Port Arthur. Three hundred thousand made up the armies in Manchuria. Sixty thousand are along lines of communication and in garrison at strategic points, while naval forces at bases and with the fleets numbered about 30,000. On land Japan's united armies were commanded by Field Marshal Marquis Oyama, while right, centre and left—each a completely organized army—were commanded respectively by Generals Kuroki, Nodzu and Oku.
The Port Arthur army, then dwindled from 100,000 men to a mere garrison and police force, was commanded by General Nogi.
The united Russian armies were commanded by General Kuropatkin. Prominent divisional leaders were Generals Stakelberg, Gripenberg, Linevitch and Mistchenko, the latter commanding the Cossack forces. Port Arthur was defended by General Stoessel, then homeward bound on parole to undergo court-martial, though commanding the world's admiration for the defense of Port Arthur.
At sea Admiral Togo and Vice-Admiral Kamimura had led the Japanese fleets to uninterrupted victory. Russia's naval commanders had been Vice-Admirals Makaroff, Wirenius and Witzhdoft, while Rear Admiral Rozndestvensky commanded the Baltic squadron.
The Cost in Men
The year's fighting had been enormously costly in men, and only estimates could be given. The total number of killed was estimated at 125,000, of whom 65,000 were Japanese and 60,000 were Russians. The wounded numbered approximately 265,000, and with the missing the total casualties were swelled to 400,000 men. Of the wounded a very large percentage recovered. The Japanese losses exceeded the Russian, particularly at Port Arthur and in the battle of Liaoyang, the Russians being protected by fortifications which the Japanese attacked from the open. At the battle of the Sha-ho River the casualties were nearly even, the armies fighting under the same conditions. The accuracy of the Japanese artillery and rifle fire is accountable for the fact that the Russian loss is not far less, proportionately.
Of casualties among her more prominent leaders, Japan has been remarkably free, while Russia has suffered heavily. Among her fallen leaders were Generals Rutkozsky, Krondrachenko, said to have been the real defender of Port Arthur, and General Count Kellar. Admiral Makaroff went down with thePetropavlovskat the entrance to the harbor of Port Arthur; Admiral Witoft was killed on his flagship in the naval battle of August 10. A loss in which all the world shared was that of the Artist Vassili Verestchagin, who perished with Makaroff on thePetropavlovsk.
The Cost in Dollars
The actual outlay of both nations for the first year of the war was about $800,000,000. Russian expenses were $500,000,000 and Japan's $350,000,000. To Russia's losses must be added the value of fortifications, property of all kinds, stores and munitions captured by Japan at Port Arthur, Dalny, Niuchwang, Haicheng and Liao-yang. These represent an outlay of approximately $500,000,000, in which is included the value of the ships destroyed in the harbor of Port Arthur. Russia's provisions for war expenses to the end of 1905 comprehended a total expenditure of $850,000,000. Japan's total outlay for two years was estimated to fall $200,000,000 below that figure. Both countries had negotiated foreign loans running from seven to twenty-five years, so that another generation would still feel the financial burden of the war then in progress.
The Cost in Ships
The war had spelled complete disaster for Russia's Asiatic fleet except for two patched ships of problematical effectiveness then at Vladivostock. Russia had lost thirty-five vessels of war of all classes. Of these the chief were: Battleships—Petropavlovsk, destroyed by mine at Port Arthur;Retvisan,Pobieda,Poltava, andPeresviet, sunk by guns from 203-Metre Hill;Czarevitch, disarmed at Shanghai;Sevastopol, blown up by the Russians at the fall of Port Arthur.
Cruisers—Boyarin,Bayan,Pallada,Varyag,Rurik,Rossia,Lena,Novik,Giliak,Bogatyr, sunk, beached or destroyed;Askold,Diana,Gromboi, disarmed in Chinese ports.
Gunboats, etc.—KorietzandYeneseiand twelve others including torpedo boats and destroyers, destroyed.
Japan's losses in battle were confined to torpedo-boats and torpedo-boat destroyers, sixteen of such craft having been destroyed in attacks on Port Arthur. The battleshipHatsusewas sunk, as were also the cruisersUsiyako,SaiyenandYoshino. Three transports were sunk by ships of the Vladivostock squadron.
International Incidents
On the outbreak of the war Mr. Hay, Secretary of State, proposed to the Powers that, jointly, they agree to guarantee the neutrality of China and call upon the belligerents to restrict the war zone accordingly. Counter charges of violations had been made by Russia and Japan. It was conceded that China had earnestly striven to fulfil her obligations under trying circumstances.
On July 17 Russian auxiliary cruisers stopped, searched and seized neutral ships in the Red Sea, precipitating a grave crisis in which Great Britain took a conspicuous part. On representations of the British Foreign Office, Russia released captive ships and recalled the ships. The fact that they had traversed the Dardanelles for a warlike purpose was the basis of the protest.
On October 22, the Russian Baltic fleet, passing through the North Sea en route to the Indian Ocean, fired on the Hull fishing fleet. Two men were killed, a number were wounded and one trawler was sunk.
THE GARRISON OF PORT ARTHUR LEAVING THE FORTRESS.
THE GARRISON OF PORT ARTHUR LEAVING THE FORTRESS.
THE GARRISON OF PORT ARTHUR LEAVING THE FORTRESS.
The firing was alleged to have resulted from an attack on the Russian ships by Japanese torpedo-boats. After a week, in which war seemed certain, the question of culpability was entrusted by consent of both Governments to an international commission, to sit at Paris. A German vessel was also fired on by the Russian fleet, but Germany accepted Russian explanations and the owners were indemnified.
Lessons of the War
Some of the practical lessons gleaned from the actual warfare were these:
(1) That torpedo-boats were craft of immense possibilities, capable of even greater development.
(2) That the destroyer had proved a failure; of the 24 vessels of this type in and before Port Arthur not one made a hit.
(3) That battleships were necessary to successful naval warfare.
(4) That "team work" in armies, as exemplified in the Japanese movements, was a matter of primary importance.
(5) That short range fighting was decidedly not a thing of the past, as had been believed.
(6) That the use of hand grenades promised to introduce a new and particularly horrid form of attack and defense.
(7) That modern fortifications were impregnable to direct assault, however effective a preliminary bombardment.
(8) That the success or failure of sieges of modernly fortified positions depended upon the effectiveness of the engineer, miner and sapper.
(9) That the floating mine was an instrument of destruction against which the most powerful ship was helpless.
(10) Wounds inflicted by modern arms heal readily. While the war had demonstrated anew that one man in five was killed in battle, it had shown that an amazing proportion of the wounded were soon back on the firing line. The clean wound of the steel rifle projectile yielded to treatment even when vital organs were pierced. The medical records of the war were among its most notable features.
Chronology of First Year of War
February 5—Japanese and Russian representatives at St. Petersburg and Tokio given their passports.
February 7—Japanese seize Masanpho, Korea as a troop base.
February 8-9—VaryagandKorietzdestroyed in Chemulpo harbor, and Togo attacks Port Arthur fleet.
February 10—Czar declares war. Japanese occupy Seoul.
February 11—Japan declares war. The United States announces neutrality.
February 12—Sinking of the Russian mineboatYenesei; 96 lives lost
March 1—Kamimura's squadron bombards Vladivostock.
March 27—Kuropatkin reaches Mukden. Japanese take Chongu.
May 1—Kuroki crosses the Yalu, driving back Sassulitch.
May 4—Japanese take Feng-hwang-cheng.
May 5—Japanese land at Pitsewo and begin to invest Port Arthur.
May 11—Russians evacuate Dalny, destroying the town.
May 26-27—Battles of Nanshan Hill and Kinchow; loss, 5130.
May 30—Japanese occupy Port Dalny.
June 14-15—Oku defeats Stackleberg at Vafangow; loss, 11,000.
June 17—Battle of Motien Pass; Russians driven back.
June 18—Japanese take Kinsan Heights.
June 30-31—Battle of Haicheng; loss, 5700.
July 17—Russian cruisers seize neutral vessels in the Red Sea.
July 25—Russian forces driven out of Niuchwang.
July 31—Kuroki wins the Yangze Pass; General Count Keller killed.
August 10—Sorties from Port Arthur harbor. Russian fleet dispersed and in part destroyed. Vice Admiral Witoft killed.
August 14—Kamimura defeats Vladivostock squadron;Ruriksunk.
August 17—Stoessel refuses to surrender Port Arthur.
August 30-September 4—Japanese, under Oyama, defeat Kuropatkin at Liao-yang; 365,000 men engaged; loss, 35,000.
September 11—Baltic fleet sails from Cronstadt under Rozhdestvensky.
October 8-18—Kuroki defeats Kuropatkin at Sha-ho River. Total casualties, 61,000, with 23,000 killed.
October 20—Armies go into winter quarters in and before Mukden.
October 25—Kuropatkin replaces Alexeieff in supreme command.
October 22—"The Doggerbank outrage". Two British fishermen killed.
November 30—Japanese take 203-Metre Hill by storm, losing 12,000.
December 30—Japanese capture Urlungshan fort.
January 2—Stoessel surrenders Port Arthur to Nogi.
The siege of Port Arthur takes high rank in the history of all war. Its capture was the most brilliant achievement of Japanese arms, and its defense perhaps the most glorious page in Russian annals. Invested on May 5, 1904, the fortress held out till failing ammunition forced the surrender of January 2, 1905—242 days. Direct attacks opened on August 19. City, fort and fleet have been valued at $270,000,000; all were destroyed, at a cost to the besiegers of $100,000,000 and more than 30,000 lives; fully 70,000 Japanese were wounded in the various attacks.