Decisive battle in the Russo-Japanese war
Battle of Mukden
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Part of the
Russo-Japanese War
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Russian_Field_Gun_during_the_Battle_of_Mukden.jpg/300px-Russian_Field_Gun_during_the_Battle_of_Mukden.jpg) Russian field gun firing during the battle of Mukden
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Date
| 20 February ? 10 March 1905
(2 weeks and 4 days)
|
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Location
| |
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Result
|
Japanese victory
[1]
|
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Territorial
changes
|
Japanese occupy all of southern Manchuria
Russian forces
retreat to northern Manchuria
|
---|
|
Belligerents
|
---|
Empire of Japan
|
Russian Empire
|
Commanders and leaders
|
---|
?yama Iwao
Tatsumi Naofumi
|
Aleksey Kuropatkin
|
Strength
|
---|
270,250 troops
- 262,900 infantry
- 7,350 cavalry
992 guns
200 machine guns
|
292,000 troops
[3]
|
Casualties and losses
|
---|
77,504 total:
- 15,892 killed
- 59,612 wounded
- 2,000 captured
[4]
[5]
|
88,352 total:
- 8,705 killed
- 51,438 wounded
- 28,209
MIA
; of those, 22,000 fell into captivity
[6]
|
The
Battle of Mukden
(
奉天??
,
H?ten kaisen
)
, one of the largest
land battles
to be fought before
World War I
and the
last and the most decisive
major land
battle
of the
Russo-Japanese War
,
[7]
was fought from 20 February to 10 March 1905 between Japan and Russia near
Mukden
in
Manchuria
. The city is now called
Shenyang
, the capital of
Liaoning
province
in
China
.
Involving 610,000 combat participants and 164,000 combatant casualties, it was the largest modern-era battle fought prior to
World War I
, and possibly the largest battle in world history at that point.
[8]
The scale of the battle, particularly in the amount of ordnance being expended, was unprecedented in world history. The Japanese side alone fired 20.11 million rifle and machine gun rounds and 279,394 artillery shells in just over ten days of fighting (yet the Russians still fired more), matching the ammunition consumption of the German army in the entire 191-day
Franco-Prussian War
.
[9]
The battle was a decisive strategic victory for the Japanese and, coupled with their victory at the
Battle of Tsushima
four months later, proved critical in ending the war in their favor.
Background
[
edit
]
Following the
Battle of Liaoyang
(24 August to 4 September 1904), Russian forces retreated to the river Sha Ho south of Mukden and regrouped. From 5 October 1904 to 17 October 1904, during the
Battle of Shaho
, the Russians unsuccessfully counter-attacked, but managed to temporarily slow the Japanese advance. A second Russian counter-offensive, the
Battle of Sandepu
, fought from 25 to 29 January 1905 was likewise unsuccessful.
Though the combined Russian army led by General
Aleksey Kuropatkin
was set to receive reinforcements via the unfinished
Trans-Siberian Railroad
, the effects of the
Bloody Sunday
and the now-ongoing
unrest at home
placed a strain on the manpower of the whole Imperial Army as much of its resources now had to be dedicated in the quelling of the uprisings throughout its territories. Therefore, the Russian force was expected to receive little to no reinforcements and supplies from home.
The situation for the Japanese was hardly better. Though the
capture
of
Port Arthur
by General
Maresuke Nogi
freed up their
3rd Army
, which then advanced north to reinforce the Japanese lines near Mukden in preparation for an attack, the manpower reserves of the Japanese army had been drained by February 1905. With the arrival of General Nogi's 3rd Army, Japan's entire fighting strength was concentrated at the vicinity of Mukden. The severe casualties, bitter cold climate, and approach of the Russian
Baltic Fleet
created pressure on Marshal ?yama to effect the complete destruction of the Russian forces, rather than just another victory from which the Russians could withdraw farther into
Manchuria
.
Disposition of forces
[
edit
]
Formation of a Japanese division
The Russian line to the south of Mukden was 90 miles (140 km) long, with little depth and with a central reserve.
General Kuropatkin had thus disposed his forces in a purely defensive layout, from which it would be difficult to impossible to execute an offensive without opening a major gap in the lines.
On the Japanese side (
Japanese Manchurian Army
),
The Yalu River Army was much under strength, and consisted only of the
IJA 11th Division
(from Port Arthur) and reservists. Despite that it was technically not under the
Japanese Manchurian Army
but directly under
Imperial General Headquarters
to attack
Primorsky Krai
politically, the division was substantially under Manchuria HQ under the commander's decision.
General Kuropatkin was convinced that the main Japanese thrust would come from the mountainous eastern side, as the Japanese had proven themselves effective in such terrain, and the presence of the former 3rd Army veterans from the 11th Division in that area reinforced his convictions.
Field Marshal ?yama's plan was to form his armies into a crescent to encircle Mukden, cutting off the possibility of Russian escape. He was explicit in his orders that combat within the city of Mukden itself was to be avoided. All during the war, the Japanese had pursued a meticulous civil affairs policy aimed at avoiding civilian casualties and keeping the Chinese populace on their side ? a stark contrast with the previous
First Sino-Japanese War
and subsequent
Second Sino-Japanese War
.
The battle
[
edit
]
Positions of armies by 23 February, the Army of Manchuria of the Imperial Japanese Army in red and the Imperial Russian Army in green.
Positions of armies by 2 March: the Japanese Army of Manchuria advances northward and via its 3rd and 2nd Armies perform a wide flanking maneuver to the west to envelop the Russian force which was withdrawing north towards Mukden to assume better defensive positions.
Positions of armies by 7 March: the Russian army finally consolidates its position north of the Hun river and in front of the Trans-Siberian Railroad with the city of Mukden as its pivot, the Japanese launch numerous attacks to dislodge subsequent enemy dispositions.
Positions of armies by 8 March: after successive attacks, the Japanese finally create a breach on the center of the Russian lines, imperiling the whole Russian defense.
Conclusion, 10 March: with the overall situation hopeless the Russian army then retreats northward, much of the Japanese army finish off the remnants of a pocket west of Mukden while the rest pursue the enemy until halting due to exhaustion.
Russian Cavalry under Reconnaissance Mission during the Battle of Mukden
The battle opened with the Japanese 5th Army attacking the left flank of the Russian forces on 20 February. On 27 February 1905 the Japanese 4th Army attacked the right flank, while other Japanese forces also attacked the Russian front lines. On the same day, the Japanese 3rd Army began its movement in a wide circle northwest of Mukden.
[
citation needed
]
By 1 March 1905, action on the eastern and center fronts was largely static. The Japanese had made small advances but under heavy casualties. However, by 7 March, General Kuropatkin began withdrawing forces from the eastern front to counter the Japanese 3rd Army's moves on the western flank of Mukden, and was so concerned about General Nogi's movements that he decided to lead the counterattack himself. The shifting of forces from east to west was not well coordinated by the Russians, causing the 1st and 3rd Manchurian Armies to all but disintegrate into chaos. Then Kuropatkin decided to withdraw his troops north towards Mukden to face the Japanese forces head-on on the city's southwest and at the banks of the
Hun River
in the city's southeast.
[
citation needed
]
Then Field Marshal ?yama seized the chance he had been waiting for, and his orders to "attack" were changed to "pursue and destroy". Luck was further with the Japanese due to the late thaw in the weather. The Hun River, guarded by the Russian left flank commanded by Major General
Mikhail Alekseyev
, remained frozen, and was not an obstacle to the Japanese attack. However, as they crossed the river, the Japanese attack was hampered when they encountered stiff resistance and heavy artillery fire coming from the Russians, now commanded by General
Paul von Rennenkampf
, resulting in yet more heavy casualties. After heavy fighting the Japanese succeeded in taking the northern bank of the river, causing the Russian defense lines defending the bank to collapse and the far edge of their left flank to be partially cut off from the rest of the main body of Kuropatkin's army. At the same time a salient was formed just 15 kilometers west of Mukden, enabling the Japanese to totally encircle the Russians on their right flank in the process.
[
citation needed
]
Russian troops in combat against Japanese troops
All but encircled and with no hope for victory, General Kuropatkin gave the order to retreat to the north at 18:45 on 9 March. The Russian withdrawal was complicated by General Nozu's breach through Russian rearlines over the Hun River.
At 10:00 AM on 10 March, Japanese forces occupied Mukden. After they occupied Mukden the Japanese continued their hard-driven pursuit of the Russians, but this was hampered when ?yama knew that his army's supply lines were stretching too thin; however, he continued the pursuit of the enemy, though in a lazy, slow manner. The pursuit was stopped 20 kilometers short of Mukden, but the Russians were already fleeing farther north from Tiehling towards the Sino-Russian border at a fast pace, and the battle was over with the Japanese as the victor.
[
citation needed
]
Throughout the battle, many foreign military observers were present in order to observe how the next great war might be fought. The Battle of Mukden heavily foreshadowed the tactics to be used in
World War I
.
[
citation needed
]
Conclusion
[
edit
]
Retreat of Russian soldiers towards the Sino-Russian border after the battle
Russian casualties amounted to nearly 90,000.
[4]
[5]
The Russians had also lost most of their combat supplies as well as most of their artillery and heavy machine guns.
[
citation needed
]
Fearing further Japanese advances, General Kuropatkin ordered that the town of
Tieling
be put to the torch, and marched his remaining men 10 days further north to a new defense line at Hspingkai (modern
Siping
,
Jilin province
,
China
), where General
Mikhail Batyanov
(who replaced General von Bilderling as commander of the Third Manchurian Army) organized defenses against a possible renewed Japanese offensive. However, Kuropatkin did not hold this line for very long, and soon organized a complete withdrawal of Russian forces from the region. The Japanese forces suffered 75,000 casualties
[4]
[5]
which included a higher percentage of killed and wounded over the Russians. The Japanese captured 58 artillery pieces.
[10]
No serious fighting on land occurred after this battle as both Russian and Japanese armies were exhausted from the conflict.
Aftermath
[
edit
]
Japanese propaganda from the war:
woodcut print
showing Tsar Nicholas II waking from a nightmare of the battered and wounded Russian forces returning from battle. Artist
Kobayashi Kiyochika
, 1904 or 1905.
With the defeat of the Russian Manchurian Army in Mukden, the Russian forces were driven out of southern Manchuria. However, with problems concerning its overstretched supply lines, the Japanese army failed to destroy the Russian forces stationed in the region completely and Kuropatkin's forces, though severely demoralized and short of supplies, were still largely intact. But the battle of Mukden was decisive enough to shatter the Russians' morale and, with the unfinished Trans-Siberian railroad now in Japanese hands, undermined the tsarist government's war effort. The final, decisive battle of the war would be eventually
fought on the waters of Tsushima
.
The victory shocked the imperial powers of Europe, as the Japanese proved overwhelming throughout the battle despite the Russians having more manpower and material. It showed that European armies were not automatically superior to those of other nations, and could be even decisively outmatched in battle. The battle had confirmed the Japanese army the 6th largest army in the world.
Tsar Nicholas II
was particularly shocked, when the news reached the palace in
St. Petersburg
, that the tiny Asian island nation of Japan - approximately 2% of Russia's landmass - could defeat the powerful and huge Russian empire.
The tsarist government was irritated over the incompetence and clumsiness of their commanders during the battle. The generals
Aleksandr Samsonov
and
Paul von Rennenkampf
began to loathe each other as Samsonov very publicly accused von Rennenkampf of failing to assist him. In
World War I
these Generals would command the two armies involved in the even more disastrous
Battle of Tannenberg
.
See also
[
edit
]
Citations
[
edit
]
- ^
Tucker 2009
, p. 1542: "Thus, the Battle of Mukden is not the decisive victory that the Japanese need."
- ^
"НЭБ - Национальная электронная библиотека"
.
- ^
a
b
c
Menning p.194
- ^
a
b
c
Martin p.207
- ^
Russian Main Military Medical Directorate (
Glavnoe Voenno-Sanitarnoe Upravlenie
) statistical report. 1914.
- ^
Palmer, Colton & Kramer 2007
, p. 673
- ^
See
List of battles by casualties
.
- ^
John Steinberg (editor). "The Russo-Japanese War in Global Perspective: World War Zero." Volume II. Brill Academic Pub: May 2005. Pages 191-192.
- ^
"Russo-Japanese War, Lessons Not Learned," page 88, by Major James D. Sizemore. The Japanese captured relatively few Russian artillery pieces at Mukden.
References and further reading
[
edit
]
- Clodfelter, M. (2017).
Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492?2015
(4th ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland.
ISBN
978-0786474707
.
- Connaughton, Richard
(2003).
Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear
. Cassell.
ISBN
0-304-36657-9
- Higgins, David R. "The Battle of Mukden: A Strategic & Tactical Analysis-The rising empire of Japan defeated the Russians in what was then the largest land battle ever fought."
Strategy and Tactics
270 (2011): 26+.
- Kowner, Rotem
(2006).
Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War
. Scarecrow.
ISBN
0-8108-4927-5
- Martin, Christopher.
The Russo-Japanese War
. Abelard Schuman.
ISBN
0-200-71498-8
- Menning, Bruce W.
Bayonets before Battle: The Imperial Russian Army, 1861?1914
. Indiana University
ISBN
0-253-21380-0
- Nish, Ian (1985).
The Origins of the Russo-Japanese War
. Longman.
ISBN
0-582-49114-2
- Palmer, R. R.; Colton, Joel; Kramer, Lloyd (2007).
A History of the Modern World
(10th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
ISBN
978-0-07-310748-6
.
- Tucker, Spencer
(23 December 2009).
A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East
. ABC-CLIO.
ISBN
978-1-85109-672-5
. Retrieved
25 April
2015
.
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123°26′E
/
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