The Battle of Nanshan (南山の戦い, Nanzan no tatakai), also known as the battle of Jinzhou or Chinchou (Russian: Сражение при Цзинь-чжоу/Кинь-чжоу[2]), was one of many vicious land battles of the Russo-Japanese War. It took place on 24–26 May 1904 across a two-mile-wide defense line across the narrowest part of the Liáodōng Peninsula, covering the approaches to Port Arthur and on the 116-meter high Nanshan Hill, the present-day Jinzhou District, north of the city center of Dalian, Liaoning, China.
General Stoessel had approximately 17,000 men and the 4th, 5th, 13th, 14th and 15th East Siberian Rifles (all were under the full supervision of General Mitrofan Nadein[2]), from which about 3,000 men of the 5th East Siberian Rifles under Colonel Nikolai Tretyakov were dug into fortified positions on Nanshan hill, where they planned to hold out despite knowing they would be greatly outnumbered. The reserve divisions were under command of Lieutenant-General Alexander Fok, a former police officer who had risen to his position through political patronage rather than experience or ability. The Russian forces had 114 pieces of field artillery, machine guns, and had dug a network of trenches and barbed wire. The Japanese were well aware of the fortifications, as a Colonel Doi of Japanese intelligence was one of the thousands of "Chinese laborers" recruited by the Russians to work on the project in 1903.
The battle
Japanese map of the Battle of NanshanRussian map of the Battle of Nanshan
On the Russian side, the overall direction of the battle was first exercised by General Nadein, and then by General Fok.[2]
On 24 May 1904, during a heavy thunderstorm, the Japanese Fourth Division under the command of Lieutenant General Ogawa Mataji attacked the walled town of Chinchou (modern-day Jinzhou District 金州), just north of Nanzan hill. Despite being defended by no more than 400 men with antiquated artillery, the Fourth Division failed on two attempts to breach its gates. Two battalions from the First Division attacked independently at 05:30 on 25 May 1904, finally breaching the defenses and taking the town.[3]
With his flank thus secure, General Oku could then commence the main assault on the entrenched Russian forces on Nanshan Hill. The assault was postponed a day due to the weather. On 26 May 1904, Oku began with prolonged artillery barrage from Japanese gunboats offshore, followed by infantry assaults by all three of his divisions. The Russians, with mines, Maximmachine guns and barbed wire obstacles, inflicted heavy losses on the Japanese during repeated assaults. By 18:00, after nine attempts, the Japanese had failed to overrun the firmly entrenched Russian positions. Oku had committed all of his reserves, and both sides had used up most of their artillery ammunition.[3]
Finding his calls for reinforcement unanswered, Colonel Tretyakov was amazed to find that the uncommitted reserve regiments were in full retreat: in the midst of battle Nadein ordered 2 battalions from reserve to occupy the empty trenches of the left flank, but for some reason only 2 companies were sent in. Tretyakov's remaining ammunition reserves had been blown up under orders of General Fok. Fok, paranoid of a possible Japanese landing between his position and the safety of Port Arthur, was panicked by a flanking attack by the decimated Japanese Fourth Division along the west coast. In his rush to flee the battle, Fok had neglected to tell Tretyakov of the order to retreat, and Tretyakov thus found himself in the precarious position of being encircled, with no ammunition and no reserve force available for a counter-attack. Tretyakov had no choice but to order his troops to fall back to the second defensive line.
By 19:20, the Japanese flag flew from the summit of Nanshan Hill. Tretyakov, who had fought well and who had lost only 400 men during the battle, lost 650 more men in his poorly supported retreat back to the main defensive lines around Port Arthur.[3][2]
Results
The Russians lost a total of about 1,400 killed, wounded and missing during the battle. Although the Japanese did not win lightly, having at least 6,198 casualties, they could claim victory. Among the 739 dead was the eldest son of General Nogi Maresuke. The Japanese had fired 34,000 artillery shells during the battle – more than had been expended during the entire First Sino-Japanese War.[3] The Japanese had also fired 2.19 million rifle and machine gun rounds in one day of fighting- more than the number (c. 2 million) fired by the Prussians during the entire Austro-Prussian War.[4]
Due to lack of ammunition, the Japanese could not move from Nanshan until 30 May 1904. To their amazement, they found that the Russians had made no effort to hold the strategically valuable and easily defendable port of Dalny, but had retreated all the way back to Port Arthur. Although the town had been looted by the local civilians, the harbor equipment, warehouses and railway yards were all left intact.
After Japan occupied Dalny, a memorial tower was erected on top of Nanshan Hill with the famous poem by General Nogi. The tower was demolished after the Pacific War, and only the foundation is left. A portion of the stone tablet with the poem is now stored in the Lüshun Prison.
Gallery
The Russian Army cemeteries at Nanshan Soviet Military Cemetery in Jinzhou
Empire of Japan
Russian Empire
Oku Yasukata
_LCCN2009630471.jpg)
