The War of the Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear: A Military History of the Russo-Japanese War PDF
Preview The War of the Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear: A Military History of the Russo-Japanese War
THE WAR OF THE RISING SUN AND TUMBLING BEAR Above: How the Chicago Tribune's cartoonist saw the Russo-Japanese dispute. His caption was: Japan to the Great Bear: Tumble, tumble, little star! How I wonder what you are up to!’ THE WAR OF THE RISING SUN AND TUMBLING BEAR A Military History of the Russo-Japanese War 1904-5 R. M. CONNAUGHTON R ROUTLEDGE London and New York First published in 1988 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE 29 West 35th Street, New York NY 10001 © 1988 by R. M. Connaughton Printed in Great Britain by TJ Press (Padstow) Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Connaughton, R. M. The War of the Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear: a military history of the Russo- Japanese War, 1904-5. 1. Russo-Japanese War Title I. 952.03T Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Connaughton, R. M. (Richard Michael, 1942- The war of the rising sun and tumbling bear: a military history of the Russo- Japanese War,1904-5/R. M. Connaughton. p. cm. Bibliography: p. Includes index. ISBN 0-415-00906-5 1. Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905. I. Title. DS517.C67 1989 952.03’1—dcl9 CONTENTS Preface ix 1 THE EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE DECLARATION OF WAR 1 2 THE OPPONENTS 12 3 EARLY NAVAL ACTION 22 4 NAVAL ACTION AT PORT ARTHUR 29 5 VALU 47 6 NANSHAN 67 7 TELISSU 81 ' 8 THE ADVANCE ON LIAOYANG 101 9 LIAOYANG 125 10 THE SIEGE AND FALL OF PORT ARTHUR 168 11 FROM LIAOYANG TO MUKDEN 208 12 FROM THE BALTIC TO TSUSHIMA 239 13 FINIS 271 Epilogue 279 Appendix 1 281 v CONTENTS Appendix 2 282 Appendix 3 284 Appendix 4 286 Appendix 5 287 Bibliography 290 Index 293 ILLUSTRATIONS PLATES (Between pp. 167 and 168) 1 So confident were the Russians of a quick stunning victory over Japan that they issued their troops at the front with these derogatory post cards to send home. (From Cassell's History of the Russo-Japanese War) 2 General Kuropatkin, Commander-in-Chief Russian Land Forces. (Cassell) 3 Admiral Alexeiev, Viceroy of the Far East. (Cassell) 4 Vice-Admiral Makaroff. (From E. K. Nojine, The Truth About Port Arthur) 5 Colonel, later Lieutenant-General, Tretyakov. (From Lt-Gen. N. Â. Tretyakov, My Experiences at Nan-shan and Port Arthur with the Fifth East Siberian Rifles) 6 Admiral Rozhdestvenski. (Cassell) 7 Field-Marshal Oyama with the real commander of the Japanese forces in Manchuria, General Kodama. (Arnold) 8 General Baron Kuroki. (Cassell) 9 The Russians demonstrated the tactical prowess of a bygone era. (Bulla) 10 The Yalu battlefield seen from Tiger Hill. {Cassell) 11 Attachés and observers with a grandstand view of the Yalu battle. (From Collier's Weekly, ‘Russo-Japanese War, A Photographic and Descriptive Review’) 12 Cossacks assembling for an attack. {Cassell) 13 Japanese Field Surgical Team patching up the wounded prior to evacuation and more comprehensive surgery. {Cassell) 14 A portent of what was to come - a Russian trench on the Eastern Front (Nojine) compared with (15) Japanese winter trenchworks near Mukden {Cassell) 16 The Japanese 11-inch guns were an essential force multiplier in breaking down the Russian defences (Underwood) such as (17) 203 ILLUSTRATIONS Metre Hill where the last reserves are seen assembling in the rear (Nojine) 18 The strength of the Russian defences at Port Arthur took the Japanese by surprise. (HMSO, Crown Copyright) 19 Ditches and obstacles surrounding Port Arthur. (Underwood) 20 Admiral Togo made three unsuccessful attempts to bottle up the Russian Fleet inside Port Arthur harbour. Steamers sunk in the attempt are seen from Golden Hill. (Arnold) 21 Togo had a superb fleet. This is the ill fated Tyne-built battleship Hatsuse. (Trustees of the Imperial War Museum) 22 The Imperial Russian navy suffered abject humiliation. Seen here are the Poltava, Retvizan, Pallada and Pobieda, all sunk by the Japanese army while in Port Arthur harbour. (Underwood) 23 A group photograph taken after the fall of Port Arthur with Generals Nogi and Stoessel in the centre. (Kyodo PS) 24 These coolie-portable galvanised metal boxes when made into pontoons were built into bridges, such as this one (25) spanning the Taitzu near Liaoyang. (Cassell) 26 By the time the Russians had withdrawn back to Liaoyang they fought their guns to good effect. (Collier's) 27 Japanese 11" ammunition point. 28 The Japanese suffered horrendous casualties in and around Liaoyang. Here bodies are collected in the kaoliang as a preliminary to cremation. (Underwood) 29 Admiral Togo on board his flagship Mikasa ten minutes before the beginning of the battle of Tsushima. (Courtesy of Captain G. A. French CBE, RN(Retd)) 30 The peacemakers on board the Mayflower at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. (Underwood) MAPS 1 Theatre of war 1904-5 XII 2 Port Arthur 28 3 The battle of the Yalu 46 4 The battle for Nanshan 66 5 Telissu 80 6 The advance to Liaoyang 100 7 Tashihchiao 24 July 1904 113 8 Liaoyang: situation 29-30 August 1904 124 9 Port Arthur: close eastern approaches 178 10 Sha Ho: opening dispositions 2 October 1904 210 11 The fall of Mukden 228 12 From the Baltic to Tsushima 238 13 Togo’s Turn: the first round of the battle of Tsushima 264 Vlll PREFACE My introduction to this war was accidental. While teaching at Camberley in 1984 my attention was drawn to a sale of duplicate library books. The collection of books on the Franco-Prussian War seemed impressively complete, as did a similar collection concerning a war about which I knew nothing - the Russo-Japanese War. I bid a modest amount and was fortunate to secure both sets. The Franco-Prussian War was consigned to storage while I took the Russo-Japanese War collection with me to Australia. As a sometime teacher of tactics and logistics I was intrigued by the lessons to be learned from the Russo-Japanese War, the first of the modern wars. It was the fulcrum upon which international relations would turn, confirming the direction towards world communism and the demise of colonialism. The warnings as to the way and nature of the Great War were clearly identified but not heeded. Also, within the war was the germ of the conflict which would set Japan and the United States on their fatal path of rivalry in the Pacific. I decided to tackle this work as an academic monograph to appease, I suppose, my latent tertiary aspirations. It was, however, the discovery of an unending array of seemingly fictional events demanding to embroider the tapestry of this history which drew me from the high ground. I settled therefore to pitch the work in such a way that after passing the necessary chapters of introduction, the reader would feel inclined to turn over the page to see what happened next. I should add that the conclusions expressed in this book are entirely my own. In outlining the naval and military events I have been sensitive to record in tandem the essence of both the operational and logistical plans. Too frequently the latter is neglected and logistic implications conse quently left unlearned. I have been particularly keen also to emphasise the human element in war, hence the prologue and epilogue. I have, too, included in the Annexes a small exercise for those interested in comparing the Russian and Japanese adherence to the Principles of War. While it is not suggested that anyone should become entirely mesmerised IX PREFACE by principles, the outcome of that study is none the less illuminating. A book of this nature is not produced without a great deal of help and advice. In the United Kingdom I was given prodigious assistance with access to a wider bibliography by Mike Sims, Head Librarian at the Staff College, Camberley. For his interest and invaluable proof-reading I wish to thank Lieutenant Colonel Mike Boissard, Queen’s Dragoon Guards. For the nautical review and advice I am most grateful to Captain George Best OBE, RN Retired. For photographic assistance I have to thank P. R. Maile in West Germany. In Australia, I received the generous support and advice of Denis Warner CMG, OBE. The maps and diagrams were drawn by André Effendi. I am particularly indebted to the word processors, librarians and draughtspeople at the Australian Army Command and Staff College in Queenscliff. Finally, I would like to record my thanks to Brigadier John Grey, the Commandant, not only for his support but also for the idea of pursuing some earlier thoughts of his on the Principles of War. In Japan, I received the kind and professional support of Commander Sadao Seno JMSDF Retired who has corrected a number of inaccuracies in the original draft. Ultimately, however, one returns home saving the last recognition for PF, for whom the cliché ‘without whom it would not have been possible’ is admittedly trite, but none the less apt.
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