Battle of the Shaho
Contemporary postcard from 1904 showing a scene during the Battle of the Shaho. The original text of the card reads: During the Battle of Sha-ho, a company of our armed forces is pushing strong enemy forces on the left bank of the Taizi River.
| date | October 5. bis 17th October 1904 |
|---|---|
| place | South of Mukden , Manchuria on the Sha River |
| output | draw |
| consequences | Russian retreat |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
|
|
| Troop strength | |
| 210,000 men | 170,000 men |
| losses | |
|
40,459 total losses
|
20,345 total losses
|
Port Arthur (Sea Battle) - Chemulpo - Yalu - Nanshan - Te-li-ssu - Hitachi-Maru Incident - Motien Pass - Tashihchiao - Hsimucheng - Port Arthur (Siege) - Yellow Sea - Ulsan - Korsakov - Liaoyang - Shaho - Sandepu - Mukden - Tsushima - Sakhalin
The Battle of the Shaho was a land battle in the Russo-Japanese War and was held on September 22nd . / October 5th greg. until October 4th jul. / October 17, 1904 greg. between the Imperial Japanese Army and the Imperial Russian Army . It took place about 60 km south of Mukden on the Sha River, on the railway line of the Chinese Eastern Railway between Mukden and Port Arthur, and ended in a draw. After the end of the battle, the Russian troops withdrew.
prehistory
After the defeat in the Battle of Liaoyang , the situation for the Russian troops became increasingly unfavorable. The tsar now urged vigorously to horrify Port Arthur , which was besieged by the Japanese , and simply to preserve the face of the tsarist empire. He gave General Kuropatkin , the commander in chief of the Russian armed forces in Manchuria, direct instructions to force a turnaround in the course of the war. Kuropatkin was then reinforced with fresh troops who had been brought in with the help of the recently completed Trans-Siberian Railway . With these he wanted to attack the Japanese troops commanded by Field Marshal Ōyama Iwao on the Sha-ho River.
The battle
On October 5, 1904, the Russian army, 210,000 strong, attacked the Japanese in a major offensive north of Liaoyang. The main Russian thrust came from the mountains on the eastern edge of the battlefield, where they were gaining ground more and more.
The Japanese defenders, consisting of the 1st Army (General Kuroki Tamemoto ), the 2nd Army (General Oku Yasukata ) and the 4th Army ( Nozu Michitsura ) had a total strength of 170,000 men. On the evening of October 10, 1904, General Oyama ordered a general counterattack. By October 13, the Russian advance was halted in the mountains on the eastern edge of the battlefield, while the Russian center was dangerously exposed.
The next 4 days more fights raged, in which neither side wanted to back down. It was not until October 17, 1904, that General Kuropatkin ordered the loss of the attack to be broken off and to retreat towards Mukden.
losses
The Imperial Russian Army lost 5,084 dead, 30,506 wounded and 4,869 missing in the battle, which corresponds to almost 25% of its total strength. The Japanese, on the other hand, had only 3,951 killed and 16,394 wounded (12% of the Japanese total).
consequences
The battle had lasted two weeks and ended in a draw. The Japanese advance on Mukden had been interrupted but not ended. From then on, both sides prepared for the next armed conflict, which was to take place at the Battle of Sandepu .
Cinematic implementation
The battle was themed in 2011 in episode 12 of the Japanese television series Saka no Ue no Kumo .
literature
- Connaughton, Richard (2003). Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear . Cassell. ISBN 0-304-36657-9
- Kowner, Rotem (2006). Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War. Scarecrow, ISBN 0-8108-4927-5 .
- Nish, Ian (1985). The Origins of the Russo-Japanese War . Longman. ISBN 0-582-49114-2
- Sedwick, FR (1909). The Russo-Japanese War . Macmillan.
Web links
- A Diary of the Russo-Japanese War, Volume 2 (English) (Diary of the Russo-Japanese War, Volume 2)
- Six months with the Japanese army report by Friedrich Heinrich Bruno Julius Bronsart von Schellendorff