Siege of Port Arthur
The Siege of Port Arthur took place from July 30 - January 2nd 1905. The Russian Army was made up of 50,000 men who were led by Major General Anatoly Stoessel. The Japanese Army had 90,000 men, which were led by General Nogi Maresuke. When the Japanese troops landed in Korea and Manchuria, they started to repel the Russians to their base at Port Arthur. There were new weapons and supplies introduced into the world that helped determine the outcome of the war. Port Arthur was heavily fortified but there were some parts of it that were still incomplete. The Russians were outnumbered almost 2 to 1, and General Nogi believed that he could defeat the Russians quickly. On August 7th 1904, General Nogi started shooting artillery at the Russian mines. The Japanese attempted to secure positions on the hills but the Russians were supported by naval ships which ended with heavy casualties for the Japanese. Those same naval ships were sent to Vladivostok but were defeated 3 days later on August 10th,1904 at the Battle of Yellow Sea. A major attack occurred against Temple Redoubt and fell, another attack on Meter Hill was ordered in celebration of the emperors birthday and ended with 3,600 Japanese dead. The Japanese repeatedly attacked Meter Hill until it was overrun with Japanese. On December 18th, 1904 the Japanese took over Fort Chikuan, on December 28 they took over Fort Erhlung, and lastly on December 31 they conquered Fort Sungshu. On January 2nd, 1905 Major General Stoessel surrendered. At the end, the Japanese had 57,780 men killed/wounded or missing, while the Russians had 31,306 men killed/wounded or missing. The remaining Russians were taken into captivity while 868 officers were given the choice to join their men in captivity or be traded by their country for Japanese prisoners.