Defense of Port Arthur - 329 days of valor and tragedy

Port Arthur ... The outpost of the Russian Empire on the Yellow Sea. A distant patch of land on the edge of the world, abundantly drenched in the blood of Russian soldiers. Eleven centuries ago, the views of the whole world were riveted to this place. It was here that the main events of the Russo-Japanese War unfolded. Here great feats were committed and fatal, and sometimes contradictory, decisions were made. The defense of Port Arthur is a vivid example of military valor of Russian soldiers.

Port Arthur, which served as the main base of the Russian fleet in this region, occupied a strategically advantageous position. With this bridgehead, the Russian squadron could strike in the direction of the Korean and Pechiliysky Gulfs. Thus threatening the most important operational lines of the Japanese army. But for all its strategic position, Port Arthur was not well equipped to serve as a reliable and safe naval base. The inner harbor, where the main fleet was located, was too close and shallow. Having only one very narrow outlet, it was in the military-tactical aspect a real mousetrap.

Not much preferable in this regard was the external raid. Completely open, it represented a blatant danger, as a place for parking combat ships. In addition, the fortress did not have adequate protection from the sea attack, or from the land attack. In general, on the eve of the war, it was difficult to call this fortress an impregnable stronghold. Port Arthur was unable to withstand a massive attack by Japan's army and navy. And could not provide a Pacific squadron of safe basing. These are the main prerequisites for the tragedy of this war.

By the time the tight siege of Port Arthur began, of the 552 guns of the fortress, only 116. were in combat readiness. The garrison was made up of the fourth and seventh East Siberian Rifle Divisions, which were not fully completed. As for the fleet, the raid of Port Arthur was the location of the first Pacific squadron and the Siberian flotilla.

The war, and, accordingly, the defense of Port Arthur, began on the night of January 27, 1904. The beginning of hostilities was caused by the attack of 10 Japanese destroyers on the squadron, standing on the roadstead of Port Arthur. Immediately, the Japanese torpedoes damaged two battleships and one cruiser. These were the first losses of this dramatic and bloody war ...

In the morning, the main forces of the Japanese squadron were led by Admiral Heyhachiro Togo. From that moment the defense of Port Arthur started directly from the Japanese armada, which had a fourfold superiority. Daytime battle, not successful squadron Admiral H. Togo, was crowned with a complete blockade of the fortress. To prevent Russian ships from leaving the harbor and disrupt the transport of Japanese troops to the Korean Peninsula.

The valiant defense of Port Arthur lasted 329 days, but the fall of Port Arthur was inevitable. On the 329th day of heroic and fierce resistance, the fortress fell all the same. The protracted and exhausting defense of Port Arthur thwarted the plans of the Japanese command concerning the lightning defeat of Russian troops on the territory of Manchuria. The price of 27 thousand Russian lives - this is the result of the protection of Port Arthur. The attack of the attackers was so great (112,000 dead and wounded, fifteen sunk and sixteen damaged ships) that General M. Nogi, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese army , who felt guilty for such monstrous and unjustified losses, was going to perform the hara-kiri rite. But the emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun forbade him this act. And only after the death of the monarch the general realized his intention ...