THE FALL OF PORT ARTHUR
The first day of January, 1905, witnessed the end of the gigantic siege
that had furnished a tragic background for eleven of the twelve months
of 1904. The first blow struck by the Japanese in the war was aimed at
Port Arthur, and during the month that followed they and the defenders
employed and endured more terrific forces of destruction than were ever
used at any other siege in the history of the world. The fall of this
Gibraltar of the East seemed to prove that there can be no such thing as
an impregnable fortress. The attack on Port Arthur began with Togo’s
dash against the Russian fleet on the night of February 8. Four months
later, through the successes of the Japanese on the Liaotung peninsula,
the fortress had been cut off from all outside help.
From the outer line of defence at Nanshan, and thirty miles from the
town, the Japanese worked their way literally inch by inch, burrowing
underground, digging deep trenches that zig-zagged toward the enemy’s
lines, until near enough to make a rush. In many places the ground was
solid rock and countermining was impossible. Barbed-wire entanglements
covered the country for miles, and wide stretches of bare ground had
been covered a foot deep with powdered white ash, which stirred into a
thick white cloud when trodden on, so as to make a splendid target for
machine guns. There were buried mines, some to explode automatically,
others to explode when the lookout man in a distant fort pressed a
button. At night searchlights flashed across every yard of the country
near the lines of forts, and sometimes the Russian gunboats creeping
along the shore outside the harbor got far enough to pour a cross-fire
into the Japanese encampments. Day and night Togo’s squadron sent in
from long range the terrible Shimose shells, worse than lyddite, on the
battered town and forts. Where it was impossible to tunnel or burrow,
masses of rock and bags full of sand were rushed forward at night to
make a temporary shelter where a regiment could go forward a hundred
yards, rest, fire for a few minutes, and advance another hundred yards,
until at last they were close to the enemy. Then, in the teeth of fierce
rifle fire, reinforced, perhaps, by shells from the other forts, the
final charge was made.
The last stage of the advance began on November 30 with the capture of
203-Metre Hill. From this hill the Japanese were able for the first time
to get the range of the Russian ships in the harbor. All the larger
vessels of the Russian fleet were soon disabled. The great Keekwan
Mountain fort was captured on December 18, and on the 30th Ehrlung Fort,
the key of the inner defences, was stormed. That day and the next the
Japanese captured half a dozen neighboring positions, and finally, on
January 1, General Stoessel, who had said at the beginning of the siege
that Port Arthur would be his tomb, sent a message to General Nogi
offering to surrender. For a second time Port Arthur passed into the
hands of those from whom the European powers had wrested it ten years
before.
[Illustration:
NOGI’S FIGHTING MEN RESTING IN CAMP AT HOOZAN HILL
]
[Illustration:
WOUNDED IN A SHELTER TENT THREE MILES FROM RUSSIAN BATTERIES
]
WITH THE JAPANESE DURING THE LAST DAYS OF THE SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR
[Illustration:
SIEGE GUNS ON THE SLOPE, FIELD GUNS AT THE TOP OF THE HILL
]
[Illustration:
ONE OF THE SHELLS BEGINNING ITS LONG FLIGHT TOWARD THE TOWN
]
THE GREAT SIEGE GUNS THROWING ELEVEN-INCH SHELLS INTO PORT ARTHUR
[Illustration:
TWO OF THE GREAT TWENTY-EIGHT CENTIMETER SIEGE GUNS USED BY THE
JAPANESE AGAINST PORT ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
FIVE-HUNDRED-POUND SHELLS WAITING TO BE HURLED INTO PORT ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN BOMB-PROOF NEAR NANSHAN HILL CAPTURED BY THE JAPANESE
]
[Illustration:
THE SLOW WORK OF MOVING THE SIEGE GUNS TO NEW EMPLACEMENTS
]
SCENES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF PORT ARTHUR DURING THE LONG SIEGE
[Illustration:
INFANTRY HIDDEN BY CORNFIELDS AND RAVINES WAITING THE ORDER TO ADVANCE
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE INFANTRY CREEPING THROUGH A CORNFIELD TOWARD THE RUSSIAN
POSITION NEAR HOOZAN
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE WAR BALLOON AND GAS BAG IN A FIELD ABOUT FOUR MILES NORTH OF
PORT ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL NOGI AND HIS STAFF, THE CONQUERORS OF PORT ARTHUR
]
General Nogi sits in the centre, the gray-bearded man with the round
decoration on his breast. On his right is General Ijichi, his chief of
staff, who conducted the negotiations for the surrender. On Ijichi’s
right is the Surgeon-General of the Third Army, and beyond, with the
beard and many decorations, is Major Arriga, Japan’s greatest expert on
international law
[Illustration:
BETWEEN FIGHTS IN THE TRENCH AT SHOGERSAN FORT
]
[Illustration:
SHELTERED INFANTRY AWAITING OPPORTUNITY TO ADVANCE
]
[Illustration:
BRINGING UP THE BIG TWENTY-EIGHT CENTIMETER SHELLS
]
[Illustration:
SIEGE GUN SHELTERED BEHIND BAGS OF EARTH
]
WITH THE JAPANESE AS THEY CLOSED IN AROUND PORT ARTHUR
[Illustration:
THE JAPANESE AND RUSSIAN WHITE FLAGS OF TRUCE
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL STOESSEL ABOUT TO PRESENT HIS FAVORITE HORSE TO GENERAL NOGI
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL STOESSEL AT THE STATION WAITING TO TAKE THE TRAIN FOR DALNY
]
INCIDENTS OF THE SURRENDER OF PORT ARTHUR TO THE JAPANESE
[Illustration:
ONE OF THE MANY “BOMB-PROOFS” USED BY CIVILIANS AT PORT ARTHUR
]
Although a woman was killed in this shelter shortly before the
photograph was taken, they were, generally speaking, fairly effective
protections. During the heavier bombardments, the occupants lived in
them for days at a time. The Russo-Chinese Bank transacted business
underground in “bomb-proofs” constructed in this manner for some time
during the latter part of the siege
[Illustration:
ENGINEERS’ STORES, SET ON FIRE BY JAPANESE SHELLS, BURNING AT PORT
ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE SHELL BURSTING IN THE BASIN IN THE EASTERN SECTION OF THE OLD
TOWN, PORT ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
VIEW OF THE OLD TOWN, PORT ARTHUR, IN NOVEMBER, AFTER A BOMBARDMENT
]
[Illustration:
THE PRICE OF VICTORY—PART OF THE JAPANESE DEAD LYING ON 203-METER HILL
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN DEAD AWAITING BURIAL IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF PORT ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
PHOTOGRAPHER’S STUDIO AT PORT ARTHUR AFTER IT HAD BEEN STRUCK BY ONE
OF THE JAPANESE SHELLS
]
[Illustration:
MAIN ROAD OUT OF THE NEW TOWN, PORT ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN POLICE STATION, PORT ARTHUR, HIT BY JAPANESE SHELL
]
[Illustration:
VIEW OF THE NEW TOWN, PORT ARTHUR, IN OCTOBER
]
[Illustration:
WHERE A JAPANESE SHELL HAD EXPLODED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TOWN
]
VIEWS OF PORT ARTHUR, IN OCTOBER, WHEN THE SIEGE WAS HALF OVER
[Illustration:
INSIDE FORT NILUSAN AFTER THE RUSSIANS HAD GIVEN IT UP
]
[Illustration:
STANDING ON A “BOMB-PROOF” INSIDE ONE OF THE PORT ARTHUR FORTS
]
[Illustration:
NORTH KEEKWANSAN FORT AFTER THE SURRENDER
]
[Illustration:
DISMOUNTED SIEGE GUNS INSIDE ONE OF THE RUSSIAN FORTS
]
INSIDE SOME OF THE RUSSIAN FORTS AT PORT ARTHUR AFTER ITS SURRENDER
[Illustration:
WOMEN AND CHILDREN ABOUT TO TAKE THE TRAIN FROM PORT ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
PRISONERS TAKEN AT PORT ARTHUR WAITING TO BOARD JAPANESE TRANSPORT
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN AND JAPANESE SOLDIERS GETTING ACQUAINTED
]
SCENES AT PORT ARTHUR IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SURRENDER
[Illustration:
JAPANESE SOLDIERS IN THE NIRYUSAN FORT AFTER THE SURRENDER
]
[Illustration:
THE CRUISER “PALLADA,” WITH THE “POBIEDA” SHOWING JUST BEHIND HER
]
[Illustration:
ON THEIR WAY TO 203-METER HILL WITH A TWENTY-EIGHT CENTIMETER GUN
]
[Illustration:
THE BATTLESHIP “RETVIZAN” BEACHED AT PORT ARTHUR
]
SCENES AT PORT ARTHUR IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SURRENDER
[Illustration:
BATTLESHIP “POBIEDA” BEACHED AT PORT ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
THE “POLTAVA” AND “PERESVIET” AGROUND IN THE HARBOR
]
[Illustration:
THE BATTERED “RETVIZAN,” “POLTAVA” AND “PERESVIET”
]
[Illustration:
FORWARD TURRET OF THE BATTLESHIP “RETVIZAN”
]
SUNKEN RUSSIAN BATTLESHIPS AT PORT ARTHUR AFTER ITS CAPTURE BY THE
JAPANESE
[Illustration:
THE BATTLESHIP “RETVIZAN” THE DAY AFTER THE SURRENDER OF PORT ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
THE RIVER GUNBOAT “GILYAK” OF THE RUSSIAN “VOLUNTEER FLEET”
]
VIEWS OF THE HARBOR OF PORT ARTHUR WHEN THE JAPANESE TOOK POSSESSION
[Illustration:
CONVALESCENT WOUNDED RUSSIAN SAILORS AND THEIR JAPANESE NURSES AND
DOCTORS AT MATSUYAMA
]