THE BATTLE OF MUKDEN
Judged by the number of men engaged, the vast extent of the battlefield,
and the losses, the battle of Mukden was the greatest of modern times,
if not of all history. Even the tremendous duel at Liao-Yang, which was
on a larger scale than any modern battle that had preceded it, pales
before this nineteen days’ struggle. Between 750,000 and 800,000 men
were engaged, of which about 361,000 were Russian and at least 400,000
Japanese. When the nineteen days’ struggle began, both sides faced each
other in the valley of the Sha River, the Russian lines stretching back
upon tiers of defences, backed up with over 1,300 guns and forming south
of Mukden a barrier which foreign experts pronounced impregnable.
From east to west the five Japanese armies were assigned under the
following commanders—Kawamura, Kuroki, Nodzu, Oku, and Nogi. Field
Marshal Oyama’s plan was for these five armies to form a crescent nearly
one hundred miles in length, the cusps of which would gradually draw
together, the western cusp being finally thrown forward so as to form a
closed curve with the eastern. The plan thus outlined worked with
perfect success. Kawamura, in the eastern sector, began the attack first
on February 22, driving the Russians back toward Tita. For over a
fortnight the fiercest sort of fighting continued in this part of the
field, in the midst of zero weather and almost continuous snowstorms. It
ended with the Russians driven across the Hun River and the right horn
of the crescent having reached its final position opposite Mukden.
Meanwhile, Kuroki broke through the formidable works which guarded the
road to the Hun River from Pensihu, and arrived on March 5 in line with
the general advance. Nodzu, to the left of Kuroki, drove the enemy from
his last outworks south of the Sha River, and on March 6 paused to await
the other turning attacks on east and west. Oku, between the Sha and Hun
Rivers, rolled back the enemy’s line until its superior numbers and
strong intrenchments near Patishu, about ten miles from Mukden, forced
him to await the final turning movement of Nogi’s men on the extreme
west. These men of Nogi’s were Port Arthur veterans, who looked upon
this work as a mere picnic. On March 1 they reached Sinmintung,
thirty-three miles west of Mukden, where they wheeled to the right. They
carried position after position, assisted Oku’s attacks against the
enemy’s position southwest of Mukden, swinging eastward in an
arch-shaped line with a front of fifteen miles.
The crisis of the fight had come. On March 7 Kuropatkin gave the order
to retreat. All along the hundred-mile line the Japanese closed in. The
whole stupendous structure of the defence fell to pieces in an instant.
The Russians poured northward almost in a rout, and on March 10 the
Japanese occupied Mukden. The Russians had left more than 30,000 dead on
the field, lost 50,000 prisoners, and they had over 100,000 wounded. The
total Japanese casualties, as reported by Oyama, were 50,000.
[Illustration:
TYPICAL SCENE DURING THE RAINY-WEATHER CAMPAIGN ALONG THE HUN
]
[Illustration:
GETTING THE RANGE THROUGH THE HYPOSCOPE FROM 203-METER HILL
]
[Illustration:
CHINESE DIGGING GRAVES FOR RUSSIAN DEAD AT HIGH HILL
]
VIEWS AT PORT ARTHUR AND WITH A RUSSIAN BATTERY ON THE HUN RIVER
[Illustration:
TENTH RUSSIAN DRAGOONS SCOUTING NEAR MUKDEN
]
[Illustration:
ON THE MARCH ALONG THE ROAD NEAR MUKDEN
]
[Illustration:
CHUNCHUSE BANDITS RIDING THROUGH SINMINTUNG
]
RUSSIAN CAVALRY AND NATIVE HORSEMEN IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF MUKDEN
[Illustration:
MUSTER OF ONE OF KUROKI’S DIVISIONS AFTER THE BATTLE OF MUKDEN
]
All the battalions were full before the battle. There was not one that
did not lose at least ten or fifteen per cent of its quota—as the gaps
in the ranks show. Kuroki’s army during the closing-in movement on
Mukden was between Nodzu’s and Kawamura’s, the latter being on the
extreme right wing. This photograph was taken by Frederick Palmer,
Collier’s special correspondent
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN STEAMSHIP BEACHED IN THE HUN RIVER
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN CENSOR, BARON HOVEN, IN A GERMAN CART
]
[Illustration:
CHUNCHUSES LEAVING MUKDEN FOR SINMINTUNG
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN SCOUTS HALTING AT MONTOUR PASS, NEAR MUKDEN
]
SCENES IN THE MUKDEN NEIGHBORHOOD BEFORE THE JAPANESE WERE NEAR
[Illustration:
WHERE SOME OF THE SHELLS BURST DURING THE ARTILLERY DUELS NEAR MUKDEN
]
[Illustration:
DESOLATION IN MUKDEN IN THE PATH OF THE JAPANESE ATTACK
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE CELEBRATION OF THE MUKDEN VICTORY
]
[Illustration:
VILLAGE HUTS AND STOCKADE BURNING NEAR MUKDEN
]
[Illustration:
THE MAIN STREET OF SINMINTUNG, NEAR MUKDEN
]
SCENES IN THE VICINITY OF MUKDEN AFTER THE RETREAT OF THE RUSSIANS