Russo Japanese War

1904 to 0
Japan resisted Russia's encroachments into its territories in China, and soundly defeated the Giant Empire.

Noteable Battles

1904	Battle of Yalu   japanese victory Fought May 1, 1904, between 40,000 Japanese, under Marshal Kuroki, and the Russians, about 30,000 strong, under General Sassulitch. After four days of skirmishing, the Japanese crossed the Yalu, April 30, and on the following day attacked the Russian position at Kiu-lien-Cheng, driving out the defenders with a loss of 4,000 killed and wounded, 30 officers and 500 men prisoners, and 48 guns. The Japanese lost 898 killed and wounded.
1904	Battle of Te-li-ssu   japanese victory Fought June 14 and 15, 1904, between 35,000 Russians, under Baron de Stakelberg, and about 40,000 Japanese, under General Oku. The Japanese attacked the Russian position, but the Russians held their ground throughout the 14th, at a cost of about 350 killed and wounded On the 15th, however, their flank was turned, and after hard fighting in which they suffered heavily, two batteries of artillery being absolutely cut to pieces; they retreated in some disorder, leaving over 1,500 dead on the field. The Japanese, who lost 1,163 in the two days, captured 300 prisoners and 14 guns. The total Russian losses were about l0,000.
1904	Battle of Nanshan   japanese victory Fought May 26, 1904, between three Japanese divisions, under General Oku, and a Russian division, with a large force of artillery, under General Stoessel. The Russians occupied a very strongly entrenched position on the heights of Nanshan. After an artillery preparation, the Japanese attempted to storm the heights, eight successive attacks failing before the concentrated fire of the Russian guns, though the last survivors of the assailants got within 30 yards of the trenches. The infantry were then retired, and after a further bombardment, aided by the Japanese fleet in Kiuchau Bay, the whole force attacked simultaneously, and, penetrating the defenses on the Russian left, drove them from their positions with heavy loss, the defenders leaving 500 dead on the field. The Japanese lost 4,304 killed, wounded and missing. Seventy-eight guns were taken, and the Russians penned up in Port Arthur.
1904	Battle of Che-mul-pho   japanese victory Fought February 8, 1904, between a Japanese squadron of four protected cruisers, convoying transports, under Admiral Uriu, and a Russian cruiser and gunboat which sought to oppose the landing. After a smart action the cruiser was blown up to avoid capture, and the gunboat destroyed, the Russians losing 504 killed and wounded. The Japanese suffered no material damage.
1904	Battle of Port Arthur   japanese victory Fought February 8, 1904, between a Japanese fleet of 16 warships, under Vice Admiral Togo, and the Russian fleet of 6 battleships and 10 cruisers, under Vice-Admiral Stark, lying at anchor off Port Arthur. The Japanese attacked with torpedo boats, and succeeded in seriously damaging 2 battleships and a cruiser, which were beached at the mouth of the harbour. They then opened a bombardment, in which they injured a third battleship and four more cruisers sustaining no damage to their own ships. The Russians lost 56 killed and wounded, the Japanese, 58, chiefly in the torpedo boats. On April 13, the Japanese torpedo flotilla attacked the Russian squadron, under Makaroff. The battleship Petropavlovsk was torpedoed and sunk, Makaroff and 700 officers and men being drowned. The battleship Pobieda, and a destroyer were also torpedoed, but managed to reach the harbour. The Japanese suffered no material loss. After numerous only partially successful attempts to block the fairway, the Japanese, on May 2, sent in a fleet of merchant steamers, accompanied by the torpedo flotilla. Of these, eight succeeded in reaching the outer harbour, and two of them broke the boom guarding the inner harbour, and were blown up by their commanders in the fairway. Several others were sunk near the harbour entrance. Of the 199 officers and men forming the crews of the merchant steamers, only 42 were rescued by the Japanese, though a few survivors fell into the hands of the Russians. This is one of the most daring exploits in the history of naval warfare.
1904	Battle of Chong-ju   japanese victory The first encounter between the land forces of Russia and Japan, April, 1904, when the advanced guard of the First Japanese Army came in contact with a force of Cossacks under General Mischtchenko, and after a brisk engagement drove them back and occupied Chong-ju. The losses on both sides were small.
1905	Battle of Tushima (Russian Conquest of Central Asia ) japanese victory Fought May 27, 1905 in the Sea of Japan between a fleet of 31 Japanese battleships and cruiser under Togo of Japan, and 19 Russian battleships and cruisers under Rozhdestvenski. The Russian fleet had been brought from the North Sea to aid in the defense of Port Arthur, but was resoundingly defeated by the Japanese. The Russians lost two-thirds of their ships, over 4,300 dead and nearly 600 captured. The Japanese lost only 3 torpedo boats, 117 dead and 583 captured.

Story Links	Book Links
Russo-Japanese War: Its Results  in	China's Story  by  William E. Griffis
Sea Fight in the Waters of Japan  in	Historical Tales: Russian  by  Charles Morris
Tsushima  in	The Boy's Book of Battles  by  Eric Wood

Image Links
The Work of the Red Cross in the Russo-Japanese War  in Builders of Our Country: Book II	Tsushima: Togo, as if the day's fighting had not been enough, sent out his torpedo craft.  in The Boy's Book of Battles