Third Phase.
Having failed in our attempts to stop Nogi’s army, which was moving round our right flank, first on the line from Sha-ling-pu to the old railway embankment, and then on the line of the Hsin-min-tun main road, I decided to try once more to block it on the line Ku-san-tun–Tsu-erh-tun, and, if a favourable opportunity occurred, to assume the offensive from this line. On the 9th we had the following troops available for the purpose:
1. Borisoff’s column of 6 battalions holding the villages of Tung-chan-tzu, Ku-san-tun, and Hsia-hsin-tun.
2. Artamonoff’s column of 9 battalions[92] at Tsu-erh-tun.
3. Hershelman’s column of 14 battalions, sent from the reserve of the 2nd Army to that place. Total, 29 battalions.
On March 9 I ordered Lieutenant-General Muiloff, to whom was given the command of these troops, to co-operate with Launits’ force in an attack on the village of Hei-ni-tun. The operation was carried out in a disjointed manner, without careful reconnaissance, and without any arrangement for co-operation having been made with Launits; a bad storm and clouds of sand also impeded us, and the attack failed. The Japanese continued their advance to the north-west. Thus, by the 9th, the enemy was still not driven back on the side where they were most dangerous; part of the village of San-tai-tzu, taken from us in the early hours of that day, remained in their hands. The situation, indeed, appeared critical, for we received news on the same evening of the Japanese advance to the Hun Ho against the section Fu-liang–Hsiao-fang-shen, which was held by weak units of the 1st Army, 4th and 2nd Siberians. Indeed, if we delayed the withdrawal on Tieh-ling longer there was great danger that some of our most advanced forces in the south and south-west might be cut off. Therefore orders were given that same evening for a retirement to Tieh-ling early on the 10th, and for this operation roads were allotted as follows: The 2nd Army was to proceed along both sides of the railway and west of the Mandarin road; the 3rd Army along the Mandarin road and others to the east of it, as far as the Fu-liang–Hsi-chui-chen–Hui-san–Shu-lin-tzu road; the 1st Army along the latter, and the roads to the east of it.
Meanwhile the enemy had on the 9th broken through the 1st Army near Chiu-tien, driving back part of the 4th Siberians from this point to Leng-hua-chi. The officer commanding the 2nd Siberians (next to them) did nothing but merely hold his position on the River Hun at Hsiao-fang-chen, and the enemy spread out along the valley Hsiao-hsi-chua–Hu-shan-pu. The attempt made to drive them back at night by the Tsaritsin Regiment failed.
During the early morning of the 10th our position became yet worse; on the right flank the Japanese drove back Borisoff’s force to Hsiao-kou-tzu and opposite San-tai-tzu, and penetrated as far as the grove of the Imperial tombs. On the east large bodies of them appeared in sight of the Mandarin road. One was opposite Levestam’s force, while another began shelling the Mandarin road near Ta-wa from the heights near Hsin-chia-kou. The orders given on March 5 for the baggage to be sent back in good time had not been carried out, and part of the impedimenta of the 2nd and 3rd Armies, which was stretching along the road near Mukden early on the 10th, blocked the passage of the 5th and 6th Siberians and 17th Corps. On this morning also the Japanese, who had broken through near Chiu-tien on the 9th, began to press our left flank under Meyendorff. The troops sent as reinforcements did not act together, and were driven back north-west. By 10 a.m. Meyendorff was in full retreat—not north-east, but north-west towards the Mandarin road, which he crossed between Ta-wa and Pu-ho. The 6th Siberians now began to retire prematurely, and by so doing exposed the right of the 1st Corps and the left of the 17th. This unnecessarily sudden retirement of more than forty battalions under Meyendorff and Soboleff placed the 17th Corps and the 5th Siberians in a difficult position. Instead of fronting south, they had to front south-east. After a hot fight this force, consisting of thirty battalions, was also obliged to move to the rear prematurely. They did not go to Ta-wa, but west and south of the Mandarin road. This opened out a way for the enemy to that road, and also to the railway north—further on the portion between Mukden and Wen-ken-tun. By seizing this section about 2 p.m., before the rearguards or even the tail of the main body had passed Wa-tzu, they took our troops in flank. We had evacuated the village of San-tai-tzu prematurely, and it was quickly occupied by the Japanese. Between Wa-tzu and this village there is a defile, less than three miles long, through which a large part of the 2nd Army had to force its way under attack from both sides. Portions of the rearguards under Hanenfeld and Sollogub, which tried to get round to the east of it, were captured or destroyed.
I instructed General Dembovski to organize the defence of the Mandarin road at Ta-wa, and for that purpose to utilize the troops retiring along it. By 10 a.m. the distance between the portions of the enemy on the west and east of the railway was only seven miles. It was vital to stop any further contraction of the area of retirement of the 2nd Army. This might be done by blocking the Japanese advance to the railway from the west and north-west. As I was more anxious about the latter direction than any other, I moved out the eighteen battalions under Zarubaeff, which had joined my reserve from the 1st Army, on to the line Ma-kou-chia-tzu–Yang-tzu-tun, and ten battalions of the 72nd Division on the front Tung-shan-tzu–Hsiao-hsin-tun. The first force covered the railway between Hu-shih-tai and San-tai-tzu, and the second barred the enemy’s advance and supported the right flank of Artamonoff’s column. As a reserve to these troops, in case of pressure from the east, a brigade of the 1st Siberian Division was left near Hu-shih-tai station. By 4 p.m. the state of affairs on the Mandarin road became worse, as, immediately after General Levestam’s force had retired behind Pu-ho, Dembovski also abandoned his positions near Ta-wa, and moved off to the west. The fighting ceased as darkness came on. The last of the 2nd Army to fall back were portions of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Rifle Regiments under Lieutenant-Colonel Korniloff; they broke through near Wa-tzu in the pitch dark, though hemmed in by the enemy on three sides.
We continued to retire during the night, covered by the rearguard under Muiloff and that of Zarubaeff’s column. On the 11th several units of the 1st and 3rd Armies collected at the village of Yi-lu; but the greater part of the 3rd Army fell back direct on Tieh-ling. Bilderling was unable to carry out his proposal of remaining on the River Yi-lu till the 12th, and, having taken command of Shileiko’s force, after slight opposition retired northwards from Yi-lu village. By doing this he placed the rearguards of the 2nd Army that were still south of this point in a very precarious position. The main bodies of all the armies began on the 11th to occupy a position eight miles south of Tieh-ling on the Fan Ho. The 2nd Army took up a line to the west and the first one to the east of the Mandarin road, the 3rd remaining in reserve. Everything possible was done to restore order amongst the troops, transport, and parks. On the 13th the enemy’s advanced troops reached our positions, and on the 14th they attacked, directing their main effort on the line between the sections held by the 2nd Siberians and 72nd Division. All their attacks were repulsed with great loss, and many hundreds of dead were left in front of our position. Our losses were 900.
The two-weeks battle had badly disorganized several units, especially those of the 2nd and 3rd Armies. The men who had got separated from their own units and attached to others had to be sorted out and restored, baggage, transport, and parks had to be separated, and ammunition replenished. To carry this out made it essential that we should not be in direct touch with the enemy—that there should be some space between us. For this reason, and on account of the turning movement against our right flank along the River Liao, discovered by the cavalry, I decided not to accept battle at Tieh-ling, but to order a general retirement of all the armies on the 14th to the Hsi-ping-kai position, which was the best one between Tieh-ling and the River Sungari. The 1st and 2nd Armies began to move out of Tieh-ling on March 16, and by the 22nd were on the heights of Hsi-ping-kai.
CONCLUSIONS UPON THE BATTLE OF MUKDEN[93]
Both the nearness of the events related above and our ignorance about the enemy make it impossible for any detailed and absolutely impartial judgment to be formed upon the reasons for our defeat in this great battle. The records that have been collected so far, however, are sufficient to throw light upon a few facts—upon certain of our dispositions that did not correspond to the requirements of the case. Those made by the commander of the 2nd Army, to which force was entrusted the duty of stopping Nogi’s turning movement towards our rear, are of particular interest, and certain of them which had a very important bearing on the issue of the operations are now described.
General Kaulbars made neither a sufficient nor a clever use of his cavalry. This fact, coupled with the unfortunate selection of its leaders, was the reason why the mounted branch did such bad work,[94] and behaved in a manner that can hardly be called “devoted” during the Mukden operations. In the instructions given on March 1 to Grekoff’s cavalry to operate against Nogi, the object to be attained was plainly set forth, but how it was to be attained was not clearly defined. The execution of its most important task was also made the more difficult by the fact that Grekoff’s force was, on the same day as the orders were issued, split up into two almost equal groups, of which the eastern was found to be fighting Oku instead of Nogi. To rectify this, the cavalry under Pavloff was ordered on the same day by Kaulbars to undertake a special task against the turning columns, but on the 2nd the order was changed, and eight of Pavloff’s sotnias were put under the command of Launits, who was operating against Oku. No touch was maintained between their different groups, and the greater part of the mounted forces clung to the infantry, and did practically no fighting (the losses suffered by this Arm during the twenty-three days’ operations in February and March were quite insignificant). Yet most of our regiments were quite capable of performing the most difficult tasks of war. The action of the infantry of the 2nd Army on the positions which they had taken up was completely passive. They did not try to get into touch with the enemy to ascertain their strength and dispositions (by taking prisoners), or to occupy advanced posts where these would be advantageous. The reconnoitring patrols of this army also did but little work. The consequence of such unsatisfactory performance of their duties by the cavalry and advanced infantry units of the 2nd Army was that information of the enemy was so meagre that the appearance of a great mass of Nogi’s army on and to the east of the Hsin-min-tun road came as a complete surprise to Kaulbars.
Owing to the appearance of large hostile bodies near Ka-liao-ma, I had on February 28 already ordered him[95] to take immediate steps to ascertain their exact strength, the direction in which they were moving, and their intentions. I repeated this order[96] on March 2, instructing him to find out their strength and dispositions more accurately if possible, and to frame some plan of action. I pointed out the necessity for energetic steps to ascertain the whereabouts of Nogi’s main body—whether it was opposite Sha-ling-pu, or whether it was executing a wider turning movement. On the morning of March 5 I for the third time[97] asked Kaulbars to find out where Nogi’s left flank was. Not one of these orders was carried out, with the result that I had inadequate and incorrect information upon which to form a decision as to the strength and whereabouts of the enemy operating on the right bank of the Hun. Tserpitski’s alarmist reports to the effect that more than three divisions were opposed to him made the fog worse. Kaulbars, who had been ordered to stop Nogi’s flanking movement, on the strength of incorrect information, all the time turned his chief attention towards the western front to Oku, whom he took for Nogi. The latter, owing to the 2nd Army’s inaction on March 3, 4, 5 and 6, was made a present of four days in which to complete his sweeping movement to the north-east,[98] and Kaulbars continued to see danger only on the west, paying insufficient attention to what was happening on the Hsin-min-tun road, north-west of Mukden. On March 1 he conceived a most complicated “castling” manœuvre, which he endeavoured to carry out when in direct touch with the enemy. The Composite Rifle Corps was ordered to cross from the right bank of the Hun on to the left, and the 8th Corps from the left to the right. The Rifle regiments crossed over the river, and by so doing evacuated the most important section near Chang-tan, but the 8th Corps was unable to get across. The enemy at once took advantage of this, and, rapidly throwing their 8th Division forward along the right bank of the river, drove back the relatively weak force of ours still on that side. Kaulbars, moreover, stopped the movement on Sha-ling-pu (of the Composite Division under Golembatovski), which had already been started, and by so doing deprived us of the possibility of checking the heads of the enemy’s columns on March 2. Finally, the 5th Rifle Brigade under Churin—which was moving by my orders to operate against Nogi—was stopped on March 3 by Kaulbars in the valley on the right bank of the Hun, and found itself among the troops opposing Oku.
After weakening Topornin by sixteen battalions, Kaulbars, on reaching his force, countermanded the advance on Sha-ling-pu, which had been begun on the morning of the 3rd, and suddenly withdrew thirty-two battalions to Mukden without fighting. This made our position distinctly worse. He took no steps to establish and maintain touch with Birger’s brigade on the Hsin-min-tun road, and never informed the latter of the order to retire he had given to Topornin on the 3rd. In telling Launits on the morning of March 3 of his decision (to withdraw Topornin’s force to Mukden), he stated that “Grekoff’s column and Birger’s brigade are probably cut off from Mukden,” but he made no attempt to help Birger. And yet up to 2 p.m. on the 3rd Birger’s brigade was not even engaged. Our attempt to retake Ssu-hu-chia-pu on March 4 was stopped by Launits, owing to the receipt of orders from Kaulbars not to attack if it was likely to be a costly operation. Kaulbars did nothing that day, although he had under his command 119 battalions[99] on the right bank of the Hun, and although I had ordered him to assume the offensive. Moreover, he did not even know the whereabouts of the troops under him. Although he had 113 battalions under his command on the right bank on March 5, he again did nothing. He did not carry out my orders to attack the enemy’s left energetically, and permitted these troops, which were at Khou-kha—next to Gerngross’s force—to deploy very slowly, and stopped their advance before they had got in touch with the enemy. Moreover, yielding to the preconceived idea of the main danger lying in the west, he moved sixteen splendid battalions of the 10th Corps from Gerngross’s force, operating towards Hsin-min-tun, on to the left flank of the army. Yet again on the 6th, although he had 116 battalions on the right bank, he effected scarcely anything, for our active operations towards Hsin-min-tun were conducted with an insufficient force, and therefore failed.
The result of his dispositions from March 2 to 5 was that on the 6th we did not have a single battalion of the 2nd Army operating against Nogi, whereas we should have had forty.[100] All ninety-six battalions of the 2nd Army were on that day distributed on the defensive against Oku. This distribution of troops, which in no way met either the general requirements or the definite task given to Kaulbars—to stop Nogi’s army—constituted one of the main reasons of the failure of our operations at Mukden.
On the 2nd and 3rd the following troops were given to Kaulbars from my reserve for his operations against Nogi:
| Battalions. | ||||
| 16th Corps | … | 24 | ||
| 1st Siberians | … | 18 | ||
| De Witte’s column (3rd Army) | … | 15 | ||
| Zapolski’s column | … | 4 | ||
| — | ||||
| Total | … | 61 |
Moreover, sixteen battalions of the 10th Corps (2nd Army) were by my orders concentrated opposite Sha-ling-pu on the 2nd, and on the 7th the 10th Rifle Regiment and two battalions of the 4th Siberians were sent from my reserve to join Kaulbars’ army—i.e., he was given in all eighty-one battalions, of which sixty-five had not previously belonged to the 2nd Army. Of these, as transpired later, as many as thirty-five battalions did not take part, or only took very little part, in any fighting up to the 10th—i.e.:
| Battalions. | ||||
| 1st Siberians | … | 13 | ||
| De Witte’s column | … | 13 | ||
| 2nd Brigade, 9th Division | … | 8 | ||
| 10th Rifle Brigade | … | 2 | ||
| — | ||||
| Total | … | 35 |
These units either occupied defensive positions, and merely watched the Japanese making a flank march past them,[101] or were moved for no reason from one place to another (2nd Brigade of the 9th Division). Their losses from the 3rd to 9th were trifling.
On the 4th, when I ordered Kaulbars to “move every available man on to the right flank near the Hsin-min-tun road,” the reverse was done. Two regiments (Tambov and Zamost) were moved from the right bank of the river on to the left; the 2nd Brigade of the 9th Division was ordered to move away from the Hsin-min-tun road, and crossed from Huang-ku-tun to Liu-kou-tun, and the Primorsk Dragoons from an important position on this road were sent to the rear to Hu-shih-tai.[102] On March 5 we were able to collect more than 100 battalions for operations against Nogi, 70 being concentrated by my instructions. But although Kaulbars had received orders to send an army corps on to the right bank of the Hun to engage Nogi, he not only did not carry out the order, but lost five days (March 2 to 6), and thus allowed the turning movement to develop so far that part of the force I had collected (25th Division) was on the 7th operating, not against Nogi, but against Oku’s left flank. Moreover, as he had on the 5th also weakened the force collected by me to act against Nogi by sending 16 battalions to the left flank of the 2nd Army, the result of these dispositions and our inaction during these five days was that on the 7th only 37 battalions operated against Nogi instead of 100. The loss of time, and the weakness of the force that actually opposed Nogi, were largely contributory to our failure.
Having so far employed only a very small part of the troops entrusted to him for offensive operations, on the 7th Kaulbars definitely and finally assumed the defensive. He did not even seize the opportunity of the repulses suffered by the enemy at Wu-kuan-tun and against Tserpitski’s force to attack. On the 7th, 8th, and 9th, with 140 battalions at his disposal, he assumed a passive rôle everywhere. While allowing a great confusion of units, he did not take proper steps, which he was quite able to do, to re-establish the corps, divisional and brigade organization, and on the 8th he did not take advantage of the possibility of forming a reserve from the entire 10th Corps, which would have enabled him to re-establish the organization of the other corps. On the 4th he removed Generals Muiloff, Topornin, and Kutnevich from the command of their corps for no reason, and as he did not replace them by other officers, the staffs of these corps were headless. The employment of the reserves in the 2nd Army was neither carried out by arrangement, nor in accordance with the actual necessities of the situation, so that there were instances of reserves being sent up when not required (Gerngross on March 8). In spite of my order, which he received on the 5th, to send back the baggage and transport to the north, Kaulbars only obeyed this instruction in regard to Tserpitski’s and Gerngross’s columns on the 9th, and thus made our retirement, especially that of our rearguards, most difficult. He failed to observe the appearance or concentration of the enemy on the northern front, and took no steps to avert this danger. The concentration of our forces on this side was carried out under my own orders. Had it not been for this, the enemy would have seized the village of San-tai-tzu and the grove of the Imperial tombs on the 7th.
One occasion when Kaulbars did issue orders that met the case was when he ordered Launits to attack the enemy on March 10 at Hei-ni-tun so as to assist the retirement, and he got together a strong force for this purpose. But then, when these troops were on the point of commencing the attack, he went to Launits and countermanded it, without even informing me of this most important change in his previous dispositions. Yet, had this attack been only partially successful, it would have greatly relieved the situation. Right up to March 13 not one of the arrangements made by him was fully carried out, and it is clear that he did not even then in the least appreciate the conditions. In addition to wasting time, extending his front, and acting only on the defensive, he did not realize the danger of Nogi’s appearance at such a moment north of Mukden, nor of his movement round our flank. In a letter to me of August 11, he wrote that on March 8 and 9, “although we had been retiring for a week, circumstances were going very well for us, as, the further the enemy moved northwards, the nearer they were getting to their Poltava.”
From the above it can be seen that Kaulbars’ dispositions, his inaction, and his misunderstanding of the whole situation, could not lead the 2nd Army to Poltava. On the contrary, on March 8 and 9, 1905, it was nearly a case of Tsushima.
It only remains for me to conclude with a few pages out of the short report on the war which I submitted to His Majesty the Emperor.
“Of the many causes contributing to the disastrous issue to the Battle of Mukden, I will only mention the following:
“1. The fall of Port Arthur liberated Nogi’s army, the whole of which took part in the battle. The formation of the new divisions in Japan was completed at the same time, and, judging by the prisoners we captured, two of these also took part in the battle. The immediate making good of wastage in their ranks presented no particular difficulty to the enemy, owing to the relative proximity of Japan to the theatre of war, and the resultant ease with which she was able to transport her troops by sea. Judging by the muster rolls found on the dead and wounded, the effective strength of their companies was between 200 and 250 rifles, and all casualties were at once replaced.
“The liberation of Nogi’s army and the landing of troops in Northern Korea compelled us to increase the force detailed for the defence of the Primorsk district and Vladivostok, and the appearance of bodies of Japanese cavalry, together with artillery and numerous bands of Hun-huses in Mongolia, coupled with the raids on the railway, which were becoming more frequent, necessitated steps being taken to increase the railway guard along its 1,350 miles’ length in Manchuria.
“These two measures took fourteen battalions and twenty-four sotnias from the field army, and also a large number of the 80,000 reservists then being sent to the front as drafts.
“All these things combined enabled the Japanese at the battle of Mukden to be as strong as, if not stronger than, we were in the number of rifles.
“2. The tardy discovery by our cavalry of the enemy’s movement round our right flank, when ‘strong columns of Japanese infantry’ had already appeared at Ka-liao-ma.
“3. The complete lack of energy displayed by the officer in command of the 2nd Army in repulsing Nogi’s force which was moving round us, with the result that we lost seven most important days (March 1 to 8).
“4. His complete ignorance of the strength and whereabouts of the enemy moving round his right. The lack of information and the inaccuracy of what was received rendered some of my own dispositions not only unnecessary, but wrong. As a particular instance, I may mention that I only knew for certain when it was too late that the enemy were not making (as had been reported) a wider turning movement on both banks of the Liao towards Tieh-ling.
“5. The lack of energy displayed by senior officers of the 3rd Army on March 10 in overcoming the difficulties of the retirement. Their passive attitude with regard to the enemy’s movements towards the Mandarin road—illustrated by the diversion of the various columns (on encountering the enemy) towards the west on to the line of retirement of the 2nd Army, instead of forcing back the enemy away from the Mandarin road.
“The inaction of the 55th Division of the 6th Siberians was remarkable. The commander of this unit, who only had this one division under his command, decided to place it directly under the officer in command of the 1st Corps. Having done so, he rode away from his division to Ta-wa village. When he reached the railway on the morning of the 11th, he was unable to inform me where his division[103] was!
“6. The failure of the commanders of the 2nd and 3rd Armies to carry out the orders I had given some days before the retirement began to send back the baggage and transport northwards. It was the disorder and panic which occurred amongst these auxiliary services on the retirement that caused the loss of so many guns and limbers, and ammunition and baggage waggons.
“7. The inertia displayed by the officers commanding the 2nd Siberian Division and the 2nd Siberians, when an attempt was made to prevent the enemy breaking through near Chiu-tien, and when later they spread north of the Mandarin road. Besides the twenty-four battalions of the 1st Corps and the 4th Siberians, which did remain on the right flank of the 1st Army, the 55th Division might have been used in this operation. But the officer commanding the 2nd Siberians received the enemy’s advance passively, merely throwing back his right flank, and thus presenting the enemy with an opening for their advance on to the Mandarin road.
“8. Nevertheless, I consider that I myself am the person principally responsible for our defeat, for the following reasons:
“(a) I did not sufficiently insist on the concentration of as large a general reserve as possible before the operations commenced.
“(b) I weakened myself just before an important battle by a brigade of infantry and a Cossack division (believing General Chichagoff’s reports). If I had not sent one brigade of the 16th Corps for duty on the communications, and had insisted on the 1st Siberians being sent back from the 1st Army at full strength, I should have had two full corps available for operations against Nogi’s turning movement.
“(c) I did not take adequate measures to prevent the confusion of units. Indeed, during the battle I was myself compelled to contribute to the disintegration of corps.
“(d) I should have made a better appreciation of the respective spirit of both sides, as well as of the characteristics and qualifications of the commanders, and I should have exercised more caution in my decisions. Although the operations of the 2nd Army from March 2 to 7 failed in their object, my firm belief in ultimate victory resulted in my ordering a general retirement later than I ought to have done. I should have abandoned all hope of the 2nd Army defeating the enemy a day sooner than I did; the retirement would then have been effected in complete order.
“(e) When convinced of Kaulbars’ inertia and passive tactics, I should have taken command of the troops on the right bank of the Hun personally. On March 9 I should similarly have taken command of Muiloff’s force, and acted as a corps commander.”
In my letters of March 31 and May 13, 1905, to His Majesty the Emperor, I reviewed generally the factors which made the war extraordinarily difficult for us.[104]
Has the army survived its Tsushima? No; it went through nothing nearly so bad as that. We fought hard everywhere, and we inflicted greater losses on the enemy than they on us. We were weaker in numbers than they were, and we retired. Even the Mukden reverse owes its reputation as a decisive Japanese victory to the impressions of our own correspondents, who were with the baggage and in rear. Can one say that the Russian land forces were defeated, when in the first important battles (at Liao-yang and on the Sha Ho) we only put into action a fourteenth part of our armed forces, and at Mukden, at a time when the Japanese had already put forth their greatest efforts, we had less than a sixth of our force? Nor must it be forgotten that we fought against a nation of 50,000,000 martial and ardent souls, who, hand in hand with their Emperor, were able to grasp victory by fearing no sacrifice. To defeat such a foe in such a distant theatre of war, great and continued efforts were required of the whole of our country as well as of the army. In the beginning of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries we waged great wars with such leaders as Charles XII. and Napoleon. In these we also experienced defeat, but in the end we issued absolute victors. In the eighteenth century, between defeat at Narva and victory at Poltava nine years elapsed; in the nineteenth, between defeat at Austerlitz and our entry into Paris there was also nine years’ interval.
The events which happened in the Far East in 1904–05 can, owing to their historical importance and their significance for Russia and the whole world, be placed alongside those through which Russia passed in the early years of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the struggle with Charles XII. and Napoleon the Russian people was at one with the Tsar, and bravely bore all trials and sacrifices, strengthening and improving the army, treating it with kindness, believing in it, wishing it well, and profoundly respecting it for its gallant deeds. The people realized the necessity for success, hesitated at no sacrifice, and were not troubled by the time required to gain it, and the harmonious efforts of Tsar and people gave us complete victory. The way to victory is in the present day by the same road which our ancestors followed in the early years of the last two centuries.
If mighty Russia, headed by the Tsar, had been permeated by a brave and single-minded desire to defeat the Japanese, and had not stinted the sacrifices and time necessary to preserve Russia’s integrity and dignity, our glorious army, supported by the trust of its ruler and a united people, would have fought until the enemy had been vanquished.
APPENDICES
APPENDIX I
THE ROYAL TIMBER COMPANY[105]
Among the first questions suggested by General Kuropatkin’s narrative and the editorials, reports, and official proceedings that he quotes, are: Who was State Councillor Bezobrazoff? How did he acquire the extraordinary power that he evidently exercised in the Far East? Why was “everybody”—including the Minister of War—“afraid of him”? Why did even the Viceroy respond to his calls for troops? and why was his Korean timber company allowed to drag Russia into a war with Japan, apparently against the opposition and resistance of the Tsar, the Viceroy, the Minister of War, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Port Arthur Council, and the diplomatic representatives of Russia in Peking, Tokio, and Seoul?
No replies to these questions can be found in General Kuropatkin’s record of the events that preceded the rupture with Japan, but convincing answers are furnished by certain confidential documents found in the archives of Port Arthur, and published at Stuttgart,[106] just after the close of the war, in the Liberal Russian review Osvobojdenie. Whether General Kuropatkin was aware of the existence of these documents or not I am unable to say; but as they throw a strong sidelight on his narrative, I shall append them thereto, and tell briefly, in connection with them, the story of the Ya-lu timber enterprise as it is related in St. Petersburg.
In the year 1898, a Vladivostok merchant named Briner obtained from the Korean Government, upon extremely favourable terms, a concession for a timber company that should have authority to exploit the great forest wealth of the upper Ya-lu River.[107] As Briner was a promoter and speculator who had little means and less influence, he was unable to organize a company, and in 1902 he sold his concession to Alexander Mikhailovich Bezobrazoff, another Russian promoter and speculator, who had held the rank of State Councillor in the Tsar’s Civil Service, and who was high in the favour of some of the Grand Dukes in St. Petersburg.
Bezobrazoff, who seems to have been a most fluent and persuasive talker, as well as a man of fine presence, soon interested his Grand Ducal friends in the fabulous wealth of the Far East generally, and in the extraordinary value of the Korean timber concession especially. They all took shares in his enterprise, and one of them, with a view to getting the strongest possible support for it, presented him to the Tsar. Bezobrazoff made an extraordinarily favourable impression upon Nicholas II., and in the course of a few months acquired an influence over him that nothing afterward seemed able to shake. That the Tsar became financially interested in Bezobrazoff’s timber company is certain; and it is currently reported in St. Petersburg that the Emperor and the Empress Dowager together put into the enterprise several million roubles. This report may, or may not, be trustworthy; but the appended telegram (No. 5), sent by Rear-Admiral Abaza, of the Tsar’s suite, to Bezobrazoff in November, 1903, indicates that the Emperor was interested in the Ya-lu enterprise to the extent, at least, of the two million roubles mentioned. Bezobrazoff’s “Company,” in fact, seems to have consisted of the Tsar, the Grand Dukes, certain favoured noblemen of the Court, Viceroy Alexeieff probably, and the Empress Dowager possibly. Bezobrazoff had made them all see golden visions of wealth to be amassed, power to be attained, and glory to be won, in the Far East, for themselves and the Fatherland. It was this known influence of Bezobrazoff with the Tsar that made “everybody” in the Far East “afraid of him”; that enabled him to enlist in the service of the timber company even officers of the Russian General Staff; that caused Alexeieff to respond to his call for troops to garrison Feng-huang-cheng and Sha-ho-tzu; and that finally changed Russia’s policy in the Far East, and stopped the withdrawal of troops from Southern Manchuria.
General Kuropatkin says that the Russian evacuation of the province of Mukden “was suddenly stopped by an order of Admiral Alexeieff, whose reasons for taking such action have not to this day been sufficiently cleared up.” The following telegram from Lieutenant-Colonel Madridoff, of the Russian General Staff, to Rear-Admiral Abaza, the Tsar’s personal representative in St. Petersburg, may throw some light on the subject:
(No. 1.)
To Admiral Abaza,
House No. 50, Fifth Line,
Vassili Ostroff, St. Petersburg.
Our enterprises in East constantly meet with opposition from Dzan-Dzun of Mukden and Taotai of Feng-huang-cheng. Russian officer merchants have been sent East to make reconnaissances and examine places on Ya-lu. They are accompanied by Hun-huses, whom I have hired. The Dzan-Dzun, feeling that he is soon to be freed from guardianship of Russians, has become awfully impudent, and has even gone so far as to order Yuan to begin hostile operations against Russian merchants and Chinese accompanying them, and to put latter under arrest. Thanks to timely measures taken by Admiral, this order has not been carried out; but very fact shows that Chinese rulers of Manchuria are giving themselves free rein, and, of course, after we evacuate Manchuria their impudence and their opposition to Russian interests will have no limit. Admiral (Alexeieff) took it upon himself to order that Mukden and Yinkow (Newchuang) be not evacuated.[108] To-day it has been decided to hold Yinkow, but, unfortunately, to move the troops out of Mukden. After evacuation of Mukden, state of affairs, so far as our enterprises are concerned, will be very, very much worse,[108] which, of course, is not desirable. To-morrow I go to the Ya-lu myself.
(Signed) Madridoff.
Shortly before Lieutenant-Colonel Madridoff sent this telegram to Admiral Abaza, Bezobrazoff, who had been several months in the Far East, started for St. Petersburg with the evident intention of seeing the Tsar and persuading him to order, definitely, a suspension of the evacuation of the province of Mukden, for the reason that “it would inevitably result in the liquidation of the affairs of the timber company.” From a point on the road he sent back to Madridoff the following telegram, which bears date of April 8, 1903, the very day when the evacuation of the province of Mukden should have been completed, in accordance with the Russo-Chinese agreement of April 8, 1902:
(No. 2.)
To Madridoff,
Port Arthur.
There will be an understanding attitude toward the affair after I make my first report. I am only afraid of being too late, as I shall not get there until April 16, and the Chief leaves for Moscow on April 17. I will do all that is possible, and shall insist on manifestation of energy in one form or another. Keep me advised, and don’t get discouraged. There will soon be an end of the misunderstanding.
(Signed) Bezobrazoff.
On April 24, 1903, Bezobrazoff sent Madridoff from St. Petersburg a telegram written, evidently, after he had made his first “report” to “the Chief.” It was as follows:
(No. 3.)
To Madridoff,
Port Arthur.
Everything is all right with me. I hope to get my views adopted in full as conditions imposed by existing situation and force of circumstances. I hope that if they ask the opinion of the Admiral (Alexeieff), he, I am convinced (sic), will give me his support. That will enable me to put many things into his hands.
(Signed) Bezobrazoff.
General Kuropatkin says that Admiral Alexeieff gave him “repeated assurances that he was wholly opposed to Bezobrazoff’s schemes, and that he was holding them back with all his strength”; but the Admiral was evidently playing a double part. While pretending to be in full sympathy with Kuropatkin’s hostility to the Ya-lu enterprise, he was supporting Bezobrazoff’s efforts to promote that enterprise. Bezobrazoff rewarded him, and fulfilled his promise to “put many things into his hands” by getting him appointed Viceroy. Kuropatkin says that this appointment was a “complete surprise to him”; and it naturally would be, because the Tsar acted on the advice of Bezobrazoff, Von Plehve, Alexeieff, and Abaza, and not on the advice of Kuropatkin, Witte, and Lamsdorff. It will be noticed that Von Plehve—the powerful Minister of the Interior—is never once mentioned by name in Kuropatkin’s narrative. Everything seems to indicate that Von Plehve formed an alliance with Bezobrazoff, and that together they brought about the dismissal of Witte, who ceased to be Minister of Finance on August 29, 1903. Anticipating this result of his efforts, and filled with triumph at the prospect opening before him, Bezobrazoff wrote to Lieutenant-Colonel Madridoff on August 25, 1903, as follows:
(No. 4.)
“The great saw-mill and the principal trade in timber will be transferred to Dalny, and this in co-partnership with the Ministry of Finance. The Manchurian Steamship Line will have all our ocean freight, amounting to 25,000,000 feet of timber, and the business will become international. From this you will understand how I selected my base and my lines of operation.”
In view of the complete defeat of such clear-sighted statesmen and sane counsellors as Kuropatkin, Witte, and Lamsdorff, there can be no doubt that Bezobrazoff’s “base and lines of operation” were well “selected.”
The document that most clearly shows the interest of the Tsar in the Ya-lu timber enterprise is a telegram sent to Bezobrazoff at Port Arthur in November, 1903, by Rear-Admiral Abaza, who was then Director of the Special Committee on Far Eastern Affairs, over which the Tsar presided, and who acted as the latter’s personal representative in all dealings with Bezobrazoff and the timber company. In the original of this telegram significant words, such as “Witte,” “Emperor,” “millions,” “garrison,” “reinforcement,” etc., were in cipher; but when Bezobrazoff read it he (or possibly his private secretary) interlined the equivalents of the cipher words, and also, in one place, a query as to the significance of artels—did it mean mounted riflemen or artillery? The following copy was made from the interlined original:
(No. 5.)
From Petersburg
November 14–27, 1903.
To Bezobrazoff,
Port Arthur.
Witte has told the Emperor that you have already spent the whole of the two millions. Your telegram with regard to expenditure has made it possible for me to report on this disgusting slander, and at the same time contradict it. Remember that the Chief counts on your not touching a rouble more than the three hundred without permission in every case. Yesterday I reported again your ideas with regard to the reinforcement of the garrison, and also with regard to the artels (mounted Rifles or artillery?) in the basin. The Emperor directed me to reply that he takes all that you say into consideration, and that in principle he approves. In connection with this the Emperor again confirmed his order that the Admiral telegraph directly to him. He expects a telegram soon, and immediately upon the receipt of the Admiral’s statement arrangements will be made with regard to the reinforcement of the garrison, and at the same time with regard to the mounted Rifles in the basin. In the course of the conversation the Emperor expressed the fullest confidence in you.
(Signed) Abaza.
General Kuropatkin refers again and again to the Tsar’s “clearly expressed desire that war should be avoided,” and he regrets that His Imperial Majesty’s subordinates “were unable to execute his will.” It is more than likely that Nicholas II. did wish to avoid war—if he could do so without impairing the value of the family investment in the Korean timber company—but from the above telegram it appears that as late as November 27, 1903, only seventy days before the rupture with Japan, he was still disregarding the sane and judicious advice of Kuropatkin, was still expressing “the fullest confidence” in Bezobrazoff, and was still ordering troops to the valley of the Ya-lu.
APPENDIX II
BREAKDOWN OF THE UNIT ORGANIZATION
AND DISTRIBUTION[109]
Amongst the causes which added to our difficulties must be mentioned the frequent breakdown in action of the normal organization of the troops. It began when war was declared, and though efforts were made to rectify things as far as possible, it was not till after the battle of the Sha Ho that we were really able to re-establish our formations. But both the corps and divisional organization again disappeared during the battle of Mukden, and the resulting confusion to a certain extent contributed to our defeat.
When war began the corps organization of the troops stationed in the Far East was not complete, and one corps was formed of the independent Rifle brigades. When the Rifle regiments were brought up to a strength of twelve battalions, the normal composition of the 1st and 3rd Siberian Divisions was twenty-four battalions. The 2nd Siberian Corps was supposed to consist of one Rifle division and one reserve division formed in the Trans-Baikal district. Before hostilities commenced, a division of the 3rd Siberian Corps (the 3rd East Siberian Rifle Division) was moved by the Viceroy to the Ya-lu; the 4th East Siberian Rifle Division, with the corps staff, remained in Kuan-tung. The 1st Reserve Division, which constituted part of the 2nd Siberian Corps, I kept at Harbin, and this corps remained with only one division till I was appointed Commander-in-Chief. When the operations began, I endeavoured to reform the dislocated corps organization. I therefore collected on the line Liao-yang–Feng-huang-cheng the 3rd and 6th Siberian Rifle Divisions, and formed with them a corps which I called the 3rd Siberians. At first I did not succeed in sending to this corps the 23rd East Siberian Rifle Regiment—it being stationed in Mukden as a guard on the Viceroy’s Headquarters—and my subsequent request that it might be sent to the Ya-lu to join the corps there was refused; it was only sent forward after the battle of the Ya-lu. The line Liao-yang–Ta-shih-chiao–Port Arthur was guarded by the 1st Siberian Corps, at full strength. The 2nd Siberian Corps, in which was included the 2nd Brigades of the 31st and 35th Divisions, which had arrived in the Far East in 1903, composed my reserve, and was divided between Liao-yang and Hai-cheng.
At first, owing to our paucity of numbers, the 3rd Siberians had to defend a large tract of country. Six regiments of this corps were on the line River Ya-lu–Feng-huang-cheng–Fen-shui-ling–Liao-yang; one regiment was on the line Ta-ku-shan (sea and mouth of Ya-lu)–Hsui-yen–Ta Ling–Hai-cheng. One regiment was on the line Kuan-tien-cheng–Sai-ma-chi–An-ping–Liao-yang. When the 4th Siberians arrived, the line Ta-ku-shan–Ta Ling–Hai-cheng was occupied by one of its brigades, because a considerable number of Japanese had made their appearance in this direction. The remaining three brigades were concentrated near the station of Ta-shih-chiao,[110] as a reserve either for the 1st Siberians to the south or the brigade of the 4th Siberians on the Ta Ling (Pass). All the units of the 10th Army Corps which arrived from Russia were collected on the line Sai-ma-chi–An-ping–Liao-yang, where Kuroki’s army was in force. As soon as the units of the 4th Siberians and 10th Army Corps occupied the above-mentioned lines, the regiments[111] belonging to the 3rd Siberians were moved off to join their own corps. On arriving from European Russia, the units of the 17th Army Corps were concentrated near Liao-yang, and formed my main reserve.
The two brigades of the 10th and 17th Army Corps, which arrived in the Far East in 1903, were organized as independent brigades, and, till the troops concentrated at Liao-yang, operated with the advanced forces. The brigade of the 35th Division fought with the 1st Siberians, to which it was sent up as a reinforcement in the battle of Te-li-ssu. The brigade of the 31st Division sent to reinforce the troops operating on the line Ta-ku-shan–Ta-Ling–Hai-cheng, together with the 5th East Siberian Rifle Division, became part of the 2nd Siberians. When the Japanese advanced with all their three armies on July 31, the general disposition of our troops was as follows:
1. To the south, opposite Oku’s army, were the 1st and 4th Siberian Corps, total forty-eight battalions (the 1st Siberians at full strength, the 4th Siberians consisting of three brigades), under the command of General Zarubaeff.
2. On the line Ta-ku-shan–Ta Ling–Hai-cheng, opposite Nodzu’s army, were the 2nd Siberians and a brigade of the 4th Siberians, total twenty-eight battalions, under the command of Lieutenant-General Zasulitch.
3. On the line Ya-lu–Fen-shui-ling–Liao-yang, opposite Kuroki’s army, were the 3rd Siberians, and the 10th and 17th Army Corps, total eighty battalions, under the command of General Bilderling. At this time the 5th Siberians were, by the Viceroy’s orders, detrained at Mukden, and told off to protect the rear and the line Pen-hsi-hu–Mukden, and to act at the same time as a reserve for the advanced corps. When we moved towards Hai-cheng the brigade of the 4th Siberians operating on the line Hai-cheng–Ta Ling–Ta-ku-shan, returned to its own corps. In retiring towards Liao-yang, the two brigades of the 10th and 17th Army Corps, which had been sent out to the Far East in 1903, joined these corps.
During the first days of the battle of Liao-yang the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Siberians and 10th Army Corps took part at their full strength of units. The 2nd Siberians had only one division, and the 17th Army Corps concentrated on the right bank of the Tai-tzu Ho, and was not at first engaged. When we crossed on to the right bank of the river, in order to operate against Kuroki, the corps organization became in several instances quite dissolved. In addition to the 2nd and 4th Siberians, we had to leave a brigade from both the 3rd Siberians and the 10th Army Corps for the defence of the immense fortified camp at Liao-yang itself. At the time of our advance at the beginning of October, I did everything possible to keep the corps organization intact. The 1st and 3rd Siberians and the 1st, 10th, and 17th Army Corps operated at full strength, while the 4th and 6th Siberians had three brigades each, one brigade of the 4th Siberians being sent to strengthen the 3rd, which had a particularly difficult task allotted to it, and one brigade of the 6th Siberians (which was under me) being left by the Viceroy’s orders to protect our rear. The 2nd Siberians, which consisted of the 5th East Siberian Rifle Division, was strengthened by five reserve battalions. The 5th Siberians was alone (for good reasons) split up into two groups, one operating under the command of the corps commander on the extreme right flank, the other on the extreme left under General Rennenkampf. The account of the September operations of the Eastern and Western Forces, given in [Chapter IX.], shows to what an extent the units became mixed by the mere course of the fighting. As soon as I was appointed Commander-in-Chief, I did my best to prevent this in the future. The 61st Reserve Division, which did not belong to an army corps, and had been detailed by the Viceroy to strengthen the Vladivostok District, was sent by me to the field army and incorporated in the 5th Siberians, in place of the 71st Division, which was concentrated on the extreme left flank under the command of General Rennenkampf. All the regiments of the 1st Siberian Division were sent to join the 2nd Siberian Corps, and the 1st Siberian and 10th Army Corps were moved at full strength from the first line to my main reserve. The 3rd, 4th, and 6th Siberian and the 1st and 17th Army Corps were at full strength—distributed along the first lines and in reserve. The 2nd and 5th Siberian Corps had each only three brigades, one brigade of the latter having been left on the right bank of the Hun Ho to protect our extreme right. A brigade of the 5th Division holding Putiloff Hill was left, at the special request of the officer commanding the 1st Manchurian Army, on the positions which had been captured by the splendid regiments of this brigade (19th and 20th East Siberian Rifle Regiments). As soon as the 8th and 16th Army Corps arrived they were posted to my main reserve; the three Rifle Brigades were formed into a Composite Rifle Corps.
Early in January, 1905, I concentrated all three corps of the 2nd Army—i.e., the 8th, 10th, and Mixed Rifle Corps in reserve, and I had in my main reserve the 1st Siberians with a division of the 16th Army Corps (the other was still on the railway). We had altogether 128 battalions in reserve, and our position was most favourable. It might, however, have been still better if I had insisted on strong army reserves being formed in the 1st and 3rd Armies. My proposal to move the 17th Army Corps back from the advanced lines met with a strongly worded request that the distribution of the 3rd Army might be left as it was. In the 1st Army I might have insisted on the whole of the 4th Siberian Corps being sent to join the reserve after the transfer of the Rifle Brigade from Putiloff Hill to the strong Erh-ta-ho position. I made a mistake also in forming three Rifle Brigades together into one corps. If I had kept them as independent brigades, it would have been unnecessary to take brigades from army corps whenever independent brigades were required. Although the Japanese had fewer battalions than we had, these were much stronger than ours; they also had more independent units than we had. Their divisions were not organized in corps, their small armies being made up of divisions and independent brigades, and our corps organization was not sufficiently flexible to meet the thirteen to fifteen Japanese divisions, and a similar number of independent brigades. The enemy were able to take divisions and brigades from the advanced positions and transfer them, without upsetting their existing organization, and with far greater ease than we could move our corps. When an independent brigade operated against us—as, for instance, on the line Sai-ma-chi–An-ping—we were obliged to break up our corps organization in order to meet it with one of our brigades; this happened in the 10th Army Corps.
Again, owing to the general course of events and other reasons over which I had no control, our corps organization had to be broken up before the operations at Hei-kou-tai, but was restored as soon as possible. It also occurred during the February fighting round Mukden, where the circumstances, indeed, did not in every case warrant it. After General Grippenberg’s disastrous operations at Hei-kou-tai our strategical position was altered much for the worse. Four army corps, which had until then been standing in reserve, were sent up into the fighting-line, and three of them became hopelessly mixed up in the process. At the time I thought it only possible to keep one corps (the 1st Siberians) in reserve, but the 16th Army corps, the 72nd Division, a brigade of the 6th East Siberian Rifle Division, and the Tsaritsin Regiment were available, as it turned out. This made a total reserve of eighty-two battalions. With such a strong main reserve I hoped to be able to meet the enemy successfully, if, on being reinforced by Nogi’s army from Port Arthur, they took the offensive.
According to our estimates, the fall of Port Arthur might reinforce the Japanese field army by some fifty battalions altogether, but we thought that the greater portion of Nogi’s army would be sent to operate against Vladivostok, or via Possiet towards Kirin, so as to take us in the rear. The possibility of this made us extremely sensitive, both as to our rear and as regards Vladivostok. The first thing we did, therefore, on Nogi’s army being set free, was to strengthen the garrison of the latter place, which was very weakly held for the extent of the defences. I sent there from all three armies cadres of a strength of six battalions, which were to expand into four regiments so as to form the 10th East Siberian Rifle Division. It was thought that, upon a general assumption of the offensive, the Japanese would simultaneously try to bring about a rising of the local native population, and to destroy the railway bridges behind us. To give colour to our fears, a whole series of reports, each more alarming than the last, were received from General Chichagoff. In these he described the large numbers of the enemy that had appeared behind us with the intention of seizing Harbin as well as of destroying the railway. I mentioned (Vol. III.) how this officer calculated the strength of the enemy in our rear at tens of thousands, and how persistent he was in his demands that the troops guarding the line might be strengthened. As a proof of the urgency of the circumstances, he reported the defeat, with a loss of guns, of some Frontier Guards sent out by him to reconnoitre east of the Kuan-cheng-tzu station. Later information corroborated these reports in so far that parties of the enemy, accompanied by bands of Hun-huses, had penetrated far in rear, broken through our line of posts between Kuan-cheng-tzu and Bei-tu-ne, and were threatening the latter point, which, being our central corn-supply depôt, was of immense importance to us. Large bodies of Japanese and Hun-huses were also reported as moving in the direction of Tsit-si-har with the intention of blowing up the important railway-bridge across the River Nonni, and thus cutting our railway communication. One of the large bridges near the station of Kung-chu-ling was, after a skirmish with our guards, destroyed. In the face of such “circumstantial evidence” as the loss of guns and the destruction of bridges, it was impossible not to credit General Chichagoff’s reports (the extent of their exaggeration we did not find out till later), and to refuse him assistance. The security of our communications was literally vital, for even their temporary disorganization meant catastrophe. Not only the flow of reinforcements to the front, but the collection and distribution of local supplies would have ceased. As we were over 5,300 miles away from our base (Russia), we had been forced to form a local supply base, and the loss of this would have threatened the army with starvation. As, therefore, the actual numbers guarding the railway were small, I increased them by one brigade of the 16th Army Corps and four Cossack regiments. My staff inclined to the opinion, indeed, that six Cossack regiments should have been sent.
In February the Japanese moved forward in strength, carrying out a frontal attack combined with simultaneous turning movements against both our flanks. To carry out such an operation successfully implies great numerical superiority on the side of the attackers, or else great attenuation along their front; and relying, apparently, on the strength of their positions, the Japanese did weaken their front to a very great extent. Our best plan would accordingly have been to have attacked them in the centre in the hope of breaking through there, and then operating afterwards against the outflanking movements. But this might have been disastrous, for if they succeeded in holding their frontal positions with comparatively small numbers stiffened by extra artillery and machine guns and well reinforced by reserves [which were in their case splendidly organized], we might still have been outflanked by the turning movements.
The special difficulty of frontal attacks was amply confirmed during the Mukden battles, for, although our troops there held very extended positions, they repulsed the Japanese whenever the latter made only a frontal attack. When, therefore, the Japanese assumed the offensive, and Kavamura’s movement round our left flank developed, I determined to check it by attacking Kuroki in front and flank. The situation on our left had become very alarming, for by losing the strong Ching-ho-cheng position and retiring towards Ma-chun-tan we had exposed the left flank of the 3rd Siberian Corps on the Kao-tai Ling (Pass). A still wider turning movement threatened to throw the 71st Division back on Fu-shun, but the reinforcements rapidly sent to the 1st Army from the main reserve were able to arrest Kavamura’s movement, largely owing to the behaviour of General Rennenkampf’s and Daniloff’s 71st and 6th East Siberian Rifle Divisions, which fought with great gallantry and stubbornness. If the 1st Army, which had a strength of 175 battalions, had made a successful advance, it ought to have influenced the operation then under way against our right. Being anxious to take the offensive, I gave Linievitch, commanding the 1st Army, the chance of selecting the main point of attack, and he decided to strike the point where Kuroki’s and Kavamura’s armies joined. The orders had been issued, and the movement had actually begun, when certain unconfirmed reports as to the movement of some Japanese divisions round the left flank of the 3rd Siberians unfortunately led him to stop the attack and send back such units of the 1st Siberian Corps as had been lent to the 1st Army for the operation. We had lost several days in collecting troops for this offensive movement, and large bodies of the enemy had meanwhile been moving round our right. I have described in detail (Vol. III.) the steps taken to avert this danger, and the results achieved. Here I will only mention them briefly. Against the 2nd Army, which consisted of ninety-six battalions, and which was mostly located on the left bank of the Hun Ho, Oku was operating with the greater part of his army. His right flank was, according to our information, operating against the 5th Siberians, and part, probably, against the 17th Army Corps of the 3rd Army. Thus, opposed to the troops under General Kaulbars’ command at the time when Nogi’s advance developed, there were, according to our calculations, not more than thirty-six to forty Japanese battalions. As the 2nd Army was reinforced by twenty-four battalions of the 16th Army Corps from the main reserve, theoretically we should have driven Oku’s army south by an energetic offensive, and, having thus cut it off from Nogi’s force, should have fallen on the latter. To do this we should have had to seize the fortified positions with strong defensive points near the village of San-de-pu by frontal attack. Practically, in the much more favourable conditions of a month previous, 120 battalions of the 2nd Army had been unable to drive the enemy southwards and get possession of this village after six days’ continuous fighting. There was every reason to fear, therefore, that even if we gained possession of these points, and succeeded in forcing back Oku’s army, so many men would have been expended in the effort that we should have been in no condition to oppose Nogi, who could then have captured Mukden, and cut off the 2nd and 3rd Armies from their communications.
Whatever course was decided upon, our weakness in power of manœuvre, the strength of the Japanese divisions, and their great powers of defence, had to be borne in mind. On the whole, a consideration of these points rather led to the conclusion that it was probably a distinct advantage to them to engage as many of us as possible in a frontal attack on their positions, so that they might be the more certain of success in their turning movement. After looking at the question from all sides, I decided to stand on the defensive in the front of the 2nd and 3rd Armies, and to move as quickly as possible sufficient troops to the right bank of the Hun Ho to check and then drive back Nogi’s army, which was executing the turning movement. The first troops to be used for this were those of the 2nd Army, whose duty it was to protect the right flank of our whole force. For this purpose I first took one corps from this army, calculating that the sixty-four remaining battalions could without difficulty withstand any onset by Oku (of from thirty to forty battalions). General Baron Kaulbars was ordered to move this corps as quickly as possible towards the village of Sha-ling-pu, where I proposed to concentrate the units to oppose Nogi. To operate against him I then moved up twenty-four battalions of the 16th Corps together, putting them also under the command of General Kaulbars, while as a reserve to these advanced troops I took twelve battalions from the 3rd and the 1st Siberian Corps, which I ordered to move towards Mukden and rejoin my reserve as soon as news was received of the attack being stopped, and of the departure of the 1st Army to Chi-hui-cheng. Thus, arrangements were made for the concentration of ninety-two battalions, which by March 3 should easily have been able to cover our right flank, check Nogi’s army, and drive it back. Unfortunately, our hopes of what was going to be effected on this flank were not fulfilled. In order to move this army corps against Nogi, Kaulbars essayed a most complicated manœuvre—namely, to move the Composite Rifle Corps from the right bank of the Hun Ho on to the left, and to replace it on to the right bank by the 8th Army Corps, which was to move on Sha-ling-pu. The first part of this plan was carried out—the Rifle Corps crossed on to the left bank, but, owing to the Japanese pressure, the 8th Army Corps remained on that side. Thus the units of the two Corps became mixed up. Of the 2nd Army, only two brigades (of the 10th Army Corps), which had been sent there under my orders, together with the 25th Infantry Division, arrived at Sha-ling-pu. Meanwhile the whole of the 10th Army Corps, or at least twenty-four battalions of it, might have been moved there, for it was opposed by very few of the enemy. The transfer from the right—the threatened—flank of the Rifles had, as is now known, very serious consequences, for by it the right flank of the 2nd Army was uncovered too soon, and the units there, being attacked in front and flank, began to retreat, which caused the adjacent troops to do the same.
From the information I received as to the enemy’s movements, I decided to move the 16th Army Corps in two directions—one portion direct on Hsin-min-tun, and the 25th Division on Sha-ling-pu. When it became apparent that the enemy were not advancing behind the Liao Ho, but between it and the Hun Ho, Kaulbars very properly gave orders for a brigade of the 41st Division to be sent up towards the 25th Division at Sha-ling-pu. We should have thus had the 16th Corps, consisting of twenty-four battalions, all together; and to this it was General Kaulbars’ intention to add the 8th Army Corps at full strength. As this force would have been reinforced by me by another Siberian corps, we should have had three army corps against Nogi. Unfortunately, however, Kaulbars countermanded the orders already issued to General Birger (to join the 25th Division), and this brigade continued to act independently, and added to the existing confusion of troops, especially when it split up and retired in two directions—towards Mukden and Hu-shih-tai station. Instead of the 8th Army Corps arriving to reinforce the 25th Division, two brigades of the 10th Army Corps turned up. Finally, Linievitch did not consider it possible to carry out his orders (to send the 1st Siberian Corps to Mukden at full strength), and asked permission to detain two regiments of it, and so the divisions of the 1st Siberian Corps arrived in Mukden with only three regiments each. Fully recognizing the danger of our position on the right flank, the commander of the 3rd Army sent his army reserve of three regiments of the 17th Army Corps to Mukden, and on his own initiative added to them the Samara Regiment (three battalions), which had been sent to him the day before with a view to strengthening his left. Meanwhile the different orders given during the fighting between February 23 and March 4 by the commanders of the 1st and 2nd Armies resulted in an inextricable confusion of lesser units, which added to that caused by the breakdown of the corps organization. As there were insufficient army reserves, Linievitch reinforced the troops that were being attacked from the corps reserves of those corps which had not been attacked. For instance, when the enemy’s advance against the left flank of the 1st Army began, certain units of the 3rd Siberian Corps, by moving eastwards along the front, were able to strengthen Rennenkampf’s force. When the Kao-tai Ling position—defended by the 3rd Siberians—was attacked, this corps was supported by portions of the 2nd and 4th Siberian Corps to the west of them; when the 2nd Siberians were attacked they were reinforced by units of the 4th.
Thus the reinforcements sent up by me only served to heighten the general confusion of units caused by the orders of the officer commanding the 1st Army and of the corps commanders. Against Kavamura on March 1 and 2 there were in the 1st Army the 71st Division, consisting of three regiments, the whole of the 6th East Siberian Rifle Division, one regiment of the 3rd East Siberian Rifle Division, and one regiment of the 1st Army Corps—total twenty-nine battalions.[112] Against Kuroki were the 3rd East Siberian Rifle Division, consisting of three regiments, one regiment of the 71st Division, two of the 4th Siberians, and one of the 2nd Siberians—total twenty-five battalions. On the assumption that we should attack, I sent to these troops the 72nd Division and the 1st Siberians at full strength, as well as one regiment of the 1st Army Corps—total forty-four battalions. Thus sixty-nine battalions were concentrated on and behind the positions of the 3rd Siberian Corps. Farther west, on the positions of the 2nd Siberian Corps, there remained of this corps fourteen battalions, which, reinforced by a regiment of the 4th Siberians, successfully repulsed all attacks, including an assault made by the Japanese Guards. Still farther west, on the positions of the 4th Siberians, which were not attacked, there were twenty to twenty-four battalions of this same corps. Finally, against Nodzu’s right twenty-four battalions of the 1st Army Corps not only completely repulsed all attacks, but pressed forward very successfully. Generally speaking, although the units of the 1st Army were considerably mixed up, the corps organization of the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Siberians and the 1st Army Corps was not very much disturbed.
In the 2nd Army matters were worse. The unsuccessful attempt to “castle” two corps (the Composite Rifle and 8th Army Corps) was the start of the break-up of the army corps organization, and in beating off the enemy these two corps, together with the 10th, became still more involved. Throughout the fighting of the night of March 4 no touch was kept between the different units of the 8th Army Corps. The 14th Division (three regiments) and one regiment of the 15th Division crossed on to the right bank of the Hun Ho and moved westwards, while the 15th Division (three regiments) arrived behind the left flank of the 3rd Army after a night march to the north-east. On the morning of the 4th mingled portions of all these corps took up fresh positions on both banks of the Hun Ho.
Sufficient efforts were not made to readjust matters either in the divisions or corps. The commander of the 10th Army Corps maintained under his command only two brigades of the 9th and 31st Divisions (consisting of sixteen battalions), which had been moved by my order towards Sha-ling-pu; the commander of the 16th Army Corps was with the 25th Infantry Division, which had sixteen battalions; while neither the commanders of the 8th or Composite Rifle Corps had got so many troops directly under them. By General Kaulbars’ orders, Tserpitski was appointed to command the left wing of the troops moved on to the right bank of the Hun Ho; among these was only one regiment of the 10th Army Corps, the remainder belonging to the 8th Army, Composite Rifle, and 5th Siberian Corps. At the same time as Kaulbars appointed Tserpitski, he removed the commanders of the 8th, Composite Rifle, and 16th Corps from the direct command of troops. This gave the coup de grâce to the corps organization of this army. It was now completely destroyed. As I have mentioned (Vol. III.), there was an opportunity on March 6 of withdrawing the whole of the 10th Army Corps from the first line, and so reorganizing the 8th Corps and the Composite Rifles properly, but the commander of the 2nd Army did not seize it.
The inaction of the 2nd Army on March 4, its passive and disastrous operations on the 5th and 6th, placed our right flank in a very difficult position. Nogi was moving not only along the flank, but to the rear of the 2nd Army. The commander of this army, continuing to see danger where there was none, paid particular attention to Oku’s operations, and left Nogi to move round to our rear without hindrance. Indeed, had I not interfered on March 7, Nogi’s force would have seized Shan-tai-tzu, the Imperial Tombs, and Mukden, and moved in rear of the 2nd Army. By my orders the defence of the positions near Shan-tai-tzu, Ta-heng-tun, and Wen-ken-tun was organized so as to face to the north and west. The movement of the 3rd Army towards the Hun Ho contracted our position, and enabled me to withdraw to my main reserve portions of the 9th, 15th, and 54th Divisions, and by means of this concentration the danger of Nogi’s movement to our rear was temporarily averted, but in the section held by the 2nd Army we were fighting on three fronts—west, south, and north. Under such conditions I naturally sent into action those units which were nearest. Still, the defence of the northern front was entrusted to a brigade of the 41st Division, the Volinsk Regiment, and to the 9th Rifle Regiment. Near Tsu-erh-tun were concentrated three regiments of the 9th and three of the 54th Divisions.
On the 6th and 7th I made a final attempt to wrest victory from the Japanese. Hoping that Kuroki had suffered heavily on the preceding days, and relying on the splendid material in the 1st Army, I made up my mind, after considerable discussion of the matter with its commander on the telephone, to weaken that army considerably, so as to make certain of having sufficient men at Tsu-erh-tun. I augmented my main reserve by the whole of the 72nd Division, a brigade of the 2nd Siberian, and eighteen battalions from the 1st Army and 4th Siberian Corps. The commander of the 1st Army was of opinion that if we did not soon have a success on the right this weakening of the 1st Army might be a danger, but though fully realizing the force of his contention, I considered it necessary to take the risk for the following reasons:
1. One hundred and five splendid battalions were still left under the command of General Linievitch.
2. The enemy in front of the 1st Army must, according to the reports sent in by its commander, have lost very heavily.
3. The Japanese had transferred almost the whole of Oku’s army to the right bank of the Hun Ho, immediately after Nogi’s, and we had either to break through this disposition or strengthen those of our forces on the right bank of the Hun Ho by a lateral movement. As I have described already (Vol. III.), our hopes were not realized. The movement of the reserves to Tsu-erh-tun was effected very much more slowly than we had counted upon, and, taking advantage of our reduction in strength on the front held by the 1st Army, the enemy broke through there. At the point of our position (Chiu-tien) where the enemy broke through, there should have been, according to the arrangements of the officer commanding the 1st Army, four regiments of the troops under his command, but as a matter of fact there were only ten companies of the Barnaul Regiment.[113] Taking all the circumstances into consideration, our retirement was, in my opinion, a day too late, and instead of throwing all the reinforcements which arrived at Tsu-erh-tun into the fight, some of them (General Zarubaeff’s force) had to be kept as a last reserve in case the enemy attempted to close us in with a ring of fire.
In the last fights at Mukden, the 4th Siberian Corps was scattered along the whole front, but the enemy being at that spot in inconsiderable strength, did not attack its strong position at Erh-ta-ho. Thirty-two splendid battalions of this corps might have been used by the commander of the 1st Army for a local counter-attack, or, together with the troops of the 1st Army Corps or those of the 2nd Siberians, for a greater effort at the counter-offensive, for which a very favourable opportunity presented itself when the enemy attacked the 2nd Siberians. By advancing we could have taken the attacking forces in flank and rear, and the Japanese Imperial Guards would have been threatened with disaster. But the opportunity was not seized. Hence the 4th Siberian Corps, having no force opposed to it, only formed, so to speak, a reserve to the 1st and 2nd Armies.
On the whole, the confusion was at its greatest between March 8 and 10 on the northern front of the 2nd Army, but the energetic and gallant General Launits was in command, and he not only beat back all attacks, but rescued the inert units of the 2nd Army, whose rear Nogi was threatening. On March 10 General Muiloff, in command of the rearguard (composed only of the Lublin Regiment), gallantly and successfully carried out the difficult duty of covering the retirement of the 2nd and 3rd Armies.
It must be remembered that, though the corps organization mostly broke down, the regimental organization was preserved, and this gave a cohesion in action which, when taken advantage of, served us right well. The preservation of the regimental organization was also important on account of the rationing of the troops. The first line transport (with field kitchens and two-wheeled ammunition carts) were kept with regiments, and so ammunition and food were in many cases most opportunely forthcoming in spite of the mixing up of units. The nearness of our supplies also at Mukden enabled us easily to refill regimental reserves. Against the 1st Siberian Corps at the bloody action at Su-no-pu (near San-de-pu) on January 27—a fight that was more or less unpremeditated on both sides—units of five different Japanese divisions were engaged, though the enemy had a comparatively small force in the field. The enemy, therefore, must also have suffered from confusion.
I have endeavoured to give some explanation of how it was that units got mixed up; but I consider that it was in many cases quite unnecessary. Consequently, when I reported to the Tsar that I was mainly responsible for our disaster at Mukden, I pointed out that one of my mistakes was that I did not sufficiently legislate to prevent this confusion, and that, as a matter of fact, I was forced by circumstances to add to it.
MAP OF THEATRE OF OPERATIONS SOUTH OF MUKDEN