THE RUSSO-JAPAN WAR
The danger of this roused Japan to action. When it became evident that the Russians had no intention to respect the rights of China in Manchuria, and showed signs of an aggressive movement against Korea, the island empire lost no time in making war. In February, 1904, Japan withdrew her minister from St. Petersburg and three days later, without the formality of a declaration of war, attacked the Russian fleets at Chemulpo and Port Arthur and landed troops in Korea.
The Japanese quickly proved themselves able warriors. On April 13th admiral Togo drove back the Russian fleet, its flagship, the PETROPAVLOVSK, striking a mine and sinking with its crew and admiral. On land the Russians were defeated at the battle of the Yalu, Manchuria was invaded and Port Arthur invested and bombarded. Battles followed in rapid succession, with victory for the island warriors in every instance. General Oka won a fierce battle on the heights of Nan-Shan and captured the Russian port of Dalny. General Kuroki fought his way northward to Liao-yang, where was fought one of the great battles of the war, lasting seven days and ending in the retreat of the Russians.
The next field of action was at Mukden, the Manchurian capital, when the armies met in September, and remained face to face until March of the following year. It was not until then that a decisive action took place, the armies numbering nearly 500,000 each. The struggle was long continued, but finally ended in a second retreat of the Russians. There were no further engagements of importance in this quarter, though the armies remained face to face for months in a long line south of Harbin.