Battle of Lushunkou

Battle of Lüshunkou
Part of the First Sino-Japanese War
Japanese troops storming the citadel of Lushunkou.
Date November 21, 1894 Location Lüshunkou, Manchuria Result Decisive Japanese victory
Belligerents
Japan	China
Commanders and leaders
Lt General Yamaji Motoharu General Nogi Maresuke	Viceroy Li Hongzhang
Strength
15,000	13,000
Casualties and losses
29 killed 233 wounded	4,500 killed

The Battle of Lüshunkou (Chinese: 旅順口之戰; Japanese: Ryōjunkō-no-tatakai (旅順口の戦い^?)) was a land battle of the First Sino-Japanese War. It took place on 21 November 1894 in Lüshunkou, Manchuria (later called Port Arthur, in present-day Liaoning Province, China) between the forces of the Empire of Japan and the Empire of China. It is sometimes referred to archaically in western sources as the Battle of Port Arthur (that name is now primarily used for the opening battle of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904).

Following the Battle of Jiuliancheng at the Yalu River, and subsequent minor engagements in the Liaodong Peninsula, the strategic aim of Japan was to seize the heavily-defended and strategically important naval base of Lüshunkou, known in the West as "Port Arthur". This naval station had taken the Qing government sixteen years to build, and was considered superior to Hong Kong in its facilities. Defended by its hilly terrain and strengthened with fortifications and powerful artillery, it was widely considered to be an impregnable stronghold. Lüshunkou was also the only facility with dry docks and modern equipment capable of repairing the warships of the Beiyang Fleet, and its loss would mean that China would no longer have the capability to repair any ship damaged in combat. The location of Lüshunkou, at the entrance to the Gulf of Bohai also meant that it controlled the sea approaches to Beijing.

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