Battle of Nanshan

Ukiyo-e print labeled: "In the Battle of Nanshan Our Troops Took Advantage of a Violent Thunderstorm and Charged the Enemy Fortress" by Kobayashi Kiyochika, 1904

Date	24–26 May 1904
Location	North of Port Arthur, Manchuria
Result	Japanese victory

Belligerents

Empire of Japan

Russian Empire

Commanders and leaders

General Oku Yasukata

Major-General Anatoly Stoessel
Lieutenant-General Alexander Fok

Strength

35,500

3,800

Casualties and losses

6,198 killed, wounded or captured

182 killed
836 wounded
598 Missing in action

The Battle of Nanshan (南山の戦い, Nanzan no tatakai^?) was one of many vicious land battles of the Russo-Japanese War. It took place on 24–26 May 1904 across a two-mile-wide defense line across the narrowest part of the Liáodōng Peninsula, covering the approaches to Port Arthur and on the 116-meter high Nanshan Hill, the present-day Jinzhou District, north of the city center of Dalian, Liaoning, China.

After the Japanese victory at the Yalu River, the Japanese Second Army commanded by General Yasukata Oku landed on the Liaotung peninsula, only some 60 miles from Port Arthur. The Second Army was 38,500 strong and consisted of three divisions: the First Division (Tokyo), Third Division (Nagoya) and Fourth Division (Osaka). Landing was completed by 5 May 1904.

The Japanese intention was to break through this Russian defensive position, capture the port of Dalny, and lay siege to Port Arthur.

Russian Viceroy Yevgeni Alekseyev had been recalled to Moscow for consultations with Tsar Nicholas II. He had left Major-General Baron Anatoly Stoessel in command of Russian ground forces in the Kwantung Peninsula, and Admiral Wilgelm Vitgeft in control of the Russian fleet at Port Arthur. Since no direct orders had been left, the indecisive and incompetent Admiral Vitgeft allowed the Japanese landing to proceed unopposed.

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