Chapter 188: The Last Line of Defense
Hundreds of shellfire from battleship guns were enough to sink several heavily armored battleships, let alone the lightly armed island nation's army.
The Russian Empire did not suffer defeat in the naval battle, which triggered a series of butterfly effects.
At least the historical siege of Port Arthur did not occur as originally planned. The island nation's vanguard forces, the Second Army, suffered heavy losses during their encounter with the Fourth Infantry Division. The casualties had already exceeded half of their forces.
If it weren't for the island nation's Bushido spirit, it is likely that the army, having lost half of their forces, would have already disbanded and would not have been able to regroup under General Obokov's command.
However, General Obokov was not in a particularly good mood after this encounter.
In the battle, the Second Army, with its four divisions and 40,000 men, lost more than 13,000 soldiers and suffered over 21,000 injuries, both light and heavy. Of the light injuries, only about 22,000 men were still able to fight, less than half of the Second Army's total strength.
At their best, the Second Army was just a few dozen meters from the Fourth Infantry Division's position. However, they were first struck by a concentrated barrage of artillery and later subjected to the Pacific Fleet's naval bombardment, preventing their artillery units from effectively retaliating.
The situation grew even worse when a shell struck the Second Army's largest artillery position, killing over ten guns and causing a chain reaction that completely destroyed the entire artillery emplacement.
After the battle, of the more than 200 guns the Second Army had, only a little over 50 remained, and most of those were small-caliber, easily moveable pieces.
Using such artillery to break the defenses of Port Arthur was nothing short of wishful thinking.
However, despite everything, the battle reports had to be submitted. The island nation's rear command needed to keep track of the latest developments to make informed decisions for future strategies.
While it had to be admitted that the battle had been a defeat, General Obokov, following advice from his subordinates, spun the defeat into a story of an enemy ambush. He reported that the enemy had at least 50,000 troops north of Port Arthur and over 500 guns.
He claimed that the two-to-one artillery advantage, combined with the support from the enemy's navy, was the primary reason for the "defeat."
In his report to the rear command, General Obokov also mentioned that although his army had suffered heavily, they had inflicted tens of thousands of casualties on the enemy.
With confidence, General Obokov claimed that if given 20,000 more men, he would be able to capture the enemy's position and successfully reach the Port Arthur fortifications.
Although General Obokov did not know whether the rear command believed his report, at least his position had not been dismissed, and he had even received reinforcements.
A week after the encounter, the island nation consolidated all landing forces into the Manchuria Army, establishing a new command under General Yamashiro, the Commander-in-Chief.
With the consolidation of the landing forces, the island nation sent another 30,000 troops, joining the previously landed First and Second Armies, resulting in a total of more than 60,000 men in the Manchuria Army.
These new forces were fully equipped with Gew98 rifles from Germany, with most machine guns and artillery produced by Australia.
To prevent the Pacific Fleet from once again providing artillery support to the Russian land forces, the island nation's navy was also mobilized.
However, the navy's objective was not to engage in another naval battle but to create a distraction, ensuring that the Pacific Fleet could not focus its attention elsewhere.
By early June, the Second and Third Armies of the Manchuria Army arrived in the northern part of Port Arthur and met the Fourth Infantry Division again.
This time, the Fourth Infantry Division had been reinforced, as the Russian commander of the Liaodong Peninsula, General Steysel, sent another division of 18,000 men to defend the northern part of Port Arthur.
However, this division lacked the advanced equipment of the Fourth Infantry Division, and most of their weaponry was of Russian origin.
Although on paper, the ratio of forces was 36,000 to 60,000, in reality, half of the Russian forces were reserve units stationed ten kilometers behind the front lines. This meant that the actual number of Russian soldiers on the front line was only around 20,000, one division.
Ignoring the powerful CA-1 automatic cannon's firepower, the Russian army was at a severe disadvantage.
The CA-1 automatic cannon was effective only against densely packed troops. If the enemy's formations were scattered, the cannon's main role would be intimidation.
Moreover, the Second and Third Armies had artillery with a much greater range than the CA-1.
With careful preparation, the island nation's artillery easily suppressed the Russian artillery, and this time, the island nation's forces were not crushed by relentless bombardment as they had been in the last battle.
The firepower advantage caused General Fok to panic and urgently called for reinforcements.
But with the reserves stationed ten kilometers away, it would take at least two hours for them to arrive.
Could the Russian army hold out for two hours, especially with the disadvantage in both firepower and numbers?
The answer was no. Due to the distraction created by the Pacific Fleet, the Russian army received no artillery support.
This caused some of the Russian soldiers who had still held out hope to fall into despair. Facing the overwhelming onslaught of the enemy, they again felt panic.
By the time the reserve forces arrived two hours later, the Fourth Infantry Division had already suffered heavy losses and was in retreat.
The position had been lost, and a counterattack was impossible. The Russian forces had to retreat in disappointment from the northern part of Port Arthur, heading back toward the fortifications.
General Yamashiro was very pleased with the outcome. Although the Manchuria Army had lost over 6,000 men and had thousands more injured, they had successfully removed the Russian defense in northern Port Arthur, and they could finally see the formidable Port Arthur fortifications.
Inside the Port Arthur fort, there were divisions within the Russian side on how to deal with the island nation's offensive.
General Steysel, commander of the Russian forces on the Liaodong Peninsula, wanted to turn Port Arthur into the final line of defense.
He was confident that with about 50,000 troops, they could defend Port Arthur for over two years. This was Steysel's belief, and it was the most conservative approach. Given the fortifications of Port Arthur, holding it for two years was not an impossible task.
As long as the Pacific Fleet maintained its superiority, Port Arthur would continue to receive steady supplies from the port, making it not difficult to hold for even longer.
But here came the question: could the Pacific Fleet maintain its advantage?
At least General Kondratenko, the commander of the ground forces at Port Arthur, did not think so. He did not doubt the Pacific Fleet or Admiral Makarov, but he believed it was better to rely on the army to defend and hold Port Arthur rather than entrust the fort's fate entirely to the navy.
Kondratenko insisted on creating a strong outer defense line using the advantageous terrain outside Port Arthur, which would ensure that the fortifications and the port would not fall into the hands of the island nation and would not force them to rely solely on holding the fort.
By defending the outer line, the Russian army would still have a chance to counterattack and ensure that they would not be cut off from their supply lines.
Although General Steysel held higher rank and more power on paper, the actual command of Port Arthur was still under General Kondratenko's authority.
Under his command, the Russian forces constructed a robust defense line about 20 to 30 kilometers outside the fort, utilizing the terrain effectively.
After the retreat of two northern divisions and the original garrison, a total of three divisions, or 54,000 men, were deployed to the outer defense line, making it the last line of defense before Port Arthur.
Beyond this, aside from the fort itself, there were virtually no more defenses to prevent the island nation's forces from encircling the fort.
The Russians were clearly aware of this and understood the critical importance of Port Arthur and its port for the Far Eastern situation.
With no retreat left, the Russian forces fought hard and successfully held the island nation's army at bay 30 kilometers north of Port Arthur.
The island nation's offensive was briefly halted, and aside from the defense of this line, the Far East seemed to fall into a brief period of peace.
(End of Chapter)
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