Background
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 the Tsar. 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.
General Stoessel had about 17,000 men and the 4th, 5th, 13th, 14th and 15th East Siberian Rifles, from which about 3,000 men of the 5th East Siberian Rifles under Colonel Nikolai Tretyakov were dug into fortified positions on Nanshan hill, where they planned to hold out despite knowing they would be greatly outnumbered. The reserve divisions were under command of Lieutenant-General Alexander Fok, a former police officer who had risen to his position through political patronage rather than experience or ability. The Russian forces had 114 pieces of field artillery, machine guns, and had dug a network of trenches and barbed wire. The Japanese were well aware of the fortifications, as a Colonel Doi of Japanese intelligence was one of the "Chinese laborers" recruited by the Russians to work on the project in 1903.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Nanshan
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