The Mishchenko Raid
Kuropatkin’s first move was to send General Pavel Mishchenko south with 6000 cavalry and six batteries of light artillery with the aim of destroying Newchang Station on the South Manchurian Railroad. The station was known to have a large stockpile of food and supplies. Mishchenko was also instructed to destroy railway bridges and sections of the train track along the way. Departing on 8 January, Mishchenko made unexpectedly slow progress due to inclement weather and the lack of forage and supplies along the way. By the time he reached the station on 12 January, it had been heavily reinforced by the Japanese. After failing to take the station in three attempts, he was forced to withdraw, returning to Mukden on 18 January. The damage made by his dragoons to the rail tracks was quickly repaired by the Japanese.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Sandepu
Famous quotes containing the word raid:
“John Brown and Giuseppe Garibaldi were contemporaries not solely in the matter of time; their endeavors as liberators link their names where other likeness is absent; and the peaks of their careers were reached almost simultaneously: the Harper’s Ferry Raid occurred in 1859, the raid on Sicily in the following year. Both events, however differing in character, were equally quixotic.”
—John Cournos (1881–1956)