Battle of Mukden

The last large-scale land battle of the Russo-Japanese War, which took place in March 1905 (Meiji 38). After the Japanese army succeeded in capturing Port Arthur in January of that year, the General Headquarters of the Manchuria Army (Commander-in-Chief Oyama Iwao) intended to wait for the advance of Nogi's army and concentrate 250,000 troops on the front line to annihilate the Russian army and decide the outcome of the war. The Russian army (Commander-in-Chief Kuropatkin) based in Mukden (now Shenyang) also concentrated 320,000 troops to face the Russian army, and on March 1, the two armies began fighting on the entire front. The battle did not progress easily, but on the 7th, the Russian army, which had suffered 90,000 casualties, retreated to conserve its forces for the next battle. On the 10th, the Japanese army occupied Mukden, but suffered losses of 70,000 and lost the ability to pursue, so they were unable to achieve their goal of annihilating the enemy's main force. As a result of this battle, Japan realized the limitations of its military power and was unable to plan any large-scale operations after that. Russia also feared that the continued defeats would foster revolutionary momentum, so this battle prompted peace to be put on the agenda. To commemorate this victory, Japan designated March 10, the day of the occupation of Mukden, as Army Day.

[Michio Fujimura]

"New History of the Russo-Japanese Land War" by Numata Takazo (Iwanami Shinsho) " "Confidential History of the Russo-Japanese War" by Tani Hisao (1966, Hara Shobo, Meiji Centennial History Series)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1905年（明治38）3月に行われた日露戦争最後の大規模な陸上戦。同年1月日本軍が旅順(りょじゅん)攻略に成功したのち、満州軍総司令部（総司令官大山巌(いわお)）は乃木(のぎ)軍の転進を待って第一線兵力25万を集中し、ロシア軍を殲滅(せんめつ)して戦局を決定することを意図した。奉天（現瀋陽(しんよう)）を拠点とするロシア軍（総司令官クロパトキン）も32万の兵力を集中して対峙(たいじ)していたが、3月1日、両軍は全線で戦闘を開始した。戦局は容易に進展しなかったが、7日、9万の死傷者を出したロシア軍は次期会戦に兵力を温存するため退却した。10日、日本軍は奉天を占領したが、7万の損害を受けて追撃の余力を失い、敵主力の撃滅という目的を達成できなかった。この会戦の結果、日本は戦力の限界を自覚し、これ以後大規模な作戦を企画できなかった。ロシアも打ち続く敗戦が革命の機運を醸成することを恐れたので、この会戦を機に講和が日程に上った。日本はこの戦勝を記念して奉天占領の3月10日を陸軍記念日とした。

［藤村道生］

『沼田多稼蔵著『日露陸戦新史』（岩波新書）』▽『谷寿夫著『機密日露戦史』（1966・原書房・明治百年史叢書）』

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