The Siege of Port Arthur began 
when Japanese General Nogi and 
his 3rd Army sealed the Kwantung
Peninsula.  The days of maneuver
had ended - the campaign around 
Port Arthur was marked by 
frontal assault, barbed wire, 
artillery bombardment, and 
machine guns.  In contrast to 
the tacticts of the Age of 
Rifles, the images of what 
would be routine of the First 
World War began with this 
campaign.

The Russian defenses consisted 
of haphazardly constructed 
blockhouses and barricades in 
an area measuring 12 miles long 
by 5 miles deep.  There was no 
coordinated plan for the 
defense of the city, as most of 
the funds for fortification 
had been diverted for civilian 
use.

The command and control was 
confusing, a general symptom 
of Russian forces in general 
during the war.  Lt. General 
Stoessel was in command of the 
fortified zone, but Lt. General 
Smirnov was in command of 
the city.  To further this 
confusion, Stoessel gave 
command of the infantry to one 
officer, while giving command 
of the artillery to someone 
else.  This fact coordination 
among Russian forces purely 
coincidental. 

General Nogi was a brigade 
commander who led his troops 
as the first Japanese force 
into Port Arthur in the 
Sino-Japanese War of 1894.  He 
was determined to repeat his 
gloried past as he now led the 
Japanese army to take Port 
Arthur from the Russians.  
Nogi devised a overtly simple 
plan in taking the city - one 
division would lead a 
diversionary attack on the 
right, while another would 
drive into the Russian center; 
after all the Russian defensive 
forts were neutralized, the 
main force would push into 
town. 

On August 19, 1904, the 
Japanese launched the greatest 
artillery bombardment in 
history.  The Japanese 
certainly believed the effect 
of its bombardment as the 
infantry attack commenced.  
The Japanese got to within 250 
yards of their objective until 
they were stalled by defensive 
fire.  Not deterred by 
effectiveness of Russian 
defense, Nogi sent in his 
entire army into the fray in 
renewed attacks. Conditions 
degenerated rapidly as the 
battlefield was drenched in 
heavy rain.  

Soon all communications 
between, and control over 
Japanese troops broke down, and 
platoon leaders or lower were 
in actual command of their 
forces.  The tenacious Russian 
defense did not help matter 
either, and soon the lead 
Japanese were huddling behind 
barricades constructed from 
their fallen comrades.  On 
August 23, Nogi finally called 
off the futile attack. 

The only objectives gained were 
two Russian redoubts, gained 
at a price of 15,000 casualties.
Of greater frustratioin to the 
Japanese force, Russian defense 
was not fundamentally weakened.