Chapter 194 The Russo-Japanese War Ends
The situation of the Far East War changed in July.
First, on July 13, the Trans-Siberian Railway, which the Russian Empire had been dreaming of, was finally completed, and finally connected the vast empire from head to tail.
The benefits of the completion of the railway to the Russian Empire were unimaginable. It not only greatly improved the communication and transportation between the European and Asian regions of the Russian Empire, but also played an irreplaceable role in the stability of the Russian Empire.
Of course, this also made it more convenient for the Russian Empire to transfer troops from Europe to the Far East.
Starting from August, more than 40,000 Russian soldiers arrived in the Far East every month and joined the battlefield in the Far East.
In a short period of time, the Russian army did achieve a balance with the island country army. Except for the extremely tragic offensive and defensive battles, there were not too many changes in territory.
As of September 1904, the Far East battlefield had a total of 280,000 Russian troops and 430,000 island country troops, adding up to more than 700,000 troops.
As Russia and the island countries invested more and more in this war, there was basically no hope of ending the war in a short period of time.
Both countries were prepared for a protracted war and sought more resources and financial support from their allies France and Britain.
Of course, the demand for arms expanded by this war was no longer exclusive to Australia.
France, the United States, Britain, Germany and many other countries participated in this arms trade and sold a large number of arms to Russia and the island countries.
However, due to their respective alliance treaties, France only exported arms to Russia, and Britain only exported arms to the island countries.
In addition, the German Empire did not export weapons to the island countries in order to win over the Russian Empire.
This also led to the fact that only Australia and the United States actually exported weapons to two countries at the same time.
However, Australia still relied on advanced weapons from Britain and Germany to obtain a larger market share than American arms.
The scale of Australia's arms exports in this war was second only to Britain, and even slightly higher than France, which shows how important it is to make advance arrangements before this war.
As time went on, the flagship of the Pacific Fleet, the Crown Prince, was also repaired and rejoined the Pacific formation.
This also led to the Pacific Fleet forming a slight advantage over the island country's combined fleet, which was also the reason for the protracted offensive and defensive war on the land battlefield.
In fact, if we only talk about combat effectiveness, the island country's army is actually superior. After the reform, this country carried out a large-scale replacement of the equipment of the army and navy, and the training was modeled on the German Empire, which was the first in the army, and the British Empire, which was the first in the navy, and carried out relatively strict training.
As for the Russian army, except for a small number of elite troops whose training was ahead of the island country's army, the training of most of the troops was worrying, and even the weapons and equipment were very backward.
And because of transportation restrictions, the island country's army in the Far East is currently almost twice the size of the Russian army, and it also has a full advantage in terms of numbers.
If the Pacific Fleet had not been able to rely on its slight advantage and occasionally provide a little firepower assistance to the army, I am afraid that Lushun's defense would not have been so smooth.
Although the current Lushun offensive and defensive war still maintains a delicate balance, the actual huge casualties are only known to Russia and the island country.
Although these casualties will not cause serious damage to the vitality of the two countries, these injuries are enough to hurt before the strategic goal is achieved.
So far, the island country and Russia have spent 130 million yen and 90 million rubles respectively in this war, both of which have exceeded 10 million pounds.
If the Port Arthur offensive and defensive war continues to maintain such a balance, the expenses for both countries will be very huge, and there will be a large number of casualties.
The island country naturally understands this. And compared with the Russian Empire, the island country is the one that cannot lose.
The Russian Empire's base is in Europe, and even if the hegemony of the Far East is lost, it will not cause too much impact on the country's status.
But the island country is different. The island country's base is in East Asia, and it is an island country on the sea.
If the island country fails in this war and loses its navy that it has developed for many years, then the island country's dream of hegemony will be completely shattered. The island country will at most become a regional power, and it is impossible to get involved in the great powers.
This kind of thing is more terrible the more you think about it, and the island people naturally don't want such a thing to happen.
Fortunately, shortly after the outbreak of the war, the island country carried out two preliminary mobilizations in the country.
These two mobilizations added nearly 400,000 available troops to the island nation, half of which have been sent to the battlefield.
In order to achieve results earlier and turn the war back into an encounter battle rather than an offensive and defensive battle, the island nation sent another 200,000 troops to occupy the eastern and central regions of the battlefield.
Compared with the transportation time of more than a month required by the Russian Empire, the transportation time of the island nation’s army only takes less than two or three days, which has an absolute advantage.
As expected, after adding another 200,000 troops, the ratio of Russian troops to island nation troops in the Far East has reached nearly one to three.
The large number of island nation troops has also made it increasingly difficult for the Russian Empire to deal with it. Coupled with heavy casualties and insufficient logistical supply, Lushun has gradually become a crisis.
Of course, after having a large enough army, the current battlefield is not just Lushun, and can even be called a multi-point blossoming.
The island army took part to defend and try to conquer Lushun, and part to attack Liaoyang Shahe and other places in the north.
As the war progressed, the attitudes of the island soldiers and the Russian soldiers gradually became two extremes.
At this time, the Bushido spirit of the island did play an important role. Even if their comrades were killed and wounded, the island soldiers were not afraid of death and bravely launched a charge.
On the Russian side, the casualties of each teammate increased the fear on the faces of the Russian soldiers.
In order not to affect the interests of Europe, more than half of the troops sent to the Far East were temporarily mobilized peasant soldiers.
These people may have been authentic peasants half a year ago, but half a year later, they were holding rifles of different styles and guarding the land in the Far East that did not belong to the Tsarist Russian Empire.
Do these people not want to defend their country? Of course they do, but they are more afraid of death. Because there is not enough time for training, they have no defense against what really happens on the battlefield, and it is natural to have fear and panic.
At the end of October 1904, the island country mobilized more than half of its artillery and launched an unprecedented bombing of the Port Arthur Fortress.
These artillery pieces are varied. If you look closely, you can even distinguish the different styles of three countries, including British, German, and American styles.
Of course, the German-style artillery was sold to them by Australia, which made at least two million pounds in profit in this war, and even expanded its military factories and military industrial enterprises.
Russia also fought back at the beginning and even requested support from the fleet. But the island fleet took the opportunity to challenge the Pacific Fleet. In order not to be attacked by surprise, the Pacific Fleet could only line up in a hurry to defend, and the support for the army was naturally interrupted.
On the Russian side, the number of artillery pieces was far behind that of the island army, and coupled with the problem of insufficient logistics, the reserve of artillery shells was insufficient after only two rounds of resistance.
Of course, the Russian soldiers at this time had no other ideas. They just wanted to find a solid corner to shrink and wait for the bombing of the island country to end.
But no one expected that the bombing lasted for several hours. Although it was round after round, the time in between was not enough for the Russian army to counterattack.
What the Russian soldiers did not expect was that in such a large bombing, the island country actually sent a troop to approach the Port Arthur Fortress and boarded the fortress without the Russian soldiers noticing.
You know, artillery shells don't have eyes, and the island country is still bombing the Port Arthur Fortress in an all-round way.
This island country army is likely to be overwhelmed by its own artillery fire, but there is no expression of fear on their faces.
The Russian soldiers began to panic. They felt that they were fighting a war with the devil. Aren't people who are not afraid of death the devil?
In early October, the Port Arthur Fortress, which had been held for half a year, was finally broken. The island country had completed the first step of the war, which was to remove Russia's supply station in the Far East.
After the Port Arthur Fortress was conquered, the situation of the Far East War took a huge turn.
The islanders once again returned to the state at the beginning of the war, unstoppable in the Far East, and wantonly attacked cities and strongholds.
More than 20,000 of the 60,000 Russian defenders of the Port Arthur Fortress died in the battle, and more than 30,000 were captured. The Port Arthur Fortress was also reduced to ruins in this bombing.
The capture of Port Arthur had a great impact on the Russian Empire. Before, the Russian Empire had two ways to transport supplies to the Far East. One was through the Siberian Railway, which had just been completed, and the other was sea transportation, arriving at the Port of Port Arthur and then taking the land route.
But after the Port Arthur Fortress was captured, the Port of Port Arthur became vulnerable. Under such circumstances, sea transportation was basically impossible. The only logistical support that the Russian army in the Far East could rely on was the Siberian Railway.
At the end of October 1904, the island country, at the cost of huge casualties, successively advanced the front line to the north for dozens of kilometers in Liaoyang, Shahe and other places.
In early November, the main force of the Manchurian Army went north again and encountered the main force of the Russian army stationed in Fengtian.
At this time, the comparison of the two sides' forces had become 400,000 to 170,000, and the island country's army had an absolute advantage.
More important than the numerical advantage is Marshal Oyama's unique strategy.
The main attack direction of the island country is the right wing of the Russian army, but Russia has more than 30,000 reserve troops on the right wing.
In order to let the Russians transfer these reserve troops to the left wing, Marshal Oyama sent the fifth army of the right wing to the left wing openly, but actually detoured to the right wing in secret, with the purpose of luring the snake out of the hole and letting the Russians transfer the right wing reserve to the left wing to strengthen the defense of the left wing.
In fact, Russian Marshal Kuropatkin really fell into the trap. He saw the islanders' army movement, so he transferred most of the right wing reserve to the left wing to prevent the left wing from being attacked.
But what was unexpected was that only on the third day, the right wing of the Russian army was attacked fiercely.
And two island armies had gone around the rear of the right wing, forming an encirclement.
This put the Russian army in a dilemma. Although the main battlefield was around Fengtian, the battle line stretched for more than 100 kilometers.
It would be impossible to get troops from other regions to come to support in a short period of time. However, the reserve troops on the right wing currently only had less than 10,000 people, which was impossible to help the war on the right wing.
In order to protect the left wing of the army, the two armies on the left wing could only stay put. Marshal Kuropatkin once again ordered the reserve to return to the right wing to protect the right wing position.
But this was a position that stretched for hundreds of kilometers, and the reserve troops had been running back and forth like this, and the soldiers were already exhausted.
On the fifth day, the reserve troops successfully returned, and without any energy to rest, they were thrown into the battlefield.
Because of the numerical advantage, the main force of the island country, while maintaining the fierce attack on the right wing, launched an attack on the left wing of the Russian army one after another.
The attack on the left wing seemed relatively evenly matched, but the purpose of the islanders was only to hold back the left wing of the Russian army.
With the wave after wave of attacks from the main force of the island army, the casualties on the right wing of the Russian army became greater and greater, and the defense line was gradually reduced.
In order to save the right wing position that was about to be lost, Kuropatkin ordered the left wing of the Russian army to abandon the position and retreat to the north of the Hunhe River, so as to compress the front line and withdraw part of the army to strengthen the right wing.
But the island army had too much numerical advantage, and such a withdrawal was not enough to make up for the balance on the right wing.
As the Manchurian Army Headquarters once again mobilized a force to the left wing of the Russian army, the balance maintained by the left wing was also broken, and both the left and right wings of the Russian army fell into disadvantages.
In mid-November, the island army broke through the defense line of the Russian First Army and began to bypass Fengtian from the left wing.
Marshal Kuropatkin really couldn't sit still. Once the island army successfully bypassed, the more than 100,000 Russian troops in the Far East would be surrounded by the island army.
Once these more than 100,000 troops were lost, the Far East would be like a lady who took off her clothes and was at the mercy of others.
In a hurry, Marshal Kuropatkin ordered the entire army to retreat urgently in the direction of Tieling.
Because it was a temporary order, the retreat of the entire Russian army was also quite chaotic.
Because the cavalry did not participate in the encounter, it was also the top priority in the retreat.
However, the cavalry's baggage seriously blocked the road of retreat, and many soldiers were in disarray, and the various troops lost command.
The island army took advantage of the chaos and first launched an artillery attack on the retreating Russian army, and then launched a final attack.
This caused nearly a quarter of the Russian army to fall into the encirclement of the island army, but the main force also successfully retreated.
After a series of hard battles, the island army had no spare energy to pursue, so it focused on destroying the surrounded Russian army.
If the fall of Lushun was the first blow to the Tsarist Russian Empire, then the tragic defeat of this major battle was the second blow to the Tsarist Russian Empire.
When the news of the defeat was sent back to Russia, the Far East Commander-in-Chief Marshal Kuropatkin was immediately dismissed, and Li Nie was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of the Far East Army.
The Russians were not satisfied with the defeat of the war, and started the third round of conscription in the country, and mobilized some warships in the European waters to form the Second Pacific Fleet, in an attempt to restore the maritime advantage in the Far East.
The development of the war has been beyond the expectations of Russia and the island countries.
Although the island countries are currently in an advantageous position in the Far East, both countries have paid a heavy price for this war.
So far, the troops deployed by both sides in this war have exceeded one million, and the total number of troops mobilized has even exceeded two million.
From February at the beginning of the year, the war has lasted until November at the end of the year.
At present, both Russia and the island countries have spent more than 50 million pounds on this war.
Although the island countries have achieved their strategic goals, they have also suffered heavy casualties.
At least 100,000 island country soldiers died in this war, and 300,000 soldiers suffered varying degrees of light and heavy injuries.
The casualties of the Russian army were also very heavy. Although the casualties were not as large as those of the island countries due to the early defensive battles, the Russian army gradually suffered heavy casualties in the later encounters.
At least 80,000 Russian soldiers died in this war, and the number of soldiers with light and heavy injuries reached more than 200,000.
In mid-December, with the arrival of the Second Pacific Fleet, Russia regained its advantage on the sea.
A steady stream of Russian soldiers also arrived on the Trans-Siberian Railway, barely maintaining the situation on land.
But this balance is also unacceptable to the two countries. At present, every day the war lasts, Russia and the island country will each spend at least 100,000 pounds.
Especially when a large-scale war is launched, the consumption will even increase several times.
Which country can bear such a huge consumption? Even the once powerful British Empire was dragged down by such a war of attrition in two wars, not to mention the Tsarist Empire and the island country, whose economy and industry were already very backward.
At the end of December, at the beginning of the new year, both countries could not bear such huge consumption and launched a new round of offensives.
Russia and the island country prepared for this offensive for a month, and the accumulated weapons and ammunition were enough to consume for a long time.
Of course, in order to accumulate enough ammunition, they also consumed millions of pounds of funds and a lot of resources.
But the result of the war disappointed the two countries. Although the casualties were very heavy, the situation was still in a delicate balance.
Although the Russian army is at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, the newly reinforced troops are elite troops in Europe, and their combat effectiveness is not weaker than that of the island country's army.
In addition, they were equipped with a large number of new weapons, which was also the reason why they could maintain a stalemate with the island army.
In this way, after more than three months, the Russian Empire finally gave up first.
However, it was hard to say what the island government was like at this time. This war has cost them more than 600 million yen, and the number of casualties of soldiers reached 600,000.
If the Russian Empire had not given up first, I am afraid that the island country would not have been able to hold on for long.
With the Russian Empire giving up, the major powers that were originally behind the scenes also stood in front of the stage and began to try to mediate the war.
However, the major powers also basically maintained their previous attitudes. Britain and the United States supported the island country, and Germany and France supported the Russian Empire.
Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany were allies, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russian Empire had territorial disputes and hatred, so they maintained a neutral position in this war.
Unlike in history, although the Russian Empire is currently at a disadvantage on land, it has an advantage at sea and is already in a relatively balanced state with the island army.
This also led to the fact that although the Russian Empire accepted defeat, it was very confident.
As long as the final result of the peace talks was not what the Russian Empire wanted, it was inevitable to continue the war.
During the negotiations, Russia and the island countries were still at war, and the smoke of gunpowder in the Far East did not stop.
It was precisely because there was no breakthrough in the war that the island countries finally had to compromise with the Russian Empire, and both sides signed a contract that they could barely accept.
Under the joint witness of Britain, the United States, Germany, France, and Australia, the envoys of Russia and the island countries signed their names together, and the Treaty of Portsmouth officially came into effect.
Unlike in history, this treaty did not weaken Russia so obviously.
First of all, like the Portsmouth Treaty in history, the Russian Empire did not accept any compensation.
Secondly, the Russian Empire did not accept the cession of any colonies and land to the island countries, and could only accept the surrender of part of its interests in the Qing Dynasty.
Although the island country is not satisfied with this result, the plan of Britain and the United States to weaken the power of the Russian Empire in the Far East has been realized. Even if the island country wants to continue the war, the support of the two countries for the island country will be reduced.
What's more, the Russian Empire is not without the possibility of victory. Compared with the army, which can obtain a large number of troops by mobilization, the navy, which cannot grow in a short period of time, is the important factor that determines the advantage in the Far East.
Unfortunately, after the arrival of the Second Pacific Fleet in the Far East, the island country has no possibility of surpassing the Russian Far East Fleet in terms of navy.
In addition, the Russian army strictly guards its positions, and the continuation of the war will only increase the consumption of the island country.
Whether it is huge financial consumption or more military casualties, it is unbearable for the current island government.
Therefore, obtaining some benefits in the Far East is also a result that the island government can barely accept.
After all, the island country also knows that if it continues to consume, it will inevitably cause greater anger from the Russian Empire.
If Russia risks offending its allies and transfers most of its troops from Europe to the Far East, the balance of the war will tilt towards the Russian Empire.
Although the island countries are at war with the Russian Empire, they are only facing a part of the Russian Empire.
The complete Russian Empire is definitely not something that the island countries can defeat. The islanders knew this very well before launching the war.
In April 1905, the Russian-Island War, which lasted for one year and two months, finally ended. This war is one of the largest wars in modern times. Both sides mobilized more than two million troops, and more than 300,000 people died and more than 400,000 were injured in this war.
The island countries reaped some benefits in the Far East and obtained the right to monopolize Korea, which can be regarded as a little compensation in misfortune.
At least after this war, European and American countries have begun to pay attention to the island countries, regard them as powerful countries, and even have the potential to compete with the bottom powers.
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