The Battle of Tashihchiao (大石橋の戦い, Taisekihashi no Tatakai) was a land engagement fought on 24–25 July 1904, during the Imperial Japanese Army's advance toward Liaoyang in first stage of the Russo-Japanese War. Tashihchiao (pinyin: Dashiqiao) is located about 25 kilometres (16 mi) southwest of the city of Haicheng, in present-day Liaoning Province, China.^[1] The town of Tashihchiao was of strategic importance in the Russo-Japanese War, as it was a railroad junction between the main line on the Russian South Manchurian Railway and a spur which led to the old treaty port of Yingkou (Newchwang). Control of both was essential for further advances by Japanese forces towards Liaoyang and Mukden.

This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2014)

Quick Facts Date, Location ...

Battle of Tashihchiao
Part of the Russo-Japanese War
Japanese Night Attack at Tashihchiao
Date 24–25 July 1904 Location Between Liaoyang and Port Arthur, Manchuria (Today, Dashiqiao) Result Japanese victory
Belligerents
Empire of Japan	Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
General Oku Yasukata	Lieutenant General Georg von Stackelberg Lieutenant General Nikolai Zarubaev
Strength
64,000	60,000
Casualties and losses
1,000 (estimated)[1]	1,000 (estimated)[1]

Close

On the Japanese side were the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Divisions of the Japanese Second Army under General Oku Yasukata.^[1] The combined force had over 64,000 men, including 46,000 infantry, and 252 guns. After the victory at the Battle of Telissu, General Oku rested for four days for re-supply, which was delayed due to heavy rains, and to bring his 6th Division up to full strength. Although the Japanese were moving parallel to the railway line and the Russians had left behind over 300 freight cars at Dalny, the Japanese were unable to utilize the railway due to lack of locomotives. Locomotives procured by the Japanese matching the Russian railway gauge prior to the start of the war had been sunk by Russian commerce raiding in the Sea of Japan. The Japanese improvised by hauling the freight cars by teams of 16 men per car, and in addition hired 70 junks from the Chinese to move supplies up the coast to a point a couple of miles from the Japanese troop deployment.

By 6 July 1904, Oku was ready to move north again, and his four divisions reached the outskirts of Kaiping on 7 July 1904 and through night movements, were into the hills behind Kaiping by the morning of 9 July 1904 and was prepared for either combat or twenty additional days of marching. The following two weeks were spent by both sides with artillery duels and cavalry skirmishes, without major fighting. On 20 July, orders for an attack on 23 July were issued, but again heavy rains delayed the attack, which was postponed by 24 hours.

Oku moved with uncharacteristic caution, as the geography did not favor his usual tactic of flanking maneuvers. Instead, he issued orders for the 3rd, 5th, and 6th Divisions to make a full frontal assault, with the 4th Division left out on far left flank as both a diversion and a reserve.

The Russian side included the 1st Siberian Army Corps under Lieutenant General Georg von Stackelberg (consisting of surviving forces from the disaster at Telissu, which had retreated north towards Liaoyang, but which had received new orders diverting them to Kaiping, which they occupied on 20 June 1904), and the Fourth Siberian Army Corps under Lieutenant General Nikolai Zarubaev, entrenched behind Kaiping to the north at the town of Tashihchiao.^[1] The total strength of the Russian forces was roughly 60,000 men.

General Alexei Kuropatkin had personally overseen the defenses at Tashihchiao. Stakelberg's forces were on the right, with clear field of fire, protected by trenches, mines, barbed wire and redoubts. Isolated hills provided strategically placed observation posts. The defensive position exceeded the Russian defenses at Nanshan, however, the field of view was hampered by fields of kaoliang, which grew to a two-meter height and provided cover for the advancing Japanese. Zarubaiev's forces were on the more vulnerable left flank, which was hilly and full of ravines, and had limited visibility.

There are wildly varying accounts on the number of casualties at the Battle of Tashihchaio, but historical consensus indicates about a thousand on each side.^[1] The Russian retreat was orderly, and by 27 July, the Russians were already 50 kilometres (31 mi) away.

Predictably, Viceroy Yevgeni Alekseyev was infuriated by Stakelberg's withdrawal, but Kuropatkin supported his subordinate. General Oku remained at Tashihchaio until 1 August 1904, when he again marched northward with three divisions, while the 5th Division was transferred to the new Japanese 4th Army under General Nozu Michitsura in time to be at the Battle of Hsimucheng.