The Battle of Mukden: Railways, the City and Refugees amid Encirclement

Mukden is present-day Shenyang. Early in 1905, Russian and Japanese forces faced one another around the Sha River south of the city. The railway crossed the Russian rear and connected Mukden with Tieling to the north. Russian commander-in-chief Kuropatkin had to defend the front while safeguarding supplies and a northern escape route. Japanese attacks gradually shifted the struggle from southern fortifications to both sides of the city.

Pressure first fell on the Russian eastern flank in late February. Kuropatkin later described sending successive reinforcements to his left and mistakenly interpreting the appearance of Japan’s Eleventh Division as evidence that Nogi Maresuke’s forces might be in the east. By February 28, when substantial Japanese forces were discovered in the west, Russia had to redeploy reserves. The delay between interpreting intelligence and moving troops facilitated the western outflanking movement.

References: [1]

Nogi’s troops moved through the Xinmintun area toward Mukden’s northwest, while Oku Yasukata’s forces also applied western pressure. Russia’s Second Army on the right, commanded by Kaulbars, had to prevent Japan from cutting into the rear. Fighting repeatedly broke out around Shalingpu and elsewhere in early March. Russian counterattacks failed to concentrate troops arriving in scattered groups quickly enough.

Kuropatkin attributed important parts of the defeat to Kaulbars’s reconnaissance, deployments and execution of orders. This was a defeated commander’s retrospective explanation, shaped by allocation of responsibility. His account of repeated troop movements, changing orders and delayed arrivals nevertheless gives concrete detail about coordination problems across a long front. As Japanese outflanking continued, railways and roads north of Mukden became dangerous.

References: [1] [2]

On March 7, Russian forces began preparing to withdraw their eastern and central formations toward Mukden and the Hun River. A dust storm on the ninth made observation and movement more difficult. That evening, Kuropatkin decided on a general northern retreat. On the tenth, soldiers, vehicles and supplies crowded limited roads as Japanese troops closed from both sides. Rear guards continued resisting; some Russians escaped encirclement, while others were captured or dispersed.

Dugald Christie, a doctor inside the city, recorded a different timetable. Japanese shells passed close by early on the tenth, troops entered Mukden in the morning, and Russians left behind still tried to escape through the east gate that afternoon. Fighting moved north of the city. Russia’s main forces withdrew toward Tieling and subsequently farther back. Japan took Mukden as Russian troops outside it continued north.

References: [1] [2]

Before the battle, fighting at Liaoyang, the Sha River and elsewhere had steadily pushed villagers into Mukden. Christie described refugees sheltering in temples, under street eaves and in temporary lodgings during autumn and winter 1904. Rents rose, prompting officials to limit the charge for each room. Russian requisition of vehicles obstructed food deliveries, and officials negotiated with the army for passage permits for carts bringing grain and fuel from the north.

By the first quarter of 1905, Christie’s relief organization was supporting over ten thousand people; he recorded a larger number cared for by officials. Shanghai supplied money and medical materials, and representatives of Mukden’s government joined relief coordination. The March battle interrupted the postal route toward Xinmintun and drove more villagers into the city. While armies contested transport routes, civilians faced food prices, shelter and the survival of relatives.

References: [2]

Mukden’s hospital admitted civilians and wounded soldiers from both sides during the battle. Abandoned military materials outside the city attracted residents collecting useful items, but included unexploded shells and grenades. Christie described people taking ammunition home to dismantle it and children injured while playing with explosives. As farming resumed, plows and hoes struck buried ammunition, causing further casualties.

Such accidents continued for months and longer after the battle. Departing troops did not immediately make farmland safe. The city’s medical burden likewise continued beyond the change of occupation on March 10.

References: [2]

The war continued for several months after Mukden fell. The Treaty of Portsmouth, signed on September 5, provided for withdrawal by both countries and restoration of Chinese administration outside the Liaodong leased territory. Russia agreed to transfer to Japan the lease rights at Port Arthur and Dalian, the railway from Changchun to Port Arthur and associated rights, expressly subject to Chinese government consent.

Transport corridors contested in battle became objects of postwar redistribution. Mukden altered military control and the balance of power in Northeast China; the subsequent treaty embodied some changes in lease and railway arrangements. Local Chinese communities still faced restoring transport, resettling people and rebuilding daily life.

References: [3] [2]