Why a Russian General Claimed Victory After Losing a Major Strategic City
The Battle of Liaoyang was meant to be the decisive clash of the Russo-Japanese War. Despite losing the city and failing to hold his defensive lines, General Aleksey Kuropatkin reported a great victory to St Petersburg. The reality was a chaotic retreat that left both sides exhausted and questioning their success.
Fought from 25 August to 3 September 1904, the Battle of Liaoyang centered on a vital Russian military hub in southern Manchuria. The Imperial Russian Army, led by General Aleksey Kuropatkin, held a significant numerical advantage with 158,000 men and 609 artillery pieces distributed across three defensive lines. Opposing them, General Ōyama Iwao commanded 120,000 Japanese troops. While Ōyama sought to encircle and annihilate the Russian forces, Kuropatkin initially aimed to trade territory for time, waiting for reinforcements from Russia to secure a decisive edge.
The conflict was defined by a series of missed opportunities and intelligence failures. Kuropatkin, plagued by a persistent belief that he was outnumbered, repeatedly refused to commit his reserves or launch counter-attacks, even when his troops held superior positions. Conversely, the Japanese benefited from precise intelligence provided by the local Chinese population, though they struggled against the Russian artillery and the difficult, muddy terrain of the rainy season. By 1 September, the Japanese had advanced within shelling range of the city, forcing a desperate and poorly coordinated Russian counter-attack that ultimately collapsed due to communication errors and internal confusion.
By 3 September, reports of ammunition shortages and the threat of being cut off from the north forced Kuropatkin to abandon Liaoyang and retreat toward Mukden. Although the Japanese secured the city, their exhaustion prevented a successful pursuit, and the expected decisive victory remained elusive. Kuropatkin later attempted to frame the withdrawal as a success for avoiding encirclement, a claim that was met with ridicule by Russian War Minister Viktor Sakharov. Ultimately, the battle resulted in heavy casualties for both sides, with official figures citing over 23,000 Japanese and nearly 18,000 Russian dead or wounded, leaving the war’s outcome still very much in doubt.
Source: Battle of Liaoyang
