Chapter 193: Chapter 187: The Last Line of Defense

Over a hundred ship-to-ship shells were enough to sink several heavily armored battleships, let alone the single-bodied Island Nation Army.

The Russian Empire did not suffer a defeat in the naval battle, which also led to a series of butterfly effects.

At least the original historical siege of Port Arthur did not happen, and the Island Nation’s advance force sent to capture Port Arthur, the Second Army, suffered heavy casualties in their encounter with the Fourth Infantry Division, losing more than half of their soldiers.

Without the Island Nation’s samurai spirit, an army that has lost half its men would have already disintegrated, and it would be impossible to concentrate under Augustine Walters’ command.

However, Marshal Augustine Walters’ mood is not so good at the moment either.

In this battle, out of the Second Army’s four divisions and 40,000 troops, more than 13,000 were killed and over 21,000 were wounded.

Only more than 22,000 lightly injured soldiers were left to fight, which is not even half of the total number of the Second Army.

In this war, at the most successful moment of the Second Army, there was almost only a few dozen meters between them and the position of the Fourth Infantry Division.

But first, they were hit by concentrated artillery fire, and then the Pacific Squadron’s ship guns firepower, making it almost impossible for the Second Army’s artillery forces to counterattack.

Even worse, a ship-to-ship shell hit the Second Army’s largest artillery position, not only causing the loss of more than ten guns, but also the explosion of shells that completely wiped out the entire artillery position.

After this battle, the Second Army had only slightly over fifty of their original more than two hundred guns left, and they were all smaller-caliber, easy-to-move guns.

Using such guns to dismantle the fortress of Port Arthur Harbor was simply a daydream.

Nevertheless, battle reports must be sent. The Island Nation’s rear headquarters must also have the latest battle results so that they can develop new plans based on these results.

Although Augustine Walters Marshal had to admit the failure of the war, under the advice of his subordinates, he changed his own command mistake to the enemy’s ambush, claiming that the enemy had at least 50,000 troops in the north of Port Arthur and more than 500 guns.

It was due to the suppression of more than twice the number of guns, coupled with the support of the enemy’s navy, that Augustine Walters Marshal’s “failure” occurred.

In the report to the rear command, Augustine Walters Marshal also mentioned that while their troops suffered heavy casualties, they had inflicted tens of thousands of casualties on the enemy as well.

Marshal Augustine Walters confidently said that as long as he was given 20,000 more troops, he would be able to capture the enemy’s position and successfully reach Port Arthur Fortress.

Although Marshal Augustine Walters did not know whether the rear command believed in his report, at least his position was not revoked, and he received a certain amount of troop replenishment.

A week after the encounter, the Island Nation divided all the landing forces into the Manchurian Army and established the Manchurian Army Headquarters, with Marshal Stone as the Commander-in-Chief.

After integrating all the landing forces, the Island Nation once again dispatched an army of 30,000, along with the previously landed First and Second Armies, to form the Manchurian Army with a total strength of over 60,000.

And the entire 30,000 new troops were equipped with German Gew98 rifles, with most of the machine guns and firearms also produced in Australia.

In order to prevent the Pacific Squadron from providing artillery support to the Russian Army again, the Island Royal Navy also set out with the army this time.

Of course, the purpose of the Island Royal Navy was not to fight another naval battle, but to contain the Pacific Squadron and keep them occupied.

In early June, the Second and Third Armies of the Manchurian Army once again arrived in North Port Arthur and encountered the Fourth Infantry Division once again.

This time, the Fourth Infantry Division had been reinforced, and Steisel, commander of the Russian Army on the Liaodong Peninsula, once again sent a division of 18,000 men to defend North Port Arthur.

However, this division did not have as advanced weapons and equipment as the Fourth Infantry Division, and most of their weapons were produced in Russia Nation.

On the surface, the ratio of the two armies was 36,000 to 60,000, but in reality, half of the Russian Army soldiers were deployed as reserve forces more than ten kilometers behind the frontline positions.

This also means that there is only one division of the Russian Army on the front line, with a scale of less than 20,000 men.

If we ignore the powerful firepower advantage of the CA-1 machine guns, the Russian Army on the battlefield is absolutely at a disadvantage.

Moreover, the CA-1 machine gun could only cause casualties on relatively concentrated troops; if the enemy was dispersed, the CA-1 machine gun would mainly serve as a deterrent.

Furthermore, the attack range of the artillery of the second and third armies was much farther than the CA-1 machine gun.

With proper preparations, the Island Nation’s artillery could easily suppress the Russian army’s artillery, preventing their troops from being ruthlessly crushed like the last time.

The advantage of firepower surprised General Fawkes, who hurriedly contacted the rear forces for support.

However, the reserve forces were stationed ten kilometers away and would take at least two hours to arrive.

Could the Russian army hold on for two hours, especially when they were disadvantaged in terms of firepower and number of troops?

The practical answer was no. Due to the United Fleet’s containment of the Pacific Squadron, the Russian army couldn’t get any firepower support.

Such circumstances made some Russian soldiers, who were once hopeful, feel desperate again. Faced with the enemy’s aggressive attack, they felt the long-lost panic.

When the reserve forces successfully arrived from ten kilometers away, more than half of the Fourth Infantry Division was already damaged, and they were retreating toward the rear.

Having lost their current position, a counterattack was naturally impossible. The Russian army could only retreat from the north of Port Arthur in disappointment and move toward Port Arthur Fortress.

Marshal Stone was satisfied with the results. Although the Manchurian Army had also suffered over six thousand casualties and several thousand more were lightly and heavily injured.

For now, the front positions in the north of Port Arthur had been uprooted by the Island Nation, and they could finally see the solid Port Arthur Fortress.

At this point within Port Arthur Fortress, the Russian side was divided into two factions in regards to handling the Island Nation’s offensive.

Commander Steisel of the Russian forces on the Liaodong Peninsula advocated treating Port Arthur Fortress as the final defense position.

By concentrating around fifty thousand soldiers, Port Arthur Fortress could be held for over two years.

This was Steisel’s confidence and also the most conservative method at present. Considering Port Arthur’s strong fortifications, holding it for two years wouldn’t be a problem.

As long as the Pacific Squadron did not lose its advantage, Port Arthur Fortress could receive continuous supplies from Port Arthur Harbor, and holding it for even longer wouldn’t be a difficult task.

So the question arose: could the Pacific Squadron maintain its advantage?

Commander Kondrachenko, at least, did not think so. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in the Pacific Squadron and Major General Makarov. Kondrachenko just felt that instead of leaving the fate of Port Arthur in the hands of the navy, it would be better for the army to personally defend and control it.

Kondrachenko insisted on using Port Arthur’s favorable external terrain to establish a powerful defensive line outside of the city.

Doing so would not only guarantee that Port Arthur Fortress and harbor would not fall into Islander hands, but it would also avoid putting all their eggs in one basket.

By holding the outer line, the Russian army would not only have the option to counterattack but could also ensure that no logistical supply line was cut off.

As the saying goes, a local official has more authority than a distant one. Although Commander Steisel, on the surface, possessed higher authority over the Russian forces on Liaodong Peninsula, the actual responsibility for directing the defense of Port Arthur still fell on Commander Kondrachenko.

Under Kondrachenko’s command, the Russian army established a relatively solid defensive line twenty to thirty kilometers away from Port Arthur Fortress, using the terrain to their advantage.

With the retreating two divisions from the north and the original one division stationed in Port Arthur Fortress, the total force of 54,000 soldiers was deployed on the outer defensive line, forming a relatively strong barrier and the last line of defense for Port Arthur Fortress.

After this defensive line, there was virtually no other obstacle to prevent the Island Nation Army from besieging Port Arthur Fortress.

The Russians seemed to understand this, knowing the importance of Port Arthur Fortress and Port Arthur Harbor to the Far East situation.

Since there was nowhere left to retreat, and behind them was the crucial Port Arthur Fortress, the Russians erupted with determination and managed to stop the Island Nation Army thirty kilometers away from the defense line in the north of Port Arthur.

The Island Nation’s offensive momentum was also temporarily halted. Apart from the attacks and defense of this line, the Far East seemed to be in a brief state of tranquility.