Japan and Russia's determination in the Japan-Russia Liaoyang meeting

Kurobatkin thinks Liaoyang is an important strategic location. Russian troops built a lot of strong fortifications in Liaoyang and its periphery, chiseled the wall of Liaoyang into a 10 tunnel, and built a number of expressways outside the city, criss-crossing. A large number of bunkers have been built along the highway, and each bunker has several guns. Dig a trench outside the bunker, with a width of 1.8m and a depth of 1.2m, and insert piles everywhere in the trench, or erect barbed wire, dig wolf traps and bury mines. Outside the trench, barbed wire and wolf traps were set up. There is a tunnel behind the position, through which the cannon car can pass. Heavy artillery was arranged on the mound on the right bank of Taizi River to cover the fort. This is the fortification of Liaoyang city. On the periphery of Liaoyang fortification, the Russian army also built three lines of defense: 3-4 kilometers away from the fortification, from Shoushanbao to Fangjiatun, Mengjiafang and Hutouya on the right; Left over the Taizi River to Shiguantun, Heiyingtai and Yanzhou City, which is the third line of defense; Shahe in the south connects Sifangtai, Tangheyan and Sunjiazhai in the east and Shizuizi small mountain range in the left, which is the second line of defense. Further south to the right, the first line of defense is from Anshan East to Gao Feng Temple, Dadianzi, Gongchangling, Bapanling, Hanpoling to Hongshaling.

Under the command of Koro Batkin, the Russian Manchurian Army was assembled in the rear position of Liaoyang on August 23, and was reorganized into East Manchuria Cluster, South Manchuria Cluster, Army Reserve and Wing Guards, with a total of 224,600 people. The specific deployment is as follows: the defensive position of Dongman Cluster under the command of General Billy Gellinger is stationed on the 32-kilometer defense line from Liangjiashan and Anpingling to Taizihe, and the 17 Army stationed in Liaoyang is the reserve of Dongman Cluster. The Nanman Cluster under the command of General Zarubayev was launched at the section extending 15km along Anshan Line, with the Fourth Siberian Army as the reserve.

Koro Batkin's defense plan is: first in the back position, then in the front position, and finally in the core position. Waiting for the arrival of domestic reinforcements in autumn. It can be seen that the Russian army has adopted a passive defense plan, which is equivalent to giving the initiative of the war to the Japanese army.

ōyama Iwao, commander-in-chief of the Japanese Puppet Manchurian Army, adopted offensive tactics. He commanded three armies, a total of 134500 men, ready to attack Liaoyang. First, move the Manchurian Army General Command to Haicheng. On August 5, ōyama Iwao's battle plan for attacking Liaoyang was formed: on the one hand, the main force of the army was on the left bank of the Taizi River, attacking the Russian army from the east of Liaoyang; The fourth army attacked the Russian army from the east side of the Liaoyang-Haicheng railway; The second army (lacking a division) attacked the Russian army from the west side of the Liaoyang-Haicheng railway; The general reserve team (a division) is stationed near the Liaoyang-Haicheng railway under the guidance of the commander-in-chief. The plan was immediately notified to the first, second and fourth armies.

At this time, the logistics and transportation conditions of the Japanese army were improved, and a light rail was built behind the First Army and north of Phoenix. In the rear of the Second Army, as of August 12, the Dalian-Wafangdian railway has been repaired, and it is expected that the railway from August 3 1 to Gaiping will also be repaired. The problem of the Japanese army is lack of ammunition. For example, the Fourth Army has only 200 shells per gun, and it is urgent to provide sufficient ammunition from the base camp.

The maritime situation in Japan has also gradually improved. On August 10, the Russian Pacific Fleet in Lushun Port tried to retreat and went to the sea south of Garden Island, where it fought fiercely with the Japanese joint fleet and returned to Lushun Port after being hit hard. In response to the arrival of the Russian Baltic Fleet, the General Command of the Puppet Manchurian Army asked the base camp to supply a large number of military supplies quickly. The military supplies needed by the Japanese army to build forts in Mashanpu, Datong Estuary, Yalu River Estuary, Dalian Bay and Yingkou are scheduled to land in September.

The plan of the General Command of the Puppet Manchurian Army is that if the third army conquers Lushun, it will land near Jinzhou and enter from the northwest of Liaoning, so that after the Liaoyang meeting, when fighting near Fengtian, Tieling or Kaiyuan, it will often fight on the right side of the Russian army. However, the base camp rejected the plan of the Third Army landing in Jinzhou on the grounds that the Japanese ship's transportation capacity was insufficient and the landing effect in Jinzhou was not good.

However, the Japanese army has no accurate information about whether the Russian army plans to fight a decisive battle near Liaoyang or Anshan Station. From early August to mid-August, ōyama Iwao received a report from the First Army that some Russian troops near Anshan were retreating to Liaoyang. However, the telegram from Jinzhou said that the Russian army did not retreat to the north of Liaoyang, and it seems that many Russian troops are heading south of Liaoyang; The telegram from Paris also said that the Russian government "has two plans: general retreat and decisive battle near Liaoyang, and the plan of decisive battle in Liaoyang has probably been sent out." Based on the above information, ōyama Iwao decided to start the general attack around August 18, 2008. However, since 13, it rained continuously, and the traffic in various places was interrupted many times, so ōyama Iwao had to order to postpone the general attack. The weather improved on the 22nd, but the enemy's situation didn't change much, so ōyama Iwao issued a general attack order before noon 10: 30 on the 22nd. At this time, ōyama Iwao received a telegram from Kurobatkin to the Tsar from Berlin on August 23, which said, "We expect to have a decisive battle with the enemy pursuing our army soon, and we will gladly engage with the enemy." . Therefore, ōyama Iwao judged that the Russian army would have a decisive battle with the Japanese army near Liaoyang.