Battle of Jiuliangcheng

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Ukiyoe by Kobayashi Toshimitsu depicting crossing of the Yalu by pontoon bridge, dated October 1894

Date	24 October 1894
Location	Yalu River, Korea-Manchuria border
Result	Japanese victory

Combatants

Meiji Japan

Qing China

Commanders

Yamagata Aritomo

Sung Ching

Strength

10,000

15,000

Casualties

4 (killed), 140 (wounded)

First Sino-Japanese War
Pungdo (naval) – Seonghwan –Pyongyang – Yalu River (naval) – Jiuliangcheng (Yalu) – Lushunkou – Weihaiwei – Yingkou

The Battle of Jiuliangcheng (Japanese: 鴨緑江作戦) was a minor land battle of the First Sino-Japanese War between the forces of Meiji Japan and Qing China. It is sometimes referred to as the “Battle of the Yalu River”，this creating confusion with the previous naval conflict of the same name, and the subsequent naval and ground battles of the Russo-Japanese War, with the same name and occurring at much the same location.

[edit] The battle

Following the Japanese naval victory over the Chinese Beiyang Fleet at the Battle of the Yalu River (1894) on 17 September 1894, the 10,000 troops of the Imperial Japanese Army's First Army Corp, under the overall command of Marshal Yamagata Aritomo crossed the Yalu River into southern Manchuria.

The Chinese side of the river opposite the Korean border town of Wiju had been fortified for about 16 kilometers in either direction with over a hundred redoubts and trenches. Chinese Beiyang Army General Sung Ching defended the river with around 23,000 troops.

However, during the night of 24 October 1894 the Japanese succeeded in placing a pontoon bridge over the Yalu River undetected, immediately in front of the Chinese fortifications. The Japanese staged a night attack from 1700 hours on 25 October 1894 and after around 3 hours of resistance, the Chinese garrison deserted their posts.

Japanese casualties in this campaign were 4 killed and 140 wounded.

[edit] Aftermath of the battle

The local capital of Antung (modern Dandong, Liaoning Province, China) was occupied on the following day without resistance, and a provisional Japanese civilian administration led by Baron Komura Jutaro (and later succeeded by Lieutenant General Yasumasa Fukushima) was established.

After the land Battle of Yalu, the Japanese 1st Army divided into two groups. One group, commanded by Lieutenant General Katsura Taro pursued the fleeing Chinese Beiyang Army, defeating the Chinese forces in several minor skirmishes in November and December, and isolating the land approaches to the strategic port of Lushun (Port Arthur).

The second group under Lieutenant General Oku Yasukata marched north under severe winter conditions to attack the Manchurian capital of Mukden.

[edit] References

Chamberlin, William Henry. Japan Over Asia, 1937, Little, Brown, and Company, Boston, 395 pp.
Kodansha Japan An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1993, Kodansha Press, Tokyo ISBN 4-06-205938-X
Lone, Stewart. Japan's First Modern War: Army and Society in the Conflict with China, 1894-1895, 1994, St. Martin's Press, New York, 222 pp.
Paine, S.C.M. The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895: Perception, Power, and Primacy, 2003, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA, 412 pp.
Warner, Dennis and Peggy. The Tide At Sunrise, 1974, Charterhouse, New York, 659 pp.