Day One
The Japanese 1st and 2nd Infantry Battalions deployed on either side of the Main Road to begin their assault, while the artillery dug in on the southeast hill. The Dragoons were hidden behind the same hill for a short time, and the Sailors began their trek upriver (rolling 1 d6 per turn for inches moved). The surprised Russian commander quickly deployed his two battalions on either side of the station behind the railroad track bed and in the buildings, while the Maxim gun covered the road from a position in the center of the station. He sent half of the 1st Battalion (13 men) to defend the Trestle until reinforcements could arrive (having sent for the Cossacks and ordered the 3rd Battalion back to the station).
As the Japanese 2nd Battalion and sailors made their way towards the Trestle relatively unopposed at first, the 1st Battalion and the Dragoons assaulted the station after a brief artillery barrage. After a fierce firefight, the Japanese attack bogged down and the Dragoons were decimated. The Japanese guns supported their infantry, but the Russians were well dug in. The Maxim played havoc with the Japanese infantry in the open. When the Russian 3rd Battalion arrived, the thin Russian line was beginning to falter and the fight for the Trestle had begun. Losses were particularly high among officers on both sides, but all morale held. The Cossacks moved slowly at first, but when they finally crossed the bridge a lively firefight had developed at the tracks near the Trestle. The commander sent the artillery piece on down the road to hold the center, while the mounted troops moved to support the outnumbered infantrymen.
The Japanese artillery battery fired long range at the Cossack gun and destroyed it before it could unlimber (with an ace of hearts!). Finding their range next on the Maxim gun, the guns wiped out the Russian crew. This superb gunnery put the Russians in dire straits, so the Cossacks decided to charge the center. When they tried to cross the tracks, the deduction of the highest die (of a toss of 4 dice) left them stranded up on the track bed. The Japanese infantry immediately emptied half the saddles and left the Russians demoralized by nightfall. The Japanese 2nd Battalion and the Sailors seized the Trestle and waited for the slow-moving sapper engineers to come up and place charges. Losses by nightfall amounted to 1 gun and 40 men for the Russians (39%) and 30 men for the Japanese forces engaged (25%). The Russians still held the station and hoped that infantry and artillery reinforcements would arrive from the northwest by morning.
Day Two
During the night the Japanese 3rd Battalion relieved the battered 1st Battalion and a Maxim gun aboard another boat began making its way upriver toward the Trestle. The decimated 1st Battalion of the 1st East Siberian Rifles and the Cossack remnants were removed from the Russian lines. Fortunately for the Russians, the relief column rolled well, and their 2-gun artillery battery raced down the Secondary Road for the high ground near the Trestle. The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 2nd East Siberian Rifles followed closely, one going across the bridge and the other supporting the guns.
The Japanese 2nd Battalion began tearing up sections of track and the sapper engineers came up to set charges on the Trestle - only to be met with withering artillery fire at close range. A desperate, bloody struggle for the Trestle then became the focus of the morning’s action when the two battalions of the Russian 2nd East Siberian Rifles joined the fight. The Japanese 3rd Battalion protected the right flank of the 2nd and also pressed the station, but they did not launch an all-out assault. Their artillery pounded the Russians in the station and set fire to at least one major building, however. A single company held the Russian far left wing - all along the watchtower (which managed to survive the Japanese artillery fire). As was the case in the previous day’s fight, both sides lost officers in the close-up firefights. Yet morale held (even with the frequent battlefield promotions)! The Japanese guns turned their fire on the tracks and damaged a 3” section.
Of the four Japanese sapper engineers who attempted to set and detonate a charge at the Trestle under only slight cover, three were killed along with several infantrymen and most of the sailors. However, the fourth was able set his charge (by first rolling a 5 or 6 on a d6) and just as the Japanese 2nd Battalion began to collapse, he rolled another 6 (required on a d6) and destroyed the Trestle!
The Japanese had achieved their objective of disrupting the Trans-Siberian Railway at a terrific cost, but the raiding force was able to retire unmolested to the main lines. The Russians might have been strong enough to retake the position and eventually replace the Trestle and about 12” of torn up track (although trestle materials would no doubt be some time in arriving). Losses on the second day amounted to another 30 Japanese and 25 Russians. After two days of hard fighting, the Japanese lost 35% of their entire force and no guns, while the Russians lost 45% of their total force and one gun. Both armies lost all of their cavalry.
Back to Table of Contents -- Courier # 83
To Courier List of Issues
To MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 2002 by The Courier Publishing Company.
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com