I wargame the Russo-Japanese War and found that most battles are similar and have the Japanese assaulting a Russian held trench line. I checked a university library and found A War Officer's Scrapbook by Ian Hamilton that observed the Japanese Army. Some of you might remember that I used this book for my previous two scenarios. This scenario is a followup to my Yosheri scenario published in MWAN #106. Basically, the Japanese are attacking another Russian camp on the way to Liaoyang. However, the Russians counter-attack the Japanese making for an interesting scenario. Historical Background Besides Port Arthur, the other main war objective of the Japanese was the city of Liaoyang. The Russians were massing troop there for a counter-offensive. The Japanese took the initiative and started advancing toward Liaoyang. The Russians attempted to stop the Japanese advance. Besides the Russian held mountain pass of Yosheri, there was a Russian held camp at Yushling. The Japanese decided to attack. Yushuling is Northeast of Yosheri pass. To defend Yushuling, the Russians decided to defend Shisan Ridge. This was a formidable barrier to the Japanese advance. The Russians occupied the ridge on July 26. Shisan Ridge seemed formidable but Hamilton felt it could be taken if the enemy occupied Makarayarna Mountain and employed artillery. On the evening of July 30th, the Japanese army commander, Inouye issued orders to Major-General Kigoshi to attack the Russians at Yushuling with his full infantry brigade of six battalions and four batteries of mountain artillery. Early on the morning of July 31st, the Japanese 24th infantry regiment was able to occupy a mountain spur at the village of Linsha 1000 yards from Shisan ridge. The Japanese infantry noticed the Russian batteries on Shisan ridge and were content to hold their position and not suffer undue casualties. They took no further part in the battle. The Japanese 46th infantry regiment advanced from their trenchers toward Makarayama Mountain at 4 AM in the morning. They easily overran the Russian Pickets. The Russians defended Makarayama with two infantry battalions. Hamilton states that the Russians seemed quite surprised and confused. As the Japanese advanced up Makarayama Mountain, Russians reinforcements appeared on the summit at 5:45 AM slowing down the Japanese advance. In typical Hamilton fashion, he doesn't state the number of Russians. At 7AM the Japanese artillery fired at the Russians on the summit. The Japanese had possession of the summit by 8:30 AM. Then, the Japanese batteries started advancing. The Russian batteries on Shisan ridge fired on the Japanese batteries. One Japanese battery loss fourteen men has it attempted to cross the Shi-Ho river. At 9:30 AM and at noon, the Russians staged halfhearted counterattacks from the east on the Japanese at Makarayama. Again, Hamilton doesn't state the number of attacking Russians. The Japanese. were able to hold off these counter-attacks with only two infantry companies. At midday, the Russians shelled the Japanese at Makayama. Hamilton feels the situation was a stalemate. By night, the Russians withdrew from Shisan Ridge. Hamilton feels that was due to the Russians losing the action at Penlin. This doesn't seem like a good battle to wargame since the Russians are completely surrounded. By taking Penlin and Yushuling, the Japanese were able to shorten their distance to Liaoyang by twelve miles. The situation at Liaoyang is massive and too big to wargame unless broken down into separate actions. Russian Order of Battle Plodding command deck, all infantry companies have 12 figures, all artillery batteries have 4 figures. Force on Shisan Ridge: 1 Leader, 4 infantry companies (60% morale, -5/hit); 4 Heavy Batteries (60% morale, -10/hit). Force in the camp: 2 Leaders, 8 infantry companies (60% morale, -5/hit). Counter-Attack Force: 3 Leaders, 12 infantry companies (60% morale, -5/hit) Japanese Order of Battle 12 figures, all artillery batteries Efficient command deck, all infantry companies have have 4 figures. 24"' Infantry Regiment: 3 Infantry Battalions, each with 4 companies (80% morale, -5/hit) and one leader. 46h Infantry Regiment: 3 Infantry Battalions, each with 4 companies (80% morale, -5/hit) and one leader. Artillery Supported can be commanded by anybody, 4 Medium Batteries (80% moral, - 10/hit) Rule and Scenario Notes I use my own rules for the period published in MWAN #100. Failing that, any WWI rules will work. The order of battles have morale ratings for each unit. This is a chance of a unit passing a morale check on percentage dice with a deduction for casualties in my rules. I added several Russian infantry companies to the reinforcements to make a better game. My rules use a command deck to show the difference in command quality. I like big battles so I gained this action at the company level. If you don't have enough figures, fight the battle at the battalion level. Four infantry companies are a battalion. When you play the scenario, don't tell the Japanese player about the Russian reinforcements. Mention that there is a rumor of a potential Russian counter-attack from the East. Regarding the terrain, the Shi-Ho river is fordable using three actions in my rules. With other rules, a full move to cross will work. Starting on turn five of the game, roll a six sided die. On a die roll of one, the Russian counter-attack will arrive from the east board edge. Increase the die roll by one each turn the Russian fail to arrive (one or two on turn six, three or less on turn seven, etc.). Most wargame victory conditions are based on occupying terrain objectives. I like to use this one. The army that is demoralized first loses. An army is demoralized if half its units are eliminated. In my rules, a unit is eliminated if it fails a morale check at 50% or less. This avoids the "Fighting to the last man syndrome" and makes for a quicker and better game. Conclusion When we tried this battle, the Russian counter-attack got off to a good start. However, they were stopped by the Japanese artillery. The game had a lot of sweeping movement. This scenario could be modified for the Northwest Frontier or other periods. My next scenario will be on the battle of Yalu. Back to MWAN #108 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2000 Hal Thinglum 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