Grigory Khodasevich Russian-Japanese war. In memory of the heroes of port arthur. From the memories of a son

28.11.2020

After that, four Japanese ships went unnoticed to Port Arthur and launched a torpedo attack. It could not be called successful. Of the 16 torpedoes fired, thirteen either missed their targets or did not explode. However, three torpedoes damaged three of the strongest Russian ships based in Port Arthur - the battleships Retvizan and Tsesarevich and the cruiser Pallada.

Fire at the Golden Mountain during the defense of Port Arthur, 1905

The first battle of the Russo-Japanese War continued in the morning, when the fleets began a firefight from a distance of eight kilometers. The total losses in this battle were 150 for the Russians and 90 for the Japanese.

Only the next day, February 10, 1904, Japan officially declared war on Russia. Today we remember the exploits of the soldiers of the Russian army in this war.

The death of the destroyer "Guarding"

In St. Petersburg, on the Petrograd side, there is a magnificent monument to all the sailors who died in the Russian-Japanese war. On it, two surviving sailors of the "Guarding" destroyer open the kingstones to flood the ship and not give it to the enemy. The team of the "Guarding" really accomplished a real feat, only there are no kingstons on the ships of this class and the "Guarding" sank itself from the holes received.

The first Russian submarine "Dolphin", which took part in the Russo-Japanese War

The destroyers "Guarding" and "Resolute" On February 10, the day of the official declaration of the Russo-Japanese war, were returning to Port Arthur when they were blocked by four Japanese destroyers "Akebono", "Sadzanami", "Shinome" and "Usugumo". Subsequently, they were joined by two cruisers "Tokiwa" and "Chitose". The commanders of the Russian destroyers decided to avoid the battle, but the breakthrough to Port Arthur was only successful for the "Resolute". The "Guarding" was damaged by a direct hit from a shell, and he continued the battle, almost losing speed. Despite the significant superiority of the enemy, "Guarding" fought for almost an hour.

Even at the beginning of the battle, the St.Andrew's flag was nailed to the mast so that it would not be accidentally torn off by an explosion. The commander of the ship, Lieutenant Sergeev, led the battle lying on the deck with his legs broken. When he died, Lieutenant N. Goloviznin took command, but he too was soon struck by a shrapnel. At the end of the battle, when the ship could no longer shoot back, a seriously wounded mechanical engineer V. Anastasov commanded it. When the last gun fell silent, the dying signalman Kruzhkov, with the help of the stoker Osinin, was able to throw signal books overboard, tying a load to them.

All officers and 45 of 49 sailors were killed on the "Guarding". The Japanese tried to tow the sinking destroyer, but could not - the ship sank, breaking the towing cable.

Operating room in a field hospital during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.

Wounded soldiers in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905

Our proud "Varyag" does not surrender to the enemy

The legendary cruiser Varyag met the beginning of the war in the neutral Korean port of Chemulpo. The captain of the ship Vsevolod Fedorovich Rudnev had an order from the Tsar's governor, Admiral Alekseev, not to get involved in Japanese provocations, so the cruiser remained in the roadstead even when the Japanese fired at the gunboat "Koreets", which was sent to Port Arthur with a report on the landing of Japanese troops in the port ...

The cruiser "Varyag" and the gunboat "Koreets" return after a hard battle to the Korean port of Chemulpo

On February 9, the captain of the Varyag, Vsevolod Fedorovich Rudnev, received an ultimatum from the Japanese: to leave the port before 12 o'clock, otherwise the Russian ships would be attacked in the roadstead. Rudnev decided to break through to Port Arthur, and in case of failure, blow up the ships. At noon "Varyag" and "Koreets" left Chemulpo. When leaving the port, the Russian ships met a Japanese squadron, which was occupying a position behind the island of Phamildo.

Our proud "Varyag" does not surrender to the enemy! - The truth about the greatest feat of Russian sailors in the Chemulpo Bay - Oleg Svatalov

The heroic battle of "Varyag" and "Koreyets" against fourteen Japanese warships lasted for an hour. "Varyag" and "Koreets" destroyed the Japanese destroyer and cruiser, damaged one more cruiser. But the Varyag itself was so riddled with shells that Rudnev decided to return to the port of Chemulpo. There the kingstones were opened on the cruiser and the ship was sunk. The gunboat "Koreets" was blown up. In this unprecedented battle, 1 officer and 30 sailors from the Varyag were killed, another 85 sailors were seriously wounded.

Closed the hole with my body

Russia still remembers another hero of the Russian-Japanese war. This is the mechanical engineer of the Russian destroyer "Strong" Vasily Zverev. On March 27, 1904, at 2:15 am the Japanese attempted to block the entrance to the inner roadstead of Port Arthur by sending 4 large commercial steamers there, accompanied by 6 destroyers.

The enemy's attempt was thwarted by the "Strong" destroyer. The ship rushed to the attack, dealt with the steamers and entered into battle with six Japanese destroyers. Having received a hole in the steam line, "Strong" turned into a fixed target for enemy fire. Then Zverev closed the hole with his body and returned the course to the ship, sacrificing his life. The dead were solemnly buried in Port Arthur.

Emperor Nicholas II visits the formation of regiments leaving for Manchuria

Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich together with the officers of the 4th Siberian Cossack regiment

Before reading - eat

The gunman of the Port Arthur fortress Grigory Khodosevich was aboard the Russian destroyer "Terrible" when on March 30, 1904, the ship entered into an unequal battle with four Japanese warships. 49 sailors were killed in the battle, only five people survived, including Khodosevich.

He found himself in the icy water with a severe back injury. He had secret documents hidden under his life jacket. Seeing a Japanese boat approaching him, Khodasevich with his fingers stiff from the cold began to tear the bag and eat the paper along with the seaweed. When the Japanese approached and lifted him aboard, there was practically nothing left of the package. The interrogation did not give anything either - Grigory Khodosevich did not say a word about the contents of the secret documents. The hero was sent to a prisoner of war camp and returned to his homeland only after the war.

Captured Japanese taken at the village of Yuhuantun

Port Arthur - from here to eternity

In the history of the Russian-Japanese war, the sinking of the "Terrible" in an unequal battle with six Japanese ships on April 13 (March 31, O.S.) 1904 was the beginning of a chain of fatal failures of the "black day" for the Russian fleet. No less tragic was the life of one of the participants in those events, Grigory Khodosevich, the gunman of the Port Arthur fortress, who, apparently, got on the destroyer with a report and shared the tragedy of "Terrible", although he was not even on the team's lists. Moreover, he was considered dead, relatives in the Minsk province received a notice of his death and performed a memorial service for the killed soldier. But Gregory survived. He returned to Vladivostok on Solovyov's steamer half-paralyzed, barely alive.

For several years, local historians, archivists and museum workers have bit by bit restored the history of the life and fate of the nobleman-farmer (as he was officially called), met with his contemporaries and managed to bring back from oblivion and restore the good name of one of the founders of Artem - Grigory Khodosevich, who this year would have marked the 125th birthday.

All the materials discovered by them with a high degree of reliability make it possible to restore a picture of a century ago.

LET'S REMEMBER, BROTHERS, ABOUT THE "SCARY"

On the morning of April 12 (March 30, O.S.), the commander of the 1st Pacific Squadron, Vice Admiral S. Makarov, having received information that the enemy intends to use Elliot Island for the landing of Japanese troops, gave the order to reconnoitre the area with the forces of the destroyer detachment ... The general leadership of a detachment of eight destroyers was entrusted to Captain 2nd Rank Eliseev. The cruisers Bayan and Diana were ordered to assist Eliseev's detachment in the event of an attack by Japanese ships.

Around noon of the same day, a package was delivered to the "Terrible" from the squadron headquarters. The destroyer commander, Captain 2nd Rank K. Yurasovsky, was instructed: "... With darkness, together with the destroyer detachment, go in search of the Santanshou Islands ...".

It is not known exactly why Grigory Khodosevich, who was the commandant of the naval fortress, ended up on board the Terrible. In the practice of that time, persons of noble origin who did not have an officer rank and were in positions of lower ranks were often appointed to the positions of clerks, cashiers, postal and courier employees. It can be assumed that it was Khodosevich who delivered the package with the reconnaissance mission.

At the appointed time, the detachment went to sea. The night was dark and rainy. At about 22 o'clock "Terrible" lost sight of those walking in front.

Separated from the main forces of the Terrible detachment, he wandered all night. Only at about four o'clock in the morning on March 31, the observers reported to the commander that they found the silhouettes of six ships, in appearance similar to our destroyers. Giving an identification signal, the Terrible stepped into their wake. It was only at dawn that it became clear that two cruisers and four destroyer destroyers were Japanese.

LAST PARADE

The fight turned out to be fierce and fleeting. With the first bursts of enemy shells, the Terrible's commander was killed on the spot. The command of the ship was taken over by the chief of watch, Lieutenant Eremiy Maleev. Japanese shells, constantly falling from all sides, swept away all living things from the deck. But the ship's machine continued to work properly. E. Maleev, using the advantage in speed, tried to break away from the enemy. Already visible in the distance was the life-saving Port Arthur harbor.

“When the enemy opened fire, we began to respond with guns,” recalled the miner Mikhail Cherepanov, one of the few who survived that battle. - One mine was fired into the cruiser. Soon the cruiser bent down, and two destroyers approached it. At this time, a shell hit the apparatus, and our mine exploded. The car stopped, the guns were all shot down ... ... Only destroyers ("Ikazuchi", "Oboro", "Inazuma" and "Akebono" - author's note) were shooting at us. Commander 2nd-Class Captain Yurasovsky, Warrant Officer Akinfiev, Mechanic Dmitriev and most of the crew were killed. There were still some wounded. ... When the stern began to sink quickly, Lieutenant Maleev ordered us to escape ... "

The survivors saw how the officer's cap was knocked down, wounded in the temple. We saw how he fell ... ... Having received a hole below the waterline, "Terrible" quickly plunged into the depths of the sea.

In the meantime, by order of Makarov, the cruiser "Bayan" came to the aid of the dying destroyer, and a combat alert was announced to the squadron. However, having come under fire from Japanese ships, the cruiser barely managed to lift only five of the Terrible's sailors aboard and immediately hurried off. (In his April 1 report, the Bayan commander indicates that his signalmen saw three more who remained in the water.) Soon Japanese destroyers approached the site of the tragedy.

SALVATION, captivity ... AND THE GEORGIAN CROSS

And then ... Here's how to reconstruct the events of that time, using the information that Grigory Khodosevich himself reported to his relatives (the memories of one of his daughters, Evdokia Poida, were preserved, which the Artyomovsk local historian Z.M. Ovchinnikova managed to record back in the early 70s, all this time they were not in demand).

A boat rolled off the side of one of the destroyers and headed towards the Russian sailors who were holding on to the surface of the water with their last strength. Grigory Khodosevich was seriously wounded in the back. Once in the icy water, he did not feel his legs at all. Before leaving the sinking ship, Grigory hid a secret package with a reconnaissance mission under a rescue cork belt, following the order of the chief of watch, Maleev. Khodosevich knew well what military duty was. Seeing the Japanese boat, with stiff fingers, he began to tear the bag to shreds and, mixed with seaweed, hastily chewed the soaked pieces of paper. The Japanese, noticing the Russian, who was hastily destroying, apparently, some important document, rushed to raise Khodosevich and his comrades on board.

When the Russian squadron, having driven off the enemy, managed to approach the place of death of the "Terrible", on the water could be seen only the surviving wreckage.

The death of four officers and 45 sailors of the crew of the "Terrible" was announced by a circular of the main naval headquarters, while Khodosevich was listed as "dead, it is not known from which crew and from which vessel."

The Japanese sailors, having interrogated Khodosevich to no avail and unsuccessfully examining the remains of the package, sent Gregory to a prisoner of war camp. He stayed there until the end of the war. Khodosevich's spine was injured, he could hardly walk on crutches. After the end of the war, among 70 thousand Russian prisoners of war, Grigory Khodosevich returned to his homeland. He was treated for a long time at the Vladivostok Marine Hospital, he learned to walk again. Only at this time did the authorities become aware of the circumstances under which Gregory was captured. Appreciating his zeal in the performance of his military duty, Khodosevich was awarded the St. George Cross.

KROVOPEYTSY-OPERATOR'S FARM

“Khutor of Khodosevich of the Knevichansky volost of the Shkotovsky district” - this is how the area where the Zybunny mine of Skidelsky was located, which gave rise to the city of Artem, was named in the mail until the mid-20s. Local researcher - historian Yuri Tarasov was able to document the years of life of the owner of the farm, Grigory Zakharovich Khodosevich (1879-1924). He also found documents on the allotment of land use near the Zybunnaya River. They were dated 1907.

... Grigory Khodosevich, who was dismissed after treatment in a naval hospital due to his disability, at the end of 1906 received a decent amount from the treasury. And soon he acquired a land plot in a free lane near the railway line to Suchan.

In the archives of the Far East, documents have been preserved, which read: “Khodosevich Grigory, nobleman-tiller. The site was credited for farming on September 27, 1907. There are 28 dessiatines of forest and 19 dessiatines of unpleasantness. "

In 1908, Grigory invited two brothers, Klim and Ignat, to his new estate. The wife of one of them, Maria, brought with her her sister - 18-year-old beauty Stefa, who became Grigory's wife.

Several years later, there were already three strong houses with outbuildings on the Khodosevich site. A beautiful garden and a large apiary were laid out. Khodosevich's farm was well known at that time. Its owner had a close friendship with the wealthy and influential Vladivostok businessman Yakov Skidelsky. Yakov was the head of the industrial and financial clan of the Skidelsky coal direction and was the founder and owner of the Zybunny mine, opened in 1913.

There is information that Khodosevich and Skidelsky went together in December 1911 to the ceremony of burial of the sailors of the cruiser "Varyag".

Alas, the further fate of Gregory was tragic.

In the very first year of resettlement, unable to withstand the severity of the Far Eastern climate, brother Ignat caught a cold and died.

But the main trials fell on him during the civil war. At the beginning of 1918, three-year-old son Vasya died in the arms of his parents. And the events of the bloody Russian civil strife in these places caused the death of his wife Stephanida.

Three daughters remained orphans, the youngest of whom was five years old.

The death of his beloved wife finally undermined the strength of Khodosevich. His illness began to progress, he could hardly walk on crutches.

In 1922, with the advent of Soviet power, the owner of the farm as a nobleman and a large landowner was registered with the OGPU. And his friendly relations with the former owner of the Zybunny mine only increased the suspicion and hostility of the new government. He was listed as "unreliable", "bloodsucker-exploiter." But, apparently, fate had mercy on him. He died in his own bed. He was 45 years old.

The coffin with the body of the deceased was delivered to the mine graveyard by Grigory's loyal friend Luka Tulupov. He bequeathed to bury himself next to Khodosevich. In 1930 the farm was nationalized and its inhabitants dispossessed. The farm itself survived until 1974, it was burned down when they were polishing it up, preparing for the international meeting of Leonid I. Brezhnev with US President D. Ford.

93-year-old Ulyana Tulupova (who died in the mid-70s), wife of Luka Tulupov, was firmly convinced that all the troubles and trials that fell to the lot of Grigory Khodosevich and his loved ones were the curse of the "terrible".

INSTEAD OF EPILOGUE

At the old Artyomovsk cemetery, at the 8th kilometer, the grave of the nobleman-farmer Grigory Zakharovich Khodosevich was miraculously preserved. Dmitry Lukich Tulupov, 85, helped find her.

The granddaughter of the hero of the Russian-Japanese war of 1904-1905, Knight of St. George, Galina Ivanovna Skvortsova, lives in Vladivostok.

The author expresses gratitude to everyone who took an active part in the search for documents and was able to return the hero's name from oblivion. These are local historians - N. Miz, Z. Ovchinnikova, Yu. Tarasov, senior employee of the Pacific Fleet Museum G. Kondratenko, a resident of Vladivostok V. Mikhailov.

The article uses materials from the Russian State Archives of the Navy and documents from the personal fund of E. Minaev (Yelets).

REFERENCE "B"

Destroyer "Terrible" - one of the ships of the "Falcon" class was built at the Nevsky plant in St. Petersburg. It was transported to Port Arthur by rail, disassembled and assembled over a period of almost two years, from 1901 to 1902.

"Terrible" was part of the destroyer detachment of the Port Arthur squadron. The regular number of its crew is four officers and 49 lower ranks. Armament - three guns 47 mm, one gun 75 mm and two torpedo tubes.

The destroyers of this project were at that time the fastest in the Russian fleet. There were nine of them in total: "Fast", "Slender", "Angry", "Strong", "Stately", "Sentry", "Brave", "Guarding" and "Terrible".

The name of Khodosevich Grigory Zakharovich is well known to the residents of the Primorsky Territory, but almost nothing is known about him in other regions of the country. Meanwhile, this is a truly legendary person, the Knight of St. George, one of the survivors of the destroyer team "Terrible", who died in an unequal battle in the Russo-Japanese War. The feat of a destroyer is comparable to the feat of cruisers "Varangian"and "Rurik".

Grigory Zakharovich Khodosevich was born in 1874 in the city of Borisov. With the outbreak of the war with Japan, he was mobilized and sent to serve in the fortress of Port Arthur. The circumstances under which G.Z. Khodosevich, being the commandant of the fortress, got on a battleship are unknown, but already in March 1904 he took part in a sea battle.

On March 30, 1904, the destroyer "Terrible", as part of a detachment of Russian ships of the 1st Pacific Squadron, performed a mission to reconnoiter the location of the Japanese fleet and install minefields covering Port Arthur from the sea. During a night search, he broke away from the main detachment of ships and went alone to the harbor.

When dawn began, four unknown ships appeared nearby. "Terrible" gave the callsigns. In response, the ships lit up with flashes of shots. An unequal battle began. Almost immediately, the commander, Captain 2nd Rank K. Yurasovsky, was killed. On the deck, in the premises, other killed and wounded appeared. After a shell hit a mine vehicle, the destroyer swayed helplessly on the waves.

The cruiser that left Port Arthur to help the "Terrible" "Accordion"Picked up only five sailors from the water, the remaining 49 died

Khodosevich was also among those saved. In the bloody confusion of the battle, he managed to get out of the safe and hide between two life jackets the secret package of the commander of the Pacific squadron S.O. Makarov and the entire cash amount of the ship's treasury. For this feat, he was awarded the Order of St. George, IV degree.

Grigory Zakharovich, who received a serious spinal injury and spent several hours in cold sea water, was deprived of the opportunity to move normally for the rest of his life. Only after two years of treatment in a Vladivostok hospital did he learn to walk on crutches.

Upon retirement in 1907, he decided to stay in Primorye and acquired a plot. During the construction, the farm was consecrated with the icon of the Kazan Mother of God. On the site of the farm, a city later arose, which received the name Artem under Soviet power. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the inhabitants of this city call G.Z. Khodosevich the first founder and settler of Artem. By 1912, there were three houses on the site, where Grigory Khodosevich and his brothers Klim and Ignat lived, who, at the invitation of Grigory, came from Borisov to live in the Far East.

The personal fate of our fellow countryman was difficult and tragic. In 1908, his brother Ignat died after catching a cold. In 1918 his three-year-old son Vasya dies. The tragic events of the Civil War in Primorye caused the death of his wife Stephanida in March 1919. Three young daughters remained orphans. The death of his beloved wife undermined Khodosevich's strength and he barely walked on crutches with difficulty. His second marriage in 1920 was unsuccessful. And with the coming to power in Primorye of the Bolsheviks in 1922, Grigory Zakharovich was put on a special account, being recorded in the category of "unreliable".

After a serious illness, he died in 1924 and was buried in the cemetery of the 8th km of Artem. There were no male heirs after his death.

Today there is nothing from the farm except a conventional place. In 1974, during a meeting between Brezhnev and US President Ford, in order not to overshadow the appearance of the city with old buildings, the farm was ordered to be burned down. In 2005, a memorial plaque was installed at the burial place of the first settler Artyom.

Defense of Port Arthur, 1905

On the night of 8-9 February 1904 without declaring war, the Japanese squadron attacked the Russian naval base of Port Arthur. This was preceded by a meeting at sea of \u200b\u200bRussian and Japanese ships. Russian sailors, not having an order, did not open fire on the Japanese, but as a result of inept maneuvering, two Japanese destroyers collided with each other and were damaged.

After that, four Japanese ships approached Port Arthur unnoticed and launched a torpedo attack. It could not be called successful. Of the 16 torpedoes fired, thirteen either missed their targets or did not explode. However, three torpedoes damaged three of the strongest Russian ships based in Port Arthur - the battleships Retvizan and Tsesarevich and the cruiser Pallada.

Soldiers erect fortifications in the defense of Port Arthur

Fire at the Golden Mountain during the defense of Port Arthur, 1905

Only the next day, February 10, 1904, Japan officially declared war on Russia. Today we remember the exploits of the soldiers of the Russian army in this war.

The death of the destroyer "Guarding"

In St. Petersburg, on the Petrograd side, there is a magnificent monument to all the sailors who died in the Russian-Japanese war. On it, two surviving sailors of the "Guarding" destroyer open the kingstones to flood the ship and not give it to the enemy. The team of the "Guardian" really accomplished a real feat, only there are no kingstons on the ships of this class, and the "Guardian" sank itself from the resulting holes.

The first Russian submarine "Dolphin", which took part in the Russo-Japanese War

The destroyers "Guarding" and "Resolute" On February 10, on the day of the official declaration of the Russo-Japanese war, were returning to Port Arthur, when they were blocked by four Japanese destroyers "Akebono", "Sadzanami", "Sinonome" and "Usugumo". Subsequently, they were joined by two cruisers "Tokiwa" and "Chitose". The commanders of the Russian destroyers decided to avoid the battle, but the breakthrough to Port Arthur was only successful for the "Resolute". The "Guarding" was damaged by a direct hit from a shell, and he continued the battle, almost losing speed. Despite the significant superiority of the enemy, "Guarding" fought for almost an hour.

At the beginning of the battle, the Andreevsky flag was nailed to the mast so that it would not be accidentally ripped off by an explosion. The commander of the ship, Lieutenant Sergeev, led the battle lying on the deck with his legs broken. When he died, Lieutenant N. Goloviznin took command, but he too was soon struck by a shrapnel. At the end of the battle, when the ship could no longer shoot back, a seriously wounded mechanical engineer V. Anastasov commanded it. When the last weapon fell silent, the dying signaller Kruzhkov, with the help of the fireman Osinin, was able to throw signal books overboard, tying a load to them.

All officers and 45 of 49 sailors were killed on the "Guarding". The Japanese tried to tow the sinking destroyer, but could not - the ship sank, breaking the towing cable.

Operating room in a field hospital during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.

Wounded soldiers in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905

Our proud "Varyag" does not surrender to the enemy

The cruiser "Varyag" and the gunboat "Koreets" return after a hard battle to the Korean port of Chemulpo

On February 9, the captain of the Varyag, Vsevolod Fedorovich Rudnev, received an ultimatum from the Japanese: to leave the port before 12 o'clock, otherwise the Russian ships would be attacked in the roadstead. Rudnev decided to break through to Port Arthur, and in case of failure, blow up the ships. At noon "Varyag" and "Korean" left Chemulpo. When leaving the port, the Russian ships met a Japanese squadron, which was occupying a position behind the island of Phamildo.

The heroic battle of "Varyag" and "Koreyets" against fourteen Japanese warships lasted for an hour. "Varyag" and "Koreets" destroyed the Japanese destroyer and cruiser, damaged one more cruiser. But the Varyag itself was so riddled with shells that Rudnev decided to return to the port of Chemulpo. There, on the cruiser, the kingstones were opened and the ship was sunk. The gunboat "Koreets" was blown up. In this unprecedented battle, 1 officer and 30 sailors from the Varyag were killed, another 85 sailors were seriously wounded.

Closed the hole with my body

Emperor Nicholas II visits the formation of regiments leaving for Manchuria

Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich together with the officers of the 4th Siberian Cossack regiment

Before reading - eat

Captured Japanese taken at the village of Yuhuantun

Port Arthur - from here to eternity

The feat of the border guard

Another of the heroes of Port Arthur was the lieutenant colonel of the Russian border guard, head of the Kwantung department of the Special Zaamur border district, Peter Butusov.

In July 1904, Lieutenant Colonel Butusov led the search, in which the border guards blew up an enemy cannon and removed the locks from three. On August 6, Butusov's border guards, together with the shooters, drove the Japanese out of the Water Redoubt they had captured. On October 15, for the bravery shown in the battles to repel the second assault on Port Arthur, Lieutenant Colonel Butusov was awarded the Order of St. George, IV degree.

On November 21, 1904, during the fourth assault on Port Arthur, Butusov was appointed commandant of Mount Vysokaya, where he was mortally wounded. He died on November 22 and was buried at the Port Arthur military cemetery.

Orenburg Cossacks at a halt. Russo-Japanese War 1994 - 1905

Russians ambushed in Gaoliang

Russian "Chinese" Vasily Ryabov

The scout of the Russian army, Private Vasily Ryabov, repeatedly went to the rear of the Japanese in the clothes and wig of a Chinese peasant. And one day Ryabov's group ran into a Japanese patrol. Vasily Ryabov was taken prisoner, but during interrogation he steadfastly kept a military secret and, being sentenced to be shot, behaved with dignity. Everything happened strictly according to the ritual. They shot from rifles from fifteen paces. Vasily Ryabov accepted death with open eyes.

The Japanese were delighted with the courageous behavior of the Russian and considered it their duty to bring this to the attention of his superiors. The note of the Japanese officer sounds like a presentation for the award: "Our army cannot but express our sincere wishes to the respected army that the latter would bring up more of such truly wonderful soldiers worthy of full respect."

Dmitry Grigoriev - "Rossiyskaya Gazeta"

On the night of 8-9 February 1904, without declaring war, the Japanese squadron attacked the Russian naval base Port Arthur. This was preceded by a meeting at sea of \u200b\u200bRussian and Japanese ships. Russian sailors, without an order, did not open fire on the Japanese, but as a result of inept maneuvering, two Japanese destroyers collided with each other and were damaged.

After that, four Japanese ships approached Port Arthur unnoticed and launched a torpedo attack. It could not be called successful. Of the 16 torpedoes fired, thirteen either missed their targets or did not explode. However, three torpedoes damaged three of the strongest Russian ships based in Port Arthur - the battleships Retvizan and Tsesarevich and the cruiser Pallada.

The first battle of the Russo-Japanese War continued in the morning, when the fleets began a firefight from a distance of eight kilometers. The total losses in this battle were 150 people from the Russians and 90 people from the Japanese. Only the next day, February 10, 1904, Japan officially declared war on Russia ...

One of the real heroes of the defense of Port Arthur, of course, is the commandant of the fortress, Lieutenant General Roman Kondratenko. He personally directed the defense in the most difficult and dangerous areas. Roman Kondratenko was able to raise the spirit of soldiers in the most difficult moments of the siege of the city, which could repel the assault of the Japanese several times. He died on December 15, 1904 from a direct hit of a howitzer shell into the fort casemate. 8 more officers died with him. After the end of the Russian-Japanese war, the hero's body was solemnly reburied in St. Petersburg, in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

The gunman of the Port Arthur fortress Grigory Khodosevich was aboard the Russian destroyer "Terrible" when on March 30, 1904, the ship entered into an unequal battle with four Japanese warships. 49 sailors were killed in the battle, only five people survived, including Khodosevich. He was in the icy water with a severe back injury. He had secret documents hidden under his life jacket. Seeing a Japanese boat approaching him, Khodasevich with his fingers stiff from the cold began to tear the bag and eat the paper along with the seaweed. When the Japanese approached and lifted him aboard, there was practically nothing left of the package. The interrogation did not give anything either - Grigory Khodosevich did not say a word about the contents of the secret documents. The hero was sent to a prisoner of war camp and returned to his homeland only after the war.

The very defense of Port Arthur is often presented as a confrontation between patriots led by the heroic General Roman Kondratenko and a certain "party of cowards and capitulators", which consisted of Stoessel and his "accomplices" - General Fock

and Colonel Reis.

It is argued that while Kondratenko was alive and in charge of the defense, the Japanese suffered one defeat after another, but when he died, the "party of traitors" raised their heads and quickly brought the fortress to surrender.

Indeed, Kondratenko was killed on December 2, 1904 (hereinafter the dates are given according to the old style), and only eighteen days later, Port Arthur surrendered. But does it follow from this that the city could hold out longer? Strictly speaking, no.

On November 25, 1904, the Fortress Defense Council was held, and the idea was expressed at it that January 1, 1905 was the deadline until which the garrison was able to resist. Kondratenko took part in this discussion. And in those years it was accepted that if the opinion of a member of the Council differs from the point of view of the majority, and the officer himself wants to emphasize his disagreement, then the “special opinion” of this person is entered into the protocol, separately from the general text. If a member of the Council believes that his words were distorted when they were recording, then he has the right not to sign the protocol at all. Kondratenko did not express his special opinion and signed the text. In other words, he did not protest against the thesis that the city can only hold out until January 1, 1905.

In reality, Port Arthur fell on December 20, and the remnants of the garrison were withdrawn from the fortress on December 23. As you can see, there is no fundamental difference between these dates and January 1.

Move on. Port Arthurian Dudorov later recalled that when the Japanese captured the High Mountain, Kondratenko himself said that "this is the beginning of the end." Moreover, it was Kondratenko who oversaw the defense of Vysokaya, and then he also organized a counterattack in order to regain control over this key point. The counterattack failed. In other words, the events that predetermined the fall of Port Arthur took place during the life of Kondratenko and with his direct participation. Considering these facts, the opposition between the “party of heroes” and the “party of capitulators” no longer looks obvious.

You can often come across the thesis that Port Arthur surrendered unexpectedly for its defenders, who are ready to defend themselves for a long time. This is also regarded as proof of cowardice and (or) betrayal of Stoessel and his “accomplices”. However, entries from the diary of the Port Arthurian military engineer Lillier show how wrong this view is.

Here, please, is the entry of October 21: “… The complete decline of animation is noticed. Everyone is obviously fed up with the tried and tested impressions of all the horrors of the war. " November 22: "The fortress is overworked and makes its last desperate attempt, sending its last defenders to its last battle ..." November 25: "Many officers are fully aware of the despair and bleakness of the situation of both the fortress itself and its defenders." November 27: “In general, the position of the fortress is absolutely hopeless. There is even talk in the city about its surrender. "

Please note that these remarks refer to the period when Kondratenko was in charge of the land defense, but there is no trace of optimism about the current situation.

The note made by Lilier on December 19, that is, on the eve of the surrender, reflects the atmosphere of hopelessness of further resistance: “The mood in the garrison is the most depressed. Now a lot of voices are being heard openly about the complete impossibility of further defense of the fortress ... ”.

After the trial of Stoessel, the commission under the General Staff, which carefully studied the circumstances of the siege of Port Arthur, published its conclusion regarding the position of the fortress shortly before the surrender: “On December 19, the Japanese scored a major success: on the Western Front, they captured the first defensive line. The line of defense on the Eastern Front has assumed a position extremely unfavorable for defense. "

Night of December 20: “The capture of the Great Eagle's Nest put the second defensive line in such a position that it was almost impossible to hold on to it. ... Once again changed the position of the line of the Eastern Front even more for the worse ... the position of the third defensive line became extremely difficult, since now its sectors could be hit not only by frontal, but also by rear fire. "

The commission also found that by December 20, there were 11.5 thousand people in positions, of which more than half were sick with scurvy. But despite the data of such an authoritative source, the ridiculous figure of 23 thousand defenders of Port Arthur still walks in publicism and even professional historical works. At the same time, the army of General Noga, which besieged Port Arthur, numbered about 70-80 thousand people by December 20.

In such a scenario, the city could not hold out much longer. Another general assault on the Japanese would have turned into a massacre of the remnants of the Russian garrison, or even a massacre of civilians and wounded, about which the Japanese themselves had warned Stoessel in advance. The garrison did the best it could. Stoessel is the same hero as Kondratenko, who defended the city to the last, and then saved its population from the massacre.

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