Battle of Motien Pass

Overview

The Battle of Motien Pass was a minor land battle of the Russo-Japanese War, fought between the Imperial Japanese Army under General Kuroki Tamemoto and the Imperial Russian Army under General Fyodor Eduardovich Keller over control of a strategic mountain pass on the main road between the coast and Liaoyang in Qing China on 10 July 1904.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Motien Pass was fought for control of a strategic mountain pass on the main road between the coast and Liaoyang in Qing China. The pass held operational value as a corridor linking coastal areas to the interior, making it a contested point along Japanese lines of advance toward Liaoyang. General Kuroki Tamemoto's force of approximately 11,000 engaged a Russian force of roughly 25,000 under General Fyodor Eduardovich Keller, inflicting over 1,200 Russian casualties. Described as a minor engagement within the broader Russo-Japanese War, the battle was one of several actions during the summer 1904 campaign in Manchuria as Japanese forces pressed inland.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (2)