The first war of the Russian Empire in the 20th century was a campaign in China, when our troops took part in the first international operation against regular Chinese troops, the rebellious Ichtuan and formations not subordinate to anyone on the territory of Manchuria.
Chinese pie
At the end of the 19th century, the huge Qing empire of China found itself in a serious political and economic crisis, which was used by the European powers. The beginning of the division of the "Chinese pie" was laid by Japan, which defeated the Middle Kingdom in the Japanese-Chinese war of 1894-1895. The defeat of China was also a signal to other powers that imposed a system of unequal treaties on Beijing.
Internal contradictions and the unceremonious policy of the great powers led in 1900 to an uprising that went down in history as the uprising of the ihetuan (the uprising of the "big kulaks" or "boxing uprising").
Russia pursued a policy of "special conditions". In an effort to play on the contradictions of the great powers, she tried to consolidate her economic and political influence in northeastern China.
Considering that Russian manufactured goods were not competitive in Europe, China represented a huge sales market, and the strengthening of its positions in northeastern China opened the way for Russia to Korea, rich in natural resources.
The basis for penetration into China was to be the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER) and its southern branch from Changchun station to Port Arthur (SCE) and the signing of a union agreement with China.
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The outbreak of the Ichetuan uprising forced the Russian government to take a tougher stance, both in protecting the CER itself and in participating in hostilities directly against Beijing. The latter was more dictated by the need to prevent an excessive strengthening of the positions of Japan, Great Britain, Germany and France in China. Willy-nilly, Russia was drawn into a military conflict, which became for her the first in a series of bloody wars of the 20th century.
Defense of Harbin
One of the key events in Manchuria was the defense of Harbin from the troops of the Qiqihar ruler Shou Shan. Due to the construction of the railway, this small Chinese fishing village has become a rather important economic and transport center of northeastern China. According to the Russian-Chinese agreements, there were no Russian troops in Manchuria. The city was defended by parts of the Guard Guards of the Chinese Eastern Railway, which consisted mostly of Cossacks and retired soldiers.
The main brunt of the battle fell to the lot of the 5th company of the Security Guard under the command of Lieutenant Apostolov. The defenders occupied a number of structures around the pier and kneeling trenches. The total number of Harbin defenders did not exceed 3300 people.
The defenders had no artillery, and the stock of cartridges was extremely insignificant. Chinese troops numbered at least 8 thousand people with six guns and posed a very serious threat.
On July 10, 1900, Shou Shan ordered to destroy Harbin and not spare anyone. Confident of his victory, he sent a message to the defenders of the city, wishing to fight as bravely as his troops. The first scattered attacks of the Chinese troops were repelled by rifle fire, but then the enemy, bringing up artillery, forced the units of the Security Guard to abandon part of their positions.
In the course of a risky but successful counterattack, a brick factory was recaptured from the Chinese troops, and most importantly, two guns were taken with a small supply of shells for them. The shelling of Chinese positions from captured guns did not have a significant military result, but it produced a great moral effect on the Chinese command, forcing the enemy to temporarily abandon new attacks and begin regrouping forces.
Thus, precious time was gained, allowing the Russian command to bring additional forces to Harbin and eliminate the threat to the city. On July 21, 1900, the troops of General Sakharov were transferred to the city by steamboats and the military initiative passed into the hands of the Russian command.
Assault on Taku
One of the key operations of the world powers against China was the capture in June 1900 of the forts of the Taku (Dagu) fortress, which were the "sea gates" of Beijing. Since it was clear that the garrison of the fortress was ready to side with the ihetuanians, an ultimatum was sent to the commandant of the fortress, signed by representatives of Japan, Great Britain, France, Russia and Germany.
The American side, however, declared its neutrality in the upcoming battle.
As the ultimatum was rejected aboard the gunboat Beaver, a plan was drawn up for a military operation against the fortifications of Taku.
The fortress had 4 forts with more than three thousand garrisons and from 170 to 190 guns of mostly outdated systems. However, the shallow water excluded the use of large ships against the Chinese fortifications, and the main burden of the battle had to be borne by gunboats and destroyers that did not have armor protection.
A significant role in the artillery duel with the Taku forts was played by the three Russian gunboats "Beaver", "Koreets" and "Gilyak", later known from the events of the Russian-Japanese war. At the height of the battle, a 203 mm shell from the Koreyets caused an explosion of ammunition at one of the Taku forts. The gunboat itself suffered significantly, receiving at least six direct hits.
It is noteworthy that the Chinese destroyer Hai-Hua, which later became the fastest ship of the Russo-Japanese war, was named after Lieutenant Burakov, a senior officer of the Koreyets who died in battle.
After the suppression of most of the artillery of the fortress, an allied landing (about 900 people) was landed to capture the Taku forts, where the Russian and Japanese units played the main role. And if the Japanese, falling under artillery fire, suffered heavy losses, then Lieutenant Stankevich's company was the first to break into the fortress. True, the British were the first to raise their flag over the fallen forts (the Russian paratroopers did not have a banner and the lieutenant, for lack of one, nailed his shoulder strap to the flagpole).
Fall of Beijing
After the assault on Taku Qing, the Chinese government officially declared war on the great powers. In fact, it was only a statement of the war that had already begun. The extremely contradictory attitude of the Qing government to the uprising should also be noted. If at the beginning Beijing tried to use ihetuan to fight against foreign domination, then when thousands of ihetuan were in the capital and posed a considerable threat to the Qing government itself, the Chinese authorities decided to change course, now using the forces of the great powers against the rebels.
The capture of Taku opened a direct road to Beijing for the Allied forces, which was taken on August 14, 1900. And again, the main role in the capture of the capital of the Celestial Empire was played by the Russian units, who, during the night attack, managed to take a key position in the enemy's defense and ensure the success of the general assault.
Despite the enormous numerical superiority and the presence of good weapons, individual Chinese regular units and the Ihetuani offered at times fierce but completely disorganized local resistance, which nullified all their advantages.
Further operations of the allies after the fall of Beijing were reduced to actions against individual centers of the rebels. True, the Russian command refused to further participate in hostilities, seeking to normalize relations with Beijing as soon as possible and return to a policy of consistent economic penetration into China.
Although on the territory of Manchuria, where a certain threat remained, Russian troops carried out a number of operations against the Hunghuz - Manchu bandits who robbed the civilian population and often clashed with the guards of the Chinese Eastern Railway.
The world before a new war
After lengthy negotiations, on September 7, 1901, a document was signed that ended the conflict. China pledged to pay an indemnity of 450 million lian over 39 years. The territory of the Ambassador Quarter in Beijing was designated, where the entry of the local population with weapons was prohibited. Destroyed Chinese fortifications (primarily Taku) on the way from the coast to Beijing. Thus, the military defeat of the Celestial Empire put the country in even more difficult political and economic conditions, becoming one of the stages of China's transformation into a semi-colony.
For Russian soldiers and officers - participants in hostilities in China, a special medal "For a campaign in China" was established.
A silver medal was awarded to direct participants in hostilities against Chinese troops, Ichtuan and Hunghuz, and a light bronze medal was awarded to representatives of military units located in the theater of operations, but not directly participating in battles.
According to incomplete data, the total losses of the Russian army and navy in the first war of the 20th century for Russia amounted to about 3 thousand people - of which at least 300 people are considered dead and dead from wounds. The hostilities in China showed an urgent need for the earliest completion of the construction of the railway linking the central regions of Russia with the Far East.
From the point of view of military art, actions against numerous and often modern weapons, but characterized by weak discipline and training of Chinese troops, did not matter much. A number of military experts emphasized that an easy victory in China turned the head of a part of the Russian military leadership before the approaching Russian-Japanese war.