Land Operations at Port Artur at the End of July 1904 During the Japanese- Russian War in “Goniec Poranny” and “Goniec Wieczorny”

The paper discusses ground troops’ actions during the Russo-Japanese War’s siege of Port Arthur, as shown in “Goniec Poranny” [Morning Messenger] and “Goniec Wieczorny” [Evening Messenger]. First, the author presents the conflict’s background and the aspects he will discuss. Then, he presents what could be learned from the newspaper about Japanese assaults taking place in July 1904. The author highlights disinformation present in the newspaper, especially concerning the battle course. Following that, the author describes casualties of both sides of the conflict – noting that these are not in line with what historians found out, often being times higher than in reality, although there are some exceptions on the Russian side. Following that, the author discusses civilian escape attempts during the siege – a matter not present in the literature. Due to the inclusion of this section, the reader can take a look at the battle from a different perspective. In the article’s final part, the author summarises opinions of the people of conflicted sides. They often presented themselves as superior, not considering the actual strength of the armies. For example, a Japanese professor mentions prohibitive demands of the Russian side in the plan of a peace treaty. In reality, even after multiple lost battles and defeats of tzar Nikolai II, the demands were never considered. In the conclusion, the author presents how reliable was the information from the Messenger, compared to the subject literature.