The Battle of Liaoyang (遼陽会戦/Ryōyō-kaisen, Сражение при Ляояне; 25 August – 3 September 1904) was the first major land battle of the Russo-Japanese War, on the outskirts of the city of Liaoyang in present-day Liaoning Province, China. The city was of great strategic importance as the major Russian military center for southern Manchuria, and a major population center on the main line on the Russian South Manchurian Railway connecting Port Arthur with Mukden. The city was fortified by the Imperial Russian Army with three lines of fortifications.
On August 25 the Battle of Liaoyang was joined, and, after nine days of stubborn fighting, the Japanese won a significant victory in spite of inferior numbers: 130,000 against 180,000 Russians. Nevertheless, their loss of some 23,000 men faced them with serious difficulties, for they had limited trained reserves. The Russians, meanwhile, had withdrawn in good order toward Mukden, where they were now receiving reinforcements via the Trans-Siberian Railway at the rate of 30,000 men per month.
