Telissu, Battle of

During the Russo–Japanese War, Russian defeat by the Japanese 15 June 1904, close to Telissu (now Songshu) about 120 km/75 mi northwest of Port Arthur. This was the only Russian attempt to relieve Port Arthur which they abandoned after this defeat.

At the start of the war the Japanese had crossed the Yalu River, the border with Korea, and sent one army north to meet the Russians at Liaoyang, another to besiege Port Arthur, and a third, under General Oku, was positioned on the approaches to Port Arthur to frustrate any attempt to relieve the garrison there.

The Russians made this attempt with a force of about 35,000 under General Baron Stackelberg who advanced down the north coast of the Port Arthur peninsula to find Japanese cavalry patrols on his front. Under orders not to provoke a battle with superior forces, he took up a defensive position near Telissu in the valley of the Fuchou River. The Japanese attacked 15 June, crushing the Russian right flank, and forcing Stackelberg to retreat, leaving 3,500 casualties and several guns in Japanese hands; Japanese losses came to fewer than 1,200.