Editing Russo-Japanese War (section)

=== Battle of Port Arthur ===
{{Main|Battle of Port Arthur}}
[[File:JAPANESE OCCUPATION OF SEOUL.jpg|thumb|Japanese infantry during the occupation of [[Seoul]], Korea, in 1904]]

On the night of 8 February 1904, the Japanese fleet under Admiral [[Tōgō Heihachirō]] opened the war with a surprise [[torpedo boat destroyer]]{{sfn|Tikowara/Grant|1907|pp=12, 15, 17 ,42}} attack on the Russian ships at Port Arthur. The attack heavily damaged the {{ship|Russian battleship|Tsesarevich||2}} and {{ship|Russian battleship|Retvizan||2}}, the heaviest battleships in Russia's Far Eastern theatre, and the 6,600&nbsp;ton protected cruiser {{ship|Russian cruiser|Pallada|1899|2}}.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shaw |first=Albert |title=The Progress of the World – Japan's Swift Action |journal=The American Monthly Review of Reviews |volume=29 |issue=3 |date=March 1904 |page=260 |lccn=sn86032152 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jr8CAAAAYAAJ |access-date=20 September 2020 |archive-date=9 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109111028/https://books.google.com/books?id=Jr8CAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> These attacks developed into the [[Battle of Port Arthur]] the next morning. A series of indecisive naval engagements followed, in which Admiral Tōgō was unable to attack the Russian fleet successfully as it was protected by the shore batteries of the harbour, and the Russians were reluctant to leave the harbour for the open seas, especially after the death of Admiral [[Stepan Osipovich Makarov]] from a naval mine on 13 April 1904. Although the actual Battle of Port Arthur was indecisive, the initial attacks had a devastating psychological effect on Russia, which had been confident about the prospect of war. The Japanese had seized the initiative while the Russians waited in port.{{sfn|Jukes|2002|}}{{page needed|date=January 2018}}

These engagements provided cover for a Japanese landing near [[Incheon]] in Korea. From Incheon the Japanese occupied Hanseong and then the rest of Korea. By the end of April, the Japanese Imperial Army under [[Kuroki Tamemoto]] was ready to cross the [[Yalu River]] into Russian-occupied Manchuria.