POPULARITY
Some acts of love are so profound that they stand the test of time. This is the story of Mr. Kuroki, a devoted husband in Japan who spent two years planting thousands of Shibazakura flowers—moss phlox—for his wife after she lost her sight due to diabetes. Struggling with depression, she withdrew from the world. But Mr. Kuroki had a plan. He created a breathtaking sea of pink blossoms, their sweet fragrance filling the air, hoping it would bring her outside again. And it worked. Not only did the flowers help his wife step back into the world, but they also became a symbol of love and resilience, drawing thousands of visitors each year. This is a testament to the power of devotion and the incredible things we do for the ones we love. You can read the whole story at Japan Today.
In Episode 3 of Undercurrents of Romance, Tracey Devlyn dives into a captivating conversation with author Poppy Kuroki about her debut time-traveling historical romantasy, GATE TO KAGOSHIMA, and what it's like living in Japan, especially during the summer. When a young Scottish woman is whisked away to the last Samurai era, she finds herself tangled in an epic tale of ancestral secrets and a love that defies time. Torn between two worlds, she must choose: return to the 21st century or stay in the past that holds her heart. With heart-pounding romance, rich history, epic battles, and swoon-worthy Samurais, GATE TO KAGOSHIMA is a story you won't want to miss. Enjoy the episode! Undercurrents of Romance Website: https://traceydevlyn.com/podcast
In Episode 3 of Undercurrents of Romance, Tracey Devlyn dives into a captivating conversation with author Poppy Kuroki about her debut time-traveling historical romantasy, GATE TO KAGOSHIMA, and what it's like living in Japan, especially during the summer. When a young Scottish woman is whisked away to the last Samurai era, she finds herself tangled in an epic tale of ancestral secrets and a love that defies time. Torn between two worlds, she must choose: return to the 21st century or stay in the past that holds her heart. With heart-pounding romance, rich history, epic battles, and swoon-worthy Samurais, GATE TO KAGOSHIMA is a story you won't want to miss. Enjoy the episode! Undercurrents of Romance Website: https://traceydevlyn.com/podcast
Last time we spoke about the bitter stalemate the emerged during the battles of Shaho and Sandepu. General Kuropatkin had finally rid himself of the nuisance that was Admiral Alexeiev. However his quasi replacement would turn out to perhaps be much worse. The battle of Shaho resulted in nothing, but disaster for the Russians. The battle of Sandepu would go even worse. The megalomaniac General Grippenberg was overly zealous in the offensive maneuvers and made numerous mistakes while refusing to comply with orders from his superior. As a result countless Russians found themselves attacking the wrong village, then becoming attacked by better coordinated Japanese forces. The fighting around Sandepu because of catastrophe seeing Stakelberg relieved of command and Grippenberg asking to be relieved likewise. Yet again the Russians were in a situation of retreat and now all that lay in front of the Japanese was the prize of Mukden. #82 The Russo-Japanese War part 9: The fall of Mukden Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. The opening land battle of the war at the Yalu river was nothing but a curtain raiser to what has been described as the first of the “modern wars”. The battle of Liaoyang and the battle of Mukden would be considered the first real modern battles of the 20th century. The battle for Mukden was characterized by deceptive planning and tactical maneuver. It has often been described as a game of chess between Kuropatkin and Oyama. Never before in the history of warfare had so many pawns been brought upon a board of war to be played. If Mukden fell, Vladivsotok would most certainly be next. Yet not all was lost for the Russians. The trusty trans siberian railway continued to bring troops and now Kuropaktin had under this thumb 275,000 riflemen, 16,000 cavalry and over 1219 guns. To their south amasing around Liaoyang Oyama had assembled 200,000 riflemen, 7300 cavalry and 992 guns. The only thing the Japanese held superiority in was machine guns, 200 vs 56. General Nogi's 3rd IJA arrived to Liaoyang and thus virtually all of Japan's entire fighting strength was now together, but cracks within the Japanese military machine were beginning to become visible. Every major land battle against the Russians saw them fleeing intact, tremendous casualties had been dished out upon the Japanese. Both the Russian empire and Japanese were being financially drained by the war. Tokyo's bankers felt they would soon see refusals from Europe and America for further funds, the war needed to come to an end swiftly. Russia came into the war with a gold reserve of 106.3 million pounds and was being funded primarily by France who handed a series of loans totaling 800 million francs. The Tsar also managed to get a loan from Germany for another 500 million marks. Japan came into the war with a gold reserve of 11.7 million paling in comparison. To compensate Japan took loans from the UK, the US and Canada. Japan's total expenditure for the war would be a colossal 2150 million yen of which 820 million came from overseas funding. Both nations by this point of the war were literally becoming bankrupt and needed it to end quickly. Alongside the casualties and financial troubles, the Baltic fleet of Admiral Rozhdestvenski was drawing near. Tremendous pressure was placed upon Marshal Oyama, not just to seize victory, but to once and for all give a decisive blow to the Russian land forces, not to allow them through Japanese fingers another time. The new Russian line south of Mukden was over 90 miles long, with relatively little depth and a general reserve centrally placed. Over to the right flank in the west was a wide flat plain, occupied by the 2nd Manchurian army of General Kaulbars who had recently replaced Grippenberg. His right rested on the Hun River and his left on the railway. The railway and old Mandarin road were the boundaries between him and the central position held by the 3rd Manchurian army under General Bildering. His position held the railway, the mandarin road and the Putilov Hill. The rest of the terrain further to the east as far as Shinking was occupied by the 1st Manchurian army led by General Linevich. His territory was more mountainous. 2/3rd's of the Russian cavalry led by General Rennenkampf were placed on the extreme left of the line in some higher features. It was a purely defensive setup and did not enable the Russians much in terms of offensive action. Back in his HQ at Liaoyang, Oyama and his staff determined to strike when the very worst winter conditions would lessen up, but not before the rivers thawed. It was a bit of a gamble, if the rivers prematurely thawed it could spell doom to the offensive that would rely on easy river crossings. A brand new Japanese army would join the battle and take to the right of the line set up against Rennenkampf in the high mountains. This was the 5th IJA led by General Kawamura Kageaki. Kawamura had notably served as a field commander during the battle of Yalu and thus his army was nicknamed the Yalu Army. Though called an army, it was only in name, for it was quite under strength and consisted of the 11th division, some veterans of the Port Arthur Siege and reservists. To Kawamuras left and east of the railway was the 1st and 4th IJA of Generals Kuroki and Nozu. The 2nd IJA of Oku was to the left of the line. Back in the rear, due west of Liaoyang was Nogi's 3rd IJA, whose arrival would trigger the new offensive. The Times had this to say of Oyama's assembly “To launch, direct and support 400,000 [sic] men engaged at such a season over a front 100 miles in length, was one of the most remarkable tasks ever undertaken on the field of battle by a modern staff. Wisely remaining at a point well in rear of the army, but linked up with every column by telegram and telephone, Oyama, Kodama and their staff were uninfluenced by the emotions of the battlefield, and were able to direct the whole course of the battle with frigid precision and all the desirable calm.” Nogi was very fortunate not to be relieved of command, certainly there were many commanders who believed he should be. The arrival of Nogi's 3rd IJA weighed heavily upon Kuropatkins mind. Russian intelligence indicated the movement of troops in the east, most likely Kawamura's and this was seen as a threat towards Vladivostok. Although if you pull out a map, you might ask “well how could or why would the Japanese attack Vladivostok”, Kuropatkin nonetheless responded by reinforcing Vladivostok lest it become besieged like Port Arthur. The Japanese had also launched a small cavalry raid against Kuropatkins lines of communication. On January 9th, a Japanese cavalry unit advanced 300 circuitous miles and on February 11th reached their objective, a point along the railway 160 miles north of Mukden. There they blew up a bridge before returning back to their lines on March 13th. The Japanese units received a Kanjo citation for the brave act while Kuropatkin reacted by dispatching a brigade and two regiments to protect rear areas. Throughout the war over land, the Japanese had figured out Kuropatkins psychology quite a bit. Something they took a strong notice of, was how he always reacted to every threat, little or large. Thus peppering these maneuvers, the Japanese knew he would dispatch forces and honestly it worked like a charm. Alongside this the Japanese enjoyed supremacy when it came to intelligence and espionage, their agents outplayed the Russians and kept up the misinformation campaign plaguing Kuropatkins HQ. Kuropatkin was convinced the Japanese sought to avoid the plains where they would be outmatched by the quality of the Russian artillery and quantity of Russian cavalry. The Japanese seemed to always have the edge in mountain warfare, thus Kuropatkin believed the Japanese would hit him in the right flank through the mountains. Kodama played upon this idea “I had resolved to attack the Russians by enveloping them apparently in the east, so that they might despatch their main strength thither while our main force was to be directed against the Shaho–Mukden–Tiehling section of the railway, enveloping them from the west.” Kuropatkin had again overestimated the strength of his adversary, particularly Kawamura's “army”. His scouts believed the army advancing to the right was in fact Nogi's 3rd IJA. Kuropatkin believed two full armies were facing him on his right hand side, but in face it was just Kawamura. In the meantime Nogi's 3rd IJA arrived to the theater sitting behind Oku's 2nd IJA, well protected from Russian scouts. A key factor in Oyama's war plan was to convince Kuropatkin the 3rd IJA were somewhere waiting to pounce upon his right flank, while in truth they sat in the west. Kawamura's army began their advance on February 23rd prior to the general advance of the Japanese forces. Oyama explained the object of the battle “was to decide the issue of the war. The issue is not one, therefore, of occupying certain points or seizing tracts of territory. It is essential that the enemy be dealt a heavy blow. Since in all our battles hitherto pursuit has been very slow, it is imperative upon this occasion to pursue as promptly and as far as possible.” Kawamura's army advanced towards the Fushun mines and this prompted Kuropatkin to detach the 1st Siberian corp from Kaulbars command and hastily place them in front of Kawamura's advance. From the foreign observers attached to Oyama's army it seemed like he was performing the same type of tactics done during the Zulu wars, one war correspondent wrote gn reminded a correspondent of tactics borrowed from the Zulu Wars: ‘The five Japanese armies were to form a crescent whose cusps, over ninety miles apart at first, would gradually draw together, the western cusp however being finally and suddenly thrown forward so as to form a closed curve with the eastern.' One thing Oyama sought to avoid at all cost was battling in the ancient city of Muken. The Japanese had managed to be on good terms with the Chinese during this war, something in dramatic contrast to their war in 1894 when civilians were butchered. Oyama was keeping a keen eye to the political future of their war. Winning this war with the Russians on Manchurian soil was one thing, consolidating any gains afterwards was another. The Japanese general advance was taken up in a long line. The 1st IJA advanced towards Kawamura's left flank and both armies would find the Russian defenders putting up a strong resistance. Facing massive delay, Kuroki yet again tenaciously took the initiative and pushed his men forward regardless of loss. As a war correspondent with his forces would write ‘Kuroki was ready to go on with the attack, but Oyama did not yet consider the sacrifices that this would entail would be warranted.' On February 27th, Nogi's 3rd IJA began their advance going northwest towards the Liao River. Meanwhile the Japanese heavy artillery, including the colossal 11 inch guns began to pound the Russian positions at Putilov and Novgorod Hills. The aim of the artillery was to hold down the central Russian forces. Cossack cavalry sighted Nogi's cavalry screen along the right flank, sounding alerts. Kaulbar reacted by assembling an ad hoc reconnaissance force to travel back to the Russian supply depot located at Hsinmintun, some 33 miles west of Mukden, to get an idea of the size of the Japanese force. A secondary force of 2 squadrons and 4 guns was also tasked with trying to drive the Japanese back over the Hun River. On the 1st of March the fighting in the east and center was a static stalemate. Over in the west, Oku's 2nd IJA were slowly advancing and Nogi's 3rd IJA had just reached Hsinmintun. Kuroki's 1st IJA found themselves in a dilemma. Nogi had taken his force in a dangerous and exposed circuitous path, Kuroki did not have reserves to respond effectively to match Nogi's movement. All Kurkoki could muster was to detach a brigade to act in a counter penetration role. The Japanese staff had believed the Russians would hold one of their flanks and attack on the other. It was now clear the Russians intentions were to defend both however. This was an enormous tactical advantage for the Japanese, one who was on the offensive could ask for no better situation. Upon realizing the situation Baron Kodama would say ‘It also made the result of the battle far greater than had been anticipated. It was never thought possible by us that we could surround the Russians and bring about a second Sedan.” The next day saw the battle gradually transition into a new phase that would last until the night of March 7th. In the east the Japanese continued to whittle away at the Russians as their commanders watched for signs of Kuropatkin responding to Nogi's threat. They were hoping to see a sign he would thin out or withdraw some troops into the mountains. On March 7th, the anticipated signs began to appear. Kuroki received a report that the Russian trenches to his front had just been hastily evacuated. Kuroki seized the moment and ordered the men to pursue the enemy. Word was sent over to Nozu on his left flank, asking if he saw the trench lines thin out in front of him. Nozu sent scouts forward and they came back stating the Russian were abandoning many positions. Nozu joined in the chase. The Russians were thrown into a fit of chaos. Forces in the rear areas began to riot in crazy drunkenness and looted where it could be done. Kaulbar's 2nd Army, who had been poised to be the hammer to hit the Japanese were now dispersing across the battlefield and could no longer operate in effective formation. Kaulbar grabbed command of the residue of forces, trying to form a counter attack aimed at Oku and Nogi's armies who were now advancing upon Likwanpau. The counter attack was no better coordinated than the rest. Kuropatkin looked on at his hopelessly disorganized force who were no intermingling in penny packets. The Times correspondent wrote this of the scene “There were no less than sixteen detachments fighting isolated actions in this part of the field, many of them having received special instructions direct from army headquarters. Several army corps commanders found themselves without troops and unable to exercise any control upon the course of the battle. This situation had been caused by the precipitate manner in which attempts had been made to stem an attack against which no antecedent precautions had been taken” Nogi's encircling maneuver was progressing at a slow pace, making Oyama quite anxious. Kuropatkin decided to personally lead a counter-stroke against Nogi, lest his 3rd IJA cut off the Russian line of communications. To do this Kuropatkin had to repeat the same tactic used during the battle of Liaoyang, to withdraw forces and create a reserve to use for the counter stroke. Kuropatkin sent orders to Bildering and Linivich to withdraw during the night of March 7th to the shock of both commanders. Neither commander was aware of Nogi's movement. Both men were aware for the past 10 days of the appalling conditions they faced fighting both the Japanese and winter itself. Many of their men in trenches were literally freezing to death, hunkering down under artillery fire. Once Bildering and Linivich began their withdrawal, as I said earlier the Japanese began pouncing upon them. Oyama saw the enormous opportunity laid bare and would write in his general orders ‘I intend to pursue in earnest and to turn the enemy's retreat into a rout.' Guarding the left flank in front of the Hun River was Major General Mikhail Alexeiev who tried to put up a resistance to give the men more time, but his force was completely overwhelmed. The Russians initially tossed as much artillery as they could at the charging Japanese and indeed it caused tremendous casualties, but the Japanese simply did not stop. The Russian defense cover the riverbank completely collapsed seeing all of them flee. Now back at the battle of Liaoyang, the Russians withdrew over the Taitzu, an unfordable river, but here the Hun river was frozen and quite fordable. The dice of fate also played a roll, for right as the Japanese crossed the Hun river, the ice began to break. Some Japanese would have to use bridging pontoons for their heavy guns, but it was a lot easier than fording a raging river. So Bildering and Linivich's men were running for their lives, but had zero respite as the Japanese were right on their heels. You can imagine trying to reorganize units while this was going on was very chaotic. Meanwhile back over in the west, Oku's 2nd IJA and Nozu 4th IJA overwhelmed the Russian defenses and breached a gap. And further north, Nogi's 3rd IJA managed to wreck a large portion of the railway tracks above Mukden while also establishing a large blocking line to cut off Kuropatkin's retreat. All of this made Kuropatkins efforts to create a counter-stroke completely useless, it was the same type of catastrophe that had occurred at Liaoyang, just on a larger scale. On March 9th a violent blizzard occurred that blew right into the face of the defenders as they fled. At the very least it also hindered the Japanese ability to chase after them and this storm would rage on until the next day. Regardless the Japanese kept closing up their ring as the blizzard, a smoke of burning supplies filled the air. At the Mukden station, the Russians were hastily evacuating their sick and wounded, even the personal trains of commanding generals were used. With the increasing noise of battle drawing closer and closer to the city, Kuropatkin knew they had lost the battle. At 6:45pm on March 9th he gave the full retreat orders. His plan of retreat had the 2nd Manchurian army acting as a rearguard while the 1st and 3rd armies would withdraw to Tiehling. Nozu's 4th IJA breakthrough over the Hun river, however, forced the fleeing Russians into a sort of funnel. The 2nd and 3rd Manchurian armies had been assigned an axis of retreat along the line of communication, while the 1st Manchurian army kept trying to flee east avoiding the entire debacle unfolding. The Russian withdrawal northward along the line of communication was at first conducted in good order. The Japanese were pursuing them on a parallel course, but enjoyed superior artillery and rifle fire positions as they held the railway embankment. The Times correspondent with the 2nd Manchurian army had this to write “All tactical control had been lost before the retreat began and the army followed the stream of fugitives in mobs and groups as best it might. The Russian Armies were scattered in the hills as sheep having no shepherd. Companies, battalions, regiments and even brigades disappeared from the ken of their commanders and from each other”. Kaulber was exhausted and completely demoralized, he also was wounded having fallen from his horse at one point and now his shoulder was in a sling. He was pausing for a rest when he overheard a liaison officer asking about the location of the 7th regiment. Kaulbar could not help himself but scream out “‘The Seventh Regiment? I do not know what has become of my whole army and he asks me where my Seventh Regiment is!” Some of the generals managed to form a proper rearguard when the Japanese suddenly came upon them. Seeing the Japanese reinvigorated the panic and soon the Russians began to rout. The wounded and war materials were all abandoned as men fled for their lives. The terror fueled their retreat so intensely, many Russians ran wildly up any nearby mountains they could see. At 10am Oyama sent a message back to Tokyo “Today, at 10 a.m., we occupied Mukden. Our enveloping movement, which has been proceeding since several days, has completely attained its object.” However, yet again Oyama failed to capture or annihilate the bulk of the Russian army. It seemed Oyama was fated to win battles but not a war. The battle of Mukden saw a quarter of the Japanese involved become casualties, 15,892 officers and 59,612 men. For the Russians, when Kuropatkin reached Tiehling over a third of his force did not report for duty. 20,000 were killed or missing, another 20,000 were captured by the Japanese in the grand enveloping maneuver and 49,000 were wounded. Kuropatkins war supplies had been effectively lost, wagons and horses were hard to find. Fearing the Japanese would simply storm Tiehling, the city was quickly put to the torch and the Russians continued marching for 10 days northward to a new line of defense at Hispingkai, modern day Siping in Jiling province. There General Mikhail Batyanov relieved General Bildering of his command over the 3rd Manchurian army. He organized a new line of defense against the Japanese who were expected to continue their march north. However the expectations would come to naught, as Kuropatkin quickly organized a complete withdrawal of Russian forces from the region. There would not be any more significant fighting within Manchuria. The Russians had been driven out of southern Manchuria, but luckily for them Oyama had stretched his logistical capabilities when he attacked Mukden. You have to imagine such a vast amount of men requires so much provisions, and getting said provisions further inland was a colossal task. Despite being defeated yet again, even more demoralized and losing vast quantities of war supplies, the Russian army was still intact. The Japanese had seized a vast amount of the trans siberian railway and delivered a crippling blow, but not a fatal one to the Russian land forces. The victory at Mukden shocked the great world powers, they simply could not believe a non white army had so thoroughly defeated an empire like Russia on the field of battle. All the great powers knew Russia held the advantage in numbers of men and materials, but the Japanese simply outperformed them it was astonishing. The battle of Mukden also showcased, the Imperial Japanese Army was now officially the 6th largest army in the world. For Tsar Nicholas II the news was incredibly shocking. A nation with just 2% the landmass of his empire had so brutally defeated his army. The Russian commanders were lambasted for incompetency and they in turn would turn upon another. General Samsonov and Rennekampf began to hate another and publicly attacked another. All of the shame and guilt that was delivered upon such men would have a long lasting effect when world war one broke out. You would think such commanders who benefited from commanding in what has colloquially been called world war zero would take lesson learned and apply them against the Germans and Austro-Hungarians…but instead they would be completely annihilated. It was to be Kuropatkin's last battle as a commander, Tsar Nicholas II ordered him to be relieved by Linivich and to return to Irkutsk. Kuropatkins pleaded with the Tsar to allow him to retain his command, and the Tsar agreed to exchange back the commands between the two men. Many would write about how the battle for Mukden was lost. Cassels history of the Russo-Japanese War states “Yet by the employment of artifice, coupled by the most perfect co-ordination of his various armies, he [Oyama] was able, if not to envelop completely a force not appreciably smaller than his own [sic] , at any rate to squeeze it out of a strong position and to damage it very seriously in the process. Without artifice, deceit, delusion, dust-throwing, or some such dissimulatory methods, the result of the Battle of Mukden might have been altogether different.” The Times correspondent attached to the 2nd Manchurian army had this to write “The crowning victory of Mukden was won, first and foremost because the statesmen of Japan had the spirit and the backbone to declare war at their own hour; it was won because Japan was united in the attainment of national aims and shrank from no sacrifice to secure it; because the moral forces within the nation doubled and trebled material strength; because all was prepared, weighed, studied, known; because the shortcomings of the enemy, which were many, were recognised and profited by; because a general staff, framed on the best existing model, was able to direct all forces to a common end; because each soldier and seaman knew and understood the part he had to play, and played it wholeheartedly for his country regardless of his own unimportant fate; and last, but not least, because the offensive in naval war was the beginning and middle and end of national strategy.” Tsar Nicholas II had this to write in his diary after hearing the news of the loss at Mukden . ‘It is painful and distressing,' However, the Tsar could not possibly know, the embarrassment faced upon the war over the land was about to become twofold upon the sea. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Kuropatkin and the Russian land forces had been served defeat after defeat after defeat, here at Mukden would be their last. Though they were defeated, their army remained intact and there lingered still hope for Russia to come out on top, as their Baltic fleet approached the Pacific hoping to win a decisive battle.
Last time we spoke about the bloody siege of Port Arthur. General Maresuke Nogi lost a lot during the Russo-Japanese War, at Port Arthur it would cost him thousands of young men, his last son and in many ways his soul. The 3rd IJA fought tooth and nail to take each feature one by one, inching closer to the port city. Nogi's initial strategy to target the east was a terrible failure, costing countless men and nearly his command. When prodded by Baron Kodama to target 203 meter Hill, Nogi's men had finally found the crux to Port Arthur's defenses. It was a terrible and bloody ordeal, but once 203 meter hill fell, the 3rd IJA were finally able to deploy their artillery in a position to smash the trapped Russian fleet. Now Port Arthur was back in Japanese hands and all that remained was Mukden. #81 The Russo-Japanese War part 8: A stalemate at Shaho and Sandepu Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Port Arthur had finally fallen and the forces of Kuropatkin were once again on the retreat. Kuropatkin sought to establish defenses at Tiehling as the area was more suitable to make a stand rather than the plains surrounding Mukden. Yet as had become customary, Alexeiev intervened stressing ‘the continued retreat to Tiehling will not prove favorable to the morale of the army'. The Russian forces were completely demoralized and the Hong Huzi became emboldened. The Chinese bandits struck at the fleeing Russian forces, particularly the Cossacks. Japanese officers were directing their efforts, trying to hit train carts full of supplies. Russian soldiers and officers were suffering from dysentery and venereal diseases, many also fell to the bottle. Kuropatkins numerical advantage would see be lost, as General Nogi's 3rd IJA would soon come join the rest. Tsar Nicholas II decided to form a second Manchurian Army, under the command of General Oscar Casmirovitch Grippenberg. The man was more politician than soldier, he had not seen active service since the Crimean War, and even then only commanded a battalion. At the ripe age of 66, deaf and quite the hypochondriac, he came to Manchuria, and brought with him news of the motherland. St Petersburg was seeing more dissonance, the people were in rapid disorder, the overall feeling was that of revolution. For the Japanese side, they were also licking their wounds. They had lost many men, and to remedy the loss of manpower they created a new ordinance on September 29th raising an additional 46,548 men to replace over 1/6th of their army that had fallen. Marshal Oyama looked to his logistics, preparing for the next engagement and probably did not expect what Kuropatkin did. Kuropatkin suddenly went on the offensive. Kuropatkin sent out these orders ‘I order the Manchurian Army entrusted to my command to attack the enemy in whatever position he may be occupying having as the main object to gain possession of the right bank of the Taitzu river.' He scheduled an attack to be made on October 5th, shaking the Russian army out of their depression, to see if they could exact vengeance. Grippenberg and his command and not yet arrived to the theater of war when Kuropatkin began his offensive plans. Grippenberg's army consisted of the 6th and 8th Siberian corps, the 61st infantry division and a division of Don Cossacks. In the meantime, Alexeiev gave Kuropatkin the 6th Siberians. Despite the losses inquired upon his forces, at this time Kuropatkin still held superiority in numbers, with 261 battalions vs Oyama's 170. At Mukden Kuropatkin had formed a bridgehead. To his south was the Taitzu river, to the east ran the Sha Ho. The railway line ran parallel to the old Mandarin Road. Around the Sha Ho area were hills and west of it many villages. The terrain east of the Mandarin road was mountainous, forcing infantry to be confined to pathways. Kuropatkin divided his forces in two forming western and eastern armies. Behind this were the general reserves, two flanks guards and a rearguard. The western force consisted of the 10th and 17th corps, with 4 regiments of Cossacks led by General Bildering. The Eastern Force consisted of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Siberian corps with a division of Cossacks under the command of Stakelberg. He ordered his army to advance along a 20 mile front through Pienniulupu to Penshihu. Within his reserves were the 4th Siberians and 1st European corps, the 6th Siberians made up the rearguard. The bulk of Kuropatkins front line force was east of the railway, but the west held more favorable ground for artillery and cavalry. The terrain to the east was less favorable for movement, yet Kuropatkin chose here to make his main thrust. Perhaps Kuropatkin planned to surprise the Japanese with such a bold move, yet it would not work. Oyama's forces had just been reinforced by a cavalry brigade who were occupying a narrow position going from the Coal Mines at Yentai to Santaitzu. Oyama sought to concentrate his forces as much as possible in the hopes an opportunity for an offensive would soon present itself. Oyama placed General Oku's 2nd IJA on the left, General Nozu's 4th IJA in the middle and Kuroki's 1st IJA on the right. Within his reserve was the 12th division, near the right flanks rear. Oyama's intelligence could not find two Russian corp locations, so he held back 3 Kobi brigades and a field artillery brigade in reserve at Liaoyang. 15 miles northeast in the mountains at Pienniulupu was Umezawa's Kobi brigade scouting forward. Umezawa's force were having a difficult time because of faulty maps. Kuropatkin was going to use his Western force to launch a holding attack, seeing two corps face off against the 2nd and 4th IJA. The disparity in strength was roughly 45,000 vs 72,000. Meanwhile the eastern force would perform the main assault with over 73, albeit under-strengthed battalions, numbering 50,000 or so. The 1st IJA would be roughly 40,000 strong. The first contact would be made in front of Umezawa's position. Kuroki was convinced the main Russian assault was about to hit the northern area where Umezawa was, but Oyama was not convinced of this. Kuroki would turn out to be right, one of his patrols came across some documents on a dead Russian officer showcasing Stakelbergs offensive. When Oyama was presented with the evidence he immediately ordered a preemptive attack against the perceived main Russian thrust. Umezawa pulled his brigade out of their position on the 7th of October, moving to Penhsihu. The Russians quickly seized Penhsihu by the 10th securing their right flank as Umezawa was forced to pull back further. Meanwhile the 5th IJA division's advance was being hampered by a Russian regiment and the 2nd IJA were pushing the 17th corps further back. The Russians formed a new central group consisting of the 4th Siberian corps and a Cossack division led by Mischenko. This was done to plug up the gap created between the western and eastern forces. The Eastern forces were being bogged down heavily due to the mountainous terrain. Their communication line and maps were quite poor. Stakelberg was also being overly cautious in his movements, while Oyama would be quite simplistic in his orders. ‘I desire to drive the enemy at present east of the Mukden highway towards the north east.' The result was the entire force, excluding the 12th division and Umezawa's men, advancing 16 miles to a new line from Fengchipu to Kuanlinpu. The goal was to smash the Russian center with the 2nd, Guards, 10th and 5th divisions. The 4th IJA would wheel around the right while the 2nd IJA would attract the attention of the Russian right, drawing their reserves. On the morning of the 11th, the battle swayed back and forth in the mountains and around the villages over the plains. The Russians were having the soldiers go shoulder to shoulder upon features meeting the onslaught of attacks. Wherever it looked like the Japanese might break through, the Russian commanders screamed for reserves to come up. This caused a bit of confusion amongst so many reserve units being called forward. The Japanese used the night to gain momentum, sneaking around while the Russian artillery was less effective. On the night of the 11th, the 4th IJA were to perform their wheeling maneuver seeing the 10th division advance. At 1am the division surged forward with bayonets fixed, each man was wearing a black greatcoat over his khaki uniform. The men were also wearing white armbands, as a previous attack had gone disastrously when neither side could tell friend from foe. Apparently a Japanese commander had given his men orders “Japanese are short, foreigners are tall” it did not go well. The Russians had fortified a village and from its walls fired upon the incoming Japanese. The Japanese grabbed volunteers to breach the wall, 200 men set off for a “Kesshitai” known in english as forlorn hope attack. Most of the groups leaders were shot or bayoneted, but their sheer weight won the night. In one of the village houses the Japanese found a regimental commander. He was severely wounded and could hardly stand, but he refused to surrender. The Japanese night attack was a attempt to form a wedge between the Western force and central group, it achieved its objective at the cost of 60 officers and 1250 casualties. Most of these were of the 5th IJA division whose job was to wheel around the heart of the enemy's position. That night Stakelberg ordered his men to attempt a breach of the Japanese lines. Their first effort was directed at the Taling Pass, but they were easily swept aside as the Japanese had anticipated the attack. A second attempt was made and succeeded somewhat, but the Japanese were quick to counter attack. The Japanese seized the position back and the Russians were calling up more reserves in response. The next day, Kuropatkin lost the initiative to Oyama. Oyama had succeeded in bringing superior numbers to critical points. It was evident the 10th IJA division had suffered tremendous casualties, so the 5th IJA division was brought up. Now the Russian right wing, consisting of the 17th Corps, some 25,000 men would be hit by 3 Japanese divisions totaling 32,000. Until this point, Kuropatkin had not committed 50,000 men and 250 guns of his reserve. The bulk of his 6th siberian and 1st European corps were untasked and the 2nd Siberians were basically stuck in limbo while Kuropatkin and Stakelberg kept a series of long distance messages unable to coordinate properly. Kuropatkin was patiently awaiting reports from Stakelbergs offensive in the east, hoping he would have a breakthrough. However the terrible maps and rough mountainous terrain were hampering all efforts. It was not just the terrain, Stakelberg was not the same officer who began the war in the east. Stakelberg was weary and demoralized. The 2nd cavalry brigade of Prince Kanin, reinforced with 1200 men began a southern advance against Stakelberg. The attack had the element of surprise and forced the cavalry divisions of Samsonov and Liubavin to pull out, exposing Rennenkampf's infantry along the northern bank of the river. This action would force Stakelberg to order a retreat. In the west, the 17th corps reinforced with a brigade of the 6th corps was exposed to attacks from the 2nd IJA. The 6th corps commander refused to assist. This left the 17th corps to fight it alone and they were severely defeated and forced to withdraw along their front. The 219th regiment, part of the 6th corps had just arrived at the scene and encountered the retreating men of the 139th and 140th regiments. Yet the 219th regiment kept advancing, unsupported by artillery, towards a position then occupied by 6 Japanese battalions and 11 batteries. Such was the communications failure at Sha Ho. The Japanese held their fire as the 219th advancing within 600 yards. The first experience of battle for the 219th would be the combined fire of 66 guns and thousands of rifles. They were blasted to pieces, they quickly routed leaving behind 22 officers and 832 men on the ground. A quarter of the regiment had been lost. The morning of the 13th saw the eastern group retreating. That same day saw the arrived of the 5th Kobi brigade, allowing Oyama to reinforce his depleted 12th division. Meanwhile the Guards division was in serious trouble as Stakelberg had tossed a counter attack their way. Luckily for the Guards, when they pulled back, so did the Russians, they did not pursue them at all. Oyama tossed all his remaining reserves to restore the equilibrium and hoped the added help would allow Kuroki's 1st IJA to cut off the retreating eastern force. The Russians were gradually forming a full retreat. Bilderings western force found some breathing space as the 2nd IJA were nearing exhaustion. Oyama had no further reserves, the next reinforcements would be the 8th division arriving by train to Liaoyang. The Russian right flank was still holding firm, with their uncommitted guard led by Lt General Dembovski. Had his force of 16 squadrons and 32 guns been tossed into the mixed they perhaps could have severely hurt the 4th IJA division. Oyama then gave out new orders ‘to pursue the enemy as far as the left bank of the Sha river'. On the 14th the demoralized Russians were falling back through a rainy night. Again rain was saving the Russian's withdrawal. At 7:20am Shahopu was lost by the 10th corps. The 10th corps were trying to hold a southern portion of the Sha river, but were gradually withdrawing. To try and stop them Kuropatkin sent 10 battalions with orders to attack southwards. That night the 10th corps withdrew leaving only 3 points to the south of the river within Russian hands. These were the village of Lamutun, One Tree Hill and Putilov Hill. Meanwhile the 6th corps launched an attack against the 4th IJA division. The attack went unsupported, as other nearby units were in disarray. The Russians advanced into a maelstrom of fire from the Japanese, nearly 2000 men were lost. On the 15th Oyama issued another batch of orders ‘I intend to reform the Japanese armies on the left bank of the Sha Ho, in order to prepare to advance to the line of the Hun Ho.' At the time, Oyama could not ford the Sha river while the Russians still held positions south of it. That day the Japanese seized Putilov Hill and Lamutun village, while Kuropatkin assembled a reserve nearing 30,000 men in strength. The next day, One Tree Hill was captured as General Gerngross took command of the enormous reserve group. Gerngross was ordered to recapture Putilov and One Tree Hill. These features were not large, nor very steep, sitting just south of the Sha river. At 5pm the Russian unleashed their artillery upon the Japanese occupiers, who quickly withdrew. General Putilov grabbed men to attack the hill that would soon bear his name as General Novikov with 3 regiment of the 1st European corps attacked One Tree Hill and the 36th east siberian rifle regiment would attack the Japanese right rear. Novikov's men advanced so quickly they caught some of the Japanese still withdrawing at One Tree Hill. This resulted in 4 Japanese companies making a nightly stand upon the hill to give their comrades time to get out. Meanwhile Putilov heard the sounds of battle from One Tree Hill and ordered his men to advance with haste. His force was met by a tremendous volley of gunfire from Japanese rearguards. Yet both features fell back into Russian hands and with it a boost to morale. The price was heavy, the Russians took 3000 casualties, while the Japanese had roughly 1000. Both sides then began to dig in, neither commander had secured his objective and thus the battle fell to stalemate. Winter was coming along as the men built vast trench networks. What has become known as the battle of Sha Ho was quite indecisive. The Russians suffered 41,550 casualties, the Japanese 39,769. In the face of what was somewhat a reversal in the campaign, Tsar Nicholas II recalled Alexeiev to St Petersburg and left Kuropatkin a free hand to plan his next move. Finally rid of the troublesome Alexeiev was on one hand a great thing for Kuropatkin, it was however unfortunately far too late into the war. Kuropatkin was not in a good position and now he could not complain of the divided command issue to the Tsar, the responsibility was his and his alone. Winter was settling in, news of Port Arthur's fall and news of revolutionary fever back home was rampant amongst the troops. The Russians held a 100 mile long defense the Japanese could not outflank, but Kuropatkin knew Nogi's 3rd IJA were enroute. Trains were carrying men and supplies from Port Arthur. Kuropatkin looked to his cavalry to better the situation “In order to induce the enemy to detach as many men as possible for their line of communications, and so weaken their front, to handicap their supply arrangements, and to stop the rail transport of Nogi's units to the front, a raid by a mounted force was organised against their line of communications.“ Mischenko was put in charge of a 6000 strong cavalry unit alongside 6 batteries of light guns to perform a raid. His target was to seize Newchwang station where he hoped to achieve two objectives. 1) to destroy a large stockpile of foodstuff there and 2) to destroy a portion of the track between Tashihchiao and Kaiping. On January 12th Mischenkos force approached the main stores depot, normally guarded by just 500 Japanese. His cavalry advanced along the railway as his dragoons began cutting the line behind them. At 4pm a train approached from their rear with 16 trucks each carrying 30 Japanese. The train was coming extremely fast and steamed past them while also firing upon them. The depot was now garrisoned by 1000 Japanese who had well entrenched positions and knew the Russian cavalry were enroute. The mounted Cossacks made 3 charges against the Japanese lines, but could do little without infantry support. The Russian artillery failed to have enough effect and upon mounting casualties, Mischenko was forced to withdraw leaving behind 62 dead and 6 wounded. Meanwhile the dragoons cutting the railway line had no idea their force was defeated and were quickly brushed aside. Thus what could have been a brilliant raid saving the Russians valuable time, was a disaster. By January 18th, Grippenburg had arrived to take command of the 2nd Manchurian Army situated on the right of the Russian defensive line. In the center was the 3rd Manchurian army led by General Kaulbars. To the left was the 1st Manchurian army led by Linievich. Kuropatkin would issue orders 3 days before Russia's 1905 bloody sunday at the winter palace. ‘Our primary object is to drive the enemy behind the Taitzu River and to inflict on him as much damage as possible.' Kuropatkin was unleashing a full blown offensive, seeking to hammer the Japanese before Nogi could arrive to tip the scale. Though Mischenko's raid failed horribly, it did bring Kuropatkin valuable intelligence, indicating Nogi was not yet within the theatre. The intelligence also indicated the Japanese left flank was quite vulnerable. Grippenberg seized the initiative and began massively redeploying units on January 14-16th, this unfortunately fully showcased his intent to the Japanese. Kuropatkin would late write ‘These movements, of course, at once disclosed our intentions, and information soon came in that the enemy had, in their turn, commenced moving their troops westward and fortifying opposite our new dispositions.' The most southern held position of the Russians was Changtau. Further south were the villages of Haikoutai and Sandepu, roughly 2 miles apart held and fortified by the Japanese. These villages held walls around 3 feet thick surrounded by open plains. The walls had been fitted with gun holes for machine guns that the Japanese made sure had good interlocking arcs of fire. The Russian advance began on the 25th, and the winter weather was dreadful. Grippenbergs army of 75,000 men marched across the frozen Hun river. The 1st Siberian corps of Stakelberg quickly seized Heikoutai, but at a tremendous cost of casualties. Meanwhile over at the left flank's position at Sandepu, the Japanese had 4 divisions and were attacked by 7 divisions of Grippenberg. There was a state of confusion between the forces of Grippenberg and Kaulbars armies from the offset. Hampered by a lack of maps, literally working with sketches and facing blizzard conditions, Grippenergs 14th division shelled and occupied the neighboring hamlet of Paotaitzu by accident. A false report was soon dispatched to Kuropatkin indicating Sandepu had fallen. When Grippenberg realized his mistake, he ordered his heavy artillery to shell the actual target. His troops were exhausted from the offensive and weather, so Grippenberg gave them the a day's rest on the 27th, but the rest area was literally beside Sandepu, still held by the 5th IJA division. Stakelbergs men in the area were absolutely smashed by the Japanese who quickly attacked them. Stakelberg would lose roughly 6000 men before withdrawing during the night. On the night of the 28th, the bulk of Grippenbergs army was now separated from Kaulbars on either side of Sandepu village. The Russians launched attacks against Sandepu, but failed to make any progress. The Japanese held position was thwarted the two Russian armies ability to cooperate. Soon Kuropatkin learnt what was going on as Grippenberg requested reinforcements to continue his advance. Kuropatkin refused to reinforce Grippenberg and ordered him to pull back greatly irritated by the Grippenbergs insubordination. At the exact same time, Oyama ordered his armies to push the Russians past the Hun River. Thus when Grippenberg began to withdraw he was met with a massive Japanese offensive. Oyama described the action as such “‘We attempted several attack movements but suffered heavily from the enemy's artillery, and especially from his machine guns, but all the columns continued the attack with all their might. Our forces charging into Heikoutai occupied the place firmly and entirely by half past nine.'” Kuropatkin had thus failed to achieve any of his objectives, the Sandepu debacle had cost him 20,000 casualties, the Japanese suffered 9000 casualties. Over a third of the Russian loses were incurred by Stakelbergs 1st Siberian corps, largely due to the commander refusing to comply with direct orders. As a result Stakelberg was removed from command and by January 30th, Grippenberg was asking to be relieved of command, stating he was gravely ill! Kuropatkin wrote “This action of his set a fatal example both to those under him and to the rest of the army, and was most harmful to all discipline. The opinions, also, that he had expressed to the effect that the campaign was virtually over, and that we should retire to Mukden and Harbin, had a dangerously disturbing effect on our weaker members. It was in the long run more harmful than any single defeat of a portion of our force would have been” As Grippenberg took his leave for St Petersburg, he stopped by Harbin and gave a report to the Novoe Vremya, it was quite a embellished account of what had occurred “Victory was in our hands, and I cannot tell you how anxiously I awaited men and authorisation to advance … On the night of the 29th we retired, carrying away all our wounded men, and even picking up broken bayonets. The men retired unwillingly with tears in their eyes. I decided that it was impossible for me to remain any longer at the front, and the next day I reported myself to General Kuropatkin, asking him to relieve me of my command immediately.” Thus Kuropatkin had finally been rid of the meddlesome Alexeiev, only to be severed with a megalomaniac commander who refused to listen to orders, such as Grippenberg. To make matters worse, Grippenberg, a senior general came back home and leaked such information to the official newspaper during a time in which revolution could break out at any moment. The mention of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers being killed in what was seen as a pointless war, drove the public's outrage further. The Times had this to report “They had been told that they would beat the Japanese as soon as they had them on the plain. After Liaoyang they were told that they would beat the Makaki (leatherskinned dwarfs) as soon as the kaoliang was cut and the little tricksters had to fight in the open. After the Sha Ho they were told that the Japanese could not bear the cold, and that they would never stand their ground in a winter engagement.” By February of 1905 the war had become 1 year old and the Russians had little to show for it. Meanwhile back home nearly 1000 people were dead or wounded from the events of Bloody Sunday. Disorder and looting broke out across St Petersburg. Strikes began to erupt outside the city in places like Batum, Tiflis, Baku, Kovno, Reval, Vilna, Riga, Warsaw and of course Moscow. Over 400,000 Russian workers refused to work in January of 1905 as Tsar Nicholas II attempted appeasing the peoples fever with a Duma. Soon that began to fail, the Tsar resorted to brute force to quell the strike movement. In the next few months an estimated 15,000 people were shot or hanged, 20,000 were beaten up and 45,000 would be sent into exile. The attractive war was adding fuel to the fires of revolution within the Russian Empire. A weak aristocracy was barely holding on to its fledgling empire. The Tsar had initially saw the outbreak of war in the east to be a positive factor that would contribute to a raise of morale amongst the populace of Russia, but it was backfiring tremendously. Of course the revolutionary fever had more to do with other variables than an unpopular war, but what would happen if Russia lost the war? I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. General Grippenberg did not turn out to be a great replacement for Alexeiev. Kuropatkin struggled to toss any offensive he could to break Oyama's armies before General Nogi's 3rd IJA arrived at the theatre of war. Now all that remained was Mukden and with it Russia's hope of holding onto Manchuria.
Last time we spoke about theJapanese advance to Liaoyang. After the loss at Telissu, the Russians began to scramble to defend multiple locations in Manchuria. With multiple Japanese armies advancing simultaneously, Kuropatkin could not be sure where they would hit next and found himself making matters worse when he ordered troops to hold too many places. The Russian losses at Tashihciao, the passes a Fenshuiling and Motien, Chiaotou, Hsimucheng, Tawan, and Yangtzuling. The Russians were in disarray, trying to delay so more troops could gather at Liaoyang and Mukden, but their efforts were being trampled upon. Even out at sea, Admiral Witgeft made and attempt to break out and join up with the Vladivostok Squadron, but was likewise forced to pull back. Now multiple Japanese armies would converge to smash Liaoyang, Manchuria was being slowly conquered city by city. #79 The Russo-Japanese War part 6: The Battle of Liaoyang Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. The Russians had just been severed multiple defeats. Not a single one of Kuropatkins formations had been spared the humiliation. A times correspondent had this to say ‘There is such a thing as the tradition of defeat, and unenviable is the army that creates it.” The commander of the European 17th corps, General Baron Bildering was appointed commander of the Eastern Front. In addition to his 17th corps, he received the 3rd Siberian army corps and the 10th corps. The two opposing armies spent three weeks skirmishing with another over the course of 6 mountainous miles. On the 3rd of August, Haicheng that had so much attention and effort dedicated to it, was entered with little opposition. The Russians had spent so much time at Haicheng, building up its fortifications and expected a battle that never took place. To make matters worse, so much supplies had been brought over to Haicheng, the Russians did not have enough time to destroy or move it all, so the Japanese took it all as a prize. The 1st, 2nd and 4th IJA met at Haicheng as Kuropatkins front was reduced from 140 to 45 miles. The Russian main body was now deployed along the railway at Anshanchan, 22 miles northeast of Haicheng and around 20 miles west of Liaoyang. The war took its toll on Kuropatkin by this point. If you ever heard the memes about what US presidents look like before and after presidency, its kind of a similar situation. Kuropatkin was said to be unrecognizable by August of 1904, he had that 1000 mile stare. Kuropatkin sat huddled in a carriage riding through Liaoyang, not even acknowledging or looking at men who saluted him. Kuropatkin was a experienced military man, he had worked in numerous political positions, a very distinguished figure, and he was quite broken. The Japanese were consolidating and advancing upon Liaoyang. His overcaution, lack of determination, a gradual erosion of his confidence in the face of a growing admiration for the enemy were losing him the war. Kuropatkin cabled the Tsar that he had withdrawn from Haicheng to Liaoyang because “The Japanese superiority in numbers. They were accustomed to hills and hot weather; they were younger, carried lighter loads, and had numerous mountain artillery and pack transport. Their energetic and intelligent leadership. The extraordinary patriotism and military spirit of their troops; and the lack of such a spirit on our side (caused by general ignorance of what we were fighting for)” This telegram sounds a lot to me like someone simply stating “they are better than us sir”. Its pure defeatism, and completely unwarranted mind you, the war was not lost by a large margin. Now Liaoyang was a city holding a population of roughly 60,000. The railway had a north-south-west-east junction at Liaoyang and the Taitzu river ran north of the city. It was a walled city, and by this point held around three lines of defense running some 40 miles long, something Kuropatkin called his zone of maneuver. The railway line running south from Harbin remained the Russians only line of communication while the Japanese had the benefit of two lines. Liaoyang was a vital junction not just for rail, but also for roads. The old mandarin road ran up the west coast of the Liaodong peninsula and Port Arthur, both passed through places like Liaoyang before going to Korea. The Taitzu river is a tributary of the Liao river flowing east and west into the sea. There are 3 important tributaries; the Lan and Tang rivers east of Liaoyang and the Sha river to her south. The battlefield of Liaoyang would have the mandarin roads on the flat open plains of the Liao valley to the west. Here there was abundant kaoliang, over 9 feet tall offering coverage. To the east of the Mandarin roads, spurs rose up to taller mountains. Within the city the railway station was sitting near the northwest wall. The station was constantly receiving materials of war and troops. Nearby to the railway station was the Russian HQ. Despite the incoming battle the Russians allowed normal civilian life to go by, yet again allowing the numerous Japanese spies to do their work. Kuropatkins troops busied themselves with vodka and women, even his chief of staff was allowed time off to be with his girlfriend as Kuropatkin shouldered the additional work. The battle of Liaoyang was to be a decisive battle, something Kuropatkin wrote himself in his memoirs. If the Russians lost, their communication lines in China would be cut, the resources of the Liao plan would be lost, something their interior economy depended upon and of course Port Arthur would be even more in trouble. Kuropatkin did all he could to delay the enemy so he could build up forces at Liaoyang, if it fell all was left was Mukden. On August 3rd, Kuropatkin and Alexeiev met at Liaoyang. Both men understood the threat the Japanese advance meant. Alexeiev wanted a an offensive to be made against the 1st IJA, whereupon Kuropatkin was forced to speak to him like a toddler about the reality of the situation. The string of defeats had destroyed the Russian morale, they lacked sufficient officers, their strength was both qualitatively and quantitatively less than the enemy. Alexeiev would depart believing he had achieved some sort of compromise with Kuropatkin to get him to agree to fight at Liaoyang, but of course this was what Kuropatkin sought regardless. Liaoyang was to be defended by three lines of defense. The innermost line ran close to the city, anchored across the river on the northern bank. The line held 8 forts with 130 old pattern guns all dug in. Flank protection, obstacles, ditches and tons of cover provided an impressive line of defense. This defense line was watched and mapped by Chinese spies working for Lt Colonel Isauma. Its number one weakness was some high ground 6 miles south east of it. If the high ground was seized, artillery could be placed upon it to ran down fire upon the city and railway station. The next line of defense ran a radius of 7 miles from the city. The line went from Manju Yama in the northeast to a feature 693 feet high overlooking the railway. The outermost line this was about 15 miles out going from Anshanchan to Anping. The line was not as strong as the inner line, but offered substantial obstacles against the enemy. The Russians believed the Japanese would perform two basic courses of action. The first would be to turn a flank, the second to throw a frontal attack against the successive lines of defense. To turn a flank, the Japanese would need to cross a river, leaving them very vulnerable to Russian counter attacks provided by their reserves. The Japanese frontal attack would progressively exhaust itself, setting up counter strokes. The battle would be the first time the leaders of each side would be directly commanding. The Japanese troops were confident, well practiced and yet to be served a real defeat. Despite the losses, Kuropatkins withdrawals were performed perfectly, this battle was quite open to either side winning. The Russians divided themselves into three groups; the southern group, eastern group and reserves. General Zarubaiev led the southern group consisting of the 1st, 2nd and 4th Siberian corps entrenched at Anshanchan. 10 miles south of his position were the advanced guards with the army reserve taken from all 3 corps. Amongst them were 11 cavalry squadrons and 6 guns under General Mishchenko. Baron Bildering led the eastern group consisting of the 3rd Siberian and 10th european corps. They were deployed in a semicircle between the Tang and Taitzu. To the left of the Taitzu was brigade of the 17th corps. A bridge connected this detachment to the main body. The reserves were at Liaoyang under Kuropatkins command, they consisted of 30 battalions taken from the 2nd siberians and 17th corps. Over at Mukden were the recently arrived 5th Siberian corps of which 8 battalions were ordered to advance to the Taitzu river to guard the left flank. Also at Mukden were elements of the 1st european corps. The Russians took specific care to guard their flanks and railway, but most of the detachments were in the east, while approaches from the west were somewhat neglected. At this point in the war, there was a large possibility China might enter the war on Japan's side. This indeed was something Kuropatkin wrote about often, but it had major consequences. If China entered the war it would most likely draw in France, which would draw in Britain both of whom would seek to end hostilities. Such a situation would be against Japan's interests, Japan was actively doing everything she could to stop the Chinese from such actions, but publicly Japan fanned rumors using her spy network. Such rumors spoke of how General Ma had gathered a 30,000 strong force along the western borders of Manchuria. Other rumors spoke of a Japanese army landing at Yingkou to join forces with a large Honghuzi force. On top of the rumor filled paranoia, Kuropatkin had some bad intelligence. He believed the Japanese outnumbered them heavily, but in reality he had some 158,000 men and Commander in Chief of the IJA, Iwao Oyama held 125,000. The Russians had the numbers, Oyama enjoyed perfect intelligence on this and he knew every day they grew. Thus Oyama ordered his commanders to keep grabbing the initiative, because if they did not the Russians would soon overwhelm them. Meanwhile something else deeply concerned Oyama, Nogi was besieging Port Arthur and things were going terribly. Oyama had hoped Port Arthur would fall before he tossed the kitchen sink at Liaoyang, but he could wait no longer. Kuropatkin's cavalry which he referred to as “old men on little horses” were not living up to what he thought they should be. He relied upon them for intelligence and they over exaggerated everything. His cavalry was three times larger than the Japanese, they should have been crushing them in every battle. Now every day that passed by was a victory for the Russians, already the 5th Siberians at Vladivostok were being diverted to Liaoyang, time was everything. Kuropatkin planned to hold the line between Anshanchan and Anping with a strong covering force, 3 corps strong. He planned to hold back some reserves and hit to Japanese when they began a frontal attack and this strategy did not sit well with Generals like Bildering or Sluchevski. Both generals did not like the idea of fighting in front of an unfordable river and advised pulling the entire force back to Liaoyangs inner defense. Sluchevski took this a step further recommending they take up a new defensive position between Mukden and Liaoyang. Kuropatkin wrote this in his memoirs “These officers reiterated the same opinions still more forcibly early in August, when the difficulty of moving their troops towards Liaoyang became greatly increased by the heavy rains. The Viceroy, who was much perturbed about the fate of Port Arthur, by the news of the unfortunate result of the naval operations on August 10, and whose fears were increased by Stoessel's highly alarmist reports, was at the same time urging me (August 15) to assist the fortress and make an advance of some sort – though it were only a demonstration – towards Haicheng. “ Kuropatkin messaged the Tsar about the conflicting ideas, and the Tsar replied that he acting as the commanding general knew best and would decide what was to be done, not his subordinates. On the 7th of August Kuropatkin told Bildering that they would fight a decisive battle and it would be along the Anshanchan-Anping line. However two days later Kuropatkin instructed the commander of the 3rd Siberians, General Ivanov that his job was to only act as rearguards and not enter into the foray of battle. Ivanov was bewildered by this and sought further clarification to which Kuropatkin said “‘They were to avoid a desperate struggle and simultaneously to hold their positions and gain time, but to retreat to the main defences at Liaoyang if seriously attacked, without permitting themselves to be demoralised or disorganised.” Thus Ivanov basically planned for a retreat from the line before any fighting was to be had. Then on August the 23rd Kuropatkin changed his mind completely and reaffirmed the decisive battle would be fought on the Anshanchan-Anping line, he wrote this to Sluchevski who was commanding the 10th corps “Under these circumstances, I do not think we need confine ourselves to fighting rearguard actions in the positions occupied by the Tenth and Third Siberian Army Corps and by the troops on the southern front. I am resolved to fight in those positions with all the forces apportioned to their defence, to beat the enemy back and to assume the offensive should a favourable opportunity present itself. “ It seems the Russian intelligence throughout August bolstered Kuropatkin. There were reports the 2nd IJA relinquished 3-4 divisions to help at Port Arthur, this of course was not true and most likely fed to the Russian by Japanese spies. There was another report 30-40 thousand Japanese in Oku's army were facing a cholera outbreak, again not true. It seemed to the Russians the Japanese were at the moment at least performing defense in front of Liaoyang. Kuropatkin instructed Sluchevski to prepare a possible offensive should an opportunity present itself, but reaffirmed Bildering and Zarubaiev they would maintain their positions. Thus the outer defensive line changed a bit, something that would aid Oyama. On the Japanese side they wargamed a few options before them. Everything did not look good on the board and ultimately they decided to pursue a simple course of action. They would exert pressure across the whole Russian line until the combined force could initiate a converging attack. At this point Oyama would decide whether they hit left, center or right. From his HQ at Haicheng, Oyama ordered his forces to drive the Russians from their forward position to their main position hopefully by August 28th. The 1st IJA was to advance west of the Tang river; the 4th IJA would advance against the main Russian line by the 29th; the 2nd IJA would advance along the Sha river and coordinate with the 4th IJA. The 1st IJA began their advance on the 26th followed by the Guards division 3 days prior. The major attack would by performed by the 2nd and half of the 12th division against the 10th corps at Anping. The other half of the 12th with the Kobi brigade would hit the Russian left. Their assault was scheduled for the night of the 25th. The advance of the Japanese force was terrible, it was a muddy nightmare making the movement of their heavy artillery difficult. General Mishchenko cavalry were patrolling in a gap between the two Russian groups, but had pulled back into the reserve, Kuropatkin planned to use them as a hammer later. The gap was then filled by weaker detachments. The Japanese Guards division were advancing upon the 3rd Siberians while the 10th division of the 4th IJA were hitting the gap. Kuropatkin watched this with despair believing the Guards division were actually 3 divisions strong. The Russians went into a state of frantic reinforcement. Kuropatkin ordered the 17th corps to maintain their position while also detaching the 35th division from the 17th corps to give to Ivanov's 3rd Siberians without telling Bildering. To further assist the 3rd siberians, the 10th corps were ordered to attack eastward on the 26th thus protecting the 3rd right flank. Reserves were tossed to the southwards just before the Russians were attacked. General Liubavin on the 25th reported he believed the Japanese would cross the Taitzu and this caught the attention of both Kuropatkin and Bildering to make sure the gaps there would be filled up. Thus the 10th corps were now exposed to the combined attacks of the 2nd and 12th IJA divisions. On the 25th, the Guards Division surged into the 3rd Siberians outposts. During the night, it seemed inevitable the Japanese were exerting pressure so the 10th corps offensive actions were canceled. At 6:10am Japanese artillery was beginning to support the Guards division, hitting the 3rd Siberians position which sat on a ridge rising some 1000 feet above the river valley. The Russian artillery dueled from better firing positions until 4pm removing the Japanese artillery threat from the sector. Until 8pm the Russian artillery battered the Japanese unchallenged. The Guards division were thus severely hamstrung by the Russian artillery, but they continued without artillery support and threatened to break through into a gap between the two army groups. Meanwhile Colonel Martinov of the Zaraisk regiment, 35th division alongside a cavalry squadron and battery began to hear gunfire 5 miles in front of their position. Martinov was ordered forward more and ran into the Russian right line held by General Grekov along with multiple cavalry squadrons. Grekov reported the situation to Martinov and that he planned to toss a counter attack. The cavalry squadrons were not forthcoming for such an action, so Martinov aided him by moving unseen up a valley to hit the left flank of the advancing Japanese line. Three batteries began firing into the Japanese flank with such a devastating effect, General Asada had to order his brigade to withdraw. The attacker had become the attacked! The commander of the Guards division upon seeing the 3rd Siberian corps entrenchments, requested reserves be brought up. At 8am word was sent to Kuroki who promised him the entire army reserve, unfortunately said reserves were marching from Fenghuangcheng and were exhausted by the time they reached the guards at 6pm. In order to save Asada's brigade, his divisional commander ordered a 3 battalion strong attack against the center of the 3rd siberian corps. The attack was intended to be a diversion, nothing serious. By 4pm the Japanese artillery were snuffed out, their infantry failed to make any progress and thus they pulled back conveniently under the cover of a storm. Now 4 miles north east of Anping is a saddle known as Hungshaling, it elevates around 1900 feet and dominates the Tang valley. The Tambov regiment of the 9th division were atop it. Their divisional commander placed 9 battalions along the front line each one responsible for about a mile of the line, within his reserve were 7 battalions. They had two field batteries and four mountain guns in the position. The 9th division were about to be hit by Kurokis 2nd IJA main central thrust, supported by the 12th division's 12th brigade. The 23rd brigade of General Kigoshi were given the task of seizing Hangshaling. Now Hungshaling is a formidle steep and rocky ridge, its northern edge covers the Taitzu river while its southern overlooks the Tang river flowing through the Hungsha pass. The lower slopes are covered in trees, but then it becomes 40 yards of open steep ground. The Tambov regiment positioned their 6 field guns on a narrow 20 yard wide ridge for the best visibility possible, but this also made them vulnerable. Kurkoki's men had little chance of taking such a position, anyone who approached would be met with blankets of shrapnel and bullets. The ridge did have one weak spot, in front of it was a carpet of dead ground which could not be properly covered by the defenders, and attackers could get their artillery there to hit them. The 2nd and 12th IJA divisions attacked the 10th corps position on the night of the 25th. The 2nd division advanced in two columns attacking the right hand side of the 10th corps. By 8am the attack was petering out without progress. The 12th division advanced in five columns and managed to penetrate the Russian line and this led Russian units to pull back, exposing the left flank and Hungshaling. At 8:30pm on the 25th, the 23rd IJA brigade began their approach upon Hungshaling. Just after 1am, two battalions joined up taking a nearby spur called Suribachi Yama, while another regiment to their northwest position two mountain guns on the North Papanling. The Japanese were quite exposed and in isolated pockets, they prodded around, but were repelled everytime from the defenders upon their heights. At dawn the fighting really began. The Japanese artillery located at a place called One Tree Pass moved forward under fire from the Tambov regiment. The Tambov commander sent three companies to counter attack as the Japanese were motioned for a toehold upon the hill. For two hours the battle raged back and forth. The Russians then received word the 9th division on their right had withdrawn. At this point their reserve was down to half, while the Japanese had depleted theres. The Russians began the age old tactic of tossing boulders down the hill upon the advancing Japanese to great effect. By midday both sides were exhausted and bloody. General Sluchevski of the 10th corp watched Hungshalings struggle nervously. He continuously requested reinforcements from Bildering, but Bildering believed he was overreacting and refused to release the 3rd division. Bouldering was withholding the 3rd division because he sought to use them in the emergency that the Japanese managed to cross the Taitzu, he was also being fed information from Ivanov that he was facing far more units than he actually was. At 3:30pm the Japanese artillery began to fire again, fiercely targeting Hungshaling. The Japanese attacked from the south, but to no avail. A concurrent attack from the north in regimental strength was more successful. The Japanese swept past some abandoned batteries causing nearly 50% casualties upon their occupants before they pulled out. The Tambov regiment clung to the southern portion of the ridge, but their CO was wounded and 500 out of their 2500 men were dead or too wounded to fight. By 6pm the regiment was withdrawing through Peikou under the cover of a storm. It was a terrible loss, because the 3rd Siberians were crushing the 12th IJA division and the loss of Hungshaling would completely negate it. While Tambov's regiment were pulling out, Sluchevski sent the last regiment of his corps reserve to Peikou while pleading with Bildering for aid. At 8pm Bildering agreed to send two regiment to the 10th corps, but it was all too late. Kuropatkin received word of the fall of the Peikou sector and ordered it recaptured immediately, for it threatened the entire outer defensive line. All the while the storm raged and with so much rain, reports came that the Tang river was rising and that her bridges might be lost, leaving the only viable crossing point for the 10th corps at a bridge 3 miles north of Anping which was now dominated by the Japanese position at Peikou. The 10th corps were withdrawing and this in turn threatened the position of the 3rd Siberians. That night Kuropatkin ordered the whole army to withdraw to the advanced position. The situation of the Southern group was nowhere near as desperate as the Eastern Group. Zarubaiev was ordered to resist but also to withdraw once the enemy began its main attack. The 26th had been a rather quiet day, then on the 27th at 6am the Southern group began their withdrawal. The Eastern group conducted a difficult and rather dangerous withdrawal through the rained out roads, but made it to their advanced positions without conflict. The energy was sapped out of the men, General Stakelberg commanding the 1st Siberians asked Zarubaeiv if his troops could rest on the 28th and Zarubaeiv agreed. For some reason General Zasulich's 2nd siberians did not comply like the rest and continued to retreat and this move exposed the left flank of the stationary 4th Siberians holding a central position. The 4th Siberians could not retreat because the road heading north was blocked. The 3rd and 5th IJA divisions advanced too quickly, Zarubaeiv ordered Zasulich to stop his withdrawal, but he did not comply. Zarubaeiv sent the order again, and yet Zasulich did not comply. Kuropatkin then ordered Zasulich to turn back and help cover the withdrawal of the corps that he had effectively abandoned stating “if it were necessary to do so to cover the retreat of those Corps, to fight to the last man and perish'. Gradually the Russians got into their advanced lines, but it was a terribly messy ordeal. Countless supplies were abandoned, an entire battery was left on a road. Teams of men trying to grab materials were being fired upon by the Japanese who did not let up. Thus the first round of defenses was defeated. It was a confused mess. The 3rd Siberians and 10th corps received a blow to morale. With the contraction of forces to the secondary advanced line, Kuropatkin now placed his 17th corp on the north bank of the river. The second line of defenses was around 7 miles south of Liaoyang and included numerous hills that were heavily fortified. The Russians line contracted afford more defense, but this also allowed Oyama to encircle them easier. As darkness fell on August 29th, Oyama issued his orders to attack and took the 2nd IJA's 4th division under his personal command. The 2nd IJA would advance upon the Soushanpu position to Hsinlitun overlooking the Tassu brook. To their right was the 4th IJA who would attack the area from Hsinlitun to Tsaofantun. The Guards division with other elements would attack the line of hills running north east. The 12th division with support from the 15th brigade and the 2nd divisions artillery would cross the Taitzu river to try and turn the Russian left flank. Thus three Japanese divisions would be attacking the 1st Siberian corp west of the Tassu brook; to the east of the Tassu brook the 10th division, 10th brigade, guards division and 3rd brigade would attack the 3rd Siberian corps and 10th corps. Assuming the units got over the Taitzu the 2nd and 12th divisions would hit the 17th corps. Kuropatkin outnumbered the Japanese significantly in the east, not so much in the west. Oyama kept his 4th division in his own hands to meet any possible Russian counter moves. Dawn on the 30th, the attack began. There was little progress to be made as the Russian artillery battered the attackers back. The casualties were immense for some units, the 2nd regiment only got within 1000 yard of the Russian lines and suffered 71 deaths and 325 wounded for the day. The second guards brigade supported by a kobi battalion attacked a 1030 feet hill held by the 11th east siberian regiment and 36th regiment. The Japanese managed to seize forward trenches, but soon Russian batteries came in and dislodged them. At 5am the 10th IJA division with 2 kobi regiment attacked some heights south and west of Tsaofantun held by the 3rd corps. The fighting was vicious and the Russians charged out of their trenches to meet the Japanese bayonet to bayonet. British Captain James Jardine attached with the 2nd IJA wrote this of the action “Whenever one side charged, the other side always charged to meet them. To a listener the effect was extraordinary. A hot musketry fight might be in progress, when suddenly the Russians would sound the charge. Instantly all firing would cease on either side, the Japanese cheering wildly in answer to the drums and bugles of the enemy. The Russians cheer ‘Hoorah!', the Japanese, on such desperate occasions, cheer ‘Wa-a-a!' The impression given by these cheers, mingling with the rattle of the drums and the clangour of the bugles, was more melancholy than martial, sounding like a prolonged wail of grief ascending from the troubled earth up into the dark heavens. “ The 3rd battalion of the 23rd east Siberian regiment bore the brunt of the attack and within 20 minutes lost all of their officers and 304 out of 502 soldiers. A russian battery rushed over and at a range of 600 yards battered the Japanese tossing them back. Oyama's strategy at this point was to unhinge the Tassu brook position so the 4th IJA could turn the flank of the 1st and 3rd corps. The Japanese were gradually pushing forward getting their artillery in range to do more effective damage. Ultimately the Japanese were halted, but Kuropatkin was nervous the Japanese would succeed in turning the flank. Kuropatkin began to shuffle some units around and this allowed the Japanese to seize the village of Wuluntai and begin shelling Hill 693 and Mahyetun. The 2nd IJA advanced along the railway with the 5th division of the 4th IJA supporting them to the right. Their combined force began forcing open a gap. Stakelberg began requesting reinforcements from Kuropatkin, but Kuropatkin rejected this believing the Japanese could not be strong everywhere along the line and thus things must be already be stabilized. Stakelberg was instructed to assist the 3rd corps, but if their position and his was untenable they should withdraw to the inner defense line. The attacks opening the gap to the Tassu brook were increasing in strength, prompting Stakelberg to plead again for reinforcements. Despite the pressure the Japanese were applying since 6am, it was not until 11am when their line was complete and ready to really assault. At 12:45pm Stakelberg yet again requests more reinforcements and this time he was granted them, but unfortunately they were coming from the hill 693 sector and were heavily delayed. Stakelberg frantically plugged gaps in his line, until 2pm when finally some reinforcements arrived. Meanwhile Mishchenko grabbed a mixed force of 15 battalions drawn from numerous corps and charged into the Japanese north of hill 693. The action was uncoordinated and basically saw the men just filling a defensive line instead of actually dislodging the Japanese attackers upon the hill. Stakelberg reported at 4:40pm he had fully stabilized his lines. The night saw numerous attacks launched against hill 693 and Mahyetun, but without success. To make a demonstration, the Japanese demoted 3 generals for their lack of success. One of those generals was the father of Hideki Tojo. One commander who had a chance at success was General Kuroki. Bold action was required so Kuroki took action at 1pm on his own initiative to order a crossing of the river stated for 11pm that night. At midnight his forces began cross the Taitzu river unopposed some 15 miles to the east of Liaoyang. The water was around 3 feet deep where they crossed. Russian dragoons watched the Japanese cross the river and establish a bridgehead, they frantically sent word to Kuropatkin which only reached him by 11am because their telephones were having problems. The Russians had lost the vital opportunity to smash the Japanese as they crossed, cavalry forces under Liubavin who were supposed to be screening, but instead withdrew leaving the infantry. The morning of the 31st saw further Japanese attacks upon all the strategic features. Hsinlitun was being enveloped slowly, hill 693's forward trenches were overwhelmed and seized, though the Japanese artillery would tragically hit their own men in the process. The Russians and Japanese atop hill 693 ended up fighting with bayonets leading to The 34th IJA regiment suffered 487 killed with 632 wounded, the 3rd east siberian regiment facing them took 35% officer and 38% casualties in the process. Shoushan hill saw a similar clash and a surprise attack was performed at the villages of Mahyetun and Kuchiatzu, but Russian machine guns saved them. Oyama still held back his 4th division wary of counter attacks, by nightfall the Russian line not only held, it caused 3000 casualties upon the Japanese. The saving grace was only to be Kuroki's river crossing which gravely worried Kuropatkin who issued orders to his corps commanders “disposition No 3”. This plan was for a general retreat to the inner defensive line while reserves would be launched to hit Kuroki's bridge head, then estimated to be 70,000 men. At 7:30pm the corps commanders initiated the command. Kuropatkin was still under the belief the enemy was much larger than they were, he had thus handed them a victory at the second line and it was completely unwarranted. By 1am the Japanese were discovering the Russians were withdrawing and by 3am, the Japanese seized all the features they had been bleeding for. With the first light of day they could now see Liaoyang more clearly as they brought their artillery closer and closer. At this point Oyama believed he was dealing with a routed army. The 17th Siberian army corps were now divdied. On the right was the 3rd division holding hil l1057, to the left was Lt General Dobrjinski 35th division on hill 920, the corps reserve was to the rear at the village of Shahotun led by Major General Glasko. Facing them was Kuroki. Kuroki observed the new Russian lines and saw a 75 foot knoll, it was the Russians “vital ground”. Vital ground was a terrain that if possesed by an enemy would seriously interfere with ones defense. Kuroki called the knoll Manju Yama meaning “rice cake hill”. Major General Okasaki's 15th brigade of the 2nd division was given the mission to seize hill 920 and Manju Yama while the 12th division would advance to cut off the railway. At 8:30am the artillery began a duel and the Japanese took care to batter Manju Yama. At 9:30am the 15th brigade with the 12th divisions artillery for support began to attack Manju Yama, they would soon be joined by the 23rd brigade. As daylight was dimming the fire fight over Manju Yama remained fierce. The knoll was heavily fortified, the Russians knew it was of utmost importance to hold it. By 10:30pm the Japanese managed to gain a toehold on the northside of the knoll. Meanwhile the battle for hill 920 resulted in the Russians gradually evacuating the position. Their evacuation led to further units of the 17th corps pulling back weakening the line. The Russians launched two counter attacks at hill 920, but both failed seeing them pull out of the area by 4am. With the loss of hill 920 also came the loss of Manju Yama. Now three Russian corps wee severely restricted in their ability to maneuver. Within the Japanese hands Manju Yama provided the element of a shield to protect further river crossings, this was a catastrophe for the Russians. Now Kuroki sought to advance the forces to sweep away Liubavins cavalry, to approach the Yentai mines and seize the junction of the Yentai mines- Mukden railway. Meanwhile Kuropatkin was not informed of the loss of Manju Yama, Bildering only reported a hill to the northeast was captured, but that he would recapture the position when he had reorganized his reserves. When the loss of Manju Yama became known, the 1st Siberian corp was ordered to come up alongside the 17th corp and attack the Japanese right flank and rear. General Orlov commanding the 54th division of the 5th Siberian corp was ordered to cooperate with the 17th corp and recapture Manju Yama. Orlov was to take orders from Bildering and received orders at 7pm on September 1st to attack the Japanese position alongside the 17th corps at dawn. But two hours later Orlov received other orders stating ‘Your principal task is to keep in touch with Bildering, and if he is not attacked to act in the manner which has been indicated. If however he is attacked at Hsikuantun you will move to his support by the shortest route.' Orlov was confused by this and sent word to Bildering asking for clarification, but his messenger got lost in a field of Kaoliang. Rather than do nothing Orlov took up a position south of the Yentai mines with Samsonov waiting for orders to strike. From his position Orlov could see the fighting on Manju Yama, it seemed the 17th corps were in deep battle, so Orlov acted. He left Samsonovs cavalry, two battalions and 8 guns to defend the Yentai mines as he rushed forward. Orlovs force became disorganized in some kaoliang, his artillery were unable to keep up properly. Most of Orlov's men were reservists and when they met the enemy everything fell to ruin. By 1pm it was clear to Orlov his force was in a hopeless position, his main body was losing a battle of atrition and his left flank was about to be turned. Amidst the slaughter a messenger showed up at 1:10pm telling Orlov the 17th corps were falling apart and to act with extreme caution. Orlov replied ‘As I am unable to effect a junction with either the First Siberian or Seventeenth Corps, I am falling back on Yentai Station.' The Japanese chased their terrified fleeing oponents in a tremendous rout. Stakelbergs battered 1st siberian corps were advancing in two columns when they came across Orlov's rabble fleeing westward. Stakelberg in a very sick state ordered Orlov to grab his one remaining battalion and head back into the kaoliang forest to hit the Japanese artillery. Orlov personally led the battalion into the fray of battle and was hit 5 times in the head and stomach, his battalion was destroyed, what would remain of them would limp back to the Yentai mines. The Japanese set up artillery on the Shoushan Hill and began firing upon the western defenses of Liaoyang, as told to us by a correspondant of the times “The civilised world had never seen anything to compare with the final preparations for the advance of the Japanese infantry. The massed and scattered batteries took the line of Russian resistance in sections. The 250 guns opened first on the Russian settlement. Great columns of dust and smoke rose up from amidst the grey stone buildings. Then suddenly out of this whirlwind of bursting shell shot up great tongues of lurid flame. The very rocks of Shoushan quivered with the blasts of ever recurrent discharges. The air shrieked with the rush of high velocity projectiles.” The railway station was evacuating the wounded and civilians, it became a primary target for the Japanese artillery. Shells burst over the post office, the Red Cross tents, over a hospital, over numerous homes and business, it was chaos. Despite the breakthrough where Orlov was wounded, many Russian positions were holding. Kuropatkin left Liaoyang at 6am for the eastern side of the battlefield. He recieved signals from multiple commanders that Manju Yama was captured, but Bildering contuined to send word he was about to regain the feature. Kuropatkin ordered Zarubaeiv to perform a offensive to buy time, the offensive would costs 1200 Russian casualties. In the meantime General Dobrjinski's 35th division were ordered to recapture Manju Yama. Dobrjinski's men advanced through the Kaoliang forest, but Bildering contuined to issue reports he was “just about to attack the feature” prompting Kuropatkin to continously postpone Dobrjinski's attack until it was nighttime and when they attacked they received no supprt and were defeated with heavy losses. On September 2nd during the afternoon Kuropatkin received news of Orlov's deafeat, the 12th IJA had lost 180 men, Orlov had lost 1450, absolutely crushing. Numerous Russian units coverged against Manju Yama; 7 battalions from the 1st European and 5th Siberian corps attacked it from the right; General Vasiliev held 13 battalions of the 10th corps in the center and on the left were 6 battalions of the 17th corps under Colonel Istomin. Atop Manju Yama was the 15th brigade with one other regiment already battered. At 2:15pm 152 guns began firing upon the feature until 7pm. The Russian infantry began at 7pm when darkness fell. The Russians quickly became disoriented in the Kaoliang field, friendly fire occurred everywhere. Many of the Russians would not even make it within 20 yards to hurl grenades at the Japanese trenches. By 8:30 the Russians had to pull back. Later that night magnesium flares were launched and a fierce assault was made. By 9pm the attack became chaotic, to many troops of both armies were intermingled. The Russian national anthem literally had to be played to get their troops to assembly positions again. At 11pm the Russians were being pushed away, while Bildering continued to report to Kuropatkin “at any moment the pivot will be back in our hands”. In reality the Russian attack was definitely beaten back. 3 Russian regimental commanders and 300 troops were dead. On September the 5th when Japanese burial teams completed their work they would find 1039 casualties stood atop Manju Yama. At 3am on september 3rd, Zarubaeiv reported to Kuropatkin he was running low on ammunition and being beaten back. Then Stakelberg reported “I report that my situation is serious, and that, in consequence of the severe losses suffered by my regiments during the last five days, I not only cannot without serious reinforcements assume the offensive, but cannot even accept battle. I have therefore resolved to retreat this night on Liulinkou, where I will await fresh orders. ‘ After this were reported of Orlov's defeat and that Liubavins cavalry screen was 20 miles from Mukden. Then Bildering reported that the Russians were forced off Manju Yama and that he would most likely have to withdraw and would not be able to continue offensive actions. At 4am another message came from Bildering ‘Very unfortunate. But since Stakelberg also has retreated, I must decide to retreat on Mukden and beyond. Concentrate there, reorganise and advance.' Kuropatkin replied ‘My communications with Mukden being threatened by considerable Japanese forces, I am retiring my army to that place, as its first duty is to protect those communications.' And thus a 43 miles retreat to Mukden would begin on September 3rd and end by the 10th. The Japanese lost 5337 men dead and 18063 wounded. For the Russians it was 3611 dead and 14,301 wounded. It was in essence an indecisive battle, a army of 200,000 Russians would slip away to fight another day. The Official British History summed up the battle of Liaoyang as such “The importance of this battle can hardly be exaggerated. By their victory the Japanese triumphantly vindicated their strategy and extricated themselves from a position which at one time threatened to prove extremely dangerous. Moreover, the knowledge that they had emerged victorious from a bitter trial of strength gave them that supreme confidence in their own invincibility which is the greatest asset of a soldier. Lastly, a reverse following, as it would have upon the failure of the first general assault upon Port Arthur, must have been disastrous for Japan. It is not, therefore, without reason that the twelve days from 23 August to 3 September have been called the most crucial period in the history of the War. “ Tsar Nicholas II sent Kuropatkin a conciliatory message following the news of the retreat from Liaoyang: ‘From your reports of the fighting at Liaoyang I appreciate that it was impossible for you to have held that position longer without risk of being completely cut off from your communications.' By september 6th, the Tsar ordered a second Manchurian army to be formed and both armies would henceforth be led by Alexeiev. The battle of Liaoyang held up 50,000 Russians at Port Arthur from helping and nearly 100,000 Japanese likewise. Now the road was wide open for the Japanese to conquer the rest of Manchuria. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Kuropatkin was fed terrible intelligence and believed he was facing a much larger enemy than he was. In the end Kuropatkin fought a valiant battle for Liaoyang and inflicted tremendous casualties upon the Japanese, but Oyama's strategy won the day.
Last time we spoke about the Russian counter offensive at Telissu. Kuropatkin sought to maintain a defensive posture and wait for reinforcements before launching offensives, but his superiors forced him to perform a hopeless attempt to rescue Port Arthur. With multiple Japanese armies on the move, Kuropatkin could not send the appropriate numbers necessary to relieve the city, and this led to utter disaster. Lt General Stakelberg was given the unfortunate job of advancing southwest to Prot Arthur and would end up running into the Japanese around Telissu. Despite being able to fortify the position and taking up a defensive posture, the battle would prove disastrous for the Russians. Everything was going quite well until the Japanese snuck upon the Russian right flank which buckled and opened the door to a rout. Stakelberg courageously led a counter attack to try and salvage the battle, but it was lost and with it the rescue of Port Arthur. #78 The Russo-Japanese War part 5: The Japanese advance to Liaoyang Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. After the battle of Telissu General Oku's 2nd IJA rested for four days. While this was going on, the remainder of the 6th division arrived to Oku's command. Meanwhile there was no rest for the Stakelberg's men. The Russians overestimated the 4th IJA's strength and now Stakelberg was receiving orders to occupy Kaiping to make sure the 10th IJA division could not threaten it. The battered men were not to happy to be tossed into another melting pot again. Their rearguard was provided by Lt General Simonov, but he became gravely ill and had to hand over command to Major General Samsonov. By June 20th, the 1st Siberian army corps took their new position at Kaiping. Despite the Russian losses, there was a lot of international criticism aimed at the Japanese. For all of their victories, they kept allowing the Russian forces to get away, they never pursued them too heavily. All four Japanese armies were experiencing supply issues. For example Oku's 2nd IJA were supplied via Pulantien which was being rocked around by monsoons. Over at Dalny, the Russians had abandoned countless railway wagons, but had the good sense to remove their engines at least. The Japanese had a quick answer to this, they bought some engines from America, however the naval squadron at Vladivostok made a raid and managed to intercept two steamers carrying the engines over, now they sat at the bottom of the sea. This greatly delayed some heavy siege artillery for Nogi's 3rd IJA to hit Port Arthur. Regardless of the logistics hiccups, three Japanese armies still had to coordinate their advance upon Liaoyang. They needed to concentrate their efforts to exert a constant pressure on the Russians to thwart them consolidating properly. To gain access to the Liao valley, the Japanese were forced to go through the passes of Taling, Fenshuling and Motienling. Kuropatkin gave the job of blocking these areas to General Count Keller, who was seizing command of the Russian Eastern Force from the disgraced Zasulich from the Yalu disaster. Keller would have 25,000 men guarding the Motien Pass lying astride the Liaoyang and Antung roads. Keller was an intelligent and brave soldier, he had worked under Kuropatkin for quite some time. He was loyal to Kuropatkin, in truth they were quite good friends. Keller began to study the Japanese actions and he noticed they were extremely similar to what they had done during the Sino-Japanese War. Thus given history was to repeat itself as they say, he predicted the three Japanese armies would converge at Haicheng as they had done 10 years prior. Kuropatkin agreed with his friend's prediction and set about building up a force at Haicheng with the view it would stop the advance of the 2nd or 4th IJA. Kuropatkin at this stage began making a bit of a mess of troop deployment and movements. He became obsessed multiple places would be hit by the Japanese and real or imaginary tried to plug said gaps in his greater manchurian defensive line. He dispatched a brigade of the 5th infantry division of Stakelberg's force to hold a position at Tashihchiao and this would affect an upcoming battle. Now Keller over at the Motien pass was already weakened, because he had forces under him taken to help at the Telissu battle. Now he was receiving orders to release two more regiments to strengthen Haicheng. Kuropatkin then believed Kuroki's 1st IJA were about to advance up Fenghuangcheng, so he ordered Keller to advance his force there to block against them. Likewise General Rennenkampf stationed at Saimachi was ordered to take his 5000 cavalry force and block Kuroki's advance at Aiyangcheng. Keller gathered 7 and a half battalions and began his advance against Kuroki. In 36 hours his men traveled over 40 miles, they became exhausted. They were 10 miles within reach of Fenghuangcheng and not a single Japanese had been seen. Keller and his men waited awhile, then ultimately pulled back to Motienpass by June 18th. General Kashtalinski made a report of these actions to a German military observer, Von Tettau stating “all that was achieved by this action was the ruination of 8000 pairs of boots, an item we are in short supply”. On June 19th, the Japanese scouts gave word of Rennenkampfs advance against Aiyangcheng. Thus the Japanese reinforced their detachment from Fenghuangcheng over to Aiyangcheng to make a defense. Yes, it turned out when Keller advanced he stopped 10 miles away from Fenghuangcheng not bothering to check the city to see if the Japanese were there. As a result Rennenkampf launched a failed attack against Aiyangcheng on June 22nd and was easily driven off. Kuroki could have made more of these two locations and given real battle, but he chose to hold back, his attention was drawn securing the railway line to his favored target, the Motienpass. The 1st and 4th IJA received orders on the 19th and 22nd to advance. General Kawamura with the 4th would hit the Fenshuiling pass, defended by a Russian brigade. Kuroki believed the 2nd IJA would hit Kaiping around the same time, so he planned to hit the Motienpass in unison. General Oku's advanced had stalled somewhat on June 21st around Hsiungyaocheng where he was forced to make camp and await supplies. He would remain there until July 6th as the Japanese were trying to solve numerous logistical issues. Railway carts from Pulantien heading for Telissu were improved upon, Chinese coolies were hired en masse for the job. The logistical situation did improve, but what would really make a difference was the seizure of Port Arthur that held all the facilities, equipment and railway functions necessary to send large loads. Speaking of Port Arthur the new Admiral Witgeft was under pressure from Alexeiev and by proxy the Tsar to break out of the harbor and try to join up with the Vladivostok squadron. On June 20th there was a proposed departure for the fleet, everything was ready to go, then disaster struck. The editor of Bezobrazov's “Novoe Krai” published a special edition literally announcing the departure that very day. Witgeft was forced to abandon the break out attempt to the dismay of the sailors eager to get out of the harbor as it looked like Port Arthur was going to face a siege soon. On June 23rd the fleet did depart, traveling carefully through the mine fields. Then at 6pm the IJN warships appeared over the horizon. The Russians saw the IJN Chinyen who was patrolling the Korean straits. Witgeft believed the entire combined fleet must be in the vicinity, but in truth Togo had dispatched 8 cruisers to hit the Vladivostok squadron who downed their two steamers back on the 15th. Togo received word from the Chinyen that the Tsarevitch and Retvizan were amongst the Russian ships. Togo was shocked the two battleships were repaired and out in the open sea, the Russians held a 6-4 advantage for larger ships. The IJN still held superior numbers with 53 ships vs Witgefts 18 however. By dusk the two opposing fleets began sailing parallel from another at a course of 18 miles. It was to be a moonlit evening, fit for battle. Despite the moonlit the advantage was to be had by torpedoes rather than naval gunfire, something the IJN would become specialists at during WW2. The Japanese had much more destroyers and torpedo boats and thus held a distinct advantage. Togo steered his flagship Mikasa towards the Russian line. Witgeft lost nerve and ordered the fleet to turn to starboard trying to make a return to Port Arthur and the security of her shore batteries. Upon seeing the Russians turning, Togo ordered his destroyers and torpedo boats to launch attacks upon their own attrition, rather than risking his battleships. In retrospect, Witgeft should have given battle and done as much damage as possible to the IJN battleships, given what would occur later at Port Arthur. But that is of course retrospect, maintaining the Pacific fleet in the hopes they could join the incoming baltic fleet was the winning idea of the day. The Russian fleet made a orderly retreat to Port Arthur trying to take it slow lest they hit mines. Only the Sevastopol would run into a mine, no other Russian warships were significantly damaged by naval gunfire or torpedoes. As for the IJN smaller warships, 5 of them took some hits from shore batteries, but no one sank. While it did not look like a significant engagement, it was another blow to the morale of the Russian navy and Togo had yet again managed to bottle up the Russians. On June the 24th a rather strange order was issued from the IJA general HQ to all units “The fact has been proved that the Russian fleet is able to issue from the harbour of Port Arthur. The transport of provisions which will be required by the combined Manchurian Armies after their arrival at Liaoyang is therefore rendered uncertain, and it is not advisable for the Second Army to advance further north than Kaiping for the present. The battle of Liaoyang, which it was anticipated would be fought before the rainy season, will now be postponed till after it. Arrange your operations accordingly.” Why was this a rather strange order? It was inconceivable for the 2nd IJA to be permitted to advance to Kaiping while the 1st and 4th IJA's had not yet broken through the Fenshuiling and Motien passes. The message thus spelt the doom of the 2nd IJA if the Russians were to find out and concentrate their forces against it. But was the order sent to the Japanese or perhaps was it a ruse for the Russians. The Japanese units uncharacteristically ignored the order, thus one would be led to believe it was a ruse. The actually Japanese plans were for the mountain passes to be secured prior to Oku closing in on the main russian forces. The supposed fake message was the contrary and exactly how the war went in 1894. Kuropatkin ended up taking forces away from the Motien pass to cover the supposed Oku advance. On June 26th Keller forfeited yet another regiment over to Haicheng and Kuropatkin went there himself that day. Thus on the 26 Haicheng held around 41 battalions and 18 cavalry squadrons. Meanwhile the 4th IJA advanced upon Fenshuiling where the road descends to Haicheng and Tashishchiao astride the railway. The pass held high pine filled mountains to its north and less steep hills to its south with tracks running parallel in a main approach. On the pass the Russians deployed three infantry regiments, three batteries and a cossack battery. West of them was General Mishchenko with his Cossack brigade plus an infantry regiment. On the night of the 25th the Japanese advanced along an unguarded path trying to hook around the rear of the Russian right flank. They had with them some Maxim machine guns and mountain artillery pieces. Another group of Japanese took off their regulation boots and wore Japanese straw sandals to scale the northern face on the mountains undetected to get around the Russian left flank. It took both these detachments a day to maneuver. Altogether the plan was to hit the Russians on the morning of the 27th. At 5:15am on the 27th the battle commenced with an artillery duel. The Russians had camouflaged their guns using trees. The Japanese frontal assault suffered heavily and by 7am slowed down nearly to a halt. But it was just then when their left and right hooking detachments unleashed their fire power from the hilltops. The Russians were being hit from every angle and were quickly forces to pull back by 8am. As the Russian artillery began to move the Japanese pushed their frontal assault now enjoying better artillery support. By 10am the Russians were overwhelmed and retreating towards Hsimucheng. Their retreat left Mishchenko's left exposed. Mishchenko attempted a counter attack, but by 7pm was likewise retreating. The Japanese were able with ease to outmaneuver the Fenshuiling pass, but the Motien pass was another matter entirely. Try to imagine Thermopylae, a very narrow pass that a smaller force could guard with ease, it did not offer any flanking opportunities. Yet all the meddling by Kuropatkin to aid the theoretical attack upon Haicheng depleted Keller of men. Russian morale was at an all time low, man of the soldiers were utterly confused by their superiors orders. An account from the 12th east siberian rifle regiment over the two week period had this to say “This regiment had been ordered to Anshanchan on 15 June, but on reaching that place had been at once sent back to Count Keller. On the 26th it received orders to move to Tawan; but while on the march it received another order to retrace its steps and, at 1 a.m. on the 27th, reached the camp at Chinerhtun which it had left the previous morning. There it was met by an order from General Kuropatkin directing it to march at once to Haicheng. Leaving camp again at 4 a.m. on the 27th, it reached Haicheng on the 28th only to find it was to move next day to Liaoyang, this time by rail. Arriving there on the 30th, orders were again received to rejoin Count Keller'. As formidable as the Motien Pass was, to the utter shock of the Japanese on June the 30th, they captured it unopposed, the Russians had abandoned the position. A few days before, the 9th east siberian rifle regiment had been taken away from Keller to help out at Haicheng and it seems this caused such a state of indecision, alongside the capture of the Fengshuiling pass, Keller opted to pull back. The rain continued to fall from June 27th to July 5th making movement along the roads a nightmare for carts. Kurokis 1st IJA were suffering from logistical problems, he was forced to put the 12th division on half rations. If the rain persisted for more than 48 hours Kuroki would have had to retire his force to Fenghuangcheng, but the rain came to a temporary stop. When the rain ceased both sides went to work sending scouts to see what the other side was doing. The Russians could not figure out what the Japanese were going to do next, would they try to maneuver around their left flank or perhaps cut westward to the railway? On July 4th a reconnaissance in force was launched against Motienling by three battalions and it was easily repulsed. Meanwhile the Japanese were receiving intelligence from their Chinese spies amongst the Russians who reported the Russians had taken positions on some reverse slopes north of Motienling. Now July 6th was the date set by the IJA general HQ for the advance of the three armies. General Oku led his four divisions northward and by midday on the 7th was in the vicinity of Kaiping, experiencing little to no opposition along the way. Oku's scouts reported that Kaiping was garrisoned by Stakelberg's 1st siberian corps while due north at Tashihciao, Lt General Zarubaiev's 4th Siberian corps were in the process of reinforcing its garrison. Just above the city of Kaiping was a semicircle of hills dominating a flat open field. On these hills were 20,000 men ready to fire upon the incoming Japanese. Oku was very cautious having his men advance with their artillery placed into combat positions to hit Kaiping around 5:30am on the 9th of July. Stakelberg viewed the Japanese advance to Kaiping and feared an envelopment maneuver, so he withdrew the forces. Thus his semicircle hill position was captured by Oku's 2nd IJA without a fight and they would dig in and remain there until 22nd of July. During their time on the hill they went to work improving the road, rail and sea lanes to establish better supply lines that could maintain Oku's advance. Alexeiev had been pretty quiet for awhile, but in the face of all the territory loss he yet again began meddling. He instructed Kuropatkin that he should take offensive actions to block the advance of the 2nd and 4th IJA and push back the 1st IJA all the way back into Korea. Kuropatkin obviously thought this was folly and wanted to await further reinforcements, in particular the incoming 7th corps. Kuropatkin believed the Japanese strength was twice what it actually was, ironically Alexeiev would have a much more accurate idea of their numbers. Kuropatkin was not 100% against offensive actions however, he did favor Alexeiev's idea to engage the 1st IJA, but certainly not the multiple offensives against separate Japanese armies. Alexeiev persisted to place pressure on Kuropatkin and against his better judgment he gave orders for Keller to perform a partial offensive against the Motien pass. Kuropatkin proposed Kellers Eastern Force of 40 battalions would attack what was nearly 80 battalions of Kuroki's 1st IJA, while 97 battalions of the Russian southern force were ordered to withdraw if the 2nd and 4th IJA attacked who represented a combined for of around 90 battalions. You can see the fallacy in this. A large reason Kuropatkin gave such orders to Keller was because Keller was continuously requesting permission to retake Motienling. Keller received some reinforcements from the 9th division and had his force advance in three columns up the roads. As remarked by Kuropatkin of the small offensive “Taking into consideration the considerable increase of the Eastern Force, I ordered Count Keller to take the offensive, so as to again get possession of the passes. He did so, but although he had forty battalions under his command, he advanced with only twenty-four.' During the night of July 16th the Russians advanced upon Japanese positions that had full telephone and alarm coverage. At 8am the Russians made a frontal assault out in the open and were absolutely cut down by Japanese artillery. The Russians artillery was not even able to help support the attack until 2:10pm whereupon their infantry were already withdrawing. Two other Russian columns advanced and met similar fates. Keller had kept one quarter of his forces in reserve. A british military observer, General Hamilton witnessed the battle and remarked the Russians were still utilizing section volley fire. It seemed to Hamilton they had no idea of the use and value of cover and that their officers led them with undue risks. He did praise their efforts at withdrawing but left the remark “It is passing strange that soldiers so steady and formidable in retreat should be so sticky in the attack”. After their loss, Keller had his men dig in a bit further north around Tawan which lies astride the Fenghuangchang-Liaoyang road. Kuroki was emboldened by the easy victories and sent the 12th division against the smaller twon of Chiaotou, hoping to use it as a springboard for a possible attack against the Russian lines of communication to Mukden. The garrison at Chiaotou was a brigade group of the 10th corps who were subjected to having their right flank attacked on july the 18th and 19th. The Russians were quickly forced to withdraw up the Liaoyang road. Rennenkampf was with his cavalry unit 25 miles due east and tried to assist them but received a wound to his thigh on the 13th and had to hand over command to General Liubavin. Liubavin dragged his feet around on the issue ultimately doing nothing to help. With the loss of Chiaotou, the rest of the 1st IJA were now advancing and this directly threatened Penshihu which lay along the railway line between Liaoyang and Mukden. Kuropatkin ordered the 10th corp to retake Chiaotou while Keller was to hold out at Tawan. Meanwhile Kuropatkin and Alexeiev continued to argue about strategy. With no real navy to administer, Alexeiev focused on the land war and was even planning the formation of two armies he would lead himself, placing Kuropatkin in command of one of them subordinate to him. You really have to be baffled by this, Alexeiev was an admiral, this was lunacy. Kuropatkin and Alexeiev met at Mukden on July 20th whereupon Alexeiev unfolded his plans to reinforce the Eastern Force who was to engage Kuroki. Kuropatkin remained unconvinced, but obedient nonetheless as he departed for Liaoyang where he publicly announced his intention to resume the offensive. The 10th and 17th corps were handed over to the Eastern Force while the 2nd IJA resumed their advance northwards, edging closer to the Eastern Force. By July 23rd Oku's intelligence indicated the enemy force was roughly 4 divisions strong and had defensive lines going 10 miles long to towards the south part of Tashihciao. Tashihciao was strategically important because it sat on the junction of the main and secondary lines of the railway leading to the port city of Yingkou. Taking such a junction would greatly benefit the Japanese logistics. Oku cautiously approached as the 1st and 4th IJA were still occupying the mountains. Oku had his men approach in an extended line going 12 miles with his cavalry brigade screening his left flank. On his right flank was the 5th division followed by the 3rd, 6th and 4th to the extreme left. The Japanese advanced within 5 miles of the southern Russian lines. Kuropatkin had personally selected Tashihciao and had it fortified heavily. Stakelberg's 1st Siberian army corp had fallen back to join up with Lt General Zarubaiev's 4th Siberian army corp, Zarubaiev would have overall command. Zarubaiev was given orders to withdraw to Haicheng if pressed upon by the enemy, yet again you can sense the defeatist mentality amongst the Russian commanders. Stakelberg took the right flank, Zarubaiev the left. Stakelergs sector rested along the railway and to his flank was General Kossogovski's cavalry brigade, Kossogovski had taken command of the brigade from Samsonov. Zarubaievs sector was along the Tungta river with General Mishchenkos cavalry watching his flank. The Russians had a general reserve of 10 battalions and 16 artillery pieces along the center towards the left in two groupings. The left area was full of hills and ravines, while the right was low flat ground. The Russians had learnt some lessons from their defeats and made sure to have outposts on high grounds to be able to track Japanese movements. Oku chose to advance along some fields of Kaoliang, providing some concealment, but not nearly enough to hide most of his forces advance. Oku's intelligence indicated turning either flanks of the Russians would not be easy this time around. An attempt to divert forces against either flank might expose the Japanese lines of communication and spell a disastrous counter attack upon them. Oku decided not to risk anything, he ordered the 5th, 3rd and 6th divisions to launch a frontal assault on July 24th. He believed the 4th IJA's movements would be on the Russians minds giving him an edge. Oku's 4th division was held back on the left flank, expected to act against possible counter strokes. The 4th divisions orders were ‘take up a position near Wutaishan and will hold it in strength as a protection for the left flank of the army. No advance will be made therefrom until it is observed that the general attack elsewhere is succeeding.' Along the far left was the cavalry screen and two infantry regiments held in reserve. After the Russo-Japanese war Zarubaeiv would go on the record during a Russian staff debriefing, to state he was attacked by both the 2nd and 4th IJA at the battle of Tashihciao. It seems likely the Russians had misidentified the strength of the divisions facing them. The 4th and 6th IJA divisions were correctly identified, but the 3rd and 5th divisions in the hills it seems led the Russians to believe were only a single division and thus the confusion arrived with their movement. Alongside this General Mishchenko had apparently reported to Zarubaiev that the 10th IJA division were in the vicinity. During the early light of the 24th, the Russians saw three Japanese divisions advancing in a line. The 4 divisions was holding back as ordered and by 5:30am the Japanese artillery began to fire. The Russian left flank began an artillery duel while in the center the IJA 6th division performed what seemed to be a halfhearted assault. By midday the sun was intense and the Russian red cross found themselves extremely busy with cases of sunstroke. At 1pm Stakelberg dispatched an aide over to Zarubaiev, suggesting they should withdraw. Stakelberg stated it was his belief the Japanese main attack was about to hit and if the troops were in the forward trenches they would be met with extremely heavy casualties. He also reminded Zarubaiev, it was not Kuropatkins plan of the campaign to make a firm stand at Tashihciao. No Stakelbergs aid arrived to Zarubaiev's HQ at the exact same time Zarubaeiv received a report from Zasulich that the 4th IJA were on the move. Zarubaiev was concerned, but not enough to order a withdrawal right away, especially when the sun was blazing at 100 degrees invited disaster for marching. Instead he sent a message back to Stakelberg simply stating he would consider withdrawing by nightfall. In reality, Stakelberg was greatly overreacting. By 2pm 12 of the 12 Japanese batteries opposing his corps were assigned counter battery operations against two of his batteries beyond the hill line. At 3pm a reinforcement Russian battery joined up with them and combined were keeping the Japanese infantry at bay well into nightfall. The Japanese were taking heavy losses. Meanwhile back at 10:30am the 4th IJA division had advanced while skirmishing with Russian cavalry. At 1pm General Kossagovski performed a halfhearted attack against the Japanese left flank. His men fought with the Japanese 1st cavalry brigade who sent them packing north. Kossagovski reported the grounds too muddy for cavalry actions, but asserted he had effectively drawn the Japanese attention to his sector. At 8pm, Zarubaeiv decided to launch a counter attack upon the left flank given this information. Oku released one of his two reserve regiments to fill a gap that was emerging between his 4th and 6th divisions. Meanwhile the 3rd and 5th IJA divisions were trying to hit a weak point along the Russian line in the center. The 4th corps tossed 72 guns of which 32 were the new quick firing model against the 12 batteries supporting the Japanese. The Japanese were gravely outgunned in rate of fire and range. Just before noon, Zarubaeiv ordered a counter attack. General Shileiko whose position was on the extreme left of the Russian line was to hit the flank of the 5th IJA division. He was also ordered to confer with Mishchenko and the commander of the general reserve. Mishchenko agreed to release cavalry units to Shileiko's command but the commander of the general reserve refused to relinquish any of his units stating he had not received any orders to do so. The results was Shileiko's vanguard being torn to pieces, while Mishchenkos cavalry units stayed safely away on the periphery before withdrawing. The counter attack was an abysmal failure. At 2pm Oku ordered his right flank divisions to press home their attack with or without artillery support. At 3:30pm the Japanese advanced in the face of terrifying Russian artillery. The 5th IJA division were battered and based the job to the 3rd division to keep moving forward. A Japanese battalion managed to seize a key Russian feature, but were quickly met with a counterattack that dislodged them. The 3rd divisions sector continued to perform intense fighting, but alongside the heat both sides were succumbing to inactivity. Stakelberg's artillerymen were holding the Japanese at bay, effectively forcing the 2nd IJA to a grinding halt. The Russians still held 6 battalions in reserve while the Japanese held only 1. The commander of the 5th IJA division was embarrassed by his men's performance and requested Oku allow him to launch a night attack, Oku agreed. At 10pm the 5th division surged across the valley and over some slopes screaming banzai taking the Russians by surprise. The Japanese were able to seize forward positions as the entire 5th division crashed along the front. By early afternoon on the 25th, the Russian position was in Japanese hands, the Russians rearguards were the only ones putting up a fight. Apparently the commanding Russian officer deemed it impossible to recapture the 10 mile front position and ordered a withdrawal. It's hard to find real numbers on this incredible action, but it is assumed both sides took 1000 casualties each. The taking of this position effectively drove a wedge in the Russian lines and Zarubaeiv decided to order a withdrawal, Kuropatkin gave his support to the decision. The two Russian corps now withdrew to Haicheng as Oku's army captured Tashihciao and stayed there until August 1st. The withdrawal left General Zasulich in an exposed position at Hsimucheng. Zasulich ordered his rearguards to protect their flanks which were being harassed by the 2nd IJA. Meanwhile the 5th IJA division was transferred to General Nozu's 4th IJA. Mishchenkos cavalry joined Zasulich giving the 2nd Siberian corps + a brigade of the 10th corps a total of 33 battalions, 31 squadrons and 80 artillery pieces. Nozu now commanded the 5th, 10th and 4th divisions along with the 10th Kobi brigade. Nozu's ordered were to attack the Russians whenever possible, so he looked at Hsimucheng as a viable target. At 2am on July 30th, the 10th division and reserve brigade advanced frontally against the Russian position at Hsimucheng while the 5th division hooked around the left of the Russians trying to cut off their line of retreat. The terrain was rocky and mountainous, not easy to fortify, thus the Russian defensive lines were not great. On the 31st the Japanese main attack hit the right side of the Russian position. Mishchenko's cavalry and the 4th siberian corp rearguards began withdrawing, but Zasulichs main force held tight, bravely tossing counter attacks against the larger Japanese army. The 5th IJA division advanced upon the Russian right, joined by a detachment from the 3rd IJA division sent over by Oku. Zasulich's men held until 11pm when orders from Kuropatkin came to withdraw to Haicheng. Yet again the Russians were retreating. At the battle of Hsimucheng the Russians took 1550 casualties and the Japanese 836. The battle of Hsimucheng also coincided with two other battles. The Russians had mobilized to regain the small town of Chiatou on July 24th and made an advance along the Lan river. The Russian 10th corp, less one brigade under General sluchevski took the lead while General Liubavin took some cavalry to guard the road to Mukden. Now the 10th corps were a European corps and there was great expectation they would walk over the Japanese. After news hit that the men were withdrawing from Tashihciao, Kuropatkin had rushed over to Liaoyang, but just prior ordered Sluchevski the same type of orders he gave Stakelberg at Telissu. The 10th corps divided itself into a vanguard, main body, left and right flank guards and advanced upon the isolated 2nd IJA right flank occupied by the 12th division. By July 30th both sides were grinding to a halt, artillery were dueling it out. 15 miles away were Keller's two divisions dug in behind the lan River around Tawan and Yangtzuling. Keller had orders to stay where he was. Thus General Sluchevski, Keller and Liubavin could not aid another given their orders. On the 31st Kuroki resumed his offensive and decided he would hit all 3 of the enemy forces in the area one by one as long as they remained divided. Kuroki was acting independently, but saw such a grand opportunity he had to grab it. Now the 12th division at Chiaotou were about as far from the 2nd division as Sluchevski was from Keller. The 2nd division were guarding Motienling and to their left was a guards division. Early on the morning of the 31st, four battalions of the 2nd IJA division advanced along a goat track to join up with the 12th so they could attack a Russian brigade currently guarding a pass at Pienling, two miles south of Yushuling. The Russian brigade was isolated, but held a great defensive position, not enough so to repel two Japanese divisions however. According to British military observation testimony “In places the path was so narrow that the Russians could not move more than four abreast, and so steep were the hill sides, that they were quite unable to deploy for attack, or to make any effective reply to the Japanese fire. In this short space the losses suffered amounted to five or six hundred killed and wounded” The Russians were only saved from complete disaster by the arrival of a Terek-kuban cavalry regiment who dismounted and aided them. Sluchevski's left flank meanwhile was caught by surprise during the night and the 12th division made a lot of progress. Then Sluchevski received a telegram from Kuropatkin telling him Keller was battling some 15 miles away. Kuropatkin had to inform him that expected reinforcements were thus not forthcoming. The 10th corps by this point had suffered 2000 casualties, their reserves were already in the battle. At 6:30 Sluchevskis cavalry left flank guard were deceived by a false report the Japanese artillery were turning to another area. The battle was going to hell in a hand basket as they say. Kuroki planned to hold the Russian front with his 2nd division while the guards division would hook into their right. The two divisions with reserves made a full assault. The Russians bravely tried to counter but failed to stop the onslaught. The Japanese gradually took the Russian forward trenches as the Russians were forced to perform a staggered retreat. The Russians and Japanese had light casualties in the few hundreds for the battle. Over in Kellers position, Japanese artillery seemed to be hunting down superior officers, Keller was hit by shrapnel tossing him to the ground with 37 wounds killing him instantly. The death of Keller destroyed the troops morale, he was a beloved commander who was notorious for leading at the front. General Kashtalinksi replaced Keller and ordered the reserves to come forward. Kuropatkin advised not tossing the reserves in, stating “hold back until the main effort of the Japanese has been disclosed”. Given the withdrawal at Hsimucheng and Yushuling, Kashtalinski was also told not to withdraw too hastily, but that is just what he did. Thus the road to Liaoyang seemed to be wide open, the Russians were offering nothing but withdrawals after withdrawals, when would they stand firm to fight? I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. As the Japanese advanced, so did the Russians, but in the opposite direction. British Lt General Sir Edward Bruce Hamley's Operations of War states “Victory can only be won by striking”. Pungent words for Kuropatkin as he scrambled to perform offensives.
Last time we spoke about the battle of Nanshan. After their loss at the battle of Yalu, the Russians began a withdrawal while trying to delay the Japanese advance upon Port Arthur. The 2nd IJA of General Oku landed at Pitzuwo along the Liaodong peninsula. To open the path to Port Arthur and cut her off from reinforcements from the rest of Manchuria. General Oku first had the 4th IJA division seize Chinchou before bombarding Nanshan both from land and sea. The Russian defenders led by Colonel Tretyakov fought like lions exacting a terrible price upon the Japanese, but ultimately it was the foolish General Fok who made a blunder of things resulting in a chaotic withdrawal. Nanshan was seized and General Nogi with the 3rd IJA began to land at Takushan ready to pounce on the prize of Dalny. Dalny was seized without a fight and now Nogi's men prepared to besiege Port Arthur. #77 The Russo-Japanese War part 4: The Russian counter offensive at Telissu Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. As we have seen with the battles of Yalu and Nanshan, the Russians seemed to have an enormous strategic problem. The core of the problem was the fact that the Tsar appointed General Kuropatkin to lead the war, but left the real power in the hands of Admiral Alexeiev. There were clear philosophical differences between the two men, hell one was an admiral trying to lead land battles. Kuropatkin understood logistics better, he knew they needed to bide time so more men could travel abroad the trans Siberian over to the far east so a proper offensive could be made. But Alexeiev and his financial friends in the Royal Timber company feared losing their investments in Manchuria. As I mentioned in an earlier episode Alexeiev's position and appointment of Viceroyalty was actually the brainchild of Aleksandr Bezobrazov who recommended it to the Tsar. In many ways the Russo-Japanese war was fought for the financial benefit of some elites in Russia and this would help stoke revolutionary fever back home. Kuropatkin was not 100% sure of the Japanese disposition and intentions. The 1st IJA beat them at the Yalu and seemed to be heading northwest towards Liaoyang. The 2nd IJA landed at Pitzuwo, defeated them at Nanshan and now held Dalny. The 10th division, the nucleus of the soon to be created 4th IJA had landed at Takushan while the 3rd IJA seemed to still be in Japan. Kuropatkin wrote in his memoirs “it was incumbent on us, therefore to exercise great caution and to keep our forces as far as possible concentrated, so as to be ready to meet the attack of two or even three armies”. The slow pass of the trans Siberian railway to reinforce him by May was causing Kuropatkin to seriously consider withdrawing from Liaoyang to Harbin. But the Tsar and court demanded he go on the offensive to try and rescue Port Arthur. Alexeiev's chief of staff Jalinski sent to Kuropatkin basically two options. Number 1, contain the 2nd IJA and attack the 1st IJA and 4th IJA in the direction of Yalu. Number 2 perform an offensive against the 2nd IJA to the north of Port Arthur while blocking the 1st IJA. Neither option was good, but Kuropatkin chose the 2nd one. Kuropatkin believed an attack from the direction of Liaoyang would leave the Russian right flank and rear exposed to a possible landing of the 3rd IJA. Kuropatkins staff believed such a landing might occur at Yingkou. Having to allocate troops to protect his right flank and rear, Kuropatkin only had 60-70 of his 94 battalions in mid may. The railway did not run towards Yalu, therefore his logistical lines would be terrible, feeding such an immense army was not easy. On the other side, General Nogi who had commanded the 1st IJA brigade that took Port Arthur in 1894 was given initially the 1st and 11th divisions for the same task in 1904. It soon became very apparent he required at minimum 4 divisions for the job. His force began a siege against Port Arthur and this in turn affected Kuropatkin's situation. Port Arthur had been provisioned to sustain 12 battalions for 12 months. But now it held 27 battalions and an enormous amount of refugees from places like Dalny, it was theorized to only be able to hold out for 6 months. On May 23rd Jalinski arrived to Kuropatkins HQ at Liaoyang whereupon he gave him the two options. Kuropatkin thought both options were idiotic and screamed at Jalinski, unwilling to comply. Alexeiev proposed sending the case to the Tsar for adjudication, thus both Kuropatkin and Alexeiev sent reports to the Tsar. Alexeievs case report drew attention to losing the navy and Port Arthur would lose the war based on a loss of morale. Kuropatkin explained going on an offensive southwards would simply expose his army to a devastating attack and it was better to hold up at Liaoyang and build up strength. He also advised that Port Arthur held no tactical significance anymore. The Tsar convened a council of war and they all agreed if Port Arthur fell the incoming baltic fleet would have nowhere to turn to. Thus Kuropatkin was instructed to rescue Port Arthur. In June of 1904, General Kuroki's 1st IJA was due north of Yalu heading for Liaoyang. To confront them was Lt General Keller and Major General Rennenkampf, yes that crazy badass from the last war. They had roughly 23,000 infantry, 3600 cavalry and over 90 guns of various caliber. General Oku's 2nd IJA meanwhile were going to be confronted by the 1st Siberian corps of Lt General Stakelberg who had 30,000 infantry, 3000 cavalry and over 100 guns. Within the 2nd IJA's center was Geneal Nozu's 10th IJA division who would be confronted by Major General Mishchenko's Cossack brigade. To the rear at Liaoyang and Mukden was General Kuropatkin with his growing force of 36,000 infantry, 6000 cavalry and 120 guns. The European 21st division had just arrived, and the 10th army corps + two cavalry divisions were en route. As you can see, the Russians were being forced to separate their forces by the Japanese. If they consolidated the Russians would be a force to be reckoned with. The Russians strategic lifeline, their greatest advantage was the railway, any threat to it would crush the Russian war effort. This was something that deeply troubled Kuropatkin at all times, he would have 55,000 men deployed just to defend the line between the Ural Mountains and the Manchurian frontier. Within Manchuria a force of 25,000 men were assigned to protect the lines there. Meanwhile every strategic point such as railway bridges were being attacked by Honghuzi forces under the direct guidance of Japanese officers. The Qing officially told the Russians they were doing everything they could to thwart the Honghuzi menace, but in reality they were doing pretty much nothing at all. In a single month over 90 major attempts to disrupt the railway would occur between Mukden and Tiehling. On June 7th, Kuropatkin visited Stakelberg at his HQ to give him verbal orders to accompany the written ones he received “Your Excellency's Army Corps is detailed with the object of drawing upon itself the greatest possible number of the enemy's forces and thereby weakening his army operating in the Kwantung Peninsula. Your advance, therefore, against the enemy's covering troops must be rapid and energetic, in the hope of crushing his advanced detachments should they prove to be weak in numbers. In the event of your encountering superior strength decisive action will be avoided and in no case will you allow the whole of your reserves to become engaged until the conditions are entirely clear. The object of our southerly movement is the capture of the Chinchou (Nanshan) position, and thereafter an advance on Port Arthur.” By late May, General Oku began to hear rumors the Russians were performing an advance so he dispatched the 1st Cavalry Brigade of Major General Akiyama to investigate the area of Telissu. The Japanese war plan at this moment was to gradually bring 3 of their armies together to confront the Manchurian army. The first target would be Liaoyang, but to advance to Liaoyang there were some large mountain ranges in the way. These were the Hsiungyaoshan and Fenshuling. The 1st and 4th IJA would have to pass through the passes of each mountain, those being the Motien and Fenshui passes. The Russians had fortified positions in both passes. Meanwhile, Akiyama's cavalry reached Telissu on May 30th and ran into a Russian cavalry brigade led by General Samsonov. This began a small scale battle where both sides were attacking another while simultaneously trying to reinforce their position. The 2nd squadron of the 13th IJA cavalry regiment were charged upon their left flank by two squadrons of the 8th Siberian cossacks to shocking effect. The Japanese would note the Cossacks used their lances to excellent effect. Casualties were not heavy, but the Japanese understood in the realm of cavalry they were simply outmatched. Thus the Japanese cavalry soon took up a position on along the mountains where they could dismount and fight like dragoons. On June 3rd General Akiyama reported back to Oku that elements of the 1st Siberian army corps were entering Telissu. Oku ordered Akiyama to pull out swiftly. On the 5th, Stakelberg arrived to Telissu as the main body of the 1st Siberian corps were getting off trains. Stakelberg ordered Samsonov to take his cavalry and fortify a position 5 miles to the south. Basically Stakelberg was leapfrogging towards Port Arthur, using the railway as a general path of advance. On the 6th Oku received a report of the cavalry advance and now the Japanese were beginning to see the Russians were trying to rescue Port Arthur. IJA general HQ sent orders to ramp up activity to weaken Stakelberg's advance. Until this point the 1st and 4th IJA had been generally performing an offensive, however the 1st IJA were not exactly in a position to do so. The 10th division were still unloading at Takushan, to compensate General Kuroki was given a Guards brigade and ordered to seize Hsiuyen. Kuroki attacked Hsiuyen easily dislodging a force led by Mishchenko there by June 8th. Now back at Telissu, Stakelberg received reports on June 13th that over 20,000 Japanese were advancing north from Pulantien. He believed this to be an exaggeration so he sent three Cossack squadrons to investigate. On the same day, Oku's supplies had finally arrived and his 2nd IJA were able to begin their advance towards Liaoyang. The Cossacks saw the movement and came back to report it to Stakelberg who quickly abandoned his offensive to instead await the enemy at their prepared defensive positions south of Telissu. By the early morning of the 14th, the Japanese were 14 miles away from the forward Russian trenches. If you pull out a map of Telissu, there is a river, the Fuchou that heads in its direction. South and parallel to this is the railway going directly through Wafangtien then through Telissu. General Stakelberg deployed his troops astride the railway. To the west of the railway were the under strengthened 9th East Siberian rifle division, 5 battalions and two batteries. East of the railway was the bulk of his forces; the 1st East siberian rifle division of 12 battalions and 4 batteries. Lt General Simonov arrived to the scene to take command of the 19 cavalry squadrons previously under Samsonov, his position would be right of the Russian line. Two regiment of the 9th east siberian division and a regiment of the 3rd siberian infantry division were enroute by rail. The Japanese as usual enjoyed exact details on the Russian order of battle via their spy network. Oku had his 3rd and 5th divisions perform a frontal attack with the railway being a divisional boundary line. His 4th division was to perform a sweep going around the Fuchou valley from the west to hit the Russians right flank. So if you were looking at this on a map basically the east had a Russian division with 4 batteries facing a Japanese division with a cavalry brigade and in the west the Russians had a brigade with two batteries, 19 cavalry squadrons to face against two full Japanese divisions. The Russians defenses were lines of trenches running for 8.5 miles. The shelter trenches were 9 inches deep with 15 inches of parapet. Riflement would be crouched shoulder to shoulder with no overhead cover. Below the Russians the valley afforded the attacker decent covered approaches, thus poor fields of fire for the defender. To the south there were some hills that provided a screen the Japanese could use to conceal their movements. As was the case with most of the battles in this war, it was to be won and lost by artillery. The Russian senior artillery officers insisted their guns could only be effective firing upon stationary targets from covered positions. The junior officers thought this was folly, but were obliged to do as they were told. The brand new Russian quick firing gun would appear for the first time in this battle, but would not be used effectively. The major problem was that of training. The Russian artillery crews had only had these guns for 4 months and as one military observer noted ‘in many, if not in most, cases, had not carried out any practice with them; the supply of ammunition was no doubt a factor'. The men simply did not really understand the enormous capability the new weapon held, because if used effectively the Japanese really had no way to counter it. On the morning of the 14th, the 3 Japanese divisions advanced. The 3rd and 5th kept in visual contact along the railway as the 4th moved further northwest to perform their hook attack. The 6th division was just beginning to land and Oku ordered them to immediately come over to build up his reserve, by the day of the battle, two battalions would make up that reserve. The advance of the Japanese had been quite fast taking the Russians off guard. The Russians were unable to lay out their telephone lines in time and would be at the mercy of runners. The Russian screening forces were gradually brushed aside until at 2pm the Japanese ran into Russian artillery fire in the center. The Japanese artillery of the 3rd division responded trying to tease out the Russian artillery positions. By 3pm a fuel artillery duel was raging. Oku's scouts re-estimated the Russians to be 3 divisions strong. Oku was well aware every hour that passed was an hour more Russian reinforcements were traveling to them via the railway. On the 15th 3000 infantry and two more artillery pieces would arrive. While the artillery duel raged, probing attacks were launched by the 34th IJA regiment against the left part of the Russian line. The 1st and 2nd East Siberian regiments had to consolidate to repel the attack, but in doing so the 2nd east siberian regiment took heavy casualties. By midday the 4th IJA division arrived to the scene and took up a position on the left bank of the Fuchou river. Their commander General Baron Ogawa read his orders at 5am on June 15th from Oku “As no danger is to be anticipated from the direction of the valley of the Fuchou river, you will detach a force of at least one brigade of infantry which will attack the enemy's right flank and help the advance of the other divisions.” Ogawa ordered his men to clear the town of Fuchou, the Russians would have been able to see this action using heliographs, but there was a large fog concealing them. Now Stakelberg did not like his subordinate Samsonov, he had very little confidence in the mans ability and that of his Cossack cavalry. In fact when a British military observer was walking touring the defensive lines with Stakelberg he pointed out how vulnerable his right flank looked. Stakelberg remarked ‘I have a (cavalry) squadron or so near Fuchou, but, if three Japanese squadrons advance, mine will retire without finding out the Japanese strength.' During the night of the 14th, said cavalry had actually discovered the Japanese advance upon their right flank and sent word of this to Stakelbergs chief of staff. The exact same British military observer happened to be present in the HQ and recalled “the chief of staff was told it was a report from Samsonov. It spoke of the Japanese advancing against their right flank. I thought to myself“that his chief had mentioned the possibility to me and would be glad to hear the news. My companion replied that Samsonov's cavalry were completely useless and that he did not intend to worry Stakelberg about the message”. At 3:30pm, Oku established his new HQ at Wafangtian. By 11pm he ordered his two divisions on the left to perform an attack on the Russian left and center up to the line of the railway set for dawn on the 15th. While the Russians would be concentrating upon their left, the 5th division supported by elements of the 4th would turn their right flank. Stakelberg seeing the pressure on his left, ordered the commander of the reserves, Major General Flasko to move from the center to the left. Glasko arrived at 6pm and placed himself under the command of Major General Gerngross who was commanding the 1st division. Thus three quarters of the Russian strength was now focused in the east, no reserves were available to support the west until the anticipated reinforcements arrived by rail that very night. Both Oku and Stakelberg were seeking to perform counterstrokes at dawn on the 15th. A counterstroke is not a counter attack by the way, it differs as it is aimed generally at the destruction of enemy forces rather than the seizure of territory. Thus you seek to block the enemy advance with a strong defensive line and then hit the enemy flank with a hammer to cause as many casualties as possible. Counter strokes are quite difficult to pull off, they heavily depend on opportunism and quite honestly the boldness of commanders. Frequently in history you see counter strokes occur just when some fresh reinforcements arrive to the scene of battle. Now its not like General Stakelberg issued some operation order for a counter stroke, what he did was sent various commanders separate memoranda. Thus one commander did not know what the other was to do. The memoranda stated that the operation would begin between 1 and 2 am on the 15th, but in an event before daybreak. The exact timing was left to the mutual agreement of commanders like Glasko and Gerngross who were commanding over 16 battalions, half the infantry on the Russian side. The orders were passed down through the night. Men savored their rolled cigarettes, those in the front trenches ate a black bread around dusk. The Russians in the forward positions could hear the Japanese preparing themselves, everyone was anxious. At 2am some shots were fired from nervous Russian positions, starting a fusillade along the entire line. The Japanese advanced during the night closer to the Russian lines as Russian officers barked at their men to restore order. No one got any sleep that night. At 4am the battlefield had a large mist hit. General Gerngross decided his counter stroke would begin at 4am, he sent word to Stakelberg of his decision and awaited his commanders approval. So to reiterate…Gerngross sent word of his decision, its not like he asked “do you approve?”, he simply expected Stakelberg to reply “I approve”. To complicate things further, Glasko sent a runner to Gerngross asking what his orders were, since Gerngross was his superior, but Gerngross had not received a reply from Stakelberg. Stakelberg, probably a bit confused, did not want to intervene in his subordinates operation, the man probably assumed as any of us would that Gerngross was going through with what he said. It was then 6:40am, nothing had been done. Glasko spoke with his staff and they decided they had to take matters into their own hands, they would start an attack. It was at that moment orders arrived from Gerngross confirming the attack and that he promised support. As the troops set off suddenly another runner showed up with new orders for Glasko from Stakelberg reading “If the Japanese advance with superior force against our centre or in any other direction, the Corps will fall back slowly to Wauchialing. In this case, Major General Glasko will hold the line Kouchiatun–Tsuichiatun as long as possible, in order to give the troops falling back by Telissu time to traverse the defile north of Tsuichiatun. Should the Japanese retire, the troops will halt, and await further order.” Needless to say, its never a great thing when a commander is about to begin an attack and his superior is advising easing on the gas pedal and potentially withdrawing. The situation became confused very quickly. Glasko frantically called back his troops and ordered them to occupy the Kouchiatun-Tsuichitun line. Meanwhile Gerngross completely unaware of any changes in orders ordered his men to attack at 7am expected and depending on Glasko's men for support. Gerngross's 3 infantry regiments advance over a 1500 yard front in three echelons. This resulted in only a third of his force being able to fire at any one time. The 3rd IJA division within their trenches were surprised by the attack. Now General Glasko received orders yet again to go forward, but the Russian artillery was petering out and the Japanese were growing stronger. General Ueda leading the 5th IJA division heard news of the Russian attacks and determined to take matters into his own hands. He had his artillery cross the river at 7am and began smashing Simonov's cavalry. Simonov believing he was only to perform delaying actions, pulled back northwest, thereby exposing the right flank of the Russian infantry lines. As the 5th division were battering the Russian forces, the 4th division arrived to the scene to add their weight against the thinly held Russian position. Soon the Russian right flank was being overwhelmed. At 11am Stakelberg received a distressing message that had originated back at 6am from his so called useless cavalry. It stated a strong force of Japanese were advancing southwest of Telissu. At that moment Stakelberg had a reserve of two battalions and another two battalions detraining at Telissu station. In a courageous manner, Stakelberg gathered the four battalions and personally launched an attack against the forward elements attacking his right flank. As brave as he was, he was too late to stop the inevitable. Stakelberg had two horses shot from under him before he issued orders to retreat at 11:30am. West of the railway line, the Russian artillery was improving and the infantry lines were holding firm. The fighting became so fierce in the west, the lines converged and the men began to run out of ammunition and reportedly began tossing rocks at each other. General Oku was forced to toss half his reserve to assist the western front. Meanwhile Glasko's advance had been delayed because his artillery crews were having trouble with the terrain. Glasko had given them orders to advance against the Japanese right flank to support Gerngross's 1st east Siberian rifle division. For most of the morning, Gerngross's attention was fixated at the developing threat west of the railway. Gradually Gerngross's artillery became exposed and systematically annihilated. Gerngross's right flank were then subjugated to enfilade artillery and rifle fire from the 5th IJA division causing tremendous casualties. Glasko's forces failed to arrive to save Gerngross, thus on his own initiative by midday he ordered his division to withdraw. This order coincided with Glasko's delayed advance which ran directly into the 1st Japanese cavalry brigade advancing to the right of the 3rd IJA division. The fierce Japanese advance was far too much for his force, so he also began withdrawing. At around 2pm General Oku received word more forces were reaching the battlefield so he finally tossed his last reserve battalion to help the 3rd division pressing home the attack. Four batteries passed through the railway gap at 2pm taking a position at Lungwangmiao which was the initial forward Russian line of defense. The artillery crews found abandoned Russian guns there. Below them heading north were four regiments of the 1st east siberian rifle division. The Japanese batteries unleashed shrapnel upon them in revenge for the hours it was tossed at them. To the east and west the Russians were contracting to the center. Stakelberg was personally directing the withdrawal from the west, but around Telissu the bulk of his corps were being hit with artillery without mercy. The acting rearguard, the 9th east siberian rifle division, courageously held the heights west of the Telissu railway to give the men a chance at evacuating the carnage. At 2pm the whistling of a steam locomotive announced the arrival of the two remaining battalions of the 9th east siberian infantry regiment coming from Kaiping. As the men jumped off the train carts they were hit with artillery and soon the Japanese were surrounding the position, talk about entering a battlefield. The transport corps blocked the route at Panlashan and trying to exit north was impossible. The 1st east siberian division were fleeing for their lives under Japanese artillery heading east, for many days they would be hunted down, to be killed or captured. By 3pm the battle had become a catastrophe for the Russians. Like a miracle, torrential rain began. Visibility fell dramatically, Stakelberg managed to salvage what remained of his army and marched them over to Kaiping. Ultimately the battle was lost because Stakelberg was unaware of the Japanese build up against his right flank. With the loss at Telissu, the Russian attempt to relieve Port Arthur had failed. The Japanese had 217 deaths, 946 wounded, for the Russians it was 477 dead, 2240 wounded and 754 missing. Russian morale was falling apart while the Japanese felt like superhumans. When the news reached St Petersburg the government and people were becoming immune to the terrible news from the east. Things were a disaster in the east, but back home in Russia, discontent was turning into a hateful fever amongst the common people who would eventually rise up. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Kuropatkin never wanted to go on the offensive and when forced to do so, everything turned to ruin. Stakelberg and his men fought bravely, but one major oversight cost them the battle at Telissu and thus Port Arthur was now on her own.
Last time we spoke about the beginning of the Russo-Japanese war. The Japanese knew to have any chance in the war against the Russians, they needed to deliver a deadly surprise attack against her fleet within the harbor of Port Arthur. Admiral Togo took the combined fleet and dispatched a force under Uriu to neutralize Chemulpo and land forces of the IJA 12th division. Meanwhile Togo ordered 10 destroyers to toss torpedoes at the Russian warships at anchor in Port Arthur, landing a few hits. It seemed to the Japanese that the Russians were fully paralyzed, so Togo elected to bring the combined fleet in to bombard the Russians into submission. Instead of being paralyzed the Russians counter fired using shore batteries causing the Japanese to back off. War was declared afterwards by both parties and now battles would rage over land and sea to see which empire would claim dominance over Asia. #74 The Russo-Japanese War part 2: the battle of Yalu Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. The combined fleet set out again on February 14th after just two days in port. The Fuji was still in dry dock in need of further repair. Other than Fuji, the fleet was back at sea in force. Despite taking numerous hits, it turned out the Russian shells were not as effective as the Japanese ammunition which used a new compound called Shimose, refined into a powder that gave the IJN shells a greater velocity, thus much more effective on impact. In the meantime, only a brave attack by two Japanese destroyers was brought upon the Russians at Port Arthur. Other than that nothing much had come about. While at Sasebo, Admiral Togo discussed with his fellow commanders the situation. Port Arthur's harbor had basically become a large lake harbored the Russian ships, but at any moment they could be unleashed into the ocean. Togo needed to destroy the warships or trap them inside, and he came up with a daring plan. Togo sent out a special order, soliciting for volunteers for an extremely dangerous, practically suicidal mission. 2000 sailors volunteered, many writing their names in blood. The plan was quite simple, the volunteers were going to take ships and sink them at the entrance to the harbor. The ships selected were some very old steamers, capable of just 10 knots. On the evening of February 23rd, 5 old steamers set a course for Port Arthur with some torpedo boat escorts. Before the first light of the 24th, the Russian lookouts saw what appeared to be a steady convoy calmly approaching the harbors mouth. A Russian convey was long being awaited, thus many assumed it was them. Some Russian ships came in closer to examine the newcoming vessels closer and upon showering them with searchlights, the captain of the Retvizan quickly realized they were Japanese. Retvizan began opening fire, prompting the old steamers to run frantically through a gauntlet. The Japanese crews were blinded by searchlight as the guns of the Retvizan and shore batteries rained hell upon them. The leading steamer, the Mokoko Maru was hit by Retvizan at point blank range just due east of the harbor entrance. She sank quickly and the other steamers would face a similar fate one by one as they approached. Volunteer crews were shot to pieces or abandoned ship. Those who survived the shelling were rescued by torpedo boats. The mission was a terrible failure. The Russians did not quite understand what had occurred. Certainly the ships were no battleships, but some assumed it was another torpedo attack attempt and thus believed some warships had been sunk. Admiral Alexeiev desperate to boost morale send a message to the Tsar claiming a great naval victory. After further investigation, the steamers were found to be what they were and Alexeiev had to send a correction to the Tsar. Now all of this was going down in Port Arthur, but the Russians did have another force at their cold water port of Vladivostok. Under the command of Rear Admiral Jessel were the armored cruisers Gromoboi, Rurik, Boegatyr and Rossiya. Rear Admiral Kamimura was leading a cruiser squadron with torpedo boats around Tsushima. His duty was that of a picquet force to meet the Russian enemy if they came out to play. Alexeiev gave Jessel orders not to steam more than a single day from port. Jessel had thus only managed to sink two unarmed Japanese merchantmen with his small patrols. Now upon the land, the former Minister of War, General Kuropatkin was appointed the land commander in Manchuria. He would depart St Petersburg on March 12th and arrive to Harbin by the 28th. For the sea, the disgraced Admiral Starck was to be replaced with Vice Admiral Makarov. The Russian government was trying to showcase to its troops, that the very best officers would lead them, it was a much needed boost of confidence. However Tsar Nicolas II also appointed Alexeiev as the Viceroy of the Russian far east, which gave Alexeiev higher authority than all government ministries in the region, making him beholden only to the Tsar himself. Alekseyev was a key member of the “Bezobrazov Circle” a politically motivated investment group led by Aleksandry Mikhailovich Bezobrazov whom sought to create a commercial enterprise, modeled after the British East India Company, reigning over Manchuria and Korea. A skilled lobbyist, Bezobrazov was the one who persuaded Tsar Nicolas II for Alekseiv's appointment. This would prove ruinous. Makarov departed his previous command at fort Kronstadt and received news cruisers Novik, Bayan and Askold were damaged. While enroute he received a report the Bezstrashni and Viestnitelni were intercepted by Japanese picquet forces while returning to port. They were attacked trying to race to Port Arthur and Vistnitelni was unable to get away, being destroyed around Pigeon bay. Thus the new commander was getting this picture of his forces accumulating unacceptable losses without even engaging the enemy. Makarov unlike Starck was not so conservative, he sought real action. Makarov was what you would call “a sailors sailor”. He was in excellent shape, was a noted naval tactician and had a copy of a book on his adversary Admiral Togo in his cabin at hand. During his voyage to the far east, Starck retained command and continued to fly his flag upon Petropavlovsk. Makarov would hoist his aboard the soon to be repaired Askold by march 14th. Soon Retvizan and Tsarevitch were patched up adequately to be battleworthy and destroyer flotillas were sent out of the harbor to hunt the Japanese. On March 10th, the blockading forces were attacked by the Russians. The Japanese were surprised at the sudden aggressiveness of the Russians, Togo believed they were finally willing to come out and battle. At the beginning of the war most eyes were set on seeing the performance of torpedoes, they were a relatively new weapon. They actually proved to be quite a disappointment. The weapon that would really make its mark was the seamine. The Japanese made continuous efforts to sent destroyers out at night to lay mines near the entrance of Port Arthur. The Russians did their best to watch these actions and when the tides rose high they would employ grappling hooks to clear fields. This simply pushed the Japanese to lay mines 10 feet below the surface. This resulted in mines actually being placed at various depths, thus when the tides were much higher most ships could pass right over, but if the tides lowered, this led to collisions. Now back to March 10th, that night the Japanese attempted a ruse. A flotilla of 4 IJN destroyers approached Port Arthur and began parading outside to trying to lure out some Russian warships. Now emboldened, the Russians sent out 6 warships to chase the Japanese who lured them in the direction of Laoteshan. While they were chasing, another IJN destroyer flotilla came from behind and began mining the waters at the harbors entrance at around 4:30am. Eventually the Russian shore batteries saw what was going on and began to fire on the mining destroyers who made their quick escape. The Russian warships chasing the other flotilla heard the gunfire and quickly turned back. The 4 IJN mining destroyers got into position to attack the incoming Russians. 4 out of the 6 Russian warships dodged this and ran for the harbor, but the Ryeshitelni and Stereguschi found themselves blocked. It was 4 against 2 as the destroyers battling it out. The Ryeshitelni was hit a few times causing steering problems but she managed to flee to the harbor, the Stereguschi however was not so lucky. A 1 pounder shell struck a steam pipe in her boiler and engines causing an explosion that killed most of her engine room staff. Stereguschi's captain tried to keep her on course, but her speed dropped and she was soon raked by all 4 Japanese destroyers. Her crew tried to fire back, until only 4 men of the crew were even capable of moving anymore. The IJN destroyer Sasanami let loose a cutter boat to board her as the Stereguschi was captured. The boarding party stepped over corpses and human body parts as they raised the Rising Sun flag. Suddenly the Russian cruisers Bayan and Novik were charging towards the mined harbor entrance. The Sasanami crews leapt back aboard to flee the scene as the Russians opened fire upon them. It was a bit of excitement to be sure, but Makarov wanted real action, he sought to give battle. He began a intensive training of the fleet, performed tours and raised morale. Meanwhile on March 22nd the Fuji and Yashima were now stationed in Pigeon bay to fire to enforce the blockade effort. Suddenly they found themselves being fired upon by the Russians and saw cruiser Askold flying Makarov's flag. Fuji took a minor hit and had to return to Sasebo for repairs. Togo and his fellow commanders now were realizing the Russians were growing in stature. Meanwhile the IJA guards division was only beginning to unload ashore in Korea. The Russian navy charging out of Port Arthur serious threatened the Japanese troop transit, Togo had to stop them. The same suicidal plan was employed again. The crews were taken from 20,000 volunteers, another 4 old steamers were allocated to the mission. This time each ship was ballasted with cement and stones alongside a fail safe detonating system. On the night of march 26th, the 4 old steamers sailed 10 knots for the entrance to the harbor. Just before 2:30am their escorts departed and at 3:30am they were two miles from the harbor mouth when they were detected. A gun went off on Electric Hill signaling the presence of the enemy. Search lights blasted everywhere as the 4 steamers began a marathon while dodging incoming shell fire. The frontrunner, Chiyo was making good progress until the Russian destroyer Silny came in close and torpedoed her side. The steamers behind her were fired madly upon causing massive casualties as one by one sank. Two Japanese escort destroyers tried to fire torpedoes at the Silny and maged to hit her in the engine room. In the end both sides took casualties, but Port Arthur remained open. Makarov's patience was waning, on April 12th he was aboard the cruiser Diana searching for lost Russian destroyers who had been sent out to hunt the Japanese but failed to return. Diana's lookout spotted a ship and her captain requested permission to open fire. Makarov was not sure if the ship was the enemy or one of his own, so he simply said to approach it cautiously. Unbeknownst to Makarov it was another ruse. Togo had been studying the Russian warship maneuvers, schedules and behaviors. He had noticed a pattern, when ships approached port arthur, the Russians would come out to investigate them by going north and south and east to west under the protective range of the shore batteries. He had formed a plan, led by the Koryu Maru who was hiding in the area ready to lay mines at the harbor mouth. 48 mines had been laid at the harbor mouth. As daylight was coming upon the morning of April 13th, Makarov's force got close enough to the unidentified ship to realize it was the lost Strashni and she was being fired upon by 4 IJN destroyers. Strashni was being hit at point blank range, the majority of her crew were dead, she was a goner. Alerted by the naval fire, Makarov took the fleet in to battle. Cruiser Bayan was the first to arrive, joined by Askold, Diana and Novik. The Japanese quickly withdrew from them heading towards the main fleet. The slower Russian battleships were making their way with Petropavlosvk flying Makarovs flag, next to her was Poltava. They passed over the minefield without mishap. Makarov had ordered the area swept the previous night, but the sweep never occurred, he just got very lucky. Admiral Dewa watched the Russian fleet as they departed the harbor, Sevastopol, Peresvyet and Pobieda followed behind the flagship. Dewa sent word to Togo to spring the trap. Dewa opened fire drawing the Russians further south while Togo brought up the first division hoping for battle. When Makarov saw Togo's battleships on the horizon he quickly ordered his fleet to pull back under the range of their shore batteries. Aboard the Petropavlovsk was the grand duke Cyril, a cousin to the tsar, a famous artist named Vasili Verestchagin and Captain Crown. Makarov had expected a historic moment and wanted to share it with others. As Makarovs fleet got closer to the harbor he ordered the smaller warships to go inside it while the larger ships formed a line of battle. When the Japanese approached within 6 miles they would fall under the range of the shore batteries, Makarov expected a massacre upon them. Then at 9:43am a terrible explosion hit the bows of the Petropavlovsk rocking her, a second explosion ripped open a magazine and a third blew up her boiler. The ship quickly keeled over and went down bow first, as her propellers continued to spin. Within two minutes the flagship had hit 3 mines and fell under the waves, a complete disaster. The Japanese were only 10,000 yards away, cheering the explosive sounds. Togo ordered the men to take their caps off in silence when they realized it was Petropavlovsk that had struck the mines and sunk. At 10:15am Pobieda hit a mine, the Russians thought it was some sort of submarine attack and began firing wildly out the sea. When the Russians regained order they got back into the harbor one by one. Pobieda was the last to limp in. 630 men died aboard the Petropavlovsk, including Admiral Makarov, Vasili Verestchagin and Captain Crown, the Grand Duke Cyril had been launched off the warship from the explosion and although severely injured would survive. The death of Makarov shattered the morale of the Russian navy and in the motherland added fuel to an emerging revolutionary clamor. The Japanese fleet were anchored off Elliot island on the 14th when they received the confirmed news of Makarovs death. Togo read out the telegram from Reuters and he ordered his fleet to fly their flags at half mast to give a day of mourning for an honored opponent that they esteemed a samurai for his aggressive behavior. Makarovs death signaled an end to aggressive naval actions for quite some time. On May 3rd Togo launched further blocking actions. 8 steamers tried to perform the same suicidal mission as down twice before and failed like the others. Togo was so ashamed by the loss of life from these 3 missions that he stated the third mission had been a success, lying to the army. He did this under immense pressure, for it was his job to secure the sea lanes so Japanese troops could be safely landed along the Liaodong Peninsula. Luckily for him, the death of Makarov basically kept the Russian fleet bottled up in Port Arthur. Unluckily for him the Japanese saw their own losses to sea mines begin in May. On the 12th a destroyer hit a mine at Talienwan; the next day the battleship Hatsuse ran into a minefield laid out by the Amur and just like the Petropavlovsk was lost within a minute. She had hit two mines, one blew up her magazine, breaking apart her deck. The battleship Yashima closed in to help her but also hit a mine, but was able to limp away out of the sight of the Russians before she too sank. News of these ship losses were not released to the Japanese public. Chemulpo had been seized easily, the 12th division began landing there with ease. Now the 2nd, 12th and Guards division were of the 1st IJA, mobilized before the offset of the war. The Japanese held the advantage of being able to send troops faster via the sea, for the Russians the trans siberian railway still took a considerable amount of time. Thus the Japanese wanted to hit hard and fast, so alongside the 12th division the 2nd and guards were hoped to make a landing quickly after. The 12th division with some components of the 2nd division landed between the 17th and 22nd of February and began a quick march towards Pyongyang. The Japanese first entered Pyongyang on February 21st who quickly ran out some Cossacks. They set up supply posts enabling the rest of the 12th division to follow suit by the early march. Pyongyang became a focal point for supplies and provisions, the Japanese employed numerous Koreans for the logistical war effort. They bargained for provisions at a fair rate, for example purchasing pigs. A coolie army was hired, nearly 10,000 men strong. They were paid wages above the market norm and leaders amongst them received red bands to signify privileged positions within the Imperial Japanese Transport Corps. On March 18th the 12th division advanced from Pyongyang to Anju dislodged two squadrons of Cossack cavalry there. Patrols from the first IJA indicated Chinampo lying around the mouth of the Taitong diver would make for an excellent landing point for men and supplies. Thus the commander of the 1st IJA, General Kuroki dispatched some forces of the guards and 2nd division from Hiroshima to land and secure Chinampo on March 13th. By the end of March the entire 1st IJA had landed in Korea. By this point the Japanese were confused at the lack of Russian interference, unbeknownst to them the Tsar had issued a directive to Alexeiev to overt any Russian action against the Japanese in Korea. The Russians still believed there was a chance the Japanese would just skirmish on the borders and not advance into Manchuria. Thus Alexeiev ordered the forces to allow the Japanese to land “on the whole extent of the western coast of Korea as high as Chemulpo and to permit their exploration as far north as the Yalu”. While the Japanese were consolidating their logistical supply bases in Korea, the Russian logistics were facing countless problems. The Russians simply did not have the logistical organization that the Japanese had, they were basically living off the land. The Russians were coming into conflict with the local Manchurian populations who were actively resisting them. This was largely due to the recent war they just fought in Manchuria, Japanese funding Honghuzi forces and the Chinese and Koreans simply sympathize more with their fellow asian Japanese against the Russians. Honghuzi guerilla forces were working with Koreans along the northern border to harass the Russians, attacking and pillaging their supply lines. The Japanese war plan sought to have its 1st IJA attack and advance over the Yalu, while the 2nd IJA led by General Oku would land near Nanshan to cut Port Arthur off from the mainland. Now Kuroki's 1st IJA may have had better supply lines, but to move the entire army north into Manchuria was still a logistical nightmare. To be more efficient the 1st IJA would focus its bulk along the western part of Korea where sea access was easier. The port of Rikaho was selected as a new forward landing and supply base. After securing it the Japanese continued north towards the Yalu and by the second week of April were in the same spot their forebears had taken in August of 1894. By April 21st they were concentrating due south of Wiju drawing supplies from Chinampo, Boto and Rikaho. At this point many foreign military observers and correspondents were arriving. There was a deep hunger to study how new modern weaponry and tactics would work out on the battlefield, both the Russians and Japanese would have foreigners amongst them taking notes. It was an interesting time after all. Since the American Civil War, Taiping Rebellion and even Franco-Prussian War of 1870, military technology had advanced exponentially. There would be as many as a hundred foreign military observers from over 16 different nations in Manchuria and Korea during the war. This would also be exploited heavily for spying. Many of the observers were British who held obvious sympathies with the Japanese and thus would covertly hand over information. Now back on February 15th, General Kuropatkin presented the Tsar his campaign plan to win the war against Japan, a war might I note he never favored having. Kuropatkin estimated he would require 6 months to achieve a force of 200,000, the number he believed was necessary to undertake an offensive. Thus he sought to spend the 6 months assessing the Japanese strength while establishing strong defenses to the north of their perceived limit of advance. Basically he wanted to trade space for time, he did not seek to establish defenses too far south. But Kuropatkin was not the top brass, it was Alexeiev and Alexeiev ordered Kuropatkin not to abandon any territory. Thus Kuropatkin was forced to form a line of defenses near the Yalu. He dispatched General Zasulich, the new Eastern Detachment commander on April 22nd with specific orders “to retard the enemy in his passage; to determine his strength, dispositions and lines of march; to retreat as slowly as possible into the mountains”. Opposite and across the Yalu from Wiju is Chuliencheng, the town sits about 2 miles north of the river. The Yalu splits into two rivers and at the split point are a chain of islands. There were no bridges between the two banks, thus crossings would need to be made by small junks and sampans. Taking some of the islands in the Yalu was imperative to ease crossing points. At Fenghuangcheng the Yalu divided and going north became the Ai river. At the junction was a 500 foot high hill called Tiger's head another important strategic location the Japanese would have to seize. Closer to the mouth of the Yalu on the northern side was the fortified town of Antung, which the Russians believed was extremely vulnerable to a Japanese landing attack. The Russian forces at the Yalu consisted of the 3rd Siberian Army corps alongside our old friend General Mishchenko's trans-baikal cossack brigade. At Antung, led by Major General Kashtalinksi were 2580 riflemen, 400 cavalry scouts, 16 field guns and 8 machine guns. On the right flank 4 miles to the north at Tientzu was a reserve of 5200 riflemen and 16 guns; at Chuliencheng led by Major General Trusov were 5200 riflemen, 240 cavalry scouts and 16 guns. The right flank extended from the mouth of the Yalu to Takushan all under Mishchenkos command who held 1100 cavalry, 2400 riflemen, 8 field guns and 6 horse drawn guns. The left from going from Anpingho to Hsiapuhsiho around 40 miles northeast on the Yalu was 1250 cavalry, 1000 riflement and 8 mountain guns. Excluding the reserves, there were over 16,000 riflemen, 2350 cavalry, 630 cavalry scouts, 40 field guns, 8 mountain guns and 6 horse drawn guns covering a distance of over 170 miles. Facing them around Wiju would be a Japanese force of 42,500 men. The Russians had spread themselves out thinly along the river. At the base of numerous hills were Russian trenches, uncamouflaged, in full view from the opposite bank. The Russian artillery likewise was in full view, a large mistake. The Japanese had employed spies, often disguised as fisherman going along the rivers mapping out the Russian artillery positions, by the 23rd the Japanese had acquired the full layout and order of battle. General Kuroki made sure to conceal his strength and more importantly his main crossing point. Using screens of large trees and kaoliang, if you remember the boxer series that is a tall type of millet, well they used this type of cover to move their artillery and troops in secrecy. The Russians occupied the islands in the Yalu called Kyuri, Oseki and Kintei. On the 25th 6 batteries were brought up to support an infantry attack. IJN gunboats began harassing the forces at Antung as a diversion, trying to deceive the Russians into thinking their right flank was where the fighting would be had. At 9:45pm two battalions of the 2nd division crossed using pontoons to Kintei island completely unopposed. Sappers immediately went to work constructing bridges. At 4am a force of 250 soldiers of the Guards division landed and attacked 150 Russians on Kyuri, dislodging them at the cost of 12 men. The Russians quickly abandoned Kyuri and Kintei seeing them as lost causes, but suddenly without orders the men atop Tiger Hill also began withdrawing when they saw men leaving the islands. The Japanese engineers began constructing 10 bridges using pontoons as a feint attack was launched against Chuliencheng. A bridge was erected made up of native boats placed side by side going across the Yalu. This bridge was a decoy. Russian artillery fired upon numerous positions giving their locations away as the concealed Japanese artillery systematically took them out one by one. Over at Antung a small flotilla of 6 gunboats continued to harass the fort and trenches. The local commander was convinced the Japanese would land and attack, again this was a deception. After a few days Kuroki had all he needed to unleash a blow. He sought to advance to Tangshancheng, between Fenghuangcheng and Antung. He had orders to work in concert with the 2nd IJA's landing, this meant he was to a cross the Yalu on April 30th. However, Generals Oku, Kuorki and Admiral Togo met on April 25th where it was determined the deadline had to be pushed until May 1st or 2nd. Thus Kuroki was ordered to delay his attack until May 3rd. Kuroki concentrated his attention towards the weak Russian left flank. He required a crossing point over the Yalu to reconnoiter between the Yalu and Ai rivers. The Russians believed crossing the Ai would require boats, but the Japanese found a crossing point over at the right bank around Sukuchin. Kuroki had the 12th division focus on the right flank, the Guards in the middle to cross the Yalu via the Kyuri and Oseki islands to take a position on Chukodai island to the north and south of Tiger Hill, the 2nd division would hit the weak left. On May 1st the Japanese received some new toys from Chinampo, 20 4.72 inch howitzers organized into 5 batteries. Under the cover of darkness, these huge guns were placed into camouflaged trenches. Meanwhile back on the 29th of april the 12th division covertly crossed the Yalu during the night and moved 3 batteries into Chukyuri to cover the bridge making effort. At 11am on May 1st the Japanese artillery began firing, covering the 12th divisions as they crossed the right bank brushing aside light Russian opposition. Zasulich received word of this and tried to order reinforcements to Anpingho, but he still believed the activities of the 12th division to be a feint, a IJN flotilla was harassing Antung still. The reinforcements were thus delayed heavily. On april 29th and 4pm Zasulich despatched a battalion of the 22nd east Siberian rifle regiment with some mounted scouts and 2 guns to cross the Ai river and retake Tiger Hill. The Russians easily dislodged the Japanese platoon atop the hill who quickly joined their comrades over on Kyuri island. The next morning the Japanese could see the Russians digging in on Tiger Hill, so the Guards divisional artillery on a hill south of a bridge leading to Kyuri island opened fire on them. There was no artillery response from the Russian artillery. At 10am two groups of sappers set out in boats to survey the waters opposite of Chukodai and at 10:30 were fired upon by a battery on some high ground north east of Chuliencheng. 6 4.72 inch batteries of the 12th division responded and within 16 minutes the Russian battery was neutralized suffering the deaths of 5 officers and 29 men. Another Russian battery east of Makau began firing and was smashed quickly by the Guards artillery. Major General Kashtalinski took command of the Chuliencheng sector from Major General Trusov who became ill on April 28th. So severely had the Russian artillery and infantry suffered from the Japanese artillery, that at 11pm on April 30th, Kashtalinski requested permission from Zasulich to withdraw to some hills behind Chuliencheng. Zasulich refused this as Alexeiev's orders were clear, not to give up any ground. Zasulich then received news, the men on Tigers Hill had abandoned it fearing encirclement, some elements of the Guards and 12th division linked up and took it. The 12th division were advancing in three columns towards the Ai river during the night and as Thomas Cowen of the Daily Chronicle reported “The men had to march, wade, wait their turn at a plank bridge or shallow ford, help each other up a slippery bank, pass, in single file sometimes, through a willow copse, wait, climb, jump, mud-scramble, and march again, for about six hours, getting into positions, ‘lining out' in front of the long-extending Russian trenches. No light was allowed, nor a voice above an undertone, for the most part there were no roads to march on, but the men had to cross fields, grope in the gloom for strange paths, or struggle past obstructions where no path could be found, using dry water-courses as tracks till they led into pools, over stubbly cornfields, in and out among tenantless farm buildings, up country lanes and hillside footpaths, each officer and NCO peering into the gloom, feeling his way to the appointed spot, consulting a rough sketch plan and drawing his men after him.” At 3am the Russian 12th regiment reported back to Zasulich that they heard the sounds of wheels on the islands and believed artillery were crossing bridges, he did nothing. At 5am the morning fog dissipated and the Russians could now see opposite of them at Chuliencheng to Salankou at a distance of 6 miles, 3 Japanese divisions were in trenches waiting to pounce on them. Regimental priests egan sermons just before the scream of Japanese howitzers broke the morning quiet. The Japanese artillery were focused first on hunting Russian artillery, eventually some batteries at Makau fired back and within a few minutes were silenced. After this the Japanese artillery focused its full weight upon the Russian infantry in their trenches absolutely devastating them. In view of the lack of Russian artillery fire, Kuroki changed his plans somewhat and ordered the 12th division to perform an encirclement maneuver prior to the Guards and 2nd divisions attacks. By 7am all 3 Japanese divisions were advancing. The Japanese stormed out of their trenches and rushed along the 200 yard wide waters of the Ai to the various crossing points like ants going through funnels. The Japanese troops carrying packs full with rations for 3 days moved as fast as they could through the water before being hit by the first Russian volley at a range of around 500 yards, about halfway across the river. It was an extreme range for the Russian rifles, but with the Japanese so packed up it was brutal. The Japanese did not loss momentum and soon were charging through Russian volleys up the river bank and knolls. Japanese officers began screaming ‘take cover and fire at will”. The 2nd division suffered tremendous casualties around Chuliencheng. The Japanese leapfrogged forward using fire and movement to great effect and soon were crashing into the forward Russian positions. When the Russians abandoned their forward positions for interior lines the Japanese artillery devestated them. The 12th east Siberian rifle regiment made a brave but hopeless counterattack and were swept aside. By 10am the main body of the Russian force were in a full retreat at Chuliencheng. The Japanese tried to storm a the road leading to Fenghuangcheng due north of Chuliencheng, but the full weight of the Russian retreat dislodged them. General Kashtalinski watched in horror as the right flank collapsed, however there was still hope. If Colonel Gromov held the left flank, they could maintain thir foothold on the Yalu. Colonel Gromov and his men were holding a position on the forward slopes overlooking the Ai river in the area of Potetientzu. His command held two battalions of the 22nd regiment and his focus was upon the right side where the guards division were now getting over the river and penetrated his thinly held line. Gromov then received news the 12th division were beggining to get over their part of the river. Gromov went over to see it for himself and he estimated there to be around 5 or 6 battalions advancing directly upon his position. He had no choice, he orderd a partial withdrawal, and as best as he could he tried to maintain order but a general withdrawal emerged as the Japanese gradually turned his flank. Gromov's intent was to pull back to Chingkou, but the rapid advance of the Japanese forces him to saddle between Chingkou and Laofangkou. Other than Gromov's two battalions, the Russians were maintaining a reasonble withdrawal to defensive lines further back around the Hantuhotzu stream around two miles beyond the Ai. The force at Antung were being shelled by the IJN gunboats, aside from that they alongside the reserves at Tientzu had done basically nothing in the battle thus far. Kuroki ordered the Guards to occupy some hills above Hamatang, the 2nd division to advance upon Antung and the 12th to advance southwards to Taloufang. The 12th swept right through Chingkou en route to Hamatang smashing Gromov's men. General Kashtalinksi's men held the Guards and 2nd division back along the Hantuhotzu giving General Zasulich time to withdraw his troops at Antung to Tientzu. To over this withdrawal two battalions of the 11th east siberian regiment and a battery were detached to bolster Kashtalinski's position along the Hantuhotzu. The Guards and 2nd division had to wait for their artillery to catch up to them as the 12th were putting pressure on Gromov's men. At 12:15pm Gromov was forced to pull back to Liuchiakou and he sent a messenger to report such to General Kashtalinski's HQ. At 1pm a messenger of General Zasulich arrived at Gromov's HQ ordering him to retreat via Laochoutun. Meanwhile the messenger failed to get to Kashtalinski until 4pm, thus Kashtalinski would have literally no idea and thought everything was holding. Later Gromov would be courtmartialled for withdrawing the way he did. He would be exonerated later, but before that occurred he would shoot himself in shame. Around 12pm Kashtalinski received word to his surprise that Gromov was withdrawing from Chingkou with the 22nd regiment in disarray and that the Japanese had seized Liuchiakou. His scouts were also telling him the Japanese were advancing on Laofangkou. Kashtalinski wanted to see this for himself douting his own scouts. What he saw was a complete disaster and he quickly ordered an immediate withdrawal from Hantuhotzu to Tientzu. His rearguard was the 11th company of the 22nd regiment who took up a position on a 570 foot high hill east of Hamatang. At around 2pm the 5th company of the 24th IJA regiment, the 12th divisions vanguard smashed into the southeast part of the Hamatang defensive line. Soon the 5th company held a blocking position forcing the retreating Russians to move further south of the 570 foot hill. Three batteries of the 12th division the narrived and began smashing Hamatang as the Guards and 2nd divisions men stormed forward positions. The 11th east Siberian regiment buckled and began fleeing into the valley beyond Hamatang already 26 officers and 900 men had been killed. The valley was around a mile wide, extremely open with fields extending up hillsides. There was basically no cover at all and when the Japanese took the heights they had an excellent view into the valley to fire upon the fleeing Russians. Suddenly the regiments priest in full regalia, grabbed a large cross and stood up. The surrounding surviving Russians around him stood up and the priest led the men through the valley to safety as he cried out “god have mercy” for Russians were being blown to pieces all around them. The priest was hit by 3 bullets before he fell bleeding over his cross as soldier grabbed him and carried him to the other side. The firing gradually lessened as the Japanese shouted banzais atop their hills and saluted the Russians withdrawing before them. The hero priest was evacuated to the Red Cross hospital at Mukden where he made a full physical recovery, though psychological he did not, he reportedly went insane. The carnage was not found so great everywhere. 650 men of the 24th and 56th regiments who were holding out on a hill south east of Hamatang were pounced upon by a company of the guards division who screamed Banzai charging with their bayonets. The Russains lifted up a white flag and the Japanese allowed them to surrender. At 5:30pm the sun was setting across the battlefield, it had been a truly bloody sight. 2700 Russians lay dead, wounded or captured. The Japanese reported 1036 casualties. The Russians had lost 45 artillery pieces, 8 machine guns and 19 wagons full of munitions. The Japanese did not pursue the Russians fleeing to Liaoyang or Fenghuangcheng. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. The Russian fleet was trapped firmly with the harbor of Port Arthur allowing the Japanese to commence their land campaigns. The first major battle was at along the Yalu river which turned a crimson red with the blood of both sides. It was going to be a terrible war.
Today we're talking about another badass in the sky, but not a pilot. Ben Kuroki overcame a shit ton of prejudice to get into the US military during World War 2 right after Pearl Harbor, AKA the peak of Japanese hate. But just joining wasn't enough for ol' Ben, he wanted to shoot the fuck outta some sky Nazis so he became a tail gunner. But even that wasn't enough, because he wanted to go fight the Japs too. After taking a short break to go on a Captain America tour because he was a goddamn war hero. This dude was dope, enjoy!
Rebecca and Mokuba continue to explore their mutual benefits. By BEWD4133. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. She couldn't deny that the challenge was an enticing one. If she could take that then what would there be that she couldn't take? What would it feel like to be spread open that far and reached into that deeply? All of a sudden, the seat in his lap was starting to look more and more comfortable. Before she realized it, her own juices were trickling out of her skirt and onto her thigh, causing Mokuba's erection to twitch in delight when he noticed it as well. “I get to be on top though,” she set her final terms with the horny teen, “I won't be having you tear me in two with that thing. "No problem, do it however you like,” he accepted. [[MORE]] Loosening her own body towel was the only bit of preparing that Rebecca still needed to do. While initially bashful towards exposing her C-cup breasts and petite waist, nothing else she felt now compared with the daunting task of taking his beast into her womanhood. She stood from her spot and moved to where she was facing him with his member pointing right up into her, placing her hands on his shoulders for her final bit of mental preparation. “Damn, I can't believe I'm doing this,” she muttered before finally letting her hips begin to drop. Her hand reached down to hold Mokuba's member upright and he watched with wonder as she brought it up to her the moist lips of her pussy. By no means was it their first time, but it might as well have been with how much stretching it took just to get the head in. Getting the first few inches of his swollen, rock-hard, and substantial shaft inside created the image in her mind of a large cucumber penetrating her womanhood. “Oh God, I really can't believe I'm doing this,” Rebecca's voice went up an octave once she got past the quarter mark of his manhood. “Take it easy. You're doing fine,” Mokuba encouraged her while mesmerized by the way his member pried open her vagina inch by inch. “Ah, so fucking big, so fucking big…” she bit her lip and repeated while she continued her way downwards once she took in the first half. Her body almost did finally give out when she got to the last two inches, but Mokuba's surprisingly thoughtful arms reached around her to support her for the final stretch as she fully planted herself onto his rod and into his lap. Even after amazingly taking in all he had, the feeling of such a behemoth making itself at home within her took a good deal of time and several deep breaths for her to accustom herself to. The new sensation of his flesh being directly bonded with hers was a lot for Mokuba's mind to adjust to as well. “Oh… shit… Mokuba… It… It's like…” she eked out between pants. “Yeah, it's something else,” he kept his hands firmly on her back but pulled her a little bit closer. “It's… It's… Oh” one single tremendous shudder rushing through her body seemed to refresh her ability to speak in complete sentences, “It's almost beyond belief…” “Yeah, I didn't think it'd be like this either,” he agreed with a glance into her eyes. “It's just so… gargantuan,” she spoke more closely into his ear, “I never fathomed that I would ever have this much cock in me all at once.” “And I never imagined you would take it all at once,” he gently laughed back at her. “Oh Mokuba, I don't even know what to think right now,” she grabbed onto him as he maintained his hold on her, “It's stretching apart my womanhood so thoroughly that my entire body feels like it's being filled by it. Every inch feels so monstrous, aching to tear me apart completely, and yet, somehow, it actually feels kind of nice.” “Really?” “It's crazy, I know, but there's something oddly fulfilling about giving all I have to this mammoth member of yours. It hurt a bit at first, but after a certain point it simply overcame me just what an amazing thing this is to have in me.” “Well, you have me feeling pretty nice too. I mean, it might as well be my first time right now,” Mokuba confessed. “Yeah, mine too,” Rebecca agreed. “Yeah but not just that. I was thinking that it's also been a long time since I felt like I had enough room down there,” Mokuba clarified. “Oh?” “It's not easy. I mean it's fun to gloat about, but my pants have only been feeling more and more restrictive and I always ended up forcing it so much with the other girls I dated. This is the first time since these growth spurts kicked in that I really feel comfortable, you know, like I have enough space to just… let it out,” he confessed. “Oh,” she felt herself become even more at ease with him, “Well, it's so rigid that it's kind of just doing what it wants in there, but that hardness feels really good too.” “And your pussy is super soft, warm, and mushy. Slipping into it feels so natural for me,” he even started to blush, “It's great. Thanks, Rebecca.” Even as deeply connected as they were, for some reason a kiss still felt awkward for such an informal relationship, but both found a hug more than appropriate for the moment. The intimate exchange of thoughts inspired Rebecca to make her first motions since reaching the base of his shaft. They were only light rocks of her hips but each tiny plunge onto his manhood offered a more electrifying spark than the one before. Its shape was more deeply ingrained in her mind each time his head brushed against her cervix with her awareness of his more minute features increasing in clarity aided by the slick coating of her juices tenderly applied along his length by the lips of her furtherly aroused vagina. His hands seemed to make their way lower down her back in proportion to the rising heat between them. So much so that she undid and fully discarded the towel that still hung loosely over her shoulders. Oh fuck, you're really taking the whole thing,“ Mokuba let out a gasp, "I've never had it being squeezed all at once like this before.” “You certainly aren't making it easy for me,” she huffed, “Always using a rubber thoroughly failed to do justice to this incredible texture. That fat head of yours is scraping me so much that going any faster might make me lose it.” “Then at least let me feel a little more of you,” he used his hands resting on her waist to guide her into longer strokes. Wait, wait, shit!“ the sudden change in his motions introduced more new sensations into her mind than she was ready to handle at once, "Oh fuck, Mokuba!” “How's that?” he was now going in and out about a third of the way with his member. With her mental faculties momentarily disrupted, her body resorted to making its more natural responses to him. Her vaginal walls began tightening on his erection in random, frantic intervals. It appeared to be a way of indicating he was too much for her yet only served to invite her to go even farther. He mustered all of his self-control to keep himself from going any harder before she was ready again, but all of that pent-up desire only made its way straight into his member, solidifying and bloating it into a distinctly erotic new shape for her womanhood to contend with which it did with a fierce climax. The boy paused to experience the waves of orgasm crashing over her, both in how he could see her body quivered all over and he could feel it all coming down on his manhood. It was all a shock like he had never known. “Did you just… cum?” he murmured to stunned surprise. “Yeah, I think so,” Rebecca had slumped back but pulled herself back up with the help of his shoulders “Wow, that's actually a bit of a first for me, having a girl cum right on my dick.” “Hm?” still re-gathering her strength. “I've always been too much for them before I finish, but you really did it.” “Uh-huh, I guess I did,” she confirmed. “You're pretty amazing, Rebecca,” he gave her a refreshed grin. His erection suddenly had a new sense of pride emanating from it that had her eyes springing back to life. “Damn, how does that body of yours have a heart strong enough to keep such an enormous dick this hard and have it throbbing so much all over? It's like a jackhammer in my belly,” Rebecca was taken aback by his renewed and even further enhanced vigor, so much so that she blurted, “How am I ever supposed to go back to my vibrator?!” “So, I'm better than a vibrator?” Mokuba seized on her gaffe “So much better!” she didn't even attempt to deny it “Thanks, you're a lot better than any toy too,” he cradled her, “I outgrew my fleshlight too, you know. Couldn't even get in halfway before.” “I think I can manage at least that much for you since I came first.” “Sounds like we have a new arrangement then,” he announced. “Huh?” “I don't mind letting you have some fun with this cock of mine if you ever happen to be feeling frisky. This pussy of yours will make it more than worth it on my end.” “Well, I guess I probably won't ever be casually finding a subject like this on the street or in a science book,” Rebecca noted the outline of his penis within her still extending upwards and past her navel, “I suppose I still have a lot I could stand to learn here.” “So? Still friends?” “Just a little more than, actually,” she was finally primed to begin moving again. Rebecca promptly re-assumed her prior pace without his assistance. There was still some visible strain to it with every ounce of excitement from his manhood running through her each time she went up and back down to the base, but she was able to remain smooth and consistent with her motions. Her next challenge came when Mokuba began to add in his own movements. He was past the point where he could keep his hips completely still in his seat and the continued pressure of her vaginal walls bearing down on his erection was soon accompanied by some increasingly ferocious twitching from him. “It really is like a wild animal,” she moaned, “Rampaging against all of my most sensitive areas. Fuck, I love it.” “Because you don't let up even when I'm about to explode. If I made you cum once, I have no qualms about making you cum twice.” “Not until you finally cum.” “Even if it's inside you?” “It'll be our new contract with each other.” “Seems like a binding agreement to me.” In accordance with her promise just earlier, Rebecca pushed herself to get her hips humping along a solid half of his length, maybe even a bit more. Her canal opened itself to accept a ravaging more intense than ever. Now, the bulbous glans she had become enamored with was alternating strikes against her G-spot and cervix. Each time she bottomed out had a healthy thump to it with his lust testicles brushing against her when he gently bucked his own hips in rhythm with hers. His hands drifted from her waist to her hips to provide a little bit of lateral movement that he was yearning for. Sporadically, he would feel a tightening around his base that would creep its way up her walls and along his shaft, concluding with a tense squeeze of his head at the end of her passage. In all, it had been way, way too long since Mokuba could revel in being enveloped like this, and it was an even more spectacular sensation than any he could ever remember. “Fuck, I never thought it could get like this,” he hissed, “Like, It's become so sensitive and the whole entire thing feels like it's on fire and now I…” “You've got so much meat in those loins now, and for the first time you've got someone willing to properly consume it all at once,” she finished for him, “Must be quite the special feeling.” “Yes, it is,” he gently tugged her hips down to snugly press her groin against his. “It's only fair for me to appreciate the opportunity for what it is,” she shuddered at being wholly filled once more, “I'd probably have to go into porn for another chance like this and even that might not measure up. It'd be a terrible waste to pass up such a go with such a colossal dick.” “I'd hate to lose out on this too. We've got a good thing going here.” “Then for our new arrangement, consider yourself the subject of my own study. From now on, I intend to find out just what a truly huge cock can really do.” “You really want to know?” “Oh yes, you're not done with puberty yet. I look forward to tracking your future growth and any further developments that come along with it. How many more condoms and different toys will you manage to break? I look forward to keeping a very exact count and sharing my conclusions online.” “Don't think I won't be testing you too then,” he gripped her firmly by the waist, “How much of this dick do you think that you will really be able to take? Think of how your innards feel being stuffed with all of this cock already. What will that do to you when thrusting all the way in and all the way out?” Seriously considering his proposal sent shivers through her limbs and spine with vaginal undulations all over the dick in question. “I hope you don't expect to always be on top,” Mokuba tried to mask how good her trembling felt. “Risk is the price of discovery,” was her final answer, “Better to be fucked silly than spend my life regretting that I never tried it.” “You better mean that because, oh fuck, am I close to really cumming right inside you,” he refocused on the pussy tenderizing his manhood right in front of him.“ "Yes, that's where I intend to run my first test. Let's see if your cum can win out over what's supposed to be my safe day,” she taunted right to his face, “You're the one with the money to pay for a kid anyway.” Even being faced with the very real prospect of sensory overload. Rebecca accelerated and broadened her thrusts to what she felt was just at the brink of her young body and mind being overwhelmed. She managed to get almost as high as three-quarters of his shaft in a single stroke. Her speed bumped up to a level comparable to what he would do with his own hand in masturbation. For varying reasons, they were each aware of the concept of edging and quickly realized from a rapid hardening and sudden thrashing from his member that her controlled pace up until now I'd only been setting up the final result to be more explosive. It was a technique Rebecca would be sure to mentally store away while Mokuba found himself going numb to any signals or sensations beyond his loins. His manhood had grown into so much more than ever before and every square inch of it was overcome by the dazzling sensations of her coiling pussy and his imminent eruption. His testicles were no exception, also churning for the incoming storm at a rate he was not remotely aware they could. “No exceptions then, you had better not dream of slowing down now,” he issued a warning that sounded more like a plea, “I'm about to cum. I'm gonna cum so fucking much! You had better handle it to the last drop!” “Yes, I will no matter what, in the name of science,” her thrusts became increasingly automatic as her mind wanted to give way to raging leviathan within. “Fuck, you're so fucking sexy, Rebecca! Look at you taking all of that fucking cock and loving every fucking inch. Ah fuck, take my fucking cum too!” With his neck shooting back and every muscle in his body tensing, Mokuba unleashed his seed in an ultimate burst reminiscent of a chemistry experiment gone horribly wrong or horribly right depending on one's perspective. The entire process of having his raw unfiltered spunk gushing inside her was new to her on its own, but she knew that it was also on another level compared to anything she would have had the chance to try before. The first shot alone was enough to surpass what she would have anticipated under ordinary circumstances but then the second, third, and fourth came out just as vibrantly allowing her to reach her own orgasm to go with the fifth, sixth, and seventh, each accompanied by an ample throb and twitch that felt just as wonderful. He made an admirable final effort with his eight before the ninth and tenth came out as lighter satisfied spurts. Even with her womanhood holding it as much as it could, by his fifth shot he had already filled her to where his essence leaked down onto the bench on which they were sitting, with the final waves of his orgasm rendering unsuitable for any further guests “The human body is an undeniable marvel of nature,” Rebecca concluded as she observed the results of their exchange on both ends. “Damn, can't believe I really came that much,” Mokuba glanced down to the puddle between them. “And yet I'm confident I could get even more in the right circumstances,” Rebecca boldly claimed. “At the very least you'll have to wait for another day to try that,” Mokuba suddenly got an uneasy feeling about just what it was he had now agreed to, “I think that our work here is finished for the time being.” “Was it worth it getting me that laptop?” Rebecca had come more perilously close to forgetting than she would have liked. “Every penny,” Mokuba let her off of his lap. “And you'll be good to go the next time I need your "assistance”?“ she double-checked. "As long as you're always sure to return the favor.” “Good, I already have a few ideas brewing, but for now though, do you mind if I collect a little additional data?” “How so?” When she briefly left the sauna and returned with her smartphone, Mokuba easily figured out the rest. Even after two orgasms, this girl was too erotic for him to turn down in a mood like this. Mustering any remaining lust in him was enough to pop one last hell of a boner with her help. After getting the camera active and ready, and an amorous grin on her face, his dick found a new place to comfortably rest right against her cheek. With his erection towering well above her head as a frame of reference where traces of his earlier release still left all over them, she made sure to catch both of their faces in the frame for one incredibly masculine snapshot. “What do you think?” she brought the picture up to him, “The first of many I hope.” “Of what?” “A list of how many objects your cock is bigger than. My head should make a nice start.” “I hope you don't ever intend to give me a boner without a plan to deal with it,” he brought her hand back to his thigh. “Of course not, Mokuba, of course not,” she now sat at his side in the sauna fully in the nude with him, “You'll find a close friendship with me to be rife with benefits.” -two weeks later. “Well, here I am. A Saturday alone.” A college girl muttered to herself outside with the breeze passing through her hair before stepping through the double doors in front of her. It wasn't a concept that was new to Rebecca given her extensive studies, often being forced to choose between academic and social success. However, today was not one of those instances. Her latest tests and projects were all complete with her even managing to spend time with her university friends for Halloween. However, it was now November, and he mind remained stuck on what had happened the previous month and how her relationships with specific individuals had evolved. “It's Rebecca Hopkins,” she was again told a certain doorman “Very well,” the employee pressed the appropriate button, “Mr. Kuroki, a Ms. Hopkins is here to see you.” “Huh? Well, fine. Send her up.” the recipient answered, somewhat groggily from within his room. With his approval, Rebecca strolled her way up the elevator and down the hall where the familiar apartment awaited. Knocking on the door brought her promptly face-to-face with the boy who waited inside, but not nearly as prepared as he was for their past encounters. “Rebecca?” Mokuba Kuroki greeted her seemingly half-asleep, “What's up? I don't remember making any plans.” “Truthfully speaking, that's because you didn't but still…” she fiddled with her fingers, “I just felt like coming over to see you on a rare day off. "Huh, well, okay,” he seemed to try and shake himself awake, “I was just getting a bit bored myself.” His hair even shaggier than usual, the Asian teen stood radically different from her past times seeing him. Looking over him in more detail, Rebecca saw that his often formal attire had been forgone in favor of a grey t-shirt declaring his fealty to the nearby Mariners baseball team and sweatpants that seemed almost intended to make her sweat with how they accentuated what she now knew to be a most marvelous appendage contained underneath. “Sorry, I don't have any sort of special meal ready or whatever. I wasn't expecting company but you're free to come in anyway. Folks are off on business like usual,” Mokuba humbly welcomed her inside. “Oh… yes!” the girl had to promptly force her eyes back upwards, “That's perfectly alright. Thank you.” Following Mokuba's lead, Rebecca walked behind him through the apartment to the central living area where a wide leather sofa had been set up in front of a seventy-five inch OLED television. “Don't mind me,” he returned to the seat where the imprint of his behind could still be seen, “I was just flipping through the channels in search of… something worthwhile.” “It's all good, I was just feeling in need of a little… companionship,” the female student uneasily settled in on the cushion adjacent to him, “I mean, we haven't gotten together outside of university since that time, you know.” “Why? Were you hoping to get more?” the boy replied half-jokingly. “I'm up for whatever you're up to really,” Rebecca didn't refute his suggestion, “Just seems as though we should spend a bit more casual time together.” “I was just about to do some mindless channel flipping if you don't mind tagging along for it.” In his best efforts to put on something they could both get some enjoyment out of, Mokuba stopped his channel flipping on the local news affiliate, but the girl could only keep her eyes on the screen at most half of the time. Sitting with his legs spread wide open, the bulge in Mokuba's sweats would have been too prominent to ignore even without her knowledge of what it truly concealed. Even clothed, the way his meat seemed to rest halfway down his thigh was breathtaking to behold. “For all of their importance in the local tech industry, my parents are still dinosaurs who insist on regular television packages instead of streaming,” Mokuba initiated a conversation, “The most deluxe package money can buy and still barely a damn thing to watch.” “I'll bet,” his comment barely registered with her. Mokuba had his own mixed feelings towards being alone with her but attempted to drown them out by scrolling through the stations again. He stumbled upon an airing of Frozen that seemed like a good choice to watch with a girl around and take full advantage of the ultra-high-definition display. “So, what do you make of the colors on this thing?” he suddenly asked, “Absolute top of the market with an OLED screen.” “Colors? What are you talking about? It's all grey,” she absent-mindedly responded before covering her mouth in mortal embarrassment, leaving a silent stare to hover between them for the next several moments. “Well…” he exhaled, “I guess I've figured out what it is that you really want to watch and it's not the sort of thing that Disney would want to put on. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry!” Rebecca scrambled to cover her face, “All that's happened between us must have you thinking I'm some kind of slut, but it's really just that you've… kinda gotten in my head.” “Understandable, all things considered,” the boy laughed, “I mean, I kinda threw these on haphazardly for your sudden arrival. Otherwise, I was just sorta letting it all hang out.” “Hang out? You mean like naked?” the scholar double-checked. “Um… yeah…” he rubbed the back of his head, “I mean, gotta take advantage of the chance to give it some space where I can, right?” “Well then…” a blush began to fill her cheeks, “Don't feel like you have to restrict yourself for my sake…” Mokuba's face also began to flush red as the atmosphere settled in between them. He wasn't nearly naive enough to not realize where this was going to lead, but to have her be the one to set it in motion this time at least forced him to take pause. He certainly had nothing better to do but never imagined that thing to do would be knocking on his door unannounced. Mokuba stood from his seat after a brief look into her eyes to affirm her resolve. “Okay,” he took a breath, “If you insist.” With her full attention and nothing to be ashamed of, Mokuba grabbed the waist of his sweats and let them drop like a curtain being cast aside. Underneath his member awaited her anxious as full and healthy as ever, hanging most of the way down his thigh even while flaccid. He only took a second to soak in her reaction before sitting back down, visibly more comfortable than before. “There, isn't that better?” she beamed, scooching in just a bit closer. “Most certainly, I can't deny that,” he spread his arms across the backrest with legs open, “It helps to let it breathe whenever I can.” Despite his rather impressive genitals now being completely out in the open, neither Mokuba nor Rebecca sought to take any further, immediate action with the other. For the female scholar, the sight of his masculinity in its natural state was something to be studied and appreciated. What she was now seeing was who Mokuba truly was, devoid of any facade or pretense. He even picked the remote back up to change the television over to a Batman film airing on another channel although she couldn't be bothered to even pretend to look at the screen anymore. In her experience, penises like Mokuba's were only seen at times where sex was imminent, but this was a reminder that he still has a life to live well beyond those moments, even if the rising heat in her crotch told her such a moment would likely be fleeting here. “I just couldn't imagine living life with something like that attached to my groin at all times,” she willed herself to address the figurative and almost literal elephant in the room. “It's not too bad,” he shrugged, “I mean it's just the reverse of living with boobs, right?” “Yeah, but mine aren't anything much more than average,” the girl cradled her chest, “If I'm a C-cup, you're the equivalent of a K-cup.” “And would you want that for yourself?” “Yeah, I mean no, kinda…” Rebecca fumbled with the question, “I mean… what do you think?” “I think you should make the best of what you're given naturally. Cosmetic surgeries and other such phony nonsense are a real turnoff in a person.” “Easy for you to say though.” “What about you? Can you even pretend you're here for any other reason but to ogle my dick?” “No, that's not…” Mokuba's words stung more than expected, “It's just that it's such a rare thing to see I have to try my absolute hardest to look away.” “But that's perfectly alright though,” he changed his tone, “It's simply part of me. I don't see any kind of point in complaining over precisely which part of me drew you in, but you did come over and that certainly means something.” “Really?” his logic threw her for a loop, “If you say so…” From Batman, Mokuba next switched over to a sports program speculating on the quickly oncoming start to the NBA season. The Asian student seemed genuinely interested in a highlight reel lf LeBron James playing on the network as he passed. Rebecca joined together with him in paying some attention to it but it only served to give her other ideas. She imagined him trying to imitate a few of those moves she was seeing on-screen, his meat flopping around in those basketball shorts for all to observe. It got a fire sizzling in her belly to where she had to do something, even if she still lacked the nerve to outright grab him. Instead, she simply lifted her shirt up and over her head, leaving her upper body covered by only a bra before she could overheat. “You feeling alright?” Mokuba cocked an eyebrow. “Yes, just a bit… anxious,” she still struggled with her composure. “Well, don't feel as though you can't ask what you need of me to get yourself more comfortable.” “You? What I need you to do is… is…” her breathing heightened. “Is what?” “Is… to let me know… how that body of yours has gotten you treated in locker rooms back in high school,” she opted to shift the subject. “I don't know how it is for girls, but guys typically try not to stare at one another when changing, ” he replied, “Sure they were rumors about me, but nobody dared to compare. The only thing that mattered was not getting an erection and getting accused of being gay.” “Is that how you can sit here so freely without popping a boner? That learned self-control?” “Sort of. I don't want to pressure you more than I already am.” “Pressure me?” “If I got hard now, you'd be put in another position where you feel obligated to get it back down.” “I managed to last time.” “You did, but I still don't want to spring it on you without warning either.” “…but what if I did want to?” she asked with a deep breath. “Huh?” “I mean, if you were feeling up for it, I'd be down to help you out a little, you know, to ease the boredom…” Rebecca turned crimson red all over again. “Is that your sincere idea of entertainment?” the boy teased. “Kind of, I mean, if it's with you…” was her final answer. With that, Mokuba found the resolve to cast his own remaining doubts to the wayside. Picking up the remote, he turned away from network television entirely, brazenly using its built-in smart features to start up the app for a porn site instead before passing the remote on to Rebecca. “Go on,” he offered, “Let me see what you're into. I won't judge as long as you don't judge me if I happen to like it too.” “What? Is this necessary?” “I've told you before that I like sincerity in people,” Mokuba reminded her, “Let me see what genuinely excites you.” Barely able to gather her thoughts, Rebecca scrambled together the first words pertaining to sexuality that passed through her brain. Unfortunately, they happened to be those directly pertaining to herself. “Amateur white girl big cock!” she spoke into the microphone. “Nice to see that you don't mince words,” her partner chuckled. “I could never watch the professional stuff. It's so unrealistic and borderline deceptive,” the girl defended her choice. “I agree,” Mokuba folded his arms respectfully as she continued to make her selection. She scrolled through the list that came up in the search and found all sorts of results submitted by real people filming themselves having sex for the world. Some appeared to be done by individuals hooking up with random fans but others seemed to be consistently but out by honest couples who reveled in flaunting their relationship. “Wow… this sort of thing is more common than I realized,” Rebecca murmured at the results. “Go ahead and pick,” he shuffled slightly in his seat, “Anything will be fine to start.” “Okay but first…” she paused, “Allow me to get more comfortable myself. Unexpectedly discarding her own pants at that moment, Mokuba's eyes widened slightly at the moisture he could notice starting to build at the center of her panties. Paying no mind, Rebecca selected a video featuring a seemingly married couple in their late twenties. The man's body was nice, even if he couldn't help being somewhat less endowed than the male beside her. However, the girl did seem to have a cup-size over her in the chest department. "Woah, you like them older, huh?” Mokuba observed. “Only a bit. No drunk, vulnerable college girls,” Rebecca let the clip play It was perfectly fine for what it was. The duo looked to have actual chemistry and experience with on another with how smoothly they handled exchanging oral sex. They had sex in a common missionary position with the man on top, seeming to know exactly just how much of his fairly above average size she could take, hitting a rhythm that had her calling out his name with every thrust. Nothing was too out of the ordinary physically, but it couldn't help leaving them considering their own experience in comparison. “My… that was something,” Rebecca let out a sigh when the video finished. “Yeah, gotta guess they put in their practice for it,” he joined her in a sense of relief. “I wonder how it would be shooting something like that,” she pondered before handing the controller back over. “What's this?” “Your turn,” the girl clarified, “It's only fair.” “Okay…” Mokuba hesitated a bit, “Not sure how to follow that up.” “Same as me. Whatever is on your mind.” “I don't want to put on anything that might upset you…” “As long as it's legal,” the American student approved. Unlike her, Mokuba was fairly well-prepared with his search terms for porn. The tough part was choosing which to go with. He knew plenty of names that could risk leaving her with a sense of inadequacy but one stood out in his mind as appropriate for the situation. “Hitomi Tanaka,” the boy announced his selection. On the TV appeared a swath of results for a brunette with a pair of boobs far larger than any Rebecca had ever come across in person. Almost as notable to her was the fact that she also appeared to be of Japanese descent just the same as the classmate she now sat with. Mokuba quickly pulled up a relatively tame video of her fondling and bouncing her breasts camgirl style. Rebecca couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy but still felt obligated to finish why she started even with their nerves at an all-time high. “A big titted Japanese woman, huh?” she noted, “Can't exactly call it unexpected.” “Obviously I can relate to her somewhat,” he admitted, “Both in our ethnicity and certain stereotypes we seek to shatter. "Indeed,” Rebecca spotted his manhood perking up somewhat, “I'm sure you could be just as well compensated for it as her if you wanted. Imagine getting paid just to pose naked and have sex.” “Perhaps, but you gotta stick to the script and do everything on cue. It's not exactly that easy to control for me.” “Those amateur couples also get paid by these sites, you know.” “I don't exactly need the money,” he turned to her. “Yeah, but isn't it exciting to think of people so attractive that people could get off on simply watching you and even pay to do so?” “Um, I suppose it is… But you don't seem to be feeling that way yourself.” “Honestly…” Rebecca needed a moment to search herself, “None of the people coming up in these results turn me on quite the way you do.” “I guess I can't help the size difference,” Mokuba smirked. “Naturally but I also love how wild you look with that long, unkempt hair and simple clothing. Beats the stereotypical businessman look you tried in the past.” “Well, if you like it then perhaps I could get even wilder for you,” he slyly proposed. “How so?” she looked upon him longingly. To be continued… By BEWD4133 for Literotica
Rebecca and Mokuba continue to explore their mutual benefits. By BEWD4133. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. She couldn't deny that the challenge was an enticing one. If she could take that then what would there be that she couldn't take? What would it feel like to be spread open that far and reached into that deeply? All of a sudden, the seat in his lap was starting to look more and more comfortable. Before she realized it, her own juices were trickling out of her skirt and onto her thigh, causing Mokuba's erection to twitch in delight when he noticed it as well. “I get to be on top though,” she set her final terms with the horny teen, “I won't be having you tear me in two with that thing. "No problem, do it however you like,” he accepted. [[MORE]] Loosening her own body towel was the only bit of preparing that Rebecca still needed to do. While initially bashful towards exposing her C-cup breasts and petite waist, nothing else she felt now compared with the daunting task of taking his beast into her womanhood. She stood from her spot and moved to where she was facing him with his member pointing right up into her, placing her hands on his shoulders for her final bit of mental preparation. “Damn, I can't believe I'm doing this,” she muttered before finally letting her hips begin to drop. Her hand reached down to hold Mokuba's member upright and he watched with wonder as she brought it up to her the moist lips of her pussy. By no means was it their first time, but it might as well have been with how much stretching it took just to get the head in. Getting the first few inches of his swollen, rock-hard, and substantial shaft inside created the image in her mind of a large cucumber penetrating her womanhood. “Oh God, I really can't believe I'm doing this,” Rebecca's voice went up an octave once she got past the quarter mark of his manhood. “Take it easy. You're doing fine,” Mokuba encouraged her while mesmerized by the way his member pried open her vagina inch by inch. “Ah, so fucking big, so fucking big…” she bit her lip and repeated while she continued her way downwards once she took in the first half. Her body almost did finally give out when she got to the last two inches, but Mokuba's surprisingly thoughtful arms reached around her to support her for the final stretch as she fully planted herself onto his rod and into his lap. Even after amazingly taking in all he had, the feeling of such a behemoth making itself at home within her took a good deal of time and several deep breaths for her to accustom herself to. The new sensation of his flesh being directly bonded with hers was a lot for Mokuba's mind to adjust to as well. “Oh… shit… Mokuba… It… It's like…” she eked out between pants. “Yeah, it's something else,” he kept his hands firmly on her back but pulled her a little bit closer. “It's… It's… Oh” one single tremendous shudder rushing through her body seemed to refresh her ability to speak in complete sentences, “It's almost beyond belief…” “Yeah, I didn't think it'd be like this either,” he agreed with a glance into her eyes. “It's just so… gargantuan,” she spoke more closely into his ear, “I never fathomed that I would ever have this much cock in me all at once.” “And I never imagined you would take it all at once,” he gently laughed back at her. “Oh Mokuba, I don't even know what to think right now,” she grabbed onto him as he maintained his hold on her, “It's stretching apart my womanhood so thoroughly that my entire body feels like it's being filled by it. Every inch feels so monstrous, aching to tear me apart completely, and yet, somehow, it actually feels kind of nice.” “Really?” “It's crazy, I know, but there's something oddly fulfilling about giving all I have to this mammoth member of yours. It hurt a bit at first, but after a certain point it simply overcame me just what an amazing thing this is to have in me.” “Well, you have me feeling pretty nice too. I mean, it might as well be my first time right now,” Mokuba confessed. “Yeah, mine too,” Rebecca agreed. “Yeah but not just that. I was thinking that it's also been a long time since I felt like I had enough room down there,” Mokuba clarified. “Oh?” “It's not easy. I mean it's fun to gloat about, but my pants have only been feeling more and more restrictive and I always ended up forcing it so much with the other girls I dated. This is the first time since these growth spurts kicked in that I really feel comfortable, you know, like I have enough space to just… let it out,” he confessed. “Oh,” she felt herself become even more at ease with him, “Well, it's so rigid that it's kind of just doing what it wants in there, but that hardness feels really good too.” “And your pussy is super soft, warm, and mushy. Slipping into it feels so natural for me,” he even started to blush, “It's great. Thanks, Rebecca.” Even as deeply connected as they were, for some reason a kiss still felt awkward for such an informal relationship, but both found a hug more than appropriate for the moment. The intimate exchange of thoughts inspired Rebecca to make her first motions since reaching the base of his shaft. They were only light rocks of her hips but each tiny plunge onto his manhood offered a more electrifying spark than the one before. Its shape was more deeply ingrained in her mind each time his head brushed against her cervix with her awareness of his more minute features increasing in clarity aided by the slick coating of her juices tenderly applied along his length by the lips of her furtherly aroused vagina. His hands seemed to make their way lower down her back in proportion to the rising heat between them. So much so that she undid and fully discarded the towel that still hung loosely over her shoulders. Oh fuck, you're really taking the whole thing,“ Mokuba let out a gasp, "I've never had it being squeezed all at once like this before.” “You certainly aren't making it easy for me,” she huffed, “Always using a rubber thoroughly failed to do justice to this incredible texture. That fat head of yours is scraping me so much that going any faster might make me lose it.” “Then at least let me feel a little more of you,” he used his hands resting on her waist to guide her into longer strokes. Wait, wait, shit!“ the sudden change in his motions introduced more new sensations into her mind than she was ready to handle at once, "Oh fuck, Mokuba!” “How's that?” he was now going in and out about a third of the way with his member. With her mental faculties momentarily disrupted, her body resorted to making its more natural responses to him. Her vaginal walls began tightening on his erection in random, frantic intervals. It appeared to be a way of indicating he was too much for her yet only served to invite her to go even farther. He mustered all of his self-control to keep himself from going any harder before she was ready again, but all of that pent-up desire only made its way straight into his member, solidifying and bloating it into a distinctly erotic new shape for her womanhood to contend with which it did with a fierce climax. The boy paused to experience the waves of orgasm crashing over her, both in how he could see her body quivered all over and he could feel it all coming down on his manhood. It was all a shock like he had never known. “Did you just… cum?” he murmured to stunned surprise. “Yeah, I think so,” Rebecca had slumped back but pulled herself back up with the help of his shoulders “Wow, that's actually a bit of a first for me, having a girl cum right on my dick.” “Hm?” still re-gathering her strength. “I've always been too much for them before I finish, but you really did it.” “Uh-huh, I guess I did,” she confirmed. “You're pretty amazing, Rebecca,” he gave her a refreshed grin. His erection suddenly had a new sense of pride emanating from it that had her eyes springing back to life. “Damn, how does that body of yours have a heart strong enough to keep such an enormous dick this hard and have it throbbing so much all over? It's like a jackhammer in my belly,” Rebecca was taken aback by his renewed and even further enhanced vigor, so much so that she blurted, “How am I ever supposed to go back to my vibrator?!” “So, I'm better than a vibrator?” Mokuba seized on her gaffe “So much better!” she didn't even attempt to deny it “Thanks, you're a lot better than any toy too,” he cradled her, “I outgrew my fleshlight too, you know. Couldn't even get in halfway before.” “I think I can manage at least that much for you since I came first.” “Sounds like we have a new arrangement then,” he announced. “Huh?” “I don't mind letting you have some fun with this cock of mine if you ever happen to be feeling frisky. This pussy of yours will make it more than worth it on my end.” “Well, I guess I probably won't ever be casually finding a subject like this on the street or in a science book,” Rebecca noted the outline of his penis within her still extending upwards and past her navel, “I suppose I still have a lot I could stand to learn here.” “So? Still friends?” “Just a little more than, actually,” she was finally primed to begin moving again. Rebecca promptly re-assumed her prior pace without his assistance. There was still some visible strain to it with every ounce of excitement from his manhood running through her each time she went up and back down to the base, but she was able to remain smooth and consistent with her motions. Her next challenge came when Mokuba began to add in his own movements. He was past the point where he could keep his hips completely still in his seat and the continued pressure of her vaginal walls bearing down on his erection was soon accompanied by some increasingly ferocious twitching from him. “It really is like a wild animal,” she moaned, “Rampaging against all of my most sensitive areas. Fuck, I love it.” “Because you don't let up even when I'm about to explode. If I made you cum once, I have no qualms about making you cum twice.” “Not until you finally cum.” “Even if it's inside you?” “It'll be our new contract with each other.” “Seems like a binding agreement to me.” In accordance with her promise just earlier, Rebecca pushed herself to get her hips humping along a solid half of his length, maybe even a bit more. Her canal opened itself to accept a ravaging more intense than ever. Now, the bulbous glans she had become enamored with was alternating strikes against her G-spot and cervix. Each time she bottomed out had a healthy thump to it with his lust testicles brushing against her when he gently bucked his own hips in rhythm with hers. His hands drifted from her waist to her hips to provide a little bit of lateral movement that he was yearning for. Sporadically, he would feel a tightening around his base that would creep its way up her walls and along his shaft, concluding with a tense squeeze of his head at the end of her passage. In all, it had been way, way too long since Mokuba could revel in being enveloped like this, and it was an even more spectacular sensation than any he could ever remember. “Fuck, I never thought it could get like this,” he hissed, “Like, It's become so sensitive and the whole entire thing feels like it's on fire and now I…” “You've got so much meat in those loins now, and for the first time you've got someone willing to properly consume it all at once,” she finished for him, “Must be quite the special feeling.” “Yes, it is,” he gently tugged her hips down to snugly press her groin against his. “It's only fair for me to appreciate the opportunity for what it is,” she shuddered at being wholly filled once more, “I'd probably have to go into porn for another chance like this and even that might not measure up. It'd be a terrible waste to pass up such a go with such a colossal dick.” “I'd hate to lose out on this too. We've got a good thing going here.” “Then for our new arrangement, consider yourself the subject of my own study. From now on, I intend to find out just what a truly huge cock can really do.” “You really want to know?” “Oh yes, you're not done with puberty yet. I look forward to tracking your future growth and any further developments that come along with it. How many more condoms and different toys will you manage to break? I look forward to keeping a very exact count and sharing my conclusions online.” “Don't think I won't be testing you too then,” he gripped her firmly by the waist, “How much of this dick do you think that you will really be able to take? Think of how your innards feel being stuffed with all of this cock already. What will that do to you when thrusting all the way in and all the way out?” Seriously considering his proposal sent shivers through her limbs and spine with vaginal undulations all over the dick in question. “I hope you don't expect to always be on top,” Mokuba tried to mask how good her trembling felt. “Risk is the price of discovery,” was her final answer, “Better to be fucked silly than spend my life regretting that I never tried it.” “You better mean that because, oh fuck, am I close to really cumming right inside you,” he refocused on the pussy tenderizing his manhood right in front of him.“ "Yes, that's where I intend to run my first test. Let's see if your cum can win out over what's supposed to be my safe day,” she taunted right to his face, “You're the one with the money to pay for a kid anyway.” Even being faced with the very real prospect of sensory overload. Rebecca accelerated and broadened her thrusts to what she felt was just at the brink of her young body and mind being overwhelmed. She managed to get almost as high as three-quarters of his shaft in a single stroke. Her speed bumped up to a level comparable to what he would do with his own hand in masturbation. For varying reasons, they were each aware of the concept of edging and quickly realized from a rapid hardening and sudden thrashing from his member that her controlled pace up until now I'd only been setting up the final result to be more explosive. It was a technique Rebecca would be sure to mentally store away while Mokuba found himself going numb to any signals or sensations beyond his loins. His manhood had grown into so much more than ever before and every square inch of it was overcome by the dazzling sensations of her coiling pussy and his imminent eruption. His testicles were no exception, also churning for the incoming storm at a rate he was not remotely aware they could. “No exceptions then, you had better not dream of slowing down now,” he issued a warning that sounded more like a plea, “I'm about to cum. I'm gonna cum so fucking much! You had better handle it to the last drop!” “Yes, I will no matter what, in the name of science,” her thrusts became increasingly automatic as her mind wanted to give way to raging leviathan within. “Fuck, you're so fucking sexy, Rebecca! Look at you taking all of that fucking cock and loving every fucking inch. Ah fuck, take my fucking cum too!” With his neck shooting back and every muscle in his body tensing, Mokuba unleashed his seed in an ultimate burst reminiscent of a chemistry experiment gone horribly wrong or horribly right depending on one's perspective. The entire process of having his raw unfiltered spunk gushing inside her was new to her on its own, but she knew that it was also on another level compared to anything she would have had the chance to try before. The first shot alone was enough to surpass what she would have anticipated under ordinary circumstances but then the second, third, and fourth came out just as vibrantly allowing her to reach her own orgasm to go with the fifth, sixth, and seventh, each accompanied by an ample throb and twitch that felt just as wonderful. He made an admirable final effort with his eight before the ninth and tenth came out as lighter satisfied spurts. Even with her womanhood holding it as much as it could, by his fifth shot he had already filled her to where his essence leaked down onto the bench on which they were sitting, with the final waves of his orgasm rendering unsuitable for any further guests “The human body is an undeniable marvel of nature,” Rebecca concluded as she observed the results of their exchange on both ends. “Damn, can't believe I really came that much,” Mokuba glanced down to the puddle between them. “And yet I'm confident I could get even more in the right circumstances,” Rebecca boldly claimed. “At the very least you'll have to wait for another day to try that,” Mokuba suddenly got an uneasy feeling about just what it was he had now agreed to, “I think that our work here is finished for the time being.” “Was it worth it getting me that laptop?” Rebecca had come more perilously close to forgetting than she would have liked. “Every penny,” Mokuba let her off of his lap. “And you'll be good to go the next time I need your "assistance”?“ she double-checked. "As long as you're always sure to return the favor.” “Good, I already have a few ideas brewing, but for now though, do you mind if I collect a little additional data?” “How so?” When she briefly left the sauna and returned with her smartphone, Mokuba easily figured out the rest. Even after two orgasms, this girl was too erotic for him to turn down in a mood like this. Mustering any remaining lust in him was enough to pop one last hell of a boner with her help. After getting the camera active and ready, and an amorous grin on her face, his dick found a new place to comfortably rest right against her cheek. With his erection towering well above her head as a frame of reference where traces of his earlier release still left all over them, she made sure to catch both of their faces in the frame for one incredibly masculine snapshot. “What do you think?” she brought the picture up to him, “The first of many I hope.” “Of what?” “A list of how many objects your cock is bigger than. My head should make a nice start.” “I hope you don't ever intend to give me a boner without a plan to deal with it,” he brought her hand back to his thigh. “Of course not, Mokuba, of course not,” she now sat at his side in the sauna fully in the nude with him, “You'll find a close friendship with me to be rife with benefits.” -two weeks later. “Well, here I am. A Saturday alone.” A college girl muttered to herself outside with the breeze passing through her hair before stepping through the double doors in front of her. It wasn't a concept that was new to Rebecca given her extensive studies, often being forced to choose between academic and social success. However, today was not one of those instances. Her latest tests and projects were all complete with her even managing to spend time with her university friends for Halloween. However, it was now November, and he mind remained stuck on what had happened the previous month and how her relationships with specific individuals had evolved. “It's Rebecca Hopkins,” she was again told a certain doorman “Very well,” the employee pressed the appropriate button, “Mr. Kuroki, a Ms. Hopkins is here to see you.” “Huh? Well, fine. Send her up.” the recipient answered, somewhat groggily from within his room. With his approval, Rebecca strolled her way up the elevator and down the hall where the familiar apartment awaited. Knocking on the door brought her promptly face-to-face with the boy who waited inside, but not nearly as prepared as he was for their past encounters. “Rebecca?” Mokuba Kuroki greeted her seemingly half-asleep, “What's up? I don't remember making any plans.” “Truthfully speaking, that's because you didn't but still…” she fiddled with her fingers, “I just felt like coming over to see you on a rare day off. "Huh, well, okay,” he seemed to try and shake himself awake, “I was just getting a bit bored myself.” His hair even shaggier than usual, the Asian teen stood radically different from her past times seeing him. Looking over him in more detail, Rebecca saw that his often formal attire had been forgone in favor of a grey t-shirt declaring his fealty to the nearby Mariners baseball team and sweatpants that seemed almost intended to make her sweat with how they accentuated what she now knew to be a most marvelous appendage contained underneath. “Sorry, I don't have any sort of special meal ready or whatever. I wasn't expecting company but you're free to come in anyway. Folks are off on business like usual,” Mokuba humbly welcomed her inside. “Oh… yes!” the girl had to promptly force her eyes back upwards, “That's perfectly alright. Thank you.” Following Mokuba's lead, Rebecca walked behind him through the apartment to the central living area where a wide leather sofa had been set up in front of a seventy-five inch OLED television. “Don't mind me,” he returned to the seat where the imprint of his behind could still be seen, “I was just flipping through the channels in search of… something worthwhile.” “It's all good, I was just feeling in need of a little… companionship,” the female student uneasily settled in on the cushion adjacent to him, “I mean, we haven't gotten together outside of university since that time, you know.” “Why? Were you hoping to get more?” the boy replied half-jokingly. “I'm up for whatever you're up to really,” Rebecca didn't refute his suggestion, “Just seems as though we should spend a bit more casual time together.” “I was just about to do some mindless channel flipping if you don't mind tagging along for it.” In his best efforts to put on something they could both get some enjoyment out of, Mokuba stopped his channel flipping on the local news affiliate, but the girl could only keep her eyes on the screen at most half of the time. Sitting with his legs spread wide open, the bulge in Mokuba's sweats would have been too prominent to ignore even without her knowledge of what it truly concealed. Even clothed, the way his meat seemed to rest halfway down his thigh was breathtaking to behold. “For all of their importance in the local tech industry, my parents are still dinosaurs who insist on regular television packages instead of streaming,” Mokuba initiated a conversation, “The most deluxe package money can buy and still barely a damn thing to watch.” “I'll bet,” his comment barely registered with her. Mokuba had his own mixed feelings towards being alone with her but attempted to drown them out by scrolling through the stations again. He stumbled upon an airing of Frozen that seemed like a good choice to watch with a girl around and take full advantage of the ultra-high-definition display. “So, what do you make of the colors on this thing?” he suddenly asked, “Absolute top of the market with an OLED screen.” “Colors? What are you talking about? It's all grey,” she absent-mindedly responded before covering her mouth in mortal embarrassment, leaving a silent stare to hover between them for the next several moments. “Well…” he exhaled, “I guess I've figured out what it is that you really want to watch and it's not the sort of thing that Disney would want to put on. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry!” Rebecca scrambled to cover her face, “All that's happened between us must have you thinking I'm some kind of slut, but it's really just that you've… kinda gotten in my head.” “Understandable, all things considered,” the boy laughed, “I mean, I kinda threw these on haphazardly for your sudden arrival. Otherwise, I was just sorta letting it all hang out.” “Hang out? You mean like naked?” the scholar double-checked. “Um… yeah…” he rubbed the back of his head, “I mean, gotta take advantage of the chance to give it some space where I can, right?” “Well then…” a blush began to fill her cheeks, “Don't feel like you have to restrict yourself for my sake…” Mokuba's face also began to flush red as the atmosphere settled in between them. He wasn't nearly naive enough to not realize where this was going to lead, but to have her be the one to set it in motion this time at least forced him to take pause. He certainly had nothing better to do but never imagined that thing to do would be knocking on his door unannounced. Mokuba stood from his seat after a brief look into her eyes to affirm her resolve. “Okay,” he took a breath, “If you insist.” With her full attention and nothing to be ashamed of, Mokuba grabbed the waist of his sweats and let them drop like a curtain being cast aside. Underneath his member awaited her anxious as full and healthy as ever, hanging most of the way down his thigh even while flaccid. He only took a second to soak in her reaction before sitting back down, visibly more comfortable than before. “There, isn't that better?” she beamed, scooching in just a bit closer. “Most certainly, I can't deny that,” he spread his arms across the backrest with legs open, “It helps to let it breathe whenever I can.” Despite his rather impressive genitals now being completely out in the open, neither Mokuba nor Rebecca sought to take any further, immediate action with the other. For the female scholar, the sight of his masculinity in its natural state was something to be studied and appreciated. What she was now seeing was who Mokuba truly was, devoid of any facade or pretense. He even picked the remote back up to change the television over to a Batman film airing on another channel although she couldn't be bothered to even pretend to look at the screen anymore. In her experience, penises like Mokuba's were only seen at times where sex was imminent, but this was a reminder that he still has a life to live well beyond those moments, even if the rising heat in her crotch told her such a moment would likely be fleeting here. “I just couldn't imagine living life with something like that attached to my groin at all times,” she willed herself to address the figurative and almost literal elephant in the room. “It's not too bad,” he shrugged, “I mean it's just the reverse of living with boobs, right?” “Yeah, but mine aren't anything much more than average,” the girl cradled her chest, “If I'm a C-cup, you're the equivalent of a K-cup.” “And would you want that for yourself?” “Yeah, I mean no, kinda…” Rebecca fumbled with the question, “I mean… what do you think?” “I think you should make the best of what you're given naturally. Cosmetic surgeries and other such phony nonsense are a real turnoff in a person.” “Easy for you to say though.” “What about you? Can you even pretend you're here for any other reason but to ogle my dick?” “No, that's not…” Mokuba's words stung more than expected, “It's just that it's such a rare thing to see I have to try my absolute hardest to look away.” “But that's perfectly alright though,” he changed his tone, “It's simply part of me. I don't see any kind of point in complaining over precisely which part of me drew you in, but you did come over and that certainly means something.” “Really?” his logic threw her for a loop, “If you say so…” From Batman, Mokuba next switched over to a sports program speculating on the quickly oncoming start to the NBA season. The Asian student seemed genuinely interested in a highlight reel lf LeBron James playing on the network as he passed. Rebecca joined together with him in paying some attention to it but it only served to give her other ideas. She imagined him trying to imitate a few of those moves she was seeing on-screen, his meat flopping around in those basketball shorts for all to observe. It got a fire sizzling in her belly to where she had to do something, even if she still lacked the nerve to outright grab him. Instead, she simply lifted her shirt up and over her head, leaving her upper body covered by only a bra before she could overheat. “You feeling alright?” Mokuba cocked an eyebrow. “Yes, just a bit… anxious,” she still struggled with her composure. “Well, don't feel as though you can't ask what you need of me to get yourself more comfortable.” “You? What I need you to do is… is…” her breathing heightened. “Is what?” “Is… to let me know… how that body of yours has gotten you treated in locker rooms back in high school,” she opted to shift the subject. “I don't know how it is for girls, but guys typically try not to stare at one another when changing, ” he replied, “Sure they were rumors about me, but nobody dared to compare. The only thing that mattered was not getting an erection and getting accused of being gay.” “Is that how you can sit here so freely without popping a boner? That learned self-control?” “Sort of. I don't want to pressure you more than I already am.” “Pressure me?” “If I got hard now, you'd be put in another position where you feel obligated to get it back down.” “I managed to last time.” “You did, but I still don't want to spring it on you without warning either.” “…but what if I did want to?” she asked with a deep breath. “Huh?” “I mean, if you were feeling up for it, I'd be down to help you out a little, you know, to ease the boredom…” Rebecca turned crimson red all over again. “Is that your sincere idea of entertainment?” the boy teased. “Kind of, I mean, if it's with you…” was her final answer. With that, Mokuba found the resolve to cast his own remaining doubts to the wayside. Picking up the remote, he turned away from network television entirely, brazenly using its built-in smart features to start up the app for a porn site instead before passing the remote on to Rebecca. “Go on,” he offered, “Let me see what you're into. I won't judge as long as you don't judge me if I happen to like it too.” “What? Is this necessary?” “I've told you before that I like sincerity in people,” Mokuba reminded her, “Let me see what genuinely excites you.” Barely able to gather her thoughts, Rebecca scrambled together the first words pertaining to sexuality that passed through her brain. Unfortunately, they happened to be those directly pertaining to herself. “Amateur white girl big cock!” she spoke into the microphone. “Nice to see that you don't mince words,” her partner chuckled. “I could never watch the professional stuff. It's so unrealistic and borderline deceptive,” the girl defended her choice. “I agree,” Mokuba folded his arms respectfully as she continued to make her selection. She scrolled through the list that came up in the search and found all sorts of results submitted by real people filming themselves having sex for the world. Some appeared to be done by individuals hooking up with random fans but others seemed to be consistently but out by honest couples who reveled in flaunting their relationship. “Wow… this sort of thing is more common than I realized,” Rebecca murmured at the results. “Go ahead and pick,” he shuffled slightly in his seat, “Anything will be fine to start.” “Okay but first…” she paused, “Allow me to get more comfortable myself. Unexpectedly discarding her own pants at that moment, Mokuba's eyes widened slightly at the moisture he could notice starting to build at the center of her panties. Paying no mind, Rebecca selected a video featuring a seemingly married couple in their late twenties. The man's body was nice, even if he couldn't help being somewhat less endowed than the male beside her. However, the girl did seem to have a cup-size over her in the chest department. "Woah, you like them older, huh?” Mokuba observed. “Only a bit. No drunk, vulnerable college girls,” Rebecca let the clip play It was perfectly fine for what it was. The duo looked to have actual chemistry and experience with on another with how smoothly they handled exchanging oral sex. They had sex in a common missionary position with the man on top, seeming to know exactly just how much of his fairly above average size she could take, hitting a rhythm that had her calling out his name with every thrust. Nothing was too out of the ordinary physically, but it couldn't help leaving them considering their own experience in comparison. “My… that was something,” Rebecca let out a sigh when the video finished. “Yeah, gotta guess they put in their practice for it,” he joined her in a sense of relief. “I wonder how it would be shooting something like that,” she pondered before handing the controller back over. “What's this?” “Your turn,” the girl clarified, “It's only fair.” “Okay…” Mokuba hesitated a bit, “Not sure how to follow that up.” “Same as me. Whatever is on your mind.” “I don't want to put on anything that might upset you…” “As long as it's legal,” the American student approved. Unlike her, Mokuba was fairly well-prepared with his search terms for porn. The tough part was choosing which to go with. He knew plenty of names that could risk leaving her with a sense of inadequacy but one stood out in his mind as appropriate for the situation. “Hitomi Tanaka,” the boy announced his selection. On the TV appeared a swath of results for a brunette with a pair of boobs far larger than any Rebecca had ever come across in person. Almost as notable to her was the fact that she also appeared to be of Japanese descent just the same as the classmate she now sat with. Mokuba quickly pulled up a relatively tame video of her fondling and bouncing her breasts camgirl style. Rebecca couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy but still felt obligated to finish why she started even with their nerves at an all-time high. “A big titted Japanese woman, huh?” she noted, “Can't exactly call it unexpected.” “Obviously I can relate to her somewhat,” he admitted, “Both in our ethnicity and certain stereotypes we seek to shatter. "Indeed,” Rebecca spotted his manhood perking up somewhat, “I'm sure you could be just as well compensated for it as her if you wanted. Imagine getting paid just to pose naked and have sex.” “Perhaps, but you gotta stick to the script and do everything on cue. It's not exactly that easy to control for me.” “Those amateur couples also get paid by these sites, you know.” “I don't exactly need the money,” he turned to her. “Yeah, but isn't it exciting to think of people so attractive that people could get off on simply watching you and even pay to do so?” “Um, I suppose it is… But you don't seem to be feeling that way yourself.” “Honestly…” Rebecca needed a moment to search herself, “None of the people coming up in these results turn me on quite the way you do.” “I guess I can't help the size difference,” Mokuba smirked. “Naturally but I also love how wild you look with that long, unkempt hair and simple clothing. Beats the stereotypical businessman look you tried in the past.” “Well, if you like it then perhaps I could get even wilder for you,” he slyly proposed. “How so?” she looked upon him longingly. To be continued… By BEWD4133 for Literotica
Rebecca and Mokuba continue to explore their mutual benefits. By BEWD4133. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. She couldn't deny that the challenge was an enticing one. If she could take that then what would there be that she couldn't take? What would it feel like to be spread open that far and reached into that deeply? All of a sudden, the seat in his lap was starting to look more and more comfortable. Before she realized it, her own juices were trickling out of her skirt and onto her thigh, causing Mokuba's erection to twitch in delight when he noticed it as well. “I get to be on top though,” she set her final terms with the horny teen, “I won't be having you tear me in two with that thing. "No problem, do it however you like,” he accepted. [[MORE]] Loosening her own body towel was the only bit of preparing that Rebecca still needed to do. While initially bashful towards exposing her C-cup breasts and petite waist, nothing else she felt now compared with the daunting task of taking his beast into her womanhood. She stood from her spot and moved to where she was facing him with his member pointing right up into her, placing her hands on his shoulders for her final bit of mental preparation. “Damn, I can't believe I'm doing this,” she muttered before finally letting her hips begin to drop. Her hand reached down to hold Mokuba's member upright and he watched with wonder as she brought it up to her the moist lips of her pussy. By no means was it their first time, but it might as well have been with how much stretching it took just to get the head in. Getting the first few inches of his swollen, rock-hard, and substantial shaft inside created the image in her mind of a large cucumber penetrating her womanhood. “Oh God, I really can't believe I'm doing this,” Rebecca's voice went up an octave once she got past the quarter mark of his manhood. “Take it easy. You're doing fine,” Mokuba encouraged her while mesmerized by the way his member pried open her vagina inch by inch. “Ah, so fucking big, so fucking big…” she bit her lip and repeated while she continued her way downwards once she took in the first half. Her body almost did finally give out when she got to the last two inches, but Mokuba's surprisingly thoughtful arms reached around her to support her for the final stretch as she fully planted herself onto his rod and into his lap. Even after amazingly taking in all he had, the feeling of such a behemoth making itself at home within her took a good deal of time and several deep breaths for her to accustom herself to. The new sensation of his flesh being directly bonded with hers was a lot for Mokuba's mind to adjust to as well. “Oh… shit… Mokuba… It… It's like…” she eked out between pants. “Yeah, it's something else,” he kept his hands firmly on her back but pulled her a little bit closer. “It's… It's… Oh” one single tremendous shudder rushing through her body seemed to refresh her ability to speak in complete sentences, “It's almost beyond belief…” “Yeah, I didn't think it'd be like this either,” he agreed with a glance into her eyes. “It's just so… gargantuan,” she spoke more closely into his ear, “I never fathomed that I would ever have this much cock in me all at once.” “And I never imagined you would take it all at once,” he gently laughed back at her. “Oh Mokuba, I don't even know what to think right now,” she grabbed onto him as he maintained his hold on her, “It's stretching apart my womanhood so thoroughly that my entire body feels like it's being filled by it. Every inch feels so monstrous, aching to tear me apart completely, and yet, somehow, it actually feels kind of nice.” “Really?” “It's crazy, I know, but there's something oddly fulfilling about giving all I have to this mammoth member of yours. It hurt a bit at first, but after a certain point it simply overcame me just what an amazing thing this is to have in me.” “Well, you have me feeling pretty nice too. I mean, it might as well be my first time right now,” Mokuba confessed. “Yeah, mine too,” Rebecca agreed. “Yeah but not just that. I was thinking that it's also been a long time since I felt like I had enough room down there,” Mokuba clarified. “Oh?” “It's not easy. I mean it's fun to gloat about, but my pants have only been feeling more and more restrictive and I always ended up forcing it so much with the other girls I dated. This is the first time since these growth spurts kicked in that I really feel comfortable, you know, like I have enough space to just… let it out,” he confessed. “Oh,” she felt herself become even more at ease with him, “Well, it's so rigid that it's kind of just doing what it wants in there, but that hardness feels really good too.” “And your pussy is super soft, warm, and mushy. Slipping into it feels so natural for me,” he even started to blush, “It's great. Thanks, Rebecca.” Even as deeply connected as they were, for some reason a kiss still felt awkward for such an informal relationship, but both found a hug more than appropriate for the moment. The intimate exchange of thoughts inspired Rebecca to make her first motions since reaching the base of his shaft. They were only light rocks of her hips but each tiny plunge onto his manhood offered a more electrifying spark than the one before. Its shape was more deeply ingrained in her mind each time his head brushed against her cervix with her awareness of his more minute features increasing in clarity aided by the slick coating of her juices tenderly applied along his length by the lips of her furtherly aroused vagina. His hands seemed to make their way lower down her back in proportion to the rising heat between them. So much so that she undid and fully discarded the towel that still hung loosely over her shoulders. Oh fuck, you're really taking the whole thing,“ Mokuba let out a gasp, "I've never had it being squeezed all at once like this before.” “You certainly aren't making it easy for me,” she huffed, “Always using a rubber thoroughly failed to do justice to this incredible texture. That fat head of yours is scraping me so much that going any faster might make me lose it.” “Then at least let me feel a little more of you,” he used his hands resting on her waist to guide her into longer strokes. Wait, wait, shit!“ the sudden change in his motions introduced more new sensations into her mind than she was ready to handle at once, "Oh fuck, Mokuba!” “How's that?” he was now going in and out about a third of the way with his member. With her mental faculties momentarily disrupted, her body resorted to making its more natural responses to him. Her vaginal walls began tightening on his erection in random, frantic intervals. It appeared to be a way of indicating he was too much for her yet only served to invite her to go even farther. He mustered all of his self-control to keep himself from going any harder before she was ready again, but all of that pent-up desire only made its way straight into his member, solidifying and bloating it into a distinctly erotic new shape for her womanhood to contend with which it did with a fierce climax. The boy paused to experience the waves of orgasm crashing over her, both in how he could see her body quivered all over and he could feel it all coming down on his manhood. It was all a shock like he had never known. “Did you just… cum?” he murmured to stunned surprise. “Yeah, I think so,” Rebecca had slumped back but pulled herself back up with the help of his shoulders “Wow, that's actually a bit of a first for me, having a girl cum right on my dick.” “Hm?” still re-gathering her strength. “I've always been too much for them before I finish, but you really did it.” “Uh-huh, I guess I did,” she confirmed. “You're pretty amazing, Rebecca,” he gave her a refreshed grin. His erection suddenly had a new sense of pride emanating from it that had her eyes springing back to life. “Damn, how does that body of yours have a heart strong enough to keep such an enormous dick this hard and have it throbbing so much all over? It's like a jackhammer in my belly,” Rebecca was taken aback by his renewed and even further enhanced vigor, so much so that she blurted, “How am I ever supposed to go back to my vibrator?!” “So, I'm better than a vibrator?” Mokuba seized on her gaffe “So much better!” she didn't even attempt to deny it “Thanks, you're a lot better than any toy too,” he cradled her, “I outgrew my fleshlight too, you know. Couldn't even get in halfway before.” “I think I can manage at least that much for you since I came first.” “Sounds like we have a new arrangement then,” he announced. “Huh?” “I don't mind letting you have some fun with this cock of mine if you ever happen to be feeling frisky. This pussy of yours will make it more than worth it on my end.” “Well, I guess I probably won't ever be casually finding a subject like this on the street or in a science book,” Rebecca noted the outline of his penis within her still extending upwards and past her navel, “I suppose I still have a lot I could stand to learn here.” “So? Still friends?” “Just a little more than, actually,” she was finally primed to begin moving again. Rebecca promptly re-assumed her prior pace without his assistance. There was still some visible strain to it with every ounce of excitement from his manhood running through her each time she went up and back down to the base, but she was able to remain smooth and consistent with her motions. Her next challenge came when Mokuba began to add in his own movements. He was past the point where he could keep his hips completely still in his seat and the continued pressure of her vaginal walls bearing down on his erection was soon accompanied by some increasingly ferocious twitching from him. “It really is like a wild animal,” she moaned, “Rampaging against all of my most sensitive areas. Fuck, I love it.” “Because you don't let up even when I'm about to explode. If I made you cum once, I have no qualms about making you cum twice.” “Not until you finally cum.” “Even if it's inside you?” “It'll be our new contract with each other.” “Seems like a binding agreement to me.” In accordance with her promise just earlier, Rebecca pushed herself to get her hips humping along a solid half of his length, maybe even a bit more. Her canal opened itself to accept a ravaging more intense than ever. Now, the bulbous glans she had become enamored with was alternating strikes against her G-spot and cervix. Each time she bottomed out had a healthy thump to it with his lust testicles brushing against her when he gently bucked his own hips in rhythm with hers. His hands drifted from her waist to her hips to provide a little bit of lateral movement that he was yearning for. Sporadically, he would feel a tightening around his base that would creep its way up her walls and along his shaft, concluding with a tense squeeze of his head at the end of her passage. In all, it had been way, way too long since Mokuba could revel in being enveloped like this, and it was an even more spectacular sensation than any he could ever remember. “Fuck, I never thought it could get like this,” he hissed, “Like, It's become so sensitive and the whole entire thing feels like it's on fire and now I…” “You've got so much meat in those loins now, and for the first time you've got someone willing to properly consume it all at once,” she finished for him, “Must be quite the special feeling.” “Yes, it is,” he gently tugged her hips down to snugly press her groin against his. “It's only fair for me to appreciate the opportunity for what it is,” she shuddered at being wholly filled once more, “I'd probably have to go into porn for another chance like this and even that might not measure up. It'd be a terrible waste to pass up such a go with such a colossal dick.” “I'd hate to lose out on this too. We've got a good thing going here.” “Then for our new arrangement, consider yourself the subject of my own study. From now on, I intend to find out just what a truly huge cock can really do.” “You really want to know?” “Oh yes, you're not done with puberty yet. I look forward to tracking your future growth and any further developments that come along with it. How many more condoms and different toys will you manage to break? I look forward to keeping a very exact count and sharing my conclusions online.” “Don't think I won't be testing you too then,” he gripped her firmly by the waist, “How much of this dick do you think that you will really be able to take? Think of how your innards feel being stuffed with all of this cock already. What will that do to you when thrusting all the way in and all the way out?” Seriously considering his proposal sent shivers through her limbs and spine with vaginal undulations all over the dick in question. “I hope you don't expect to always be on top,” Mokuba tried to mask how good her trembling felt. “Risk is the price of discovery,” was her final answer, “Better to be fucked silly than spend my life regretting that I never tried it.” “You better mean that because, oh fuck, am I close to really cumming right inside you,” he refocused on the pussy tenderizing his manhood right in front of him.“ "Yes, that's where I intend to run my first test. Let's see if your cum can win out over what's supposed to be my safe day,” she taunted right to his face, “You're the one with the money to pay for a kid anyway.” Even being faced with the very real prospect of sensory overload. Rebecca accelerated and broadened her thrusts to what she felt was just at the brink of her young body and mind being overwhelmed. She managed to get almost as high as three-quarters of his shaft in a single stroke. Her speed bumped up to a level comparable to what he would do with his own hand in masturbation. For varying reasons, they were each aware of the concept of edging and quickly realized from a rapid hardening and sudden thrashing from his member that her controlled pace up until now I'd only been setting up the final result to be more explosive. It was a technique Rebecca would be sure to mentally store away while Mokuba found himself going numb to any signals or sensations beyond his loins. His manhood had grown into so much more than ever before and every square inch of it was overcome by the dazzling sensations of her coiling pussy and his imminent eruption. His testicles were no exception, also churning for the incoming storm at a rate he was not remotely aware they could. “No exceptions then, you had better not dream of slowing down now,” he issued a warning that sounded more like a plea, “I'm about to cum. I'm gonna cum so fucking much! You had better handle it to the last drop!” “Yes, I will no matter what, in the name of science,” her thrusts became increasingly automatic as her mind wanted to give way to raging leviathan within. “Fuck, you're so fucking sexy, Rebecca! Look at you taking all of that fucking cock and loving every fucking inch. Ah fuck, take my fucking cum too!” With his neck shooting back and every muscle in his body tensing, Mokuba unleashed his seed in an ultimate burst reminiscent of a chemistry experiment gone horribly wrong or horribly right depending on one's perspective. The entire process of having his raw unfiltered spunk gushing inside her was new to her on its own, but she knew that it was also on another level compared to anything she would have had the chance to try before. The first shot alone was enough to surpass what she would have anticipated under ordinary circumstances but then the second, third, and fourth came out just as vibrantly allowing her to reach her own orgasm to go with the fifth, sixth, and seventh, each accompanied by an ample throb and twitch that felt just as wonderful. He made an admirable final effort with his eight before the ninth and tenth came out as lighter satisfied spurts. Even with her womanhood holding it as much as it could, by his fifth shot he had already filled her to where his essence leaked down onto the bench on which they were sitting, with the final waves of his orgasm rendering unsuitable for any further guests “The human body is an undeniable marvel of nature,” Rebecca concluded as she observed the results of their exchange on both ends. “Damn, can't believe I really came that much,” Mokuba glanced down to the puddle between them. “And yet I'm confident I could get even more in the right circumstances,” Rebecca boldly claimed. “At the very least you'll have to wait for another day to try that,” Mokuba suddenly got an uneasy feeling about just what it was he had now agreed to, “I think that our work here is finished for the time being.” “Was it worth it getting me that laptop?” Rebecca had come more perilously close to forgetting than she would have liked. “Every penny,” Mokuba let her off of his lap. “And you'll be good to go the next time I need your "assistance”?“ she double-checked. "As long as you're always sure to return the favor.” “Good, I already have a few ideas brewing, but for now though, do you mind if I collect a little additional data?” “How so?” When she briefly left the sauna and returned with her smartphone, Mokuba easily figured out the rest. Even after two orgasms, this girl was too erotic for him to turn down in a mood like this. Mustering any remaining lust in him was enough to pop one last hell of a boner with her help. After getting the camera active and ready, and an amorous grin on her face, his dick found a new place to comfortably rest right against her cheek. With his erection towering well above her head as a frame of reference where traces of his earlier release still left all over them, she made sure to catch both of their faces in the frame for one incredibly masculine snapshot. “What do you think?” she brought the picture up to him, “The first of many I hope.” “Of what?” “A list of how many objects your cock is bigger than. My head should make a nice start.” “I hope you don't ever intend to give me a boner without a plan to deal with it,” he brought her hand back to his thigh. “Of course not, Mokuba, of course not,” she now sat at his side in the sauna fully in the nude with him, “You'll find a close friendship with me to be rife with benefits.” -two weeks later. “Well, here I am. A Saturday alone.” A college girl muttered to herself outside with the breeze passing through her hair before stepping through the double doors in front of her. It wasn't a concept that was new to Rebecca given her extensive studies, often being forced to choose between academic and social success. However, today was not one of those instances. Her latest tests and projects were all complete with her even managing to spend time with her university friends for Halloween. However, it was now November, and he mind remained stuck on what had happened the previous month and how her relationships with specific individuals had evolved. “It's Rebecca Hopkins,” she was again told a certain doorman “Very well,” the employee pressed the appropriate button, “Mr. Kuroki, a Ms. Hopkins is here to see you.” “Huh? Well, fine. Send her up.” the recipient answered, somewhat groggily from within his room. With his approval, Rebecca strolled her way up the elevator and down the hall where the familiar apartment awaited. Knocking on the door brought her promptly face-to-face with the boy who waited inside, but not nearly as prepared as he was for their past encounters. “Rebecca?” Mokuba Kuroki greeted her seemingly half-asleep, “What's up? I don't remember making any plans.” “Truthfully speaking, that's because you didn't but still…” she fiddled with her fingers, “I just felt like coming over to see you on a rare day off. "Huh, well, okay,” he seemed to try and shake himself awake, “I was just getting a bit bored myself.” His hair even shaggier than usual, the Asian teen stood radically different from her past times seeing him. Looking over him in more detail, Rebecca saw that his often formal attire had been forgone in favor of a grey t-shirt declaring his fealty to the nearby Mariners baseball team and sweatpants that seemed almost intended to make her sweat with how they accentuated what she now knew to be a most marvelous appendage contained underneath. “Sorry, I don't have any sort of special meal ready or whatever. I wasn't expecting company but you're free to come in anyway. Folks are off on business like usual,” Mokuba humbly welcomed her inside. “Oh… yes!” the girl had to promptly force her eyes back upwards, “That's perfectly alright. Thank you.” Following Mokuba's lead, Rebecca walked behind him through the apartment to the central living area where a wide leather sofa had been set up in front of a seventy-five inch OLED television. “Don't mind me,” he returned to the seat where the imprint of his behind could still be seen, “I was just flipping through the channels in search of… something worthwhile.” “It's all good, I was just feeling in need of a little… companionship,” the female student uneasily settled in on the cushion adjacent to him, “I mean, we haven't gotten together outside of university since that time, you know.” “Why? Were you hoping to get more?” the boy replied half-jokingly. “I'm up for whatever you're up to really,” Rebecca didn't refute his suggestion, “Just seems as though we should spend a bit more casual time together.” “I was just about to do some mindless channel flipping if you don't mind tagging along for it.” In his best efforts to put on something they could both get some enjoyment out of, Mokuba stopped his channel flipping on the local news affiliate, but the girl could only keep her eyes on the screen at most half of the time. Sitting with his legs spread wide open, the bulge in Mokuba's sweats would have been too prominent to ignore even without her knowledge of what it truly concealed. Even clothed, the way his meat seemed to rest halfway down his thigh was breathtaking to behold. “For all of their importance in the local tech industry, my parents are still dinosaurs who insist on regular television packages instead of streaming,” Mokuba initiated a conversation, “The most deluxe package money can buy and still barely a damn thing to watch.” “I'll bet,” his comment barely registered with her. Mokuba had his own mixed feelings towards being alone with her but attempted to drown them out by scrolling through the stations again. He stumbled upon an airing of Frozen that seemed like a good choice to watch with a girl around and take full advantage of the ultra-high-definition display. “So, what do you make of the colors on this thing?” he suddenly asked, “Absolute top of the market with an OLED screen.” “Colors? What are you talking about? It's all grey,” she absent-mindedly responded before covering her mouth in mortal embarrassment, leaving a silent stare to hover between them for the next several moments. “Well…” he exhaled, “I guess I've figured out what it is that you really want to watch and it's not the sort of thing that Disney would want to put on. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry!” Rebecca scrambled to cover her face, “All that's happened between us must have you thinking I'm some kind of slut, but it's really just that you've… kinda gotten in my head.” “Understandable, all things considered,” the boy laughed, “I mean, I kinda threw these on haphazardly for your sudden arrival. Otherwise, I was just sorta letting it all hang out.” “Hang out? You mean like naked?” the scholar double-checked. “Um… yeah…” he rubbed the back of his head, “I mean, gotta take advantage of the chance to give it some space where I can, right?” “Well then…” a blush began to fill her cheeks, “Don't feel like you have to restrict yourself for my sake…” Mokuba's face also began to flush red as the atmosphere settled in between them. He wasn't nearly naive enough to not realize where this was going to lead, but to have her be the one to set it in motion this time at least forced him to take pause. He certainly had nothing better to do but never imagined that thing to do would be knocking on his door unannounced. Mokuba stood from his seat after a brief look into her eyes to affirm her resolve. “Okay,” he took a breath, “If you insist.” With her full attention and nothing to be ashamed of, Mokuba grabbed the waist of his sweats and let them drop like a curtain being cast aside. Underneath his member awaited her anxious as full and healthy as ever, hanging most of the way down his thigh even while flaccid. He only took a second to soak in her reaction before sitting back down, visibly more comfortable than before. “There, isn't that better?” she beamed, scooching in just a bit closer. “Most certainly, I can't deny that,” he spread his arms across the backrest with legs open, “It helps to let it breathe whenever I can.” Despite his rather impressive genitals now being completely out in the open, neither Mokuba nor Rebecca sought to take any further, immediate action with the other. For the female scholar, the sight of his masculinity in its natural state was something to be studied and appreciated. What she was now seeing was who Mokuba truly was, devoid of any facade or pretense. He even picked the remote back up to change the television over to a Batman film airing on another channel although she couldn't be bothered to even pretend to look at the screen anymore. In her experience, penises like Mokuba's were only seen at times where sex was imminent, but this was a reminder that he still has a life to live well beyond those moments, even if the rising heat in her crotch told her such a moment would likely be fleeting here. “I just couldn't imagine living life with something like that attached to my groin at all times,” she willed herself to address the figurative and almost literal elephant in the room. “It's not too bad,” he shrugged, “I mean it's just the reverse of living with boobs, right?” “Yeah, but mine aren't anything much more than average,” the girl cradled her chest, “If I'm a C-cup, you're the equivalent of a K-cup.” “And would you want that for yourself?” “Yeah, I mean no, kinda…” Rebecca fumbled with the question, “I mean… what do you think?” “I think you should make the best of what you're given naturally. Cosmetic surgeries and other such phony nonsense are a real turnoff in a person.” “Easy for you to say though.” “What about you? Can you even pretend you're here for any other reason but to ogle my dick?” “No, that's not…” Mokuba's words stung more than expected, “It's just that it's such a rare thing to see I have to try my absolute hardest to look away.” “But that's perfectly alright though,” he changed his tone, “It's simply part of me. I don't see any kind of point in complaining over precisely which part of me drew you in, but you did come over and that certainly means something.” “Really?” his logic threw her for a loop, “If you say so…” From Batman, Mokuba next switched over to a sports program speculating on the quickly oncoming start to the NBA season. The Asian student seemed genuinely interested in a highlight reel lf LeBron James playing on the network as he passed. Rebecca joined together with him in paying some attention to it but it only served to give her other ideas. She imagined him trying to imitate a few of those moves she was seeing on-screen, his meat flopping around in those basketball shorts for all to observe. It got a fire sizzling in her belly to where she had to do something, even if she still lacked the nerve to outright grab him. Instead, she simply lifted her shirt up and over her head, leaving her upper body covered by only a bra before she could overheat. “You feeling alright?” Mokuba cocked an eyebrow. “Yes, just a bit… anxious,” she still struggled with her composure. “Well, don't feel as though you can't ask what you need of me to get yourself more comfortable.” “You? What I need you to do is… is…” her breathing heightened. “Is what?” “Is… to let me know… how that body of yours has gotten you treated in locker rooms back in high school,” she opted to shift the subject. “I don't know how it is for girls, but guys typically try not to stare at one another when changing, ” he replied, “Sure they were rumors about me, but nobody dared to compare. The only thing that mattered was not getting an erection and getting accused of being gay.” “Is that how you can sit here so freely without popping a boner? That learned self-control?” “Sort of. I don't want to pressure you more than I already am.” “Pressure me?” “If I got hard now, you'd be put in another position where you feel obligated to get it back down.” “I managed to last time.” “You did, but I still don't want to spring it on you without warning either.” “…but what if I did want to?” she asked with a deep breath. “Huh?” “I mean, if you were feeling up for it, I'd be down to help you out a little, you know, to ease the boredom…” Rebecca turned crimson red all over again. “Is that your sincere idea of entertainment?” the boy teased. “Kind of, I mean, if it's with you…” was her final answer. With that, Mokuba found the resolve to cast his own remaining doubts to the wayside. Picking up the remote, he turned away from network television entirely, brazenly using its built-in smart features to start up the app for a porn site instead before passing the remote on to Rebecca. “Go on,” he offered, “Let me see what you're into. I won't judge as long as you don't judge me if I happen to like it too.” “What? Is this necessary?” “I've told you before that I like sincerity in people,” Mokuba reminded her, “Let me see what genuinely excites you.” Barely able to gather her thoughts, Rebecca scrambled together the first words pertaining to sexuality that passed through her brain. Unfortunately, they happened to be those directly pertaining to herself. “Amateur white girl big cock!” she spoke into the microphone. “Nice to see that you don't mince words,” her partner chuckled. “I could never watch the professional stuff. It's so unrealistic and borderline deceptive,” the girl defended her choice. “I agree,” Mokuba folded his arms respectfully as she continued to make her selection. She scrolled through the list that came up in the search and found all sorts of results submitted by real people filming themselves having sex for the world. Some appeared to be done by individuals hooking up with random fans but others seemed to be consistently but out by honest couples who reveled in flaunting their relationship. “Wow… this sort of thing is more common than I realized,” Rebecca murmured at the results. “Go ahead and pick,” he shuffled slightly in his seat, “Anything will be fine to start.” “Okay but first…” she paused, “Allow me to get more comfortable myself. Unexpectedly discarding her own pants at that moment, Mokuba's eyes widened slightly at the moisture he could notice starting to build at the center of her panties. Paying no mind, Rebecca selected a video featuring a seemingly married couple in their late twenties. The man's body was nice, even if he couldn't help being somewhat less endowed than the male beside her. However, the girl did seem to have a cup-size over her in the chest department. "Woah, you like them older, huh?” Mokuba observed. “Only a bit. No drunk, vulnerable college girls,” Rebecca let the clip play It was perfectly fine for what it was. The duo looked to have actual chemistry and experience with on another with how smoothly they handled exchanging oral sex. They had sex in a common missionary position with the man on top, seeming to know exactly just how much of his fairly above average size she could take, hitting a rhythm that had her calling out his name with every thrust. Nothing was too out of the ordinary physically, but it couldn't help leaving them considering their own experience in comparison. “My… that was something,” Rebecca let out a sigh when the video finished. “Yeah, gotta guess they put in their practice for it,” he joined her in a sense of relief. “I wonder how it would be shooting something like that,” she pondered before handing the controller back over. “What's this?” “Your turn,” the girl clarified, “It's only fair.” “Okay…” Mokuba hesitated a bit, “Not sure how to follow that up.” “Same as me. Whatever is on your mind.” “I don't want to put on anything that might upset you…” “As long as it's legal,” the American student approved. Unlike her, Mokuba was fairly well-prepared with his search terms for porn. The tough part was choosing which to go with. He knew plenty of names that could risk leaving her with a sense of inadequacy but one stood out in his mind as appropriate for the situation. “Hitomi Tanaka,” the boy announced his selection. On the TV appeared a swath of results for a brunette with a pair of boobs far larger than any Rebecca had ever come across in person. Almost as notable to her was the fact that she also appeared to be of Japanese descent just the same as the classmate she now sat with. Mokuba quickly pulled up a relatively tame video of her fondling and bouncing her breasts camgirl style. Rebecca couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy but still felt obligated to finish why she started even with their nerves at an all-time high. “A big titted Japanese woman, huh?” she noted, “Can't exactly call it unexpected.” “Obviously I can relate to her somewhat,” he admitted, “Both in our ethnicity and certain stereotypes we seek to shatter. "Indeed,” Rebecca spotted his manhood perking up somewhat, “I'm sure you could be just as well compensated for it as her if you wanted. Imagine getting paid just to pose naked and have sex.” “Perhaps, but you gotta stick to the script and do everything on cue. It's not exactly that easy to control for me.” “Those amateur couples also get paid by these sites, you know.” “I don't exactly need the money,” he turned to her. “Yeah, but isn't it exciting to think of people so attractive that people could get off on simply watching you and even pay to do so?” “Um, I suppose it is… But you don't seem to be feeling that way yourself.” “Honestly…” Rebecca needed a moment to search herself, “None of the people coming up in these results turn me on quite the way you do.” “I guess I can't help the size difference,” Mokuba smirked. “Naturally but I also love how wild you look with that long, unkempt hair and simple clothing. Beats the stereotypical businessman look you tried in the past.” “Well, if you like it then perhaps I could get even wilder for you,” he slyly proposed. “How so?” she looked upon him longingly. To be continued… By BEWD4133 for Literotica
Episode 8 of the Ramen in Japan podcast with my very special guest Moe Kuroki, also known as the chef and owner of Oisa Ramen @oisaramen on Instagram. Moe is originally from Fukuoka in the South of Japan and has moved from there to the United States in her teenage years. Nostalgia and a drive to recreate her soul food "Hakata style tonkotsu ramen" has led to her running ramen pop ups and a ramen store in Boston until 2020. We talk about her love to ramen and her path to owning a ramen restaurant, as well as the latest ramen bowls we had in Japan and bowls or shops that impressed us in the recent time. Today's covered shops are: Nagahama Goten https://goo.gl/maps/C8ZbaEZhpuhEqHKa8 Ganko Ittetsu (Boston, US) https://goo.gl/maps/6UCqgdcvbThgayXa8 Shokudo Shichisai https://g.page/shokudoshichisai?share Mengekijou Gen-ei https://goo.gl/maps/UrPDBmLZRAJBSVWK9 Soba House Konjiki Hototogisu https://goo.gl/maps/G8w1Qp7csP46BESp8 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rameninjapan/message
The Not a Robot War on Film Podcast continues their discussions on movies depicting the attack on Pearl Harbor with the problematic 1943 movie Air Force. The film which was shot while WWII was still going on was mostly a propaganda film littered with racism and false claims. Unfortunately, the nostalgia of the silver screen isn't enough to make it passable for today's audiences, but there are still lessons that can be learned. No need to watch it yourself though, grab some popcorn and listen here. Today we honor Ben Kuroki, a Japanese American citizen who was the only person of Asian decent to serve in the air force during WWII. Ben served his country at a time when the rest of his fellow Japanese Americans were being sent to internment camps out of (irrational) fear these everyday citizens would betray the United States. Mr. Kuroki faced several obstacles in his path to flight that all centered around vile racism, which movies like Air Force encouraged. Nevertheless Ben became a decorated and respected airman after flying and fighting over Europe, Africa, and Japan. After surviving the war Ben Kuroki went on to become a journalist, earning a degree from Nebraska State where his bequest in journalism lives on today. In 2007 PBS released a spectacular documentary about Ben Kuroki's life called Most Honorable Son. Ben sadly passed away in 2015 at the age of 98 leaving behind a great legacy. We salute you, and thank you for your service. If you or someone you love have served in the armed forces of any nation, then we would like to honor them on this humble podcast! Just Tweet @NARwaronfilm Not A Robot's War on Film. We discuss all manner of War movies, their historical accuracy, how life is depicted on the screen, the movie itself, all while having some fun. Soldier up and come join us in Not A Robot's War On Film ! Hosted by a US Veteran! NARWarOnFilm@gmail.com NotARobotPodcasts.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/narwaronfilm/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/narwaronfilm/support
In today's episode, Tommy talks with Valmik Rao, a student philanthropist who aims to solve the world's biggest problems, one step at a time. For Valmik, it's not video games and parties that get him excited. Most of the time, he's diving deep into genetic research, bringing awareness to societal issues, and innovating products and services that can make a significant impact on the world. Valmik is a graduate of The Knowledge Society (TKS), a trusted incubator for young innovators. Valmik talks with Tommy about the barriers to a sustainable world, catapulting causes, stem cell advocacy, and other issues that disproportionately affect third-world countries. [28:39] - “What motivates me and the team is when we see people and understand what they're going through. And we've seen it firsthand. We've talked to them and at the end of the day, making sure that their quality of life is better is our biggest goal.” - Valmik Rao Key Takeaways [09:11] - Studies about the potential of stem cells and regenerative medicine are worth investing in. Not just with money, but with time. [16:06] - It's easy to solve the world's problems if all entities involved have synchronized goals. Right now, the misalignment with how academia and startups are approaching pressing issues is apparent. [18:46] - Longtime global problems need to be addressed by presenting sustainable solutions and encouraging behavior change. Additionally, it's time to discuss cultural practices that were passed from generation to generation that pose health and sanitation concerns. Links Valmik Rao Valmik Rao on LinkedIn Beyond The Ordinary 001: How Adaptive Education Can Change the World with Navid Nathoo The Knowledge Society Derivation of induced pluripotent stem cells in Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) | Nakai, R., Ohnuki, M., Kuroki, K. et al. World Health Organization (WHO) Whatsapp Connect with our host Mammoth Tommy on LinkedIn Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Learn more about Mammoth Scientific's Health & Tech Fund 1 When you move beyond the point of making sure your retirement goals are on track, your investment opportunities are wider than just publicly traded funds. Step into the world of investing in venture capital by learning more about Mammoth Scientific's Health & Tech Fund 1. Curated by some of the leading medical and fintech experts, Mammoth's Fund 1 is paving the way for health science and tech innovation. If you're interested in helping patient care, provider insight, and instrumentation go beyond possibility and into reality, check it out today at Mammoth.vc. Visit Mammoth.vc today!
Único norteamericano de ascendencia japonesa tripulante de bombardero en el Pacífico, Ben Kuroki sufrió el rechazo cuando se presentó a luchar por su país. Un país en ese momento lleno de perjuicios raciales, que no se lo puso fácil. Pero se ganó el favor de los mandos y de los compañeros de tripulación, primero de una B-24 que participaría en Ploesti y en Alemania, y posteriormente en una B-29 sobre Japón. Te lo cuenta 🚴 Esaú Rodríguez Produce 👨🚀 Dani CarAn Edita 🧢 Criof ⭐ Casus Belli Podcast forma parte de 📀 Ivoox Originals. ⭐ Casus Belli Podcast pertenece a 🏭 Factoría Casus Belli. 👉https://podcastcasusbelli.com 👉En Facebook, nuestra página es @casusbellipodcast https://www.facebook.com/CasusBelliPodcast 👉En Instagram estamos como @casusbellipodcast https://www.instagram.com/casusbellipodcast 👉En Twitter estamos como @casusbellipod @CasusBelliPod 👉Telegram, nuestro canal es @casusbellipodcast https://t.me/casusbellipodcast 👨💻Nuestro chat del canal es https://t.me/aviones10 La música aparecida en este episodio lo hacen bajo la licencia privada de Jamendo Music, Epidemic Sound, o licencia global contratada y gestionada por IVOOX (SGAE RRDD/4/1074/1012), para el uso de "música comercial" del repertorio de la Sociedad de Gestión. El resto de música es bajo licencia Creative Commons 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/ ⚛️ El logotipo de Carros 10 y de la Factoría Casus Belli están diseñados por Publicidad Fabián publicidadfabian@yahoo.es 📧¿Queréis contarnos algo? También puedes escribirnos a casus.belli.pod@gmail.com Si te ha gustado, y crees que nos lo merecemos, nos sirve mucho que nos des un like, ya que nos da mucha visibilidad. Muchas gracias por escucharnos, y hasta la próxima. Escucha el episodio completo en la app de iVoox, o descubre todo el catálogo de iVoox Originals
Idag Pratar Marcus och Andereas om NIGHT HEAD 2041 Det handlar om bröderna, Takuya Kuroki och Yūya Kuroki, som ingår i National Security Force och jagar ett annat par bröder med psykiska krafter.
Um querido ouvinte nos trouxe sobre seu filhote de 1 ano e 3 meses que tem tido o hábito de bater. Como compreender e abordar esse comportamento. Se tiver alguma dica ou dúvida, escreva pra nós cafecomaspediatras@gmail.comTRENS CITADOS NESTE PODCAST:Trecho do livro Peter Pan & Wendy (J. M. Barrie) sobre a Sininho (Tinker Bell): "Tinker Bell não era totalmente má. Acontece que ela só estava completamente má naquele momento. Em outras ocasiões, era completamente boa. Fadas precisam decidir entre uma coisa ou outra, pois são tão pequenas que só têm espaço para um sentimento de cada vez. Ainda bem que elas podem alternar — desde que seja uma mudança completa. Agora, Tink estava tomada de ciúmes de Wendy, que não entendia o que a fada dizia em seu adorável tilintar — devem ter sido palavrões terríveis, mas soavam como algo gentil.(...)"INDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA:Projeto Domínio [ao] Público do Instituto Mojo. Lá possível obter gratuitamente o ebook Peter Pan & Wendy (link: https://mojo.org.br/ebook/peter-pan-wendy/)PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis IscoldEDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Um querido ouvinte nos trouxe sobre seu filhote de 1 ano e 3 meses que tem tido o hábito de bater. Como compreender e abordar esse comportamento. Se tiver alguma dica ou dúvida, escreva pra nós cafecomaspediatras@gmail.com TRENS CITADOS NESTE PODCAST: Trecho do livro Peter Pan & Wendy (J. M. Barrie) sobre a Sininho (Tinker Bell): "Tinker Bell não era totalmente má. Acontece que ela só estava completamente má naquele momento. Em outras ocasiões, era completamente boa. Fadas precisam decidir entre uma coisa ou outra, pois são tão pequenas que só têm espaço para um sentimento de cada vez. Ainda bem que elas podem alternar — desde que seja uma mudança completa. Agora, Tink estava tomada de ciúmes de Wendy, que não entendia o que a fada dizia em seu adorável tilintar — devem ter sido palavrões terríveis, mas soavam como algo gentil.(...)" INDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA: Projeto Domínio [ao] Público do Instituto Mojo. Lá possível obter gratuitamente o ebook Peter Pan & Wendy (link: https://mojo.org.br/ebook/peter-pan-wendy/) PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis Iscold EDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Y damos fin al análisis de la vida del director de cine para adultos más emblemático y revolucionario de Japón: Toru MuranishiRecuerda que puedes apoyarnos con donaciones al Podcast / To support our Podcasts: http://bit.ly/BDAPodcastSupportSi deseas publicitar tu marca en nuestros episodios, escríbenos a: info@frikitimes.com
Dentro da nova série "Rolou no Grupo dos Apoiadores do Tricô de Pais˜, falaremos nesse episódio sobre como escolher as roupas adequadas para crianças. Dúvidas como a partir de qual idade podemos deixar só de fraldinha? Se tiver alguma dica ou dúvida, escreva pra nós cafecomaspediatras@gmail.comTRENS CITADOS NESTE PODCAST:Episódio #013 Café com as Pediatras: Mito das doenças respiratórias (link: https://paizinhovirgula.com/mitos-das-doencas-respiratorias-podcast-cafe-com-as-pediatras-013/)Cena do filme O Santo (1997) mostrando o pele a pele para tratar uma hipotermia. (colocado aqui por motivos de: eu lembrei!!)INDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA:Seja um apoiador do Tricô de Pais! (link: https://apoia.se/tricodepais)PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis IscoldEDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Dentro da nova série "Rolou no Grupo dos Apoiadores do Tricô de Pais˜, falaremos nesse episódio sobre como escolher as roupas adequadas para crianças. Dúvidas como a partir de qual idade podemos deixar só de fraldinha? Se tiver alguma dica ou dúvida, escreva pra nós cafecomaspediatras@gmail.com TRENS CITADOS NESTE PODCAST: Episódio #013 Café com as Pediatras: Mito das doenças respiratórias (link: https://paizinhovirgula.com/mitos-das-doencas-respiratorias-podcast-cafe-com-as-pediatras-013/) Cena do filme O Santo (1997) mostrando o pele a pele para tratar uma hipotermia. (colocado aqui por motivos de: eu lembrei!!) INDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA: Seja um apoiador do Tricô de Pais! (link: https://apoia.se/tricodepais) PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis Iscold EDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Respondendo ao email do querido Pedro Gurgel, vamos conversar sobre quando uma reação alérgica vira um motivo para uma visita ao pronto socorro. Vocês sabiam que a gente pode ter dois tipos de reações alérgicas, uma imediata e outra tardia? Se ficar algum dúvida escreve pra nós, cafecomaspediatras@gmail.com TRENS CITADOS NESTE PODCAST: Pra conhecer mais sobre nosso ilustre ouvinte: Avó - Mensagens na Garrafa T01E08 (https://paizinhovirgula.com/avo-mensagens-na-garrafa-t01e08-podcast-trico-de-pais/) INDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA: Tricô de Pais #100: É alergia ou frescura (https://paizinhovirgula.com/e-alergia-ou-frescura-feat-laura-gomes-e-marko-mello-trico-de-pais-100/) Site Pediatria para Família da SBP: Urticária e angioedema (https://www.sbp.com.br/especiais/pediatria-para-familias/doencas/urticaria-e-angioedema/) CONVITE DA AMY: Criar sua assinatura de email cativamente PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis Iscold EDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Respondendo ao email do querido Pedro Gurgel, vamos conversar sobre quando uma reação alérgica vira um motivo para uma visita ao pronto socorro. Vocês sabiam que a gente pode ter dois tipos de reações alérgicas, uma imediata e outra tardia? Se ficar algum dúvida escreve pra nós, cafecomaspediatras@gmail.comTRENS CITADOS NESTE PODCAST:Pra conhecer mais sobre nosso ilustre ouvinte: Avó - Mensagens na Garrafa T01E08 (https://paizinhovirgula.com/avo-mensagens-na-garrafa-t01e08-podcast-trico-de-pais/)INDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA:Tricô de Pais #100: É alergia ou frescura (https://paizinhovirgula.com/e-alergia-ou-frescura-feat-laura-gomes-e-marko-mello-trico-de-pais-100/)Site Pediatria para Família da SBP: Urticária e angioedema (https://www.sbp.com.br/especiais/pediatria-para-familias/doencas/urticaria-e-angioedema/)CONVITE DA AMY: Criar sua assinatura de email cativamentePARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis IscoldEDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Pra vocês, tomar remédio sempre é fácil? Quando falamos de crianças adicionamos alguns desafios. Bora lá pensar, mal-estar, preferências de gosto, e habilidades emocionais da idade? Pronto, prato cheio, rs.Essa conversa começou lá no grupo dos apoiadores do Tricô de Pais e trouxemos algumas sugestões de estratégias para ajudar no processo. Vamos discutir uma a uma e acrescentar alguns outros detalhes. Bora lá? Se ficar alguma dúvida, só escrever pra gente no cafecomaspediatras@gmail.comPARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis IscoldEDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Pra vocês, tomar remédio sempre é fácil? Quando falamos de crianças adicionamos alguns desafios. Bora lá pensar, mal-estar, preferências de gosto, e habilidades emocionais da idade? Pronto, prato cheio, rs. Essa conversa começou lá no grupo dos apoiadores do Tricô de Pais e trouxemos algumas sugestões de estratégias para ajudar no processo. Vamos discutir uma a uma e acrescentar alguns outros detalhes. Bora lá? Se ficar alguma dúvida, só escrever pra gente no cafecomaspediatras@gmail.com PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis Iscold EDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Nosso querido ouvinte Ângelo puxou uma conversa sobre entender a bateria infinita do seu filhote. Mesmo após um dia com muita atividade física, seu filho com mais de 2,5 anos ainda aparenta ter muita energia na hora de dormir, rolando até uma dúvida se poderia ser algum sinal de ansiedade. Já falamos, em outro episódio, sobre crianças sensíveis, aqueles pequenos que não toleram muito estímulos. Acontece que temos o oposto também, crianças que precisam de mais estímulos durante o dia. E nos conta aí se ficar alguma dúvida no cafecomaspediatras@gmail.com TRENS CITADOS NESTE PODCAST: Grupo de apoiadores do Tricô de Pais (Apoie aqui para participar: https://apoia.se/tricodepais ) Episódio #003: Sensibilidade sensorial (https://paizinhovirgula.com/sensibilidade-sensorial-podcast-cafe-com-as-pediatras-003/) INDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA: "Como fazer um cantinho sensorial para as crianças" - Disponível em https://www.lagartavirapupa.com.br/post/como-fazer-um-cantinho-sensorial-para-as-crianças Convite da Amy: prestar atenção e tentar identificar quais pequenas coisas nos dão prazer no dia-a-dia. PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis Iscold EDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Nosso querido ouvinte Ângelo puxou uma conversa sobre entender a bateria infinita do seu filhote. Mesmo após um dia com muita atividade física, seu filho com mais de 2,5 anos ainda aparenta ter muita energia na hora de dormir, rolando até uma dúvida se poderia ser algum sinal de ansiedade. Já falamos, em outro episódio, sobre crianças sensíveis, aqueles pequenos que não toleram muito estímulos. Acontece que temos o oposto também, crianças que precisam de mais estímulos durante o dia. E nos conta aí se ficar alguma dúvida no cafecomaspediatras@gmail.comTRENS CITADOS NESTE PODCAST:Grupo de apoiadores do Tricô de Pais (Apoie aqui para participar: https://apoia.se/tricodepais )Episódio #003: Sensibilidade sensorial (https://paizinhovirgula.com/sensibilidade-sensorial-podcast-cafe-com-as-pediatras-003/)INDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA:"Como fazer um cantinho sensorial para as crianças" - Disponível em https://www.lagartavirapupa.com.br/post/como-fazer-um-cantinho-sensorial-para-as-criançasConvite da Amy: prestar atenção e tentar identificar quais pequenas coisas nos dão prazer no dia-a-dia.PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis IscoldEDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Retomando as atividades com um email tão especial da Mariana! Ela levantou a bola pra gente cortar e o assunto será como a fala se desenvolve! É uma abordagem inicial do assunto, bom pra gente entender as coisas e bom pra gerar perguntas, entãaaaaaao, surgindo alguma dúvida, nos escreva no cafecomaspediatras@gmail.com TRENS CITADOS NESTE PODCAST: Poema: "O Sotaque das Mineiras" de Carlos Drummond de Andrade (disponível https://saojoaodelreitransparente.com.br/works/view/35) INDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA: Serve & Return Interaction (uma fonte em inglês https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/serve-and-return/) Exemplos de interações Criança de 2 anos reclamando que a mãe saiu sem dar beijo ( https://youtu.be/K8hF7qQE5nQ) Pai e filho interagindo: https://youtu.be/CejhQC9hUO8 PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis Iscold EDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Retomando as atividades com um email tão especial da Mariana! Ela levantou a bola pra gente cortar e o assunto será como a fala se desenvolve! É uma abordagem inicial do assunto, bom pra gente entender as coisas e bom pra gerar perguntas, entãaaaaaao, surgindo alguma dúvida, nos escreva no cafecomaspediatras@gmail.comTRENS CITADOS NESTE PODCAST:Poema: "O Sotaque das Mineiras" de Carlos Drummond de Andrade (disponível https://saojoaodelreitransparente.com.br/works/view/35)INDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA:Serve & Return Interaction (uma fonte em inglês https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/serve-and-return/)Exemplos de interaçõesCriança de 2 anos reclamando que a mãe saiu sem dar beijo ( https://youtu.be/K8hF7qQE5nQ)Pai e filho interagindo: https://youtu.be/CejhQC9hUO8PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis IscoldEDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Nossa colega Gabriela compartilhou conosco sua busca por uma rotina e hábitos saudáveis de sono. E bateu uma preocupação: ter que "desmamar" sua filhota da "naninha". Coincidência ou não, este episódio celebra um ano deste podcast que começou falando sobre fisiologia do sono infantil. Surgindo alguma dúvida ou uma pergunta, nos escreva no cafecomaspediatras@gmail.comTRENS CITADOS NESTE PODCAST:Episódio 01: Insônia https://paizinhovirgula.com/insonia-podcast-cafe-com-as-pediatras-001/INDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA:Personagem Linus do Charlie Brown (https://youtu.be/8qutaS7AGMQ)PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis IscoldEDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Nossa colega Gabriela compartilhou conosco sua busca por uma rotina e hábitos saudáveis de sono. E bateu uma preocupação: ter que "desmamar" sua filhota da "naninha". Coincidência ou não, este episódio celebra um ano deste podcast que começou falando sobre fisiologia do sono infantil. Surgindo alguma dúvida ou uma pergunta, nos escreva no cafecomaspediatras@gmail.com TRENS CITADOS NESTE PODCAST: Episódio 01: Insônia https://paizinhovirgula.com/insonia-podcast-cafe-com-as-pediatras-001/ INDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA: Personagem Linus do Charlie Brown (https://youtu.be/8qutaS7AGMQ) PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis Iscold EDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Qual a importância do desenvolvimento infantil na saúde da criança? Como ele é avaliado? Você sabia que grande parte dos testes e questionários se baseia no relato dos adultos da criança? Neste episódio falamos sobre onde buscar informações sobre o assunto e como podemos ajudar as crianças nessa caminhada. Tem alguma dúvida ou uma pergunta, nos escreva no cafecomaspediatras@gmail.com TRENS CITADOS NESTE PODCAST: Aplicativo Milestone (https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones-app.html) Site CDC: Learn the Signs. Act Early (diversas línguas) - https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/ Episódio 18 “Um jeito mágico de ler” (Café com as Pediatras) INDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA: Livros do T. Berry Brazelton (em inglês - em português procurar usado): Touchpoints Birth to 3 (https://amzn.to/2VtGKhG) e Touchpoints Three to Six (https://amzn.to/33zbX7i) Livro: Já tentei de tudo - Isabelle Filliozat (https://amzn.to/3mycVIu) Checklist em português dos marcos de desenvolvimento - CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/other-lang/Brazilian-Portuguese-Checklists_LTSAE-P.pdf) PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis Iscold **EDIÇÃO:** Samuel Gambini **ARTE DA VITRINE:** Nei Costa **REVISÃO:** Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. **REVISÃO TÉCNICA:** Dr. Francisco Machado
Qual a importância do desenvolvimento infantil na saúde da criança? Como ele é avaliado? Você sabia que grande parte dos testes e questionários se baseia no relato dos adultos da criança? Neste episódio falamos sobre onde buscar informações sobre o assunto e como podemos ajudar as crianças nessa caminhada.Tem alguma dúvida ou uma pergunta, nos escreva no cafecomaspediatras@gmail.comTRENS CITADOS NESTE PODCAST:Aplicativo Milestone (https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones-app.html)Site CDC: Learn the Signs. Act Early (diversas línguas) - https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/Episódio 18 “Um jeito mágico de ler” (Café com as Pediatras)INDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA:Livros do T. Berry Brazelton (em inglês - em português procurar usado): Touchpoints Birth to 3 (https://amzn.to/2VtGKhG) e Touchpoints Three to Six (https://amzn.to/33zbX7i)Livro: Já tentei de tudo - Isabelle Filliozat (https://amzn.to/3mycVIu)Checklist em português dos marcos de desenvolvimento - CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/other-lang/Brazilian-Portuguese-Checklists_LTSAE-P.pdf)PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis Iscold**EDIÇÃO:** Samuel Gambini **ARTE DA VITRINE:** Nei Costa **REVISÃO:** Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. **REVISÃO TÉCNICA:** Dr. Francisco Machado
A Camila passou um susto com uma possível febre e dor de cabeça neste contexto de pandemia. Tudo ficou bem do lado de lá, mas a situação levantou a pergunta sobre como reagir quando parece que um sintoma relatado pela criança não parece corresponder com o que observamos. Por coincidência, uma de nós havia passado por algo bem parecido e isso rendeu um bom papo. Se ficar alguma dúvida ou gerar uma pergunta, nos escreva no cafecomaspediatras@gmail.com TRENS CITADOS NESTE PODCAST: Escalas de dor (alguns exemplos no instagram) Escala de sentimentos Partes do corpo Episódio 23: Comportamentos Indesejados (https://paizinhovirgula.com/comportamentos-indesejados-podcast-cafe-com-as-pediatras-023/) Episódio18: Um jeito mágico de ler INDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA: Filme: Curtindo a vida adoidado (https://youtu.be/yz_eNUMWX4A) Grupo de Apoiadores do Tricô de Pais (https://apoia.se/tricodepais) Livro: Proibido aos Elefantes (https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/8594206135/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_o7kTFbY5TJJYM) Filme: Divertidamente (https://youtu.be/K815y4vBxcM) Livros sobre o corpo humano (disponíveis na descrição do episódio 16: https://paizinhovirgula.com/acidentes-cortantes-podcast-cafe-com-as-pediatras-016/) PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis Iscold EDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
A Camila passou um susto com uma possível febre e dor de cabeça neste contexto de pandemia. Tudo ficou bem do lado de lá, mas a situação levantou a pergunta sobre como reagir quando parece que um sintoma relatado pela criança não parece corresponder com o que observamos. Por coincidência, uma de nós havia passado por algo bem parecido e isso rendeu um bom papo. Se ficar alguma dúvida ou gerar uma pergunta, nos escreva no cafecomaspediatras@gmail.comTRENS CITADOS NESTE PODCAST:Escalas de dor (alguns exemplos no instagram)Escala de sentimentosPartes do corpoEpisódio 23: Comportamentos Indesejados (https://paizinhovirgula.com/comportamentos-indesejados-podcast-cafe-com-as-pediatras-023/)Episódio18: Um jeito mágico de lerINDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA:Filme: Curtindo a vida adoidado (https://youtu.be/yz_eNUMWX4A)Grupo de Apoiadores do Tricô de Pais (https://apoia.se/tricodepais)Livro: Proibido aos Elefantes (https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/8594206135/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_o7kTFbY5TJJYM)Filme: Divertidamente (https://youtu.be/K815y4vBxcM)Livros sobre o corpo humano (disponíveis na descrição do episódio 16: https://paizinhovirgula.com/acidentes-cortantes-podcast-cafe-com-as-pediatras-016/)PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis IscoldEDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Poppy Kuroki is a professional ghostwriter and editor. She loves books, Dungeons & Dragons, and playing video games. She currently lives in Enoshima, Japan with her husband and dreams of owning a dog. Find Oath on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Oath-Black-Diamond-Poppy-Kuroki-ebook/dp/B08K9133R3 Find Oath on Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/oath-a-black-diamond-novel Find Oath on Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1046008
Historicamente a publicidade sempre resolveu os problemas a partir dos conhecimentos e habilidades que cada empresa possuía. Não cabe aqui julgarmos se isso foi melhor ou pior para o produto final da publicidade, era o que tínhamos até então de única solução. A medida que surgem novas iniciativas e modelos de negócio que conectam pessoas por curtos períodos de tempo, é preciso entender o que levar em consideração para que se faça a curadoria de pessoas que irão participar da resolução do problema e como esse processo funciona na resolução destes problemas. Quem ajuda eu e você nisso é Ana Kuroki da MESA, empresa que já há alguns anos vem propondo uma nova forma de solucionar problemas complexos. Tudo que você precisa saber sobre o podcast, como colaborar, e mandar também o seu relato para o projeto: www.podcastpropaganda.cc Para colaborar com o podcast: www.podcastpropaganda.cc/boletos As @s indicadas pela Ana no Momento "Me indica um @" são: Monique Evelle https://www.instagram.com/moniqueevelle/ Cris Naumovs https://www.instagram.com/crisnaumovs/ André Alves https://www.instagram.com/reflektory/ #PNESIA #propagandanãoésóissoaí #propagandanaoesoissoai #publicidade #comunicacao #publicidadeepropaganda #marketing #negócios #lucasschuch Trilhas Dreams by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/VF9_dCo6JT4 La Madeline Au Truffe (composed by Jeris) by basematic (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/basematic/33580 Ft: Jeris (VJ_Memes) Modestly Rude by Jhovanny Fontanez (c) copyright 2009 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/Nobuo3000/19015 Funky Bots by Admiral Bob (c) copyright 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/admiralbob77/48709 Ft: jeris, Martijn de Boer Overpopulation by catayela (c) copyright 2014 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/catayela/48531 Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/-lbbHQbZNKg Rescue Me (Instrumental) by Aussens@iter (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/tobias_weber/57990 Ft: Copperhead
Déjà vu? Não, só mais uma adaptação escolar intensa entre uma de nós. Neste episódio vamos dividir reflexões sobre abordagem de comportamentos indesejados. O que fazer quando a técnica de escolhas limitadas pára de funcionar? Ou melhor, precisamos de mais técnicas ou rever como estamos nos relacionando com nossos filhos? Existe negociação se não estamos dispostos a abrir mão do resultado final? Vem tomar um café com a gente e se ficar alguma dúvida ou gerar uma pergunta, nos escreva no cafecomaspediatras@gmail.comTRENS CITADOS NESTE PODCAST:Episódio 14: Fobias e medos (https://paizinhovirgula.com/fobias-e-medos-podcast-cafe-com-as-pediatras-014/)INDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA:Site: Lives in Balance (https://www.livesinthebalance.org)Livro: The Explosive Child - Roger W. Greene (https://amzn.to/34cmg2b)Vídeo Como Negociar com Seu Filho - Thiago Queiroz; Paizinho, Vírgula! (https://youtu.be/nMhf-0vVS2I)PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis IscoldEDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Déjà vu? Não, só mais uma adaptação escolar intensa entre uma de nós. Neste episódio vamos dividir reflexões sobre abordagem de comportamentos indesejados. O que fazer quando a técnica de escolhas limitadas pára de funcionar? Ou melhor, precisamos de mais técnicas ou rever como estamos nos relacionando com nossos filhos? Existe negociação se não estamos dispostos a abrir mão do resultado final? Vem tomar um café com a gente e se ficar alguma dúvida ou gerar uma pergunta, nos escreva no cafecomaspediatras@gmail.com TRENS CITADOS NESTE PODCAST: Episódio 14: Fobias e medos (https://paizinhovirgula.com/fobias-e-medos-podcast-cafe-com-as-pediatras-014/) INDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA: Site: Lives in Balance (https://www.livesinthebalance.org) Livro: The Explosive Child - Roger W. Greene (https://amzn.to/34cmg2b) Vídeo Como Negociar com Seu Filho - Thiago Queiroz; Paizinho, Vírgula! (https://youtu.be/nMhf-0vVS2I) PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis Iscold EDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Wenn man in einem Kriminalfall einen Augenzeugen hat, dann scheint das die große Rettung zu sein - man hat da ja jemanden, der das ganze mit eigenen Augen gesehen hat. Aber wie zuverlässig sind die Erinnerungen von Augenzeugen? Wir diskutieren in dieser Folge einige Einschränkungen und Effekte, die uns daran zweifeln lassen, dass man Augenzeugenberichten so ohne Weiteres Glauben schenken kann. Unsere Quellen sind: 1) Tuckey, M. R., & Brewer, N. (2003). The influence of schemas, stimulus ambiguity, and interview schedule on eyewitness memory over time. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 9(2), 101., 2) Loftus, E. F., & Palmer, J. C. (1974). Reconstruction of automobile destruction: An example of the interaction between language and memory. Journal of verbal learning and verbal behavior, 13(5), 585-589., 3) Harada, Y., Hakoda, Y., Kuroki, D., & Mitsudo, H. (2015). The presence of a weapon shrinks the functional field of view. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 29(4), 592-599. 4) Wright, D. B., & Stroud, J. N. (2002). Age differences in lineup identification accuracy: People are better with their own age. Law and human behavior, 26(6), 641-654. 5) Wiese, H., Wolff, N., Steffens, M. C., & Schweinberger, S. R. (2013). How experience shapes memory for faces: an event-related potential study on the own-age bias. Biological Psychology, 94(2), 369-379. 6) Young, S. G., Hugenberg, K., Bernstein, M. J., & Sacco, D. F. (2012). Perception and motivation in face recognition: A critical review of theories of the cross-race effect. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 16(2), 116-142. 7) Ross, D. F., Ceci, S. J., Dunning, D., & Toglia, M. P. (1994). Unconscious transference and lineup identification: Toward a memory blending approach.
Este episódio é uma continuação de uma conversa linda que tivemos com nosso podcast padrinho, o Tricô de Pais, sobre Humanização da Saúde. Tentamos nesta continuação trazer algumas coisas mais práticas para aliviar ou prevenir que eventos sejam traumáticos. Se ficar alguma dúvida ou gerar uma pergunta, nos escreva no cafecomaspediatras@gmail.comTRENS CITADOS NESTE PODCAST:Daniel o TigreDoutora BrinquedoINDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA:App Lojong: Prática de S.T.O.P (https://lojong.com.br/app/)Podcast Tricô de Pais - Episódio 116: A Humanização dos Cuidados com a Saúde (https://open.spotify.com/episode/6PDX6jg4xG7zvQ8U54FRws?si=VIyreedMSGa_O5r4y-6DHw)PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis IscoldEDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Este episódio é uma continuação de uma conversa linda que tivemos com nosso podcast padrinho, o Tricô de Pais, sobre Humanização da Saúde. Tentamos nesta continuação trazer algumas coisas mais práticas para aliviar ou prevenir que eventos sejam traumáticos. Se ficar alguma dúvida ou gerar uma pergunta, nos escreva no cafecomaspediatras@gmail.com TRENS CITADOS NESTE PODCAST: Daniel o Tigre Doutora Brinquedo INDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA: App Lojong: Prática de S.T.O.P (https://lojong.com.br/app/) Podcast Tricô de Pais - Episódio 116: A Humanização dos Cuidados com a Saúde (https://open.spotify.com/episode/6PDX6jg4xG7zvQ8U54FRws?si=VIyreedMSGa_O5r4y-6DHw) PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis Iscold EDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Respondendo ao desabado do nosso querido revisor técnico, Kiko, conversamos sobre quanta coisa interfere na nossa percepção do quanto nossos filhos comem. Como vocês responderiam à pergunta “Seu(sua) filho(a) come bem?”. Ficou alguma dúvida ou quer dividir conosco suas reflexões sobre o assunto, escreve pra nós cafecomaspediatras@gmail.comPARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis IscoldEDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Respondendo ao desabado do nosso querido revisor técnico, Kiko, conversamos sobre quanta coisa interfere na nossa percepção do quanto nossos filhos comem. Como vocês responderiam à pergunta “Seu(sua) filho(a) come bem?”. Ficou alguma dúvida ou quer dividir conosco suas reflexões sobre o assunto, escreve pra nós cafecomaspediatras@gmail.com PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis Iscold EDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.09.18.301564v1?rss=1 Authors: Michikawa, T., Yoshida, T., Kuroki, S., Ishikawa, T., Kakei, S., Itohara, S., Miyawaki, A. Abstract: Sensory processing is essential for motor control. Climbing fibers from the inferior olive transmit sensory signals to Purkinje cells, but how the signals are represented in the cerebellar cortex remains elusive. We examined the olivocerebellar organization of the mouse brain by optically measuring complex spikes (CSs) evoked by climbing fiber inputs over the entire dorsal surface of the cerebellum. We discovered that the surface was divided into approximately 200 segments each composed of ~100 Purkinje cells that fired CSs synchronously. Our in vivo imaging of evoked responses revealed that whereas stimulation of four limb muscles individually similar global CS responses across nearly all segments, the timing and location of a stimulus were derived by Bayesian inference from coordinated activation and inactivation of multiple segments on a single trial basis. Our findings suggest that the cerebellum performs segment-based distributed population coding by assembling probabilistic sensory representation in individual segments. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info
Quarto episódio da série sobre acidentes na infância. As crianças são pequenos cientistas e seu primeiro instrumento de análise é a boca. Sim, pode parecer muitas vezes contraditório eles recusarem uma comida deliciosamente preparada enquanto engolem um prego ou um produto de limpeza. Neste episódios falaremos sobre como prevenir e o que fazer quando as crianças tomam algo indevido ou também exploram outros orifícios do corpo com objetos e os acabam perdendo por lá. Ficou alguma dúvida ou tem uma pergunta, nos escreva no cafecomaspediatras@gmail.comINDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA:Ingestão de corpos estranhos (em inglês): https://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/fact_sheets/Swallowed_ingested_foreign_bodies/Dicas de segurança para bebês e lactentes (em inglês - NHS): https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/baby-safety-tips/Ajudando um bebê engasgado (em inglês - NHS): https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/helping-choking-baby/Episódio 16 deste podcast: Acidentes cortantes (https://paizinhovirgula.com/acidentes-cortantes-podcast-cafe-com-as-pediatras-016/)Episódio 17 deste podcast: Queimaduras (https://paizinhovirgula.com/acidentes-cortantes-podcast-cafe-com-as-pediatras-017/)Episódio 19 deste podcast: Estrangulamento, sufocamento e engasgo (https://paizinhovirgula.com/acidentes-cortantes-podcast-cafe-com-as-pediatras-017/)PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis IscoldEDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Quarto episódio da série sobre acidentes na infância. As crianças são pequenos cientistas e seu primeiro instrumento de análise é a boca. Sim, pode parecer muitas vezes contraditório eles recusarem uma comida deliciosamente preparada enquanto engolem um prego ou um produto de limpeza. Neste episódios falaremos sobre como prevenir e o que fazer quando as crianças tomam algo indevido ou também exploram outros orifícios do corpo com objetos e os acabam perdendo por lá. Ficou alguma dúvida ou tem uma pergunta, nos escreva no cafecomaspediatras@gmail.com INDICAÇÕES BOAS DEMAIS DA CONTA: Ingestão de corpos estranhos (em inglês): https://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/fact_sheets/Swallowed_ingested_foreign_bodies/ Dicas de segurança para bebês e lactentes (em inglês - NHS): https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/baby-safety-tips/ Ajudando um bebê engasgado (em inglês - NHS): https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/helping-choking-baby/ Episódio 16 deste podcast: Acidentes cortantes (https://paizinhovirgula.com/acidentes-cortantes-podcast-cafe-com-as-pediatras-016/) Episódio 17 deste podcast: Queimaduras (https://paizinhovirgula.com/acidentes-cortantes-podcast-cafe-com-as-pediatras-017/) Episódio 19 deste podcast: Estrangulamento, sufocamento e engasgo (https://paizinhovirgula.com/acidentes-cortantes-podcast-cafe-com-as-pediatras-017/) PARTICIPANTES: Laura Lima e Amarilis Iscold EDIÇÃO: Samuel Gambini ARTE DA VITRINE: Nei Costa REVISÃO: Márcio Kuroki, Rodrigo Figueiredo, Lucelia Chaves, Ana Carla Macedo, Rodrigo Pimentel, Fernanda Almeida, Fernanda Siwiec, Mª Luiza Hipólito, Laura Lima, Nei Costa e Ricardo Takeshi. REVISÃO TÉCNICA: Dr. Francisco Machado
Hi! Welcome to this episode of Authors in Focus Podcast. I’m James Reid, a fantasy author publishing as JMD Reid. This podcast is all about getting to know writers, their books, and what makes them tick. We all have a … Continue reading → The post Authors in Focus Episode 34: Interview with Poppy Kuroki by JMD Reid appeared first on Fantasy/Sci-Fi Focus.