Battle of Sandepu The Battle of Sandepu , ( also known as the Battle of Heikoutai ) was a major land battle of the Russo - Japanese War . It was fought within a group of villages about 36 miles ( 58 km ) southwest of Mukden , Manchuria . Background . After the Battle of Shaho , the Russian and Japanese forces faced each other south of Mukden until the frozen Manchurian winter began . The Russian were entrenched in the city of Mukden , whereas the Japanese were occupying a 160 kilometer long front with the Japanese 1st Army , 2nd Army , 4th Army and the Akiyama Independent Cavalry Regiment . The Japanese field commanders thought no major battle was possible and assumed that the Russians had the same view regarding the difficulty of winter combat . The Russian commander , General Kuropatkin was receiving reinforcements via the Trans - Siberian Railway , but was concerned about the impending arrival of the battle - hardened Japanese Third Army under General Nogi Maresuke to the front after the fall of Port Arthur on 2 January 1905 . On Kuropatkin ’ s staff at Mukden was General Nikolai Linevich , who had been brought over from Vladivostok to command the 1st Manchurian Army and Kuropatkin ’ s left flank . The center was held by General Alexander Kaulbars ’ s 3rd Manchurian army . The right flank was commanded by General Oskar Grippenberg , the inexperienced newly arrived commanding general of the 2nd Manchurian Army . The 2nd Manchurian Army consisted of the 8th European Army Corps , a division of the 10th , the 61st Reserve Division , the 5th Rifle Brigade , and the 1st East Siberian Army Corps under General Baron Georgii Stackelberg , besides a large body of cavalry , or approximately , 285 , 000 men and 350 guns . Grippenberg was initially pessimistic towards Kuropatkin ’ s plans for an offensive against the Japanese left wing , which was left in an exposed northern position close to Russian territory near the small village of Heikoutai . He agreed to the plan on the condition that all three Russian armies coordinate their attack . Details of the plan were leaked by St Petersburg to a war correspondent from the " Echo de Paris , " who credited the plan to Grippenberg . This news article , as well as Grippenbrg ’ s major redeployments of his forces in 14 and 16 January , signalled the Russian intentions to the Japanese . The Mishchenko Raid . Kuropatkin ’ s first move was to send General Pavel Mishchenko south with 6000 cavalry and six batteries of light artillery with the aim of destroying Newchang Station on the South Manchurian Railroad . The station was known to have a large stockpile of food and supplies . Mishchenko was also instructed to destroy railway bridges and sections of the train track along the way . Departing on 8 January , Mishchenko made unexpectedly slow progress due to inclement weather and the lack of forage and supplies along the way . By the time he reached the station on 12 January , it had been heavily reinforced by the Japanese . After failing to take the station in three attempts , he was forced to withdraw , returning to Mukden on 18 January . The damage made by his dragoon s to the rail tracks was quickly repaired by the Japanese . The Battle of Sandepu . On 19 January , Kuropatkin issued orders for the Second Manchurian Army to attack in a maneuver to outflank General Oku ’ s Japanese Second Army before Nogi ’ s Third Army could arrive . However , Grippenberg was not allowed to commit all of his forces – Kuropatkin limited him to three divisions plus the 1st East Siberian Army Corps and cavalry . The Japanese were aware of these plans , causing Oyama to reinforce his left flank . Kuropatkin afterwards blamed premature moves by Grippenberg for alerting the Japanese . On 25 January 1905 , the battle began with an attack by the 1st Siberian Rifle Corps on the fortified village of Heikoutai , which the Russians took with severe losses . The Russian 14th Division , which was intended to attack the fortified village of Sandepu , failed to coordinate its attack with the 1st Siberian , and attacked on the following day , 26 January , instead . Hampered by a lack of maps , reconnaissance and poor weather conditions , with occasional blizzards the Russians also attacked the wrong village , occupying the neighboring hamlet of Paotaitzu , which came under a strong artillery barrage and counterattack from Sandepu , which was occupied in strength by the Japanese 5th Division . Rather than come to their rescue , Grippenberg sent a false report to Kuropatkin that Sandepu had been taken , and ordered his men to rest on 27 January . However , the rest area assigned to Stakelberg ’ s troops was in Japanese hands , and despite standing orders to the contrary , Stakelberg order his men to attack . After losing 6000 men , Stakelberg was forced to fall back . By the morning of 28 January , Grippenberg found that he was separated from Kaulbars by the village of Sandpu , which prevented any attempt to link forces . However , as he still outnumbered the Japanese defenders by seven divisions to five divisions , he insisted on continuing the offensive . His decision was not supported by Kuropatkin , who acted with his usual caution and hesitation , and ordered Grippenberg ’ s forces back . Stakelburg , again ignoring orders , continued to attack , and with the help of Mishchenko ’ s cavalry , and took part of Sandepu village . Simultaneously , the Russian 10th Army Corps under General Konstantin Tserpitsky , with Grippenberg ’ s consent , succeeded in securing positions to the rear of Sandpu . Despite the advantageous situation , Kuropatkin then relieved Stakelburg of his command for insubordination , and again demanded that Grippenberg withdraw . Advancing Russian soldiers , their morale high as they were on what appeared to be a successful offense for the first time since the beginning of the war , could not understand the reason . Oyama then launched a massive counteroffensive on 29 January 1905 , and succeeded retaking Heikoutai by mid - morning . Immediately after the battle , Grippenberg resigned his commission , claiming illness . On his return to St Petersburg , he stopped at Harbin where he bitterly blamed Kuropatkin for the debacle in the newspapers , declaring that he was a “ traitor ” and claiming that Kuropatkin withheld crucial support due to jealousy at his success . He continued a harsh publicity campaign against Kuropatkin in the newspapers after his return to Russia . Results . Total Russian casualties at the Battle of Sandepu were 1 , 781 killed , 9 , 395 wounded and 1 , 065 MIA per modern Soviet sources . , although other sources put to toll at over 20 , 000 men . Japanese casualties totaled around 9 , 000 killed , wounded or captured . As the battle ended in a tactical stalemate , neither side claimed victory . In Russia , the Marxists used the newspaper controversy created by Grippenberg , and by Kuropatkin ’ s incompetence in previous battles , to drum up more support in their campaign against the government .