On the blood-soaked battlefields under the command of Kontrachenko, 150,000 Manchu soldiers had fallen.
Nearly seventy percent of the Manchu casualties in this war bore the mark of his relentless strategy. The final clash had shattered the enemy's will to resist, signaling the war's inevitable conclusion.
No nation in East Asia could now withstand the unstoppable march of the Far Eastern Army. Following his grand strategy, Kuropatkin drove the remnants of the enemy forces to the banks of the Yalu River. Though the road south lay open, with the capture of Hanyang within reach, he chose caution.
The movements of the Pacific Fleet weighed heavily on his mind, and he resolved to end the war decisively once winter gave way to spring.
Japan, battered and hesitant, made no effort to reclaim Manchuria. And so, winter descended—a frigid blanket over the land—heralding the arrival of a new year.
