<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Japan" id="mwtA" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Empire of Japan">Japanese forces</a> launch a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Port_Arthur" id="mwtQ" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Battle of Port Arthur">surprise attack</a> against <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Empire" id="mwtg" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Russian Empire">Russian-controlled</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lushun" id="mwtw" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Lushun">Port Arthur</a>, marking the start of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Japanese_War" id="mwuA" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Russo-Japanese War">Russo-Japanese war</a>.<sup about="#mwt161" class="mw-ref reference" data-mw='{"name":"ref","attrs":{},"body":{"id":"mw-reference-text-cite_note-30"}}' id="cite_ref-30" rel="dc:references" typeof="mw:Extension/ref"><a href="./February_8#cite_note-30" id="mwuQ" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 30;"><span class="mw-reflink-text" id="mwug">[30]</span></a></sup><sup about="#mwt165" class="mw-ref reference" data-mw='{"name":"ref","attrs":{},"body":{"id":"mw-reference-text-cite_note-31"}}' id="cite_ref-31" rel="dc:references" typeof="mw:Extension/ref"><a href="./February_8#cite_note-31" id="mwuw" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 31;"><span class="mw-reflink-text" id="mwvA">[31]</span></a></sup>
<span class="mw-reference-text" id="mw-reference-text-cite_note-30"><cite about="#mwt158" class="citation web cs1" id="mwChU"><a class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Port-Arthur" id="mwChY" rel="mw:ExtLink nofollow">"Battle of Port Arthur"</a>. <i id="mwChc">Encyclopædia Britannica</i>. <a class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20231005053627/https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Port-Arthur" id="mwChg" rel="mw:ExtLink nofollow">Archived</a> from the original on 2023-10-05<span class="reference-accessdate" id="mwChk">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap" id="mwCho">2023-10-04</span></span>.</cite><span about="#mwt158" class="Z3988" id="mwChs" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&amp;rft.genre=unknown&amp;rft.jtitle=Encyclop%C3%A6dia+Britannica&amp;rft.atitle=Battle+of+Port+Arthur&amp;rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.britannica.com%2Fevent%2FBattle-of-Port-Arthur&amp;rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AFebruary+8"></span></span>