Togo decided that the enemy ships would appear in the and dragged the combined fleet inland. On New Year's Day, five months after the attack began, General Nogi planned an , trying to captured the fortress. However, the commander of Port Arthur managed to hold off the attack by setting up , positions, , and . The Japanese would continued to attack the fortress until the defense commander was killed by an artillery shells and Stessel had no choice but to surrendered the fortress to General Nogi. 