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Title: A photographic record of the Russo-Japanese war
Editor: James H. Hare
Contributor: A. T. Mahan
Photographer: James F. J. Archibald
Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett
Richard Barry
Viktor Karlovich Bulla
Robert Lee Dunn
James Ricalton
Release date: May 17, 2025 [eBook #76109]
Language: English
Original publication: New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1905
Credits: Richard Tonsing, Brian Coe, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by the Digital & Multimedia Center, Michigan State University Libraries.)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORD OF THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR ***
[Illustration:
_Frontispiece_
THE BATTLEGROUND OF THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR
]
A PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORD
OF THE
RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR
EDITED AND ARRANGED BY
JAMES H. HARE, War Photographer
WITH PHOTOGRAPHS BY
VICTOR K. BULLA, ROBERT L. DUNN, JAMES F. J. ARCHIBALD, RICHARD BARRY,
ASHMEAD BARTLETT, JAMES RICALTON
TOGETHER WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE OF THE SEA OF JAPAN BY CAPTAIN A.
T. MAHAN, U. S. N., RETIRED
[Illustration: [Logo]]
NEW YORK
P. F. COLLIER & SON
1905
COPYRIGHT 1905 BY P. F. COLLIER &
SON
The photographs reproduced in this
volume are fully protected by
copyright in the United States and
Great Britain. Their reproduction,
without express permission, is
hereby forbidden.
The work of Messrs. Hare, Dunn,
Archibald, and Barry, under adverse
conditions in the field, was greatly
facilitated by the use of the films
and developing machine of the
Eastman Kodak Company, to whom they
feel this acknowledgment is due.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
The Battleground of the Russo-Japanese War—_Frontispiece_ 2
Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia 7
Mutsuhito, Emperor of Japan 7
Vice-Admiral Alexieff 8
Marquis Ito Hirobumi 8
Typical Street Scene in Russia’s Capital City 10
An Everyday Scene in One of the Large Cities of Japan 11
Japanese Troops Preparing for War 13
Training Japanese Cavalrymen at the Tokio Barracks 14
Changing Guard at the Oyama Barracks in Tokio 15
Swapping Stories in the Guard House at Oyama Barracks 16
Cleaning and Oiling Rifles in Preparation for War 17
Departure of Baron Rosen from Yokohama 18
Russian Minister to Korea Departing from Seoul 19
Newspaper Bulletins on the Chemulpo Battle 20
Patriotic Citizens Awaiting Their Turn to Enlist 21
Building Temporary Stables in Tokio 21
Mobilization of Troops in Tokio at the Outbreak of War 22
Troops Marching to Station Through the Streets of Tokio 23
Departure of Japanese Troops for Korea 24
Japanese Troops Detraining at Hiroshima 25
Cavalry Train Leaving Shimbashi Station 26
Men of the Army Service Corps Ready to Entrain 27
“Sayonara!”—Good-By 27
Engineers at Hiroshima, Practicing Building Bridges 28
Bridge at Hiroshima Ready for the Pontoons 29
“Tikoku Banzai!”—“Long Live the Empire!” 30
Destruction of the “Variag” and “Korietz” 32
Wrecks of the Russian Warships in Chemulpo Harbor 33
Japanese Salvage Corps on the Wreck of the “Variag” 34
The Night Landing of the Japanese Troops at Chemulpo 35
Coolies Handling Japanese Supplies 36
Mrs. Pavlov, Wife of the Russian Minister to Korea 37
Dr. H. N. Allen, United States Minister to Korea 37
The Japanese Advance Through Korea 38
The Japanese Occupation of Seoul 39
Japanese Troops Waiting to Cross at Ping-Yang 40
Koreans Watching the Entry of the Japanese at Seoul 41
The Japanese Red Cross Hospital at Chemulpo 42
Russian Ladies Sewing for the Red Cross 44
With the Russian Army on its March to the Front 45
The Autocrat of Russia and the Royal Family 46
The Czar Leaving the Winter Palace to Bid Farewell to Troops 47
Departure of Red Cross Nurses from St. Petersburg 48
The Czar Reviewing an Infantry Regiment 49
Procession in Honor of the Chemulpo Sailors 50
Twenty-Third Artillery Brigade About to Leave Gatchina 51
The Czar Bidding Farewell to Commanders 52
Grand Duke Alexandrovitch Leading His Marines in Review Before
the Czar 53
International Balloon Contest at St. Petersburg 54
Landing the Men who Fought at the Yalu 56
Artillerymen Landing at Chenampo 57
Japanese Bluejackets Coming Ashore at Chenampo 58
Grooming Cavalry Horses at Chenampo 59
Japanese Troopers Caring for a Sick Horse 60
Koreans and Japanese Salesman at Chenampo 61
With the Japanese on the Advance to the Yalu 62
Screens which Hid the Movements of the Japanese 63
General Kuroki and His Staff at Headquarters 64
Russians Crossing Lake Baikal in Midwinter 66
With the Russian Forces on Their Way to the Front 67
Caissons and Sledges About to Cross Lake Baikal 68
Russian Soldiers Marching Across Frozen Lake Baikal 69
Russian Infantry Warming Up with Hot Tea 70
The Russian Advance to the Front 71
Traveling Soup Kitchen and Soup-Kettle Ovens 72
With the Russians During the Advance to the Front 73
Chinese Coolies with Russian Overseer Ready for Work 74
Cossacks Dismounted and Lined Up for Inspection 75
General Herschelmann’s Division of Cavalry at Antung 76
Russian Artillery Advancing Toward the Yalu 77
Russian Cobblers at Work in the Field on Soldiers’ Boots 78
Dinner Time with the Nineteenth Siberian Rifle Corps 79
General Sassulitch and Staff at the Battle of the Yalu 80
Incidents of the Battle of the Yalu 82
The Crossing of the Yalu 83
With the Wounded After the Fight at the Yalu 84
Hospital Corps and Wounded Japanese 85
Japanese Reserves Watching the Battle 86
Artillery Spoils Captured by the Japanese 87
Some of the Wounded Russian Prisoners 88
Japanese Burying a Russian Captain 89
Japanese Transportation Trains and Infantry 90
Fire and Devastation in the Wake of the Retreating Army 91
The Japanese Occupation of Feng-Wang-Cheng 92
English Nurses Sent by the Queen to Inspect the Workings of the
Japanese Red Cross 93
Shinto Ceremony Held by the Japanese 94
Feng-Wang-Cheng After the Japanese Occupation 95
Japanese Getting Ready to Push on into Manchuria 96
Recreations of the Japanese Between Battles in Manchuria 97
Japanese Battery Going into Action at Feng-Wang-Cheng 98
With the Japanese Invaders in Manchuria 99
Whiling Away the Time Between Battles 100
Incidents of the Advance from Feng-Wang-Cheng 101
Crossing the So River in the Advance on Liao-Yang 102
General Nishi and His Staff Halting to Study Maps and Scouts’
Reports 103
With the Victorious Japanese at Lienshankwan 104
Arrival of Mail for the Army in the Field 105
Into Manchuria with the Japanese Invaders 106
Kwantei Temple Near Motien Pass 107
Detachment of Japanese Coming Up at the Double-Quick 108
Sharpshooters Covering the Advance 109
Scenes During the Battle of Motienling 110
General Kuroki and His Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General Fuji,
Watching the Fight at Motienling 111
Bringing Wounded Russians to the Dressing Station 112
Russian Red Cross Soldier Wounded at Motien Pass 113
Russian Wounded and Dead at Motien Pass 114
With the Wounded and Captured at Motien Pass 115
Japanese Skirmishers Advancing to Flank the Enemy 116
Prisoners and Captors at Motienling 117
Incidents of the Attempt to Recapture Motien Pass 118
General Okasaki, who Defeated the Russians 119
Field Dressing Station for Those Severely Wounded 120
With the Japanese Advance from the Yalu 121
With the Japanese During the Fighting Near Anping 122
Japanese and Captured Russians in Manchuria 123
Smokeless Batteries Hidden in Fields of Kowliang 124
In the Neighborhood of Towan During the Fighting 125
Difficulties of Campaigning During the Rainy Season 126
Russian Guns Captured at Nanshan Used by the Japanese 127
Along the Line of Battle in the Manchurian Passes 128
Pressing the Russians in the Neighborhood of Liao-Yang 129
With the Japanese on August 30 130
View of the Harbor Entrance of Port Arthur 132
Looking Southward Across the Docks at Port Arthur 133
Scenes Along the Water Front at Port Arthur 134
Naval and Civilian Activity in Port Arthur 135
Russian Warships in the Harbor at Port Arthur 136
Getting Ready for the Japanese on a Russian Warship 137
Russian Ships at Port Arthur 138
Part of Russia’s Fighting Fleet at Port Arthur 139
The Man who Bottled Up Port Arthur, and His Flagship 140
Russian Troops Detraining at Mukden Early in March 142
Mukden when the Japanese were Still Many Miles Away 143
Russians at Mukden on Their Way to the Front 144
With the Russians in Manchuria 145
Passing General Herschelmann’s Division 146
With the Russian Advance in Manchuria 147
In the Field with the Russians in Manchuria 148
General Kuropatkin at the Telescope 149
With the Russians on the Way to the Front 150
General Kuropatkin Inspecting the Staff of the Fourth Army
Corps 151
Part of the Movement of Forty Thousand Men 152
Scenes at Liao-Yang on the Arrival of the Russians 153
Courtyard of Rich Manchurian’s House at Liao-Yang 154
When News from the Firing Line Came Back to Those who had not
yet Met the Japanese 155
A Disheartened Japanese Spy 156
Russian Battery Getting into Position at Kansuitan 157
One of the Shrewdly Screened Russian Batteries 158
The Sixth East Siberian Regiment Calculating the Range 159
Russian Infantry Marching to Their Position 160
With the Russian Troops Near Haicheng 161
With the Russian Troops During the Engagement with the Japanese
in the Neighborhood of Haicheng 162
Battery of the Sixth East Siberian Artillery in Position 163
With the Russian Officers and Fighting Men 164
With the Russian Troops During the Early Campaigning 165
With the Russians at Towan Pass 166
Russian Firing Line Just Before the Battle at Yushuling 167
Japanese Shells Bursting Near the Yushuling Battery 168
Rewards of Valor with Kuropatkin’s Army in Manchuria 169
With the Russian Forces in Manchuria 170
Russian Skirmishers Advancing Against the Japanese 171
With the Tenth Russian Army Corps at Yushuling 172
With the Russian Troops During the Early Campaigning 173
With the Russian Red Cross Service in Manchuria 174
War Balloon and Gas Bag Used by the Russians 175
In the Russian Trenches During the Fighting at Taling 176
Japanese Resting on the Banks of the Tang River 178
On the Last of the Hills, on September Third 179
Searching Out and Burying the Dead 180
Incidents of the Evacuation of Liao-Yang 181
Views of Fortifications and Entanglements 182
Liao-Yang the Morning of Its Occupation by the Japanese 183
The First Entry of the Japanese into Liao-Yang 184
Scenes in Liao-Yang After Its Capture 185
Liao-Yang After Its Occupation by the Japanese Forces 186
Liao-Yang Immediately After the Capture of the City 187
Dr. Westwater, Medical Missionary 188
Dr. Westwater and Rev. T. McNaughton in a Bomb-Proof 188
Operating on Manchurian who had Forty-Seven Wounds 188
Innocent Manchurian Victims of the War 188
Liao-Yang Before and After the Arrival of the Japanese 189
After the Russians Evacuated Liao-Yang 190
Japanese Activity at Liao-Yang 191
Liao-Yang After Oyama’s Armies had Taken the City 192
General Kuroki, Staff, Correspondents, and Attachés 194
Correspondents with the Russian Forces in Manchuria 195
Civilians and Military Attachés with the Russian Forces 196
The Target-Shoot Given for the Military Attachés 197
Military Attachés Firing at a Target-Shoot 198
With the War Correspondents in Korea and Manchuria 199
Attachés and Correspondents with General Kuroki’s Army 200
Scenes During the Fighting Early in October 202
Close to the Firing Line Near Yentai Coal Mines 203
Russian Shells Bursting Close to Japanese Battery 204
Photograph Showing Shrapnel Shells Bursting 204
With the Japanese on October Tenth at the Sha-Ho 205
On the Sha-Ho Battlefield with the Japanese 206
Victors and Vanquished of the Sha-Ho 207
The Aftermath of Battle in the Neighborhood of Yentai 208
Preparing Charcoal for the Army while it was Encamped 209
Winter Quarters with the Japanese Army on the Sha-Ho 210
Japanese Army in December in Camp on the Sha-Ho 211
Between Battles with the Japanese Near the Sha-Ho 212
With the Japanese in Winter Quarters at the Sha-Ho 213
Typical View of Manchurian Peasants 214
Scenes at Newchwang After the Fall of Port Arthur 215
Josses of an Ancient Chinese Temple 216
With the Japanese During the Last Days of the Siege 218
The Great Siege Guns Throwing Eleven-Inch Shells 219
Two of the Great Twenty-eight Centimeter Siege Guns 220
Shells Waiting to be Hurled into Port Arthur 221
Scenes Near Port Arthur During the Long Siege 222
Infantry Hidden by Cornfields and Ravines 223
Japanese Infantry Creeping Through a Cornfield 224
Japanese War Balloon Near Port Arthur 225
General Nogi and His Staff, Conquerors of Port Arthur 226
With the Japanese as They Closed in Around Port Arthur 227
Incidents of the Surrender of Port Arthur 228
One of the Many “Bomb-Proofs” Used by Civilians 229
Engineers’ Stores Set on Fire by Japanese Shells 230
Japanese Shell Bursting in the Basin 231
View of the Old Town After a Bombardment 232
The Price of Victory 233
Russian Dead Awaiting Burial 234
Photographer’s Studio at Port Arthur After it had been Struck
by Japanese Shells 235
Views of Port Arthur in October 236
Inside Some of the Russian Forts After the Surrender 237
Scenes at Port Arthur After the Surrender 238–239
Sunken Russian Battleships 240
Harbor of Port Arthur when the Japanese Took Possession 241
Convalescent Russian Sailors and Japanese Nurses 242
Views at Port Arthur and with a Russian Battery on the Hun
River 244
Russian Cavalry and Native Horsemen in the Neighborhood of
Mukden 245
Muster of One of Kuroki’s Divisions After the Battle of Mukden 246
Mukden Neighborhood Before the Japanese were Near 247
Where Some of the Shells Burst During the Artillery Duels Near
Mukden 248
Desolation in the Path of the Japanese Attack 249
Scenes in the Vicinity of Mukden 250
Fighting Ships of Various Classes in Russia’s Baltic Fleet 253
Formidable Fighting Ships of Russia’s Baltic Fleet 254
Four of the Battleships of Russia’s Baltic Fleet 255
The Battleground of the War and the Victorious Progress of the
Japanese 256
INTRODUCTION
[Illustration:
NICHOLAS II
EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, WORRIED BY THE WAR
]
The Russo-Japanese War was notable for the fact that, although there
were more men on the spot ready to transmit the news to the world than
there have been in any other war in modern times, there never has been a
war since the days of the telegraph and the professional correspondent
the daily news of which the world at large knew so little. There is,
therefore, a unique interest in so vivid and comprehensive a pictorial
history as that gathered by Collier’s correspondent photographers and
presented in the following pages. Practically all the photographs, with
the exception of a very few of those depicting scenes in Russia’ and
with the Russian forces, were taken originally and exclusively for
Collier’s, and they have not appeared elsewhere except by special
arrangement and permission. A large number of these photographs have
never been printed in Collier’s, and they are published in this book for
the first time. Even these were chosen from many hundreds of others, and
they represent but a small part of the great mass of photographs which
were secured by Collier’s indefatigable representatives at the front. In
each weekly issue of Collier’s it was obviously impossible to devote
more than a few pages exclusively to war pictures, and in such a small
space it is a task of exceeding difficulty to convey to the casual
reader any adequate realization of the unique value and the
comprehensive extent of Collier’s Russo-Japanese War service. In this
book the cumulative effect of many pictures helps to give at least a
partial idea of the amount of material gathered by Collier’s
correspondents, and it should be further explained that almost every one
of the pictures herein reproduced is chosen from perhaps a dozen or
score of photographs of similar scenes.
[Illustration:
MUTSUHITO
EMPEROR OF JAPAN, WHO BEGAN THE WAR
]
Since the days of the telegraph and the modern war correspondent, there
has never been a war in which the work of the chroniclers was beset with
such difficulties. During the early months of hostilities practically
all of the correspondents were bottled up in Tokio, chafing at their
delay, beseeching this official and that, buying winter outfits only to
be compelled to change them for summer equipment, and wasting their
energies during this fretful period of uncertainty in the description of
conventional phases of Japanese life or of the entertainments given them
by their inscrutable hosts of the Japanese war departments. It was only
by some rare stroke of forehandedness, daring, or luck, by which he
escaped temporarily from the Japanese watchfulness and censorship, that
any correspondent was able at this time to do effective work. Of the
little army of men who tried to chronicle the war, with pencil or
camera, none more really “made good” than Collier’s photographer, James
H. Hare. Mr. Hare worked in Tokio before war was declared, and he
followed Kuroki’s army from its landing in Korea through the Yalu
campaign and until the battle of the Sha-Ho. Mr. Hare is a specialist
not in any sense a “button-pusher,” as he calls the amateur who carries
a camera as an incidental. “When we stood on the heights of Wiju,” wrote
Collier’s correspondent, Frederick Palmer, “the soldiers appeared only
as the veriest specks to a camera lens. Jimmy wanted to see the charge
as much as the rest of us. But the detail had to be shown and the
photographer must be near the detail, so Jimmy slipped away when the
censor wasn’t looking. I wonder if those who saw the realistic pictures
of the groups of wounded around the hospital tents at the Yalu realized
at all what they cost this little man, who is nearing his fiftieth year.
He was the first of the correspondents’ corps to cross the river. He
trudged through miles of sand up to his knees. His pony was worn out;
his weary servant promptly resigned. But Jimmy himself was up the next
morning at daybreak, ill and pale, developing the first photographs of
the army at the front to be published.”
[Illustration:
VICE-ADMIRAL ALEXIEFF
RUSSIAN VICEROY IN THE FAR EAST
]
[Illustration:
MARQUIS ITO HIROBUMI
JAPAN’S GREATEST LIVING STATESMAN
]
Another of Collier’s photographers, Robert L. Dunn, was sent to Chemulpo
before hostilities broke out and “beat” the newspaper and periodical
world with his pictures of the first battle of the war and the landing
of Japanese troops. The greater portion of the Russian pictures were
taken by Victor K. Bulla, whose work in this country was controlled
exclusively by Collier’s. Dozens of photographs which the reader may
survey at his ease were taken only after long marches over frozen and
wind-swept country. Films were developed in the field with the help of
Korean coolies or Japanese commissary officers, and they reached
Collier’s office only after being carried scores and perhaps hundreds of
miles by coolie runners through a country where a mail service was
unknown. Every one of the photographs printed in this book represents an
outlay of time, energy, and money of which the uninitiated reader can
have only a slight understanding.
CHAPTER I
THE CAUSES OF THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR
The war between Russia and Japan was a fight for disputed territory. Its
immediate cause was the failure of the two nations to agree on the
relation which each should maintain toward Korea and Manchuria. The
underlying cause of the struggle was the mighty clash that was bound to
come when those measures which Japan believed were necessary to her
self-existence met the glacier-like progress of Russia eastward toward
the Pacific. Through nearly three centuries the Russian Empire had
advanced from the Ural Mountains to outposts and outlets on the Pacific
Coast. Her mighty plans met no serious check until they came athwart the
ambitions and policy of the modernized Japan, which saw in this alleged
expansion for industrial development a menace to her integrity as a
kingdom. Korea, a buffer between these two powers, became involved in
the dispute by the results of the war between Japan and China in 1894.
The intervention of the European Powers in the terms of treaty
settlement robbed Japan of her chief spoil, the Liaotung Peninsula,
whose stronghold was Port Arthur. Russia, Germany, and France intimated
that Japanese occupation of this base must be regarded as a permanent
threat to the independence of China and Korea. Three years later, Russia
began to fortify Port Arthur, on the pretext that German acquisition of
Kiaochau would otherwise disturb the balance of power in North China.
The Boxer outbreak of 1900 furnished Russia reasons for vastly
increasing her military strength in Manchuria, to safeguard her railway
across Siberia and her rapidly expanding commercial and colonization
interests. Promises were made, and broken, that Manchuria would be
evacuated and restored to Chinese control as soon as peaceful conditions
were resumed in accordance with the joint agreements of the powers that
the integrity of China should be preserved. When it became certain that
Russia had no intention of loosening her grip on Manchuria, the Japanese
Government proposed a conference, in July of 1903, for the purpose of
assuring the lasting peace of Eastern Asia, by agreeing upon a working
basis for settlement of the points at issue with Russia. Japan wished
guarantees of the territorial integrity of China and Korea, and the
“open door” in both countries for commercial opportunity. Russia replied
that she was ready to recognize the rights of Japan as the predominating
influence in Korea, but refused to discuss further pledges regarding the
future of China and Manchuria. The Russian attitude was influenced most
strongly by the facts that Russia wanted an outlet to the Pacific, and
that the outlay of three hundred million dollars in Manchuria, to make
that province both Russian and prosperous, called for some tangible
return. Japan refused to consider herself outside the sphere of active
interest in Manchuria, and negotiations came to a deadlock early in
1904.
On January 4, Japanese advices said that a conflict with Russia was
inevitable, that the newspapers were urging the opening of hostilities,
and that the Government was massing troops ready to embark on
transports. The diplomats in St. Petersburg were delaying over the final
reply to the Japanese note and were not expecting war, according to
their assurances.
[Illustration:
TYPICAL STREET SCENE IN RUSSIA’S CAPITAL CITY
This photograph represents a procession leaving St. Catherine’s
Church, in St. Petersburg, to
go down to the Neva to bless the river waters, an example of that
picturesque mediaevalism
which survives in so many forms, and as such a real part of the
everyday life of the people
]
During the following week, Russia was hurrying troops toward the
frontier and buying horses, while the Argentine cruisers, _Nisshin_ and
_Kasuga_, bought by Japan, were making ready to leave Genoa with rush
orders to proceed to Yokohama. Meantime, the negotiations were continued
with proposals and counter-proposals that made no progress.
On January 13, a conference before the Throne in Tokio decided upon the
final terms to be sent to Russia, the only conditions which could avert
war. Russia started two divisions of troops over the Trans-Siberian
Railway to China, an obvious war measure. Two days later two transports
crowded with Russian troops for the Far East sailed through the
Bosphorus. Russia asked Turkey for permission to send the Black Sea
fleet through the Dardanelles, and Lord Lansdowne said that such action
would be considered a breach of treaty in which Great Britain could not
acquiesce.
There was a lull of nearly two weeks, while Tokio fretted over the delay
of the Russian reply. Japan adopted plans for raising seventy-five
million dollars of an emergency war fund.
The long-drawn tension of January ended with a pretence of negotiations
oscillating between Tokio and St. Petersburg, but by this time the
pursuits of diplomacy had become a farce, and both nations were making
all possible preparations for a long struggle at arms. Although the
Russian ultimatum had not been officially delivered, its contents were
forecasted, and it was known that Japan’s final demands had been evaded.
On February 2, the mobilization of the Manchurian reserves was
announced, and on the next day a semi-official despatch from Vladivostok
reported that the Russian squadron there had been stripped for action,
and that the ships in the harbor of Port Arthur had joined those in the
outer roadstead to unite the fighting strength for aggressive action.
The Russian General Staff granted to Alexieff the right to declare war.
Nearly a week before the first blow was struck, it was seen that the
prolonged tension had reached the breaking point. At one of the last
Cabinet conferences in Tokio hope of peace was abandoned, for the reason
that, while Russia was unreasonably delaying her reply to the last
Japanese note, she was daily increasing her warlike activities. It was
known in advance that while Russia partly conceded the demands of Japan
regarding Korea, important reservations were made, and that as regards
Manchuria the reply would refuse to place on record recognition of the
sovereignty of China, or even to discuss that question with Japan.
Japanese residents were told to leave Vladivostok, and 20,000 Russian
troops were moving with the view of occupying Northern Korea. Japan
continued extraordinary preparations for instant action, but the plans
of her army and navy were so carefully guarded that no news of them was
published up to the day war was declared by the first overt act.
[Illustration:
AN EVERYDAY SCENE IN ONE OF THE LARGE CITIES OF JAPAN
These are the little people whose surface daintiness covers a martial
spirit more truly Spartan
than that manifested by any other nation of the modern world. This
street, gay with Japanese
flags, is the “Isezakicho,” which has sometimes been called the Bowery
of Yokohama
]
On Saturday, February 6, the Russian note was already in the hands of
Baron de Rosen, the Russian Minister at Tokio, for delivery to Baron
Komura, the Japanese Foreign Minister, when at four o’clock in the
afternoon, M. Kurino, the Japanese Minister at St. Petersburg, called
personally to inform the Russian Government that, in view of the delays
in connection with the Russian replies, and the obvious futility of the
negotiations, Japan considered it useless to continue diplomatic
relations. Japan would take such steps as she deemed proper for the
protection of her interests, therefore M. Kurino asked for his
passports. The Russian Minister, a few hours later, prepared to leave
Tokio as soon as possible.
The startling action of Japan, in severing diplomatic relations before
the actual delivery of the Russian note, came like a bolt from a clear
sky at St. Petersburg. It was expected that Japan would invade Korea and
seek a naval battle within the next twenty-four hours. This was an
accurate surmise, for in even less time forty Japanese transports were
loaded with troops to be landed at various points in Southern and
Central Korea. One naval division sailed from Japanese waters for
Chemulpo, and another for Port Arthur, as soon as the news that there
could be no peace was sent by wireless telegraphy to the waiting ships.
In the afternoon of February 8 a fleet of Japanese transports, escorted
by a squadron of battleships and powerful cruisers, appeared off the
harbor of Chemulpo. The Russian gunboat _Korietz_, on its way to Port
Arthur with despatches, sighted the hostile craft; the commander cleared
for action, fired a shot at the Japanese torpedo scouts, then returned
at full speed to shelter near the Russian cruiser _Variag_, inside the
Korean harbor. This proved to be the first shot of the war, and was so
claimed by the Japanese when accused of attacking Port Arthur without
formal declaration of war later in the same day. Early on the morning of
February 9, Admiral Uriu, commander of the Japanese fleet, notified the
two Russians that they must surrender or leave the harbor by noon, else
he would attack them where they lay. The Russians did not surrender, but
sailed out of the bay, with bands playing, to certain destruction. By
four o’clock that afternoon the _Variag_ and the _Korietz_ were at the
bottom of Chemulpo Harbor, and the war was on.
The man who judges things by weight, bulk, and dollars may well wonder
at Japanese temerity. To Japan, with her 147,000 square miles, the
annexation of Korea, with 82,000 square miles, meant what the annexation
of Mexico would to the United States. To Russia, with her 8,666,000
square miles, it meant less than Southern California to us. Russia’s
population was 140,000,000; Japan’s 44,000,000. On a peace footing the
Russian army had 1,000,000 officers and men; the Japanese, 175,000. On a
war footing, the Russian 4,600,000 and the Japanese 675,000.
Russia is the Christian nation which has been slowest in development.
Mentally, she is just out of the Dark Ages, equipped with the mechanical
progress of modern times. Japan is the pagan nation which has been
foremost in adopting the worldly essentials of a civilization which is
Christian in its origin. Russia is a union of nomadic races, but lately
ushered into feudalism, which have, in turn, conquered many other races.
Japan has had a stable, organized government longer than England, and
the Japanese were a free people when the Saxons were the serfs of the
Normans. The Czar is a pope; the Mikado divinity itself. If the Jews
were still a nation and a descendant of Moses were their king, he would
mean to them what the Mikado means to the Japanese. For all the
centuries of the nation’s existence the Japanese had known no
acquisition of territory. The Russians have lived by this.
[Illustration:
RECRUITS GOING THROUGH FIRING DRILL WITHOUT RIFLES
]
[Illustration:
INFANTRY DRILLING IN HEAVY MARCHING ORDER
]
[Illustration:
SOLDIERS LEARNING HOW TO CARRY WOUNDED COMRADES
]
[Illustration:
RIFLE PRACTICE ON THE PARADE GROUND
]
JAPANESE TROOPS PREPARING FOR WAR
These photographs were taken on the parade ground at the Oyama Barracks
in Tokio just before the outbreak of the war. Japan had already been
practically on a war footing for months, and the busy work of
preparation here suggested was typical of the spirit that prevailed
throughout the nation and brought Japan’s army to a state of
preparedness perhaps never before duplicated in the history of war.
[Illustration:
LEARNING HOW TO JUMP
]
[Illustration:
PRACTICING THE SABRE THRUST
]
[Illustration:
CAVALRY RECRUIT LEARNING TO RIDE WITHOUT STIRRUPS OR BRIDLE
]
[Illustration:
TRAINING JAPANESE CAVALRYMEN AT THE TOKIO BARRACKS
]
The Japanese cavalry was the weakest branch of the service. The Japanese
are not natural horsemen, and both the men and their mounts were
inferior, in a military sense, to the other branches of the service. The
horses were scrubby little beasts with neither speed nor tractability.
The trooper whose mount finally succeeded in clearing the bar shown
above thought the feat very remarkable
[Illustration:
CHANGING GUARD AT THE OYAMA BARRACKS IN TOKIO
]
[Illustration:
SWAPPING STORIES IN THE GUARD HOUSE AT OYAMA BARRACKS
]
In spite of his inscrutable manner the Japanese soldier when with a
crowd of his comrades becomes almost as loquacious as the typical
regular of other countries. In the Oyama Barracks, where this photograph
was taken, a large number of troops were quartered ready to be rushed to
the front as soon as hostilities were declared
[Illustration:
CLEANING AND OILING RIFLES IN PREPARATION FOR WAR
]
[Illustration:
DEPARTURE OF BARON ROSEN, THE RUSSIAN MINISTER, FROM YOKOHAMA
]
On the breaking off of diplomatic relations the Russian Minister took
passage for Marseilles on the French steamship “Yarra.” He left Yokohama
on February 12, when war had actually been begun by the actions at
Chemulpo and Port Arthur. The French and Belgian Ministers and attaches
and a few other friends from the diplomatic circle accompanied him to
the dock to bid him farewell
[Illustration:
MINISTER PAVLOV LEAVING LEGATION UNDER ESCORT
]
[Illustration:
REPRESENTATIVES OF NEUTRAL POWERS TALKING WITH M. PAVLOV AT THE WHARF
]
RUSSIAN MINISTER TO KOREA DEPARTING FROM SEOUL
[Illustration:
NEWSPAPER BULLETINS ON THE CHEMULPO BATTLE IN THE MAIN STREET OF TOKIO
]
[Illustration:
PATRIOTIC CITIZENS STANDING IN THE RAIN WAITING THEIR TURN TO ENLIST
]
[Illustration:
BUILDING TEMPORARY STABLES IN TOKIO IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE
DECLARATION OF WAR
]
[Illustration:
ENLISTED TROOPS, NEWLY ARRIVED IN TOKIO, WAITING THEIR TURN TO BE
FITTED OUT
]
[Illustration:
IN HEAVY MARCHING ORDER READY TO DEPART
]
[Illustration:
TROOPS BILLETED AT PRIVATE HOUSES IN TOKIO
]
MOBILIZATION OF TROOPS IN TOKIO AT THE OUTBREAK OF WAR
[Illustration:
TROOPS MARCHING TO STATION THROUGH THE STREETS OF TOKIO
]
[Illustration:
ENTRAINING AT THE SHIMBASHI STATION, TOKIO
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE CAVALRYMEN ABOUT TO TAKE THE TRAIN
]
[Illustration:
TROOPS ASSEMBLING IN STREETS NEAR THE STATION
]
[Illustration:
INDUCING A FRACTIOUS CAVALRY HORSE TO BOARD THE TRAIN
]
DEPARTURE OF JAPANESE TROOPS FOR KOREA
[Illustration:
EXAMINING CAVALRY HORSES AFTER ARRIVAL AT HIROSHIMA
]
[Illustration:
UNLOADING THE LIGHT PORTABLE TRANSPORT CARTS
]
[Illustration:
UNLOADING CAVALRY HORSES FROM BOX CARS
]
[Illustration:
TRANSPORT CARTS LOADED WITH SUPPLIES
]
JAPANESE TROOPS DETRAINING AT HIROSHIMA
At Hiroshima the troops were detrained for the port of Ujina, whence a
large part of the Japanese forces were embarked for Korea. Many of the
cavalry horses were injured during their railroad journey by kicking
each other or their stalls. The light “collapsable” carts shown here
were one of the features of the mobile Japanese equipment. They kept
pace with the marching column
[Illustration:
JAPANESE CAVALRYMEN IN RAILWAY CARRIAGE
]
[Illustration:
TROOPERS IN CHARGE OF CARS CONTAINING HORSES
]
[Illustration:
OFFICERS IN COMMAND OF CAVALRY REGIMENT
]
CAVALRY TRAIN LEAVING SHIMBASHI STATION
[Illustration:
MEN OF THE ARMY SERVICE CORPS READY TO ENTRAIN
]
[Illustration:
“SAYONARA!”—GOOD-BY
]
It was not until the troops had been departing from Tokio for several
days that the general populace showed any such resemblance to Occidental
enthusiasm as this. When some of the members of the staff left Tokio,
they awakened and behaved like any other crowd at such a time. They
shouted good-bys and the band, in a quaint imitation of Western customs,
played “Auld Lang Syne”
[Illustration:
FIFTH DIVISION ENGINEERS STUDYING PLANS
]
[Illustration:
FIRST SECTION FINISHED SHOWING MANNER OF CONSTRUCTION WITH TIMBER AND
ROPES
]
[Illustration:
PUSHING THE FIRST STAGING OUT INTO THE RIVER
]
ENGINEERS AT HIROSHIMA PRACTICING BUILDING BRIDGES LIKE THOSE USED AT
THE YALU
[Illustration:
BRIDGE AT HIROSHIMA READY FOR THE PONTOONS
]
The bridges used at the Yalu were all planned and constructed in
practice in Japan long before war was declared. After being built they
were taken apart, carried along with the rest of the equipment, and put
together when the time came. The Japanese engineers had complete maps
and measurements of the streams in Manchuria, so that they always knew
just what difficulties were to be met
[Illustration:
“TIKOKU BANZAI!”—“LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!”
]
Enthusiasm at Kobe upon the departure of a troop train for Ugina, a port
of embarkation for Korea. On leaving for the front the Japanese soldier
suppressed all emotions of sorrow. Not to be impassive was unmanly. It
was only at such times as this that the collective enthusiasm showed
itself, and it was not until a number of trains had passed en route for
the front that it awoke.
CHAPTER II
THE FIRST BATTLES OF THE WAR
It was on the night of February 8, 1904, that all hope of a peaceful
solution of the Russo-Japanese entanglement was blown to the winds by
the startling attack of Admiral Togo’s torpedo-boats on the Russian
fleet at Port Arthur. The Russians were quite unready for so swift an
onslaught; many officers were on shore, while the lookouts and scouting
service were scarcely more vigilant than in time of peace. The Japanese
torpedo flotilla sped in among the close-huddled battleships, launched
their missiles, and were scurrying to sea before the Russian crews began
to repel the attack. The first-class battleships “Retvizan” and
“Czarevitch” and the cruiser “Pallada” were so badly injured that they
had to be beached. The Japanese fleet returned the next day and
bombarded the Russian ships and forts. In this attack the battleship
“Poltava,” and the cruisers “Diana,” “Novik,” and “Askold” were
temporarily disabled.
Before the news of the battle of Port Arthur had fairly reached the eyes
of the Western world came the more tragic story of the destruction of
the “Variag” and the “Korietz” in Chemulpo Harbor. Admiral Uriu,
commanding six Japanese battleships, six cruisers, and twelve torpedo
craft, appeared off Chemulpo and demanded the surrender of the two
Russian ships. Captain Behr of the “Variag” and Captain Roudnoff of the
“Korietz” refused to surrender, and on the morning of February 9, the
“Variag,” with bands playing, steamed out of the harbor to meet the
hopeless odds. She met the Japanese fleet eight miles out, the enemy
using long-range 12-inch guns, and pounding away at distances which made
the “Variag’s” batteries harmless. Ten large projectiles riddled the
cruiser, and in fifty minutes not a gun could be worked, the ship was on
fire, engines crippled, and 109 officers and men of a complement of 540
lay dead and wounded on the decks. The “Variag” crept back into port,
her crew was removed to the British cruiser “Talbot” and the French
cruiser “Pascal,” and she was set on fire. Three hours later, the
“Variag,” after only eighteen months’ service, was at the bottom, a
shattered and blackened mass of steel. The “Korietz” was a slow gunboat
of only 1,200 tons, mounting one 6-inch gun and two 8-inch guns, with no
armor protection. She was untouched, but after the fight her commander
decided to destroy his ship, because Admiral Uriu had promised to renew
the attack at four in the afternoon. Precisely at four o’clock, two
deafening explosions came from the “Korietz.” As the smoke cleared,
where the “Korietz” had been, only bits of wreckage and about four feet
of her funnel could be seen.
On the day after the Russian ships had been destroyed a division of the
Japanese army was thrown ashore at Chemulpo. The landing was made in
perfect order. The army was dependent for nothing upon the port. A large
force was sent to occupy Seoul, and within two days Japan was in
complete control of the most advantageous strategic bases of Korea.
[Illustration:
THE RUSSIAN SHIPS AT CHEMULPO BEFORE THE BATTLE
]
[Illustration:
THE RUSSIAN GUNBOAT “KORIETZ” AT THE MOMENT OF THE EXPLOSION
]
[Illustration:
THE RUSSIAN CRUISER “VARIAG” ON FIRE AT CHEMULPO
]
DESTRUCTION OF THE “VARIAG” AND “KORIETZ” IN THE HARBOR OF CHEMULPO
[Illustration:
FUNNEL OF THE GUNBOAT “KORIETZ”
]
[Illustration:
TOPMASTS OF THE CRUISER “VARIAG”
]
WRECKS OF THE RUSSIAN WARSHIPS IN CHUMULPO HARBOR
[Illustration:
JAPANESE SALVAGE CORPS WORKING ON THE WRECK OF THE “VARIAG” AT
CHEMULPO
]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
THE NIGHT LANDING OF THE JAPANESE TROOPS AT CHEMULPO
All through the night of February 9 boatloads of these little soldiers,
with their inscrutable, unimpassioned faces, were landed in the snow on
the Korean shore. This landing was one of the first proofs the Western
world had of the wonderful preparedness of the soldiers of the Mikado.
In spite of the darkness, fitfully punctuated by blazing torches, fires,
and braziers, the task went on like clockwork
[Illustration:
COOLIES HANDLING JAPANESE SUPPLIES AFTER THE LANDING AT CHEMULPO
]
[Illustration:
MRS. PAVLOV, WIFE OF THE RUSSIAN MINISTER TO KOREA, AT THE SEOUL
RAILWAY STATION
]
[Illustration:
DR. H. N. ALLEN, UNITED STATES MINISTER TO KOREA
]
Mrs. Pavlov, the wife of the Russian Minister, is a cousin of the
Countess Cassini. When the Minister was invited to leave on the arrival
of the Japanese, she was accompanied to the station not only by the
Japanese guard, but by all the gallant young men of the diplomatic
circle. Dr. Allen, the United States Minister, is shown standing at the
door of the Legation at Seoul
[Illustration:
KOREAN SENTRY AT SEOUL
]
[Illustration:
BRINGING LANDING STAGES ASHORE AT CHEMULPO
]
[Illustration:
PACKING HORSES WITH BAGGAGE KITS AT CHEMULPO
]
THE JAPANESE ADVANCE THROUGH KOREA
[Illustration:
UNITED STATES MARINES NEAR THE LEGATION AT SEOUL
]
[Illustration:
SAPPERS AND MINERS STARTING FOR NORTHERN KOREA
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE INFANTRY MARCHING THROUGH THE MAIN STREET OF SEOUL
]
THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION OF SEOUL
[Illustration:
JAPANESE TROOPS WAITING TO CROSS THE RIVER AT PING-YANG
]
[Illustration:
KOREANS WATCHING FROM THE GREAT GATE THE ENTRY OF THE JAPANESE AT
SEOUL
]
[Illustration:
COMMISSARY TENTS IN THE JAPANESE CAMP AT CHEMULPO
]
[Illustration:
EXTERIOR OF THE HOSPITAL BUILDING, RED CROSS FLAGS OVER THE GATE
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE RED CROSS NURSE ATTENDING RUSSIAN SAILORS WOUNDED IN THE
BATTLE OF FEBRUARY 9
]
THE JAPANESE RED CROSS HOSPITAL AT CHEMULPO
As soon as the Japanese landed after the battle between the warships in
Chemulpo Harbor, a hospital was improvised and the more dangerously
wounded Russians brought ashore from the foreign battleships, where they
had been cared for temporarily, and nursed by the Japanese Red Cross
service. As a mark of appreciation Russia contributed 2,000 yen ($1,000)
to the Japanese branch of the Red Cross]
CHAPTER III
RUSSIAN PREPARATIONS FOR WAR
Not only were the available Russian forces ill prepared for meeting the
agile and ready Japanese, not only was their equipment ponderous and
unwieldy, their knowledge of the strategic difficulties and advantages
of the country in which the fighting was to be done scant and
inaccurate, but the big fact which put Russia at a disadvantage during
the early months of the war was the immense distance between her
military bases and the front. Across the trackless wastes of Siberia the
only path was a single-track railroad—a line of communication none too
well equipped in times of peace, and open to complete and immediate
disablement should the enemy succeed in cutting it at any point along a
comparatively vulnerable stretch of many hundreds of miles. By sea—that
is to say, by the way of the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal, and the
route round the southern coast of Asia—Russian ships and soldiers were
over 12,000 miles, or about fifty-one days, away from the seat of
hostilities. When to these material difficulties were added the
dissensions, jealousies, and shifting policies of St. Petersburg, the
effective strength of Russia in these early days of the war could in no
way be measured by her vast extent and apparently illimitable power.
In Japan, on the other hand, preparedness was the keynote of the
situation. Although nominally at peace, Japan had been practically on a
war footing for months, yet so secretly was this preparation made that
even after war was declared a casual and incurious visitor in Tokio
would have seen little to indicate that he was in one of the great
military centres of the world, and that all round and about him was
being planned one of the greatest struggles of modern times.
The results of this preparedness were vividly enough shown when the
“Variag” and the “Korietz” were sunk in Chemulpo Harbor, before the
world was really aware that war was seriously intended and inevitable.
They were no less convincingly demonstrated by the perfection of the
Japanese field equipment, and by the almost microscopic exactness with
which every possible contingency had been foreseen and provided for.
Ever since their war with China the Japanese had been perfecting their
military organization, as though the coming war with Russia were a
certainty. They had military maps of every nook and corner of Korea and
Manchuria; they had spies working as coolies on the Russian railroads,
and in Russian ports and shipyards; they had their light equipment
especially adapted for the heavy Manchurian roads. Their baggage was so
arranged and distributed that it made compact cube-shaped bundles which
could be packed like so many building blocks, or made into easily
carried packs for coolies. The collapsable boats with which a pontoon
bridge was thrown across the Yalu were made for that special purpose
months before, when the Korean peninsula was yet to be invaded. In fact,
the whole early part of the war was an almost grotesque struggle between
preparedness and unpreparedness, extreme mobility and clodhopping
heaviness, cleverness and stupidity.
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN LADIES SEWING FOR THE RED CROSS IN THE PALACE OF THE GRAND
DUKE VLADIMIR
]
Under the auspices of the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, a circle of
titled ladies met regularly at the Grand Ducal residence to sew for the
men at the front. The Grand Duchess herself equipped and sent to the
front an entire train fitted out for hospital purposes. At the Winter
Palace the Czarina sewed with nearly a thousand ladies and the Dowager
Empress presided over another sewing circle
[Illustration:
WITH THE RUSSIAN ARMY ON ITS MARCH TO THE FRONT
]
A division of regular troops mobilizing in Southeastern Russia for
transportation northward. The infantry regiments may be seen marching
along the main road, while the artillery and transport wagons are moving
up in the middle distance. A large body of cavalry, half hidden in dust
clouds, is visible near the horizon. These troops were among the first
mobilized
[Illustration:
THE CZAR OF RUSSIA AND HIS FAMILY
]
[Illustration:
THE CHRISTENING PROCESSION FOR THE CZAREVITCH
]
[Illustration:
CHILDREN OF THE CZAR AT A MILITARY REVIEW
]
THE AUTOCRAT OF RUSSIA AND THE ROYAL FAMILY
[Illustration:
THE CZAR LEAVING THE WINTER PALACE TO BID FAREWELL TO TROOPS STARTING
FOR THE FRONT
]
The most sorrowful figure in the Russian Court at the beginning of the
war was the Autocrat from whom all the Muscovite power and splendor
radiated. Helpless among the cliques of the bureaucracy, he knew not
what course to pursue and was beset with apprehensions not only of the
fidelity of those about him, but for the safety of his own life
[Illustration:
DEPARTURE OF RED CROSS NURSES FROM ST. PETERSBURG FOR THE FRONT
]
[Illustration:
THE CZAR REVIEWING AN INFANTRY REGIMENT ON ITS DEPARTURE FOR THE FRONT
]
[Illustration:
PROCESSION IN HONOR OF THE CHEMULPO SAILORS MARCHING TO THE WINTER
PALACE
]
The Russian sailors were treated as heroes wherever they went after
their return from the disastrous engagement at Chemulpo. There were
fêtes and processions in their honor at Odessa, Moscow, and St.
Petersburg. A banquet was held at St. Petersburg, the officers received
costly mementos and the sailors souvenirs and money rewards. The welcome
was like that given to a victorious army
[Illustration:
TWENTY-THIRD ARTILLERY BRIGADE ABOUT TO LEAVE GATCHINA FOR THE FRONT
]
[Illustration:
THE CZAR BIDDING FAREWELL TO COMMANDERS ABOUT TO LEAVE FOR THE FRONT
]
[Illustration:
GRAND DUKE ALEXANDROVITCH LEADING HIS MARINES IN REVIEW BEFORE THE
CZAR PREVIOUS TO LEAVING ST. PETERSBURG
]
[Illustration:
CAPTAIN VIEDUSTOIPE OF AUSTRIA AND HIS WIFE SURROUNDED BY RUSSIAN
OFFICERS
]
[Illustration:
ASCENT OF RUSSIAN BALLOON WITH GENERAL WARINOWSKY IN THE CAR
]
INTERNATIONAL BALLOON CONTEST AT ST. PETERSBURG
CHAPTER IV
WITH THE JAPANESE IN KOREA
Having secured a safe landing-place at Chemulpo, Japan poured troops
into Korea and along the old Peking Road through Seoul to Ping-Yang and
on to the northward toward the Yalu. Russia abandoned all hope of
effective aggression by sea with her crippled fleet, and, except for the
elusive Vladivostok squadron of four powerful cruisers, Japan was free
to rush her troops into Korea. Russia bent all her energies toward
hurrying her levies and supplies into Manchuria. Seoul was occupied and
the Russian minister invited to leave. He complied at once.
Moving at the rapid pace of from fifteen to twenty-five miles a day, the
mobile Japanese pushed on to Ping-Yang. No opposition was met with, the
native Koreans staring dumbly at the invaders without much curiosity and
with no desire to make resistance. The march from Seoul to Ping-Yang was
made along the ancient road to Peking, which was a quagmire most of the
distance, crowded with cavalry, infantry, pack-trains, bullock-carts,
and long trains of white-clad natives burdened with bags of provisions,
plodding knee-deep through slush and mud. Half-frozen at night,
stumbling and slipping all day, each soldier carrying sixty pounds of
equipment, this infantry column swept along at a speed of from fifteen
to twenty-five miles a day. That such speed was possible was due to the
lightness of the Japanese baggage and wagon equipment, which had been
specially prepared for the heavy Korean and Manchurian roads.
It was apparent even to casual observers that immense military
operations were under way, yet the civilized world was wholly in
ignorance of their scope or direction. On February 15, for example,
scores of crowded transports were leaving the Japanese naval bases, and
a small army of alert correspondents from the world over could only
guess whether these thousands of troops were going to Korea, to the Yalu
region, or within a hundred miles of the Liaotung Peninsula. While the
Japanese troops were pushing northward, the advance guard of the Russian
army crossed the Yalu into Korean territory and occupied Wiju. The
Russian headquarters were established at Harbin, the chief strategic
centre of railway communication in inland Manchuria.
Chenampo is one hundred and thirty miles north of Chemulpo on Korea Bay,
and correspondingly nearer to the Yalu. Early in April, after the troops
which had landed at Chemulpo two months before had completed their
arduous march northward through the Korean Peninsula, and had captured
the town of Wiju, on the east bank of the Yalu River, what was known as
the main army, under General Kuroki, landed from transports at Chenampo.
The success of the advance column had given the Japanese control of the
mouth of the Yalu before Kuroki began to mobilize his co-operating
columns, and two forces were thus ready by the end of April to force the
passage of the Yalu and fight their way into Manchuria.
[Illustration:
LANDING THE MEN WHO FOUGHT AT THE YALU
]
The Japanese troops were ferried from the transports to the shore at
Chenampo in heavy, blunt-nosed sampans. These sampans are sculled from
the stern ordinarily with huge sweeps. The boatmen can be seen over the
heads of the seated soldiers, standing over their sweeps like
gondoliers. At Chenampo the sampans were in most cases lashed together
in groups of three or four and towed by tugs
[Illustration:
ARTILLERYMEN IN HEAVY MARCHING ORDER LANDING AT CHENAMPO
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE BLUEJACKETS COMING ASHORE AT CHENAMPO
]
[Illustration:
GROOMING CAVALRY HORSES AT CHENAMPO AFTER LANDING THEM FROM TRANSPORTS
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE TROOPERS CARING FOR A SICK HORSE
]
[Illustration:
KOREANS AND JAPANESE SALESMAN AT CHENAMPO
]
The lone Japanese pedler is shown at lower right-hand corner of the
picture sitting behind his wares. The men at the left of the picture are
not armless, as it might appear, but have their arms inside their
kimonos, as is their habit on cold days. The march of the Japanese
through their country and the whole excitement of war stirred the placid
Koreans to little more unrest than they show here
[Illustration:
KOREAN COOLIES CARRYING RICE AND BEEF FOR JAPANESE ARMY
]
[Illustration:
BRINGING LUMBER INTO WIJU FOR BRIDGING THE YALU
]
[Illustration:
COLLIER’S PHOTOGRAPHER AND COOLIES WITH MILITARY BICYCLES
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE EXTINGUISHING FIRE CAUSED BY RUSSIAN SHRAPNEL
]
WITH THE JAPANESE ON THE ADVANCE TO THE YALU
[Illustration:
SCREENS WHICH HID THE MOVEMENTS OF THE JAPANESE
]
General Kuroki not only misled the Russians as to the point at which he
would probably cross the Yalu, but masked the march of his forces to the
point north of the Wiju, where the crossing was made, by these grass
screens and by marching behind hills. The Russians knew that some
movement was going on, but could not make out the extent of it
[Illustration:
GENERAL KUROKI AND HIS STAFF AT THEIR FIELD HEADQUARTERS IN ANTUNG
]
On the left of General Kuroki sits General Fuji, his chief of staff, on
the right Prince Kuni. Next to Prince Kuni is Colonel Hageno, the
Russian scholar of the staff. One of Kuroki’s absolute prohibitions to
correspondents was the mention either of the general’s name or of the
place from which they wrote, lest news of the army’s location should be
brought to the Russians
CHAPTER V
THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE TO THE FRONT
The supreme difficulty under which Russia labored during the early
months of the war was the enormous distance from her military base to
the battle front. The only line of land communication between Russia and
Manchuria was the single-track Siberian railroad, and when war began
this line was broken by the ice-locked Lake Baikal. Russia had need of
300,000 men in Manchuria as soon as they could be rushed there, and with
Lake Baikal frozen to the depth of nine feet, less than four thousand
and more often not more than one thousand men could cross it in a day.
Lake Baikal, this weakest link of a very weak chain, is the largest body
of fresh water in the Old World, except the Victoria Nyanza in Africa.
It is nearly 15,000 square miles in extent, and therefore inferior only
to Superior and Huron among the great American lakes. It is 600 versts
long, with a width varying from 27 to 85 versts. It is 3,185 feet deep.
The railroad was broken by the southern end of this lake, where it is
about 40 miles wide. This is the gap that disastrously impairs the
utility of the Trans-Siberian for the moving of troops and war supplies
to the Manchurian and Korean frontier.
The lake begins to freeze in November, is completely ice-bound by the
middle of December, remaining so for five months. The ice freezes to a
thickness of nine feet, which would make sledge traffic perfect, were it
not for the fact that wide fissures break its surface, which have a way
of frequently closing up and piling the ice high into impassable
windrows. These crevices have a width of three to six feet, and are
often more than a verst in length, forming a serious impediment to
progress on the ice and rendering next to impossible the marching of
troops across the lake or the safe sledging of supplies. A thunderous
crash, as of an explosion, marks the forming of the crevice, followed by
a long, rolling reverberation. The rift instantly fills with water to
the level of the ice, and is so agitated at the surface by currents or
other forces that eight to fourteen days are required for it to freeze
over, when the operation of cracking begins anew, and is repeated
throughout the coldest portion of the winter.
The obvious solution to this difficulty was to build a railroad round
the end of the lake, a detour of nearly 150 miles, and necessitating the
construction of four tunnels. This was out of the question. A powerful
ice-crusher, the “Baikal,” modeled after the ice-crushers successfully
used in the Straits of Mackinac, had been built. She could break ice
four feet thick, but on the nine-foot ice of the Russian inland sea she
made no successful impression. The result was that a line of track had
to be laid across the lake, and that before this was completed the
troops had to be marched across the forty-mile stretch of wind-swept
ice, while their supplies and baggage had to be dragged after them in
sledges. Many of the men, wandering on to treacherous ice, were drowned;
many were frost-bitten, and all suffered extremely from the arduous
labor of the march and the bitter cold.
[Illustration:
UNLOADING ARMY TRANSPORT WAGONS AT THE LAKE
]
[Illustration:
OFFICERS CROSSING THE ICE IN RUSSIAN SLEDGES
]
[Illustration:
DETACHMENT OF INFANTRY STOPPING FOR A MEAL OF HOT SOUP WHILE ON THE
MARCH
]
RUSSIANS CROSSING LAKE BAIKAL IN MIDWINTER
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN CAVALRY CROSSING LAKE BAIKAL
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN CAVALRY READY TO CROSS THE LAKE
]
[Illustration:
DRAGGING FREIGHT CARS ACROSS THE ICE
]
[Illustration:
MOUNTED COSSACKS AT LAKE BAIKAL
]
WITH THE RUSSIAN FORCES ON THEIR WAY TO THE FRONT
[Illustration:
ARTILLERY CAISSONS AND SLEDGES ABOUT TO CROSS LAKE BAIKAL
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN SOLDIERS MARCHING ACROSS FROZEN LAKE BAIKAL
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN INFANTRY WARMING UP WITH HOT TEA BEFORE STARTING ACROSS LAKE
BAIKAL
]
[Illustration:
A “PEKING CAR,” THE MOST LUXURIOUS METHOD OF TRAVELING
]
[Illustration:
TYPICAL RUSSIAN INFANTRYMEN IN HEAVY MARCHING ORDER
]
[Illustration:
DETACHMENT OF RUSSIAN INFANTRY ENTERING NEWCHWANG
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN SOLDIERS SWINGING THROUGH THE STREETS OF MUKDEN
]
THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE TO THE FRONT
[Illustration:
THE TRAVELING SOUP KITCHEN AND SOUP-KETTLE OVENS USED BY THE RUSSIANS
]
[Illustration:
THE ENTRY OF THE RUSSIAN FORCES INTO NEWCHWANG
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN INFANTRY, IN SUMMER UNIFORMS, MARCHING THROUGH LIAO-YANG
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN TROOPS ENTERING YINKOW EARLY IN APRIL
]
WITH THE RUSSIANS DURING THE EARLY ADVANCE TO THE FRONT
[Illustration:
CHINESE COOLIES WITH RUSSIAN OVERSEER READY FOR WORK
]
[Illustration:
SQUAD OF COSSACKS DISMOUNTED AND LINED UP FOR INSPECTION
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL HERSCHELMANN’S DIVISION OF RUSSIAN CAVALRY AT ANTUNG
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN ARTILLERY ADVANCING TOWARD THE YALU
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN COBBLERS AT WORK IN THE FIELD ON SOLDIERS’ BOOTS
]
[Illustration:
DINNER TIME WITH THE NINETEENTH EAST SIBERIAN RIFLE CORPS
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL SASSULITCH AND STAFF IN COMMAND AT THE BATTLE OF THE YALU
]
CHAPTER VI
THE BATTLE OF THE YALU AND THE JAPANESE ADVANCE
The battle of the Yalu was the first great land action of the
Russo-Japanese War. The Russians were outnumbered by their opponents,
but they were also outwitted and outmanœuvred, and the result was an
overwhelming victory for the Japanese. In the crossing of the Yalu the
Japanese exhibited the decided superiority of their shell-fire, they
accomplished the brilliant strategic feat of crossing a river in the
face of an intrenched enemy, and their commander, General Kuroki, proved
himself a tactician of the first rank.
The first triumph of Japanese cleverness was in deceiving the enemy as
to the probable place of crossing. Bridge materials were brought to the
shore below Wiju and preparations were apparently made for building a
bridge at that point. Under cover of night most of these materials were
rushed to the north of Wiju and above the extreme left of the Russian
line. From this position the main body of the Japanese army crossed to
the Manchurian side with comparatively little opposition. On the Russian
left (up the river) the bank rose in a precipitous rocky formation to a
height of a thousand feet. At the base was a path and a line of sand
left by the falling current. Stretching along this for a mile or more,
like so many blue pencil marks on brown paper, were the Japanese. Any
Russians above them could have done more damage with tumbling bowlders
than with rifle fire. Once on this, the Japanese were under a shelf.
They could be reached only by shooting straight down the stream, and had
gun or rifle ventured this the Russians would have found no cover save
the smoke of shrapnel from the batteries which would have sent them
back. The crossing of the Yalu was effected by a few rounds of
musket-fire. The impregnable position of the enemy became cover for the
Japanese advance.
Once on the western bank and far enough north of the Russian line to be
safe from attack on his own right flank, Kuroki’s plan was to execute a
series of flank movements and attacks from the rear which would drive
the Russians from their position and render what slight fortifications
they had made on the heights along the river valueless. In spite of the
reckless bravery of the Russians and the stubbornness of their defence,
the impetus of the Japanese attack and the marvelous speed and
effectiveness of the Japanese shell-fire could not be withstood, and the
Russians were routed all along the line. They made a last stand at
Hamatan Hill, a few miles to the rear of their original position, but
the Japanese surrounded them on three sides and before the force
retreated nearly four hundred men were compelled to surrender. Of the
Japanese forces, 5 officers and 160 men were killed, while 29 officers
and 666 men were wounded. The Russian dead, buried by the Japanese,
numbered nearly 1,400, and 475 wounded Russians were taken to Japanese
hospitals. Probably 500 wounded Russians, at least, escaped with the
retreating army. The Japanese captured 28 guns, 50 ammunition wagons,
and many other munitions of war.
[Illustration:
JAPANESE CAVALRY FORDING A TRIBUTARY OF THE YALU
]
[Illustration:
CORRESPONDENTS AND KOREANS WATCHING THE SHELLING OF KU-LIEN-CHENG
]
[Illustration:
CROSSING THE YALU ON MAY 1, AT THE DOUBLE-QUICK
]
[Illustration:
THE STAFF VIEWING THE FIGHT FROM THE HEIGHTS AT WIJU
]
INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE OF THE YALU
[Illustration:
BRINGING THE PONTOONS UP TO THE YALU
]
[Illustration:
POLING PONTOONS TO THE AI RIVER FROM THE YALU
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE INFANTRY CROSSING THE RIVER
]
[Illustration:
COOLIES CARRYING SECTIONS OF A PONTOON BRIDGE
]
THE CROSSING OF THE YALU
[Illustration:
FIELD HOSPITAL ON THE SANDS AT THE EDGE OF THE RIVER
]
[Illustration:
CARRYING SOLDIER TO HIS QUARTERS AFTER HIS WOUND HAD BEEN DRESSED
]
[Illustration:
WOUNDED JAPANESE WAITING THEIR TURN AT THE OPERATING TABLE
]
WITH THE WOUNDED AFTER THE FIGHT AT THE YALU
[Illustration:
WOUNDED JAPANESE RETURNING TO THE HOSPITAL AT WIJU
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE STRETCHER-BEARERS CARRYING WOUNDED RUSSIAN TO THE HOSPITAL
]
[Illustration:
HOSPITAL CORPS WAITING DURING THE ACTION OF MAY 1
]
[Illustration:
THE HOSPITAL AT ANTUNG TWO DAYS AFTER THE YALU BATTLE
]
HOSPITAL CORPS AND WOUNDED JAPANESE AT THE BATTLE OF THE YALU
[Illustration:
JAPANESE RESERVES WATCHING THE BATTLE FROM THE SOUTH BANK OF THE RIVER
]
The fence behind which these reserves are standing was one of those with
which the Japanese concealed their march, from the point south of Wiju
where they first made a feint at crossing to the point north of the town
where the brilliant crossing was finally made. The impetus of this final
attack was such that the Russians were soon routed all along the line.
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN GUN-CARRIAGE DEMOLISHED BY JAPANESE FIRE
]
[Illustration:
RAPID FIRE MAXIMS CAPTURED AT HAMATAN HILL
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN FIELD GUNS CAPTURED AND TAKEN TO ANTUNG
]
ARTILLERY SPOILS CAPTURED BY THE JAPANESE DURING THE YALU BATTLE
[Illustration:
SOME OF THE RUSSIAN PRISONERS WOUNDED DURING THE YALU FIGHT
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE BURYING A RUSSIAN CAPTAIN WITH MILITARY HONORS AT ANTUNG
]
The care of the Russian wounded by the Japanese after the Yalu battle,
and the burial of several Russian officers with military honors, were
things which surprised many sceptical observers of Japanese
civilization, who had predicted that, once in hand-to-hand conflict with
the enemy, the veneer of European civilization would quickly drop off
and reveal the barbarian
[Illustration:
JAPANESE TRANSPORTATION TRAINS AND INFANTRY LEAVING FOR THE FRONT
AFTER THE YALU BATTLE
]
[Illustration:
FIRE AND DEVASTATION IN THE WAKE OF THE RETREATING ARMY
]
[Illustration:
CHINESE MANDARIN GOING OUT TO MEET GENERAL KUROKI
]
[Illustration:
FIELD POST-OFFICE ESTABLISHED IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE OCCUPATION
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL KUROKI AND STAFF ENTERING FENG-WANG-CHENG
]
[Illustration:
OFFICIAL CHINESE ESCORT TO GENERAL KUROKI AT FENG-WANG-CHENG
]
THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION OF FENG-WANG-CHENG
[Illustration:
ENGLISH NURSES SENT BY THE QUEEN TO INSPECT THE WORKINGS OF THE
JAPANESE RED CROSS
]
These representatives of the Queen, Miss St. Aubyn and Miss McCall,
accompanied by Madame Kuroda, a Japanese lady, and Dr. Tamura, visited
the hospitals at Feng-Wang-Cheng. They found everything so satisfactory
that they remained with the army only a few days. The photograph shows
them about to enter their palanquins, after visiting one of the
hospitals. Miss McCall is at the right
[Illustration:
INFANTRY DRAWN UP TO VIEW THE CEREMONIES
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE CAVALRY VIEWING FUNERAL CEREMONIES
]
[Illustration:
SHINTO CEREMONY HELD BY THE JAPANESE IN HONOR OF THOSE WHO FELL AT THE
YALU
]
This impressive funeral ceremony was held at Feng-Wang-Cheng while the
army was gathering its breath after the Yalu victory to push on into
Manchuria. The whole army was drawn up in a vast body on the plain,
while on the hilltop, in view of all, the officers and priests stood,
going through the curious Shinto ceremonies in honor of the dead who had
fallen in battle
[Illustration:
JAPANESE EXPLAINING TO MILITARY ATTACHÉS TACTICS USED AT THE YALU
]
[Illustration:
CAPTAIN OKADA INSPECTING BOMB-PROOF AT FENG-WANG-CHENG
]
[Illustration:
BUGLE SQUAD AT THE FUNERAL CEREMONY AT FENG-WANG-CHENG
]
[Illustration:
UNITED STATES ARMY ATTACHÉS AND COLLIER’S SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
]
SCENES AT FENG-WANG-CHENG AFTER THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION
[Illustration:
ISSUING KHAKI UNIFORMS TO JAPANESE TROOPS AT FENG-WANG-CHENG
]
[Illustration:
ENGINEERS OF KUROKI’S ARMY BRIDGING A STREAM AT FENG-WANG-CHENG
]
JAPANESE GETTING READY TO PUSH ON INTO MANCHURIA
[Illustration:
SOLDIERS AMUSING THEMSELVES WITH IMITATION GEISHA DANCES WHILE IN CAMP
]
[Illustration:
SOLDIERS OFF DUTY WATCHING AMATEUR THEATRICALS
]
[Illustration:
DUMMY FIGURES CONSTRUCTED BY SOLDIERS AT FENG-WANG-CHENG
]
RECREATIONS OF THE JAPANESE BETWEEN BATTLES IN MANCHURIA
[Illustration:
DETACHING THE LIMBERS AND GETTING GUNS INTO POSITION BEHIND THE
BREASTWORKS
]
[Illustration:
GUNNERS WHEELING GUN INTO POSITION
]
[Illustration:
GETTING THE RANGE AND ADJUSTING THE SIGHT
]
JAPANESE BATTERY GOING INTO ACTION AT FENG-WANG-CHENG
[Illustration:
JAPANESE GUIDE-POST AT FENG-WANG-CHENG
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE VISITING RUSSIAN GRAVES AT FENG-WANG-CHENG
]
[Illustration:
CHINESE FARMERS VIEWING AN ENGAGEMENT FROM ABANDONED TRENCHES
]
WITH THE JAPANESE INVADERS IN MANCHURIA
[Illustration:
WHILING AWAY THE TIME BETWEEN BATTLES AT FENG-WANG-CHENG WITH
INTER-COMPANY WRESTLING BOUTS
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE INFANTRY LEAVING FENG-WANG-CHENG
]
[Illustration:
CARRYING A WOUNDED RUSSIAN PRISONER ACROSS A STREAM
]
[Illustration:
BATTERY FORDING ONE OF THE STREAMS THAT CROSS THE PEKING ROAD
]
[Illustration:
CHINESE BRINGING WOOD FOR THE JAPANESE ARMY
]
INCIDENTS OF THE ADVANCE FROM FENG-WANG-CHENG
[Illustration:
INFANTRY CROSSING THE SO RIVER IN THE ADVANCE ON LIAO-YANG
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL NISHI AND HIS STAFF HALTING TO STUDY MAPS AND SCOUTS’ REPORTS
ON THE MARCH FROM FENG-WANG-CHENG
]
[Illustration:
CHINESE READING PROCLAMATION ISSUED BY THE JAPANESE
]
[Illustration:
OUTPOST HIDDEN IN FOLIAGE AND UNDER A SUNSHADE
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE CHEERING NEWS OF A VICTORY NEAR LIENSHANKWAN
]
WITH THE VICTORIOUS JAPANESE AT LIENSHANKWAN
[Illustration:
ARRIVAL OF MAIL FOR THE ARMY IN THE FIELD AT LIENSHANKWAN
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE OUTPOST ON DUTY
]
[Illustration:
VETERAN, WITH COIL OF ROPE AT HIS BELT FOR TYING PRISONERS
]
[Illustration:
PIONEERS BUILDING MILITARY ROAD FOR THE ARMY
]
INTO MANCHURIA WITH THE JAPANESE INVADERS
[Illustration:
KWANTEI TEMPLE NEAR MOTIEN PAS
]
This temple was the scene of two severe fights between the advancing
Japanese and the Russians, in which the Russians were routed and driven
back. The temple was built by the Chinese after their last war with
Japan because they thought that the gods of another temple had prevented
the Japanese from taking the pass. The gods and the Russians together
could not stop the enemy this time.
[Illustration:
DETACHMENT OF JAPANESE COMING UP AT THE DOUBLE-QUICK DURING THE FIGHT
AT MOTIEN PASS
]
[Illustration:
SHARPSHOOTERS COVERING THE ADVANCE AGAINST THE RUSSIANS ON THE RIDGES
]
The Japanese in the trenches in the foreground are firing on the
Russians retreating up the hillside in the distance clear across the
valley. The Japanese advance is concealed in the timber in the middle
distance just beyond the farmhouses. The Russians are too far away to be
seen. Collier’s photographer, J. H. Hare, took this unusual picture from
a tree-top just behind the Japanese trenches
[Illustration:
COLONEL BABA OF THE SIXTEENTH REGIMENT AT MOTIENLING
]
[Illustration:
BRINGING AMMUNITION UP TO THE FIRING LINE
]
[Illustration:
IN THE TRENCHES AT MOTIENLING ON JULY 4
]
[Illustration:
DISTRIBUTING AMMUNITION TO THE MEN IN THE TRENCHES
]
SCENES DURING THE BATTLE OF MOTIENLING
[Illustration:
GENERAL KUROKI AND HIS CHIEF OF STAFF, LIEUTENANT-GENERAL FUJI,
WATCHING THE FIGHT AT MOTIENLING
]
[Illustration:
BRINGING WOUNDED RUSSIANS TO THE DRESSING STATION AT THE KWANTEI
TEMPLE ON JULY 4
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN RED CROSS SOLDIER WOUNDED AT MOTIEN PASS
]
[Illustration:
BADLY WOUNDED AND DELIRIOUS RUSSIAN UNABLE TO WALK
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE BURYING A DEAD RUSSIAN AFTER THE FIGHT
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN DEAD COVERED WITH BRANCHES BY JAPANESE AT MOTIEN PASS
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN DEAD AND WOUNDED LYING TOGETHER AT MOTIENLING
]
RUSSIAN WOUNDED AND DEAD AT MOTIEN PASS
[Illustration:
WOUNDED PRISONERS HOBBLING INTO THE JAPANESE CAMP
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN PRISONER TOO SEVERELY WOUNDED TO WALK
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE CARRYING WOUNDED RUSSIAN TO DRESSING STATION
]
[Illustration:
BADLY WOUNDED IN THE LEG, BUT CHEERFUL
]
WITH THE WOUNDED AND CAPTURED AT MOTIEN PASS
[Illustration:
JAPANESE SKIRMISHERS ADVANCING TO FLANK THE ENEMY AT MOTIENLING
]
[Illustration:
WANDERING IN HIS HEAD AND WOUNDED IN THE ARM
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN PRISONERS SITTING ON THE TEMPLE STEPS
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN PRISONERS TIED TO TELEPHONE POLE FOR SAFE-KEEPING
]
[Illustration:
THE BIG PRISONER AND THE LITTLE CAPTORS
]
PRISONERS AND CAPTORS AT MOTIENLING
[Illustration:
LIEUTENANT WHO CUT DOWN FOUR RUSSIANS WITH HIS SABRE
]
[Illustration:
MAJOR TAKUSAGO EXAMINING A MAP OF THE FIELD
]
[Illustration:
JOVIAL JAPANESE COLLECTING THE SPOILS OF BATTLE
]
[Illustration:
CAVALRYMAN RETURNING TO THE FIGHT AFTER HAVING HIS WOUND DRESSED
]
INCIDENTS OF THE RUSSIAN ATTEMPT TO RECAPTURE MOTIEN PASS
[Illustration:
GENERAL OKASAKI, WHO DEFEATED THE RUSSIANS AT MOTIENLING
]
The Japanese commander is shown standing on the steps of the Kwantei
temple during the battle of July 4, receiving reports from his staff and
sending out orders. Motien Pass was one of the places on the line of
march taken by Kuroki’s army which was thought before the battle to be
practically impregnable. The Russians attempted to recapture it
afterward, but were defeated with great loss
[Illustration:
THE FIELD DRESSING STATION FOR THOSE TOO SEVERELY WOUNDED TO BE
CARRIED TO THE BASE HOSPITAL
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE MARCHING ON ONE OF THEIR MILITARY ROADS
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL NISHI AND HIS STAFF HALTING TO LOOK OVER MAPS WHILE ON THE
MARCH
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE COLOR SERGEANT GUARDING THE REGIMENTAL FLAG
]
WITH THE JAPANESE ADVANCE FROM THE YALU THROUGH THE MANCHURIAN MOUNTAINS
[Illustration:
TAKING SHELTER BEHIND A HILL WHILE AWAITING THE OPPORTUNITY TO ATTACK
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE CREEPING ACROSS AN OPEN SPACE ON THE WAY TO THE FIRING LINE
]
[Illustration:
WHERE THE KHAKI UNIFORMS BECOME ALMOST INDISCERNIBLE AGAINST A
HILLSIDE
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE RESERVES COMING UP TO THE FIRING LINE ACROSS THE TANG RIVER
]
WITH THE JAPANESE DURING THE FIGHTING NEAR ANPING
[Illustration:
JAPANESE SOLDIERS BREAKFASTING IN THE RAIN NEAR KANSUITAN
]
[Illustration:
A COMPANY OF THE SIXTEENTH REGIMENT HALTING AFTER A NIGHT ATTACK
]
[Illustration:
TROOPS WRAPPED IN RAIN-COATS REPORTING FOR INSPECTION
]
[Illustration:
THE CHINESE COOLIE DROPPED HIS BURDEN WHEN THE CAMERA WAS OPENED
]
JAPANESE AND CAPTURED RUSSIANS IN MANCHURIA DURING THE RAINY SEASON
[Illustration:
JAPANESE BATTERY FORDING THE SHALLOW TANG RIVER
]
[Illustration:
THE ONLY SMOKE VISIBLE—THAT OF THE CARTRIDGE WITHDRAWN FROM THE GUN
]
[Illustration:
CARRYING SHELLS FROM THE CAISSONS TO THE GUNS
]
[Illustration:
ARTILLERYMEN CLEANING OUT GUNS AFTER AN ACTION
]
WITH THE SMOKELESS BATTERIES HIDDEN IN FIELDS OF KOWLIANG
[Illustration:
SECOND DIVISION OF THE FIRST ARMY MARCHING ON THE OLD PEKIN ROAD
]
[Illustration:
PAGODA FROM WHICH THE RUSSIAN STAFF SAW THEIR DEFEAT
]
[Illustration:
SIXTEENTH JAPANESE REGIMENT IN SHELTER AWAITING ORDER TO MARCH
]
IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF TOWAN DURING THE FIGHTING IN THE FIRST WEEK OF
JULY
[Illustration:
CHINESE COOLIES FORDING A MANCHURIAN STREAM SWOLLEN BY RAINS
]
[Illustration:
COOKING SUPPER UNDER DIFFICULTIES IN THE RAIN
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE SOLDIERS EATING SUPPER UNDER A SHELTER TENT IN THE RAIN
]
[Illustration:
SHELTERED FROM THE RAIN AND A SAFE DISTANCE FROM THE GROUND
]
DIFFICULTIES OF CAMPAIGNING DURING THE RAINY SEASON IN MANCHURIA
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN GUNS CAPTURED AT NANSHAN USED BY THE JAPANESE AT SHUZAN-HO
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN BATTERY POSITION AT YUSHULING, WITH PROTECTING INFANTRY TRENCH
CAPTURED BY THE JAPANESE
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE HORSES KILLED AT BATTERY POSITION NEAR TOWAN
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN GUN OVERTURNED AND ABANDONED IN RETREAT FROM TOWAN
]
ALONG THE LINE OF BATTLE IN THE MANCHURIAN PASSES SOUTH OF LIAO-YANG
[Illustration:
SCOUT BRINGING INFORMATION ABOUT THE ENEMY TO GENERAL OKASAKI
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE MOUNTAIN BATTERY IN ACTION NEAR LIAO-YANG
]
[Illustration:
SOLDIERS MAKING THEMSELVES COMFORTABLE ON A HOT, WET DAY
]
PRESSING THE RUSSIANS CLOSE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF LIAO-YANG
[Illustration:
GATHERING THE WOUNDED RUSSIANS WHO HAD LAIN ALL NIGHT IN THE RAIN
]
[Illustration:
SOME OF THE SPOILS GATHERED IN JUST BEFORE THE CAPTURE OF LIAO-YANG
]
[Illustration:
BODIES OF JAPANESE SOLDIERS READY FOR CREMATION
]
[Illustration:
BURNING THE BODIES OF THE DEAD IN THE FIELDS NEAR LIAO-YANG
]
WITH THE JAPANESE ON AUGUST THIRTIETH CLOSE TO LIAO-YANG
CHAPTER VII
BEGINNING THE SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR
As soon as the Japanese learned of Kuroki’s success at the Yalu, they
hurried troops ashore at Takushan and Pitsewo, on the eastern shore of
the Liaotung Peninsula north of Port Arthur. This was on May 5. The
landing was quite unexpected by the Russians; there was no sufficient
force to attempt any resistance, and in three days an army was marching
southward to begin the closing-in movement that ended in the fall of
Russia’s supposedly impregnable fortress. On May 26, after fighting in
and about Kinchow for nine days, Nanshan Hill, on the narrow isthmus
joining the Port Arthur Peninsula to the main part of the Liaotung
Peninsula, was captured by assault. Every device of modern warfare—the
railway, telegraph, telephones, a captive balloon, mine-fields, barbed
wire network, iron-roofed trenches, searchlights, illuminating
star-shells—was used at Nanshan Hill to increase the natural strength of
the fort. The ranges were known and the approach was from but one
direction. There had been three months and a half since the war began
and three weeks since the landing at Pitsewo. If Russian troops could be
driven from such a position, and under such circumstances, by the
Japanese, it seemed perfectly certain that no fortifications that Russia
could devise could withstand the enemy. One last and unsuccessful
attempt was made to cut the Japanese off before it was too late. The
Russian army at Tashichao, under General Stakelberg, made a sortie
southward and met General Oku’s army on June 14 at Wafengtien. The
Russians were completely defeated. The Liaotung Peninsula was then open
to the Japanese, and as soon as General Nogi and his army arrived to
hold it and to begin to close in on Port Arthur, Oku was free to wheel
north, and to co-operate with the armies of Kuroki and Nodzu in the
general movement toward Liao-Yang. By the middle of June parallel
columns of Japanese were moving northward through the valleys of
Manchuria like so many fingers of one giant hand.
Meanwhile Admiral Togo had maintained a strict blockade of the harbor
and the Russian fleet had been practically destroyed. Beginning with the
destruction of the “Variag” and “Korietz” in February, and including the
tragic sinking of the “Petropavlovsk,” and the death of Admiral Makaroff
and the painter Verestchagin on April 13, the Japanese successes
gradually wore down the Port Arthur fleet until the Russian naval power
in the East was no longer a factor in the reckoning. Up until the end of
April the Japanese losses were practically nothing at all. Then came the
sinking, by submarine mines, of the battleship “Hatsuse,” the third
class cruiser “Miyako,” and Torpedo Boat No. 48. The battleship
“Yoshino” was sunk in a collision. These losses came too late, however,
for the Russians to take advantage of them, and the death of Admiral
Makaroff may be said to mark the climax of the naval campaign against
Port Arthur. After that the land campaign against the “Gibraltar of the
East” began in earnest.
[Illustration:
VIEW OF THE HARBOR ENTRANCE OF PORT ARTHUR FROM THE LAND SIDE, THE
RUSSIAN FLEET IN THE OFFING
]
[Illustration:
LOOKING SOUTHWARD ACROSS THE DOCKS AT PORT ARTHUR TO THE HEIGHTS AND
ONE OF THE RUSSIAN FORTS
]
[Illustration:
DRY DOCK AT PORT ARTHUR VIEWED FROM THE PUBLIC GARDEN
]
[Illustration:
ENTRANCE TO DRY DOCK AND MACHINE SHOPS AT PORT ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
CHINESE SAMPANS AT THEIR LANDINGS AT PORT ARTHUR
]
SCENES ALONG THE WATER FRONT AT PORT ARTHUR BEFORE THE DECLARATION OF
WAR
[Illustration:
CHINESE SAMPANS USED AS LIGHTERS FOR UNLOADING VESSELS AT PORT ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE FUGITIVES LEAVING PORT ARTHUR IN CHINESE SAMPANS
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN WARSHIPS STEAMING OUT OF PORT ARTHUR ON FEBRUARY 1
]
[Illustration:
FUGITIVES ARRIVING IN PORT ARTHUR JUST AFTER THE DECLARATION OF WAR
]
NAVAL AND CIVILIAN ACTIVITY IN PORT ARTHUR AT THE OUTBREAK OF WAR
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN WARSHIPS IN THE HARBOR AT PORT ARTHUR JUST BEFORE THE OUTBREAK
OF WAR
]
[Illustration:
SAILORS AMUSING THEMSELVES WHILE OFF DUTY WITH BOOKS AND GAMES
]
[Illustration:
GUN DRILL ON A RUSSIAN BATTLESHIP—“LOAD!”
]
[Illustration:
SAILORS GOING THROUGH A DRILL IN LOWERING THE TORPEDO NETTING
]
[Illustration:
GUN DRILL ON A RUSSIAN BATTLESHIP—“FIRE!”
]
GETTING READY FOR THE JAPANESE ON A RUSSIAN WARSHIP AT PORT ARTHUR
[Illustration:
UNARMORED CRUISER “PALLADA,” DISABLED DURING THE FIRST WEEK OF THE WAR
]
[Illustration:
BATTLESHIP “POLTAVA,” SISTER SHIP OF THE “PETROPAVLOVSK”
]
[Illustration:
THE PLUCKY LITTLE “NOVIK,” DISABLED IN THE FIRST FIGHT OF THE WAR
]
[Illustration:
BATTLESHIP “RETVIZAN,” TORPEDOED IN THE FIRST WEEK AND BEACHED
]
RUSSIAN SHIPS AT PORT ARTHUR BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF THE JAPANESE
[Illustration:
UNARMORED CRUISER “ASKOLD,” SISTER SHIP OF THE “VARIAG”
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN CRUISER “BOYARIN,” SUNK ON FEBRUARY 12
]
[Illustration:
BATTLESHIP “POBIEDA,” DISABLED BY A MINE ON APRIL 13
]
[Illustration:
THE ARMORED CRUISER “BAYAN,” ONE OF THE LAST TO YIELD
]
PART OF RUSSIA’S FIGHTING FLEET AT PORT ARTHUR
[Illustration:
THE FLAGSHIP OF THE SQUADRON, THE “MIKASA”
]
[Illustration:
ADMIRAL TOGO ON THE QUARTER-DECK OF THE “MIKASA”
]
[Illustration:
DECK VIEW OF THE “MIKASA” FROM THE FIGHTING TOPS
]
THE MAN WHO BOTTLED UP PORT ARTHUR, AND THE FLAGSHIP OF HIS FLEET
CHAPTER VIII
EARLY CAMPAIGNING BEFORE THE BATTLE OF LIAO-YANG
With Port Arthur cut off from the north, the three Japanese armies
pushed rapidly northward in a general closing-in movement on Liao-Yang.
General Nodzu’s army on June 26 captured Fengshuiling, on the main road
northward from Takushan to Newchwang, and the Russian forces began to
fall steadily back. At the same time, Kuroki, on the north, was
capturing two passes of even greater importance, Motienling and Taling,
and Oku, to the southward, was driving the Russians back with similar
success. On July 17 the Russians, under General Count Keller, did make a
desperate effort to retake Motienling, but were repulsed with heavy
loss. Keller made another attempt to force the Japanese back a fortnight
later, but it was equally disastrous and the general himself was killed.
Meanwhile, on July 22 and 23, General Oku, on the extreme south and west
of the long Japanese front, closed in upon Tashichao, and, with the
assistance of Nodzu’s army, which had pushed up from Fengshuiling,
captured the town and compelled the 40,000 Russians there to retreat.
This, together with the unsuccessful battle in which Keller was killed,
was practically the last of the Russians’ attempts to make a forward
movement. General Kuropatkin devoted himself to preparing for a decisive
battle at Liao-Yang, meanwhile keeping up all along the line just enough
resistance to delay and hamper the Japanese advance.
At the outset of the war Russia had in Manchuria about 45,700 men and
120 field guns. Of this force about 20,000 men were at Port Arthur,
4,400 at Talienwan, 1,400 at Yinkow, 1,150 at Haicheng, 1,900 at
Liao-Yang, 2,750 at Tieling, north of Mukden, 1,250 at Ninguta in
northeast Manchuria, 4,550 at Harbin, 1,950 at Tsitsihar in northwest
Manchuria, and the rest in the smaller garrisons scattered through the
territory from northeast Manchuria to Port Arthur. In addition there was
a separate organization of railway patrol troops stationed in small
bodies at many points on and near the railway. On January 1, 1904, the
number of these railway troops was estimated at 15,200 with 32 guns, so
that the grand total at the beginning of the war was about 60,000 men
with about 150 field guns. In spite of the pressure on the Siberian
Railroad and the hard marches cross Lake Baikal in the winter, Russia
soon found that, however many millions she might have in Europe, she
could not maintain in the field, at the end of 6,000 miles of single
track, more than 300,000 troops, and keep them fully supplied with food,
ammunition, and fresh men to take the place of the killed, wounded, and
sick.
During all this campaigning in Manchuria the Japanese showed the same
preparedness and mobility which had been so strikingly characteristic of
them during the earlier months of the war. They knew at all times the
strength of their enemy as well as they knew the country, and to the
information gathered by their spies and outposts was added that supplied
by a generally friendly native population.
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN TROOPS DETRAINING AT MUKDEN EARLY IN MARCH
]
[Illustration:
GATEWAY IN MUKDEN’S PRINCIPAL STREET
]
[Illustration:
CHINESE CARTS USED BY OFFICERS AND CIVILIANS
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN OFFICERS AT THE STAFF HEADQUARTERS, MUKDEN
]
[Illustration:
MUKDEN STREET DURING THE EARLY DAYS OF THE WAR
]
MUKDEN, WHEN THE JAPANESE WERE STILL MANY MILES AWAY
[Illustration:
ARRIVAL OF THE FIFTH ARMY CORPS AT MUKDEN
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN COSSACKS FROM THE CAUCASUS
]
[Illustration:
ADMINISTERING THE SACRAMENT TO SOLDIERS BEFORE THEIR DEPARTURE FOR THE
FRONT
]
RUSSIANS AT MUKDEN ON THEIR WAY TO THE FRONT
[Illustration:
A FLYING COLUMN OF RED CROSS SURGEONS
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN FIELD TELEPHONES IN TRENCHES
]
[Illustration:
NINETEENTH EAST SIBERIAN RIFLE CORPS AT PRAYER
]
[Illustration:
EVENING SERVICE FOR THOSE FALLEN IN BATTLE
]
WITH THE RUSSIANS IN MANCHURIA
[Illustration:
GENERAL KUROPATKIN PASSING GENERAL HERSCHELMANN’S DIVISION
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL LEVISTAIN GIVING ORDERS TO HIS STAFF
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL PLESCHKOFF INSPECTING HIS COMMAND
]
[Illustration:
THE REGIMENTAL BAND PLAYING IN THE WILDS OF MANCHURIA
]
WITH THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE IN MANCHURIA
[Illustration:
PRINCE TROUBESKAY AND HIS STAFF
]
[Illustration:
MEN OF THE SEVENTH SIBERIAN COSSACK REGIMENT
]
[Illustration:
NINETEENTH SIBERIAN RIFLE CORPS AT DINNER
]
[Illustration:
COOLIES CARRYING WOUNDED RUSSIAN TO EMERGENCY HOSPITAL
]
IN THE FIELD WITH THE RUSSIANS IN MANCHURIA
[Illustration:
GENERAL KUROPATKIN AT THE TELESCOPE SCANNING THE COUNTRY ABOUT
LIAO-YANG
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIANS ERECTING WIRE ENTANGLEMENTS AT EDAGAN
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN OFFICER INSPECTING COMMISSARY ARRANGEMENTS IN HIS CAMP
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN REGIMENTAL BAND PLAYING IN CAMP
]
[Illustration:
COMMISSARY MEN DRAWING WATER FOR THE ARMY
]
WITH THE RUSSIANS ON THE WAY TO THE FRONT
[Illustration:
GENERAL KUROPATKIN INSPECTING THE STAFF OF THE FOURTH ARMY CORPS
]
[Illustration:
ONE OF THE DROSKIES IN WHICH COMMANDING GENERALS RODE
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIANS FORDING A SHALLOW STREAM NEAR LIAO-YANG
]
[Illustration:
THE BIG, BROAD-SHOULDERED SOLDIERS OF THE CZAR
]
PART OF THE MOVEMENT OF FORTY THOUSAND MEN SOUTHEAST OF LIAO-YANG
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN TROOPS MARCHING THROUGH THE STREETS OF LIAO-YANG
]
[Illustration:
THE GREAT EASTERN GATE AT LIAO-YANG
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN SOLDIERS TRADING WITH CHINESE PEDLERS
]
SCENES AT LIAO-YANG ON THE ARRIVAL OF THE RUSSIANS
[Illustration:
COURTYARD OF RICH MANCHURIAN’S HOUSE AT LIAO-YANG—THE HOST AND HIS
ENFORCED RUSSIAN GUESTS
]
[Illustration:
SOLDIERS OFF DUTY LISTENING TO ONE OF THEIR COMRADES
]
[Illustration:
SOLDIERS CROWDING ABOUT HOSPITAL TRAIN TO HEAR THE NEWS FROM THE FRONT
]
WHEN NEWS FROM THE FIRING LINE CAME BACK TO THOSE WHO HAD NOT YET MET
THE JAPANESE
[Illustration:
A DISHEARTENED JAPANESE SPY AND HIS QUIZZICAL RUSSIAN CAPTORS
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN BATTERY GETTING INTO POSITION AT KANSUITAN JUST BEFORE THE
BATTLE
]
[Illustration:
ONE OF THE SHREWDLY SCREENED RUSSIAN BATTERIES WHICH WROUGHT HAVOC
BEFORE BEING CAPTURED BY THE JAPANESE
]
[Illustration:
ARTILLERYMEN OF THE SIXTH EAST SIBERIAN REGIMENT CALCULATING THE RANGE
FROM ONE OF THE MANCHURIAN HILLS
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN INFANTRY MARCHING TO THEIR POSITION JUST BEFORE THE BATTLE AT
TOWAN
]
[Illustration:
FOURTH URAL REGIMENT ON THE MARCH TO HAICHENG
]
[Illustration:
URAL COSSACK LANCERS ON THEIR WAY TO BATTLE
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIANS ADVANCING FOR THE DEFENCE OF HAICHENG
]
[Illustration:
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF A FINE DAY TO WASH CLOTHES
]
WITH THE RUSSIAN TROOPS NEAR HAICHENG
[Illustration:
GENERAL KUROPATKIN WATCHING THE FIGHT SURROUNDED BY HIS STAFF
]
[Illustration:
EAST SIBERIAN TROOPS ADVANCING AT HAICHENG
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN INFANTRY IN THE TRENCHES ON A HOT DAY
]
WITH THE RUSSIAN TROOPS DURING THE ENGAGEMENT WITH THE JAPANESE IN THE
NEIGHBORHOOD OF HAICHENG
[Illustration:
BATTERY OF THE SIXTH EAST SIBERIAN ARTILLERY IN POSITION ON THE
HEIGHTS ABOVE TOWAN
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN OFFICERS AT THE HIGHEST POINT OF TOWAN PASS OBSERVING THE
APPROACH OF THE JAPANESE
]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
RUSSIAN BATTERIES IN ACTION GUARDING TOWAN PASS
WITH THE RUSSIAN OFFICERS AND FIGHTING MEN DURING THE ENGAGEMENT AT
TOWAN PASS
[Illustration:
FIRST BATTERY OF THE EAST SIBERIAN ARTILLERY AT YUSHULING
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN OFFICERS IN CONFERENCE BEFORE THE BATTLE
]
[Illustration:
BREAKFAST BEFORE THE FIGHT AT YUSHULING
]
WITH THE RUSSIAN TROOPS DURING THE EARLY CAMPAIGNING IN MANCHURIA
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN OFFICERS VIEWING FIGHT AT TOWAN PASS
]
[Illustration:
SENDING HELIOGRAPH SIGNALS DURING THE FIGHT AT ANPING
]
[Illustration:
MOVING TO THE FRONT AT TOWAN PASS AT SIX O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING
]
WITH THE RUSSIANS AT TOWAN PASS
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN FIRING LINE JUST BEFORE THE BATTLE AT YUSHULING
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE SHELLS BURSTING NEAR THE YUSHULING BATTERY
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL KUROPATKIN PRESENTING ST. GEORGE’S CROSS TO PRIVATES ON THE
BATTLEFIELD
]
[Illustration:
REMOVING WOUNDED FROM HOSPITAL TRAIN TO HOSPITAL
]
THE REWARDS OF VALOR WITH KUROPATKIN’S ARMY IN MANCHURIA
[Illustration:
OFFICERS OF THE FIRST BATTERY, SIXTH SIBERIAN BRIGADE
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN OUTPOSTS FIRING ON THE ADVANCING JAPANESE
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN INFANTRY ADVANCING THROUGH UNDERBRUSH
]
WITH THE RUSSIAN FORCES IN MANCHURIA DURING THE EARLY CAMPAIGNING
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN SKIRMISHERS ADVANCING AGAINST THE JAPANESE NEAR ANPING
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL SUREKOFF AND GENERAL MORO AT YUSHULING
]
[Illustration:
ARTILLERY OF THE TENTH CORPS RESISTING JAPANESE FORTY MILES SOUTH OF
LIAO-YANG
]
[Illustration:
INFANTRY INTRENCHED IN FRONT OF BATTERY
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN ARTILLERY AT YUSHULING IN POSITION ABANDONED THE NEXT DAY
]
WITH THE TENTH RUSSIAN ARMY CORPS AT YUSHULING, NEAR LIAO-YANG
[Illustration:
INFANTRY MARCHING THROUGH MAIN STREET OF A MANCHURIAN VILLAGE
]
[Illustration:
TURKESTAN REGIMENT ON PARADE NEAR MUKDEN
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN INFANTRY ADVANCING THROUGH THE HILLS NEAR HAICHENG
]
WITH THE RUSSIAN TROOPS DURING THE EARLY CAMPAIGNING IN MANCHURIA
[Illustration:
WOUNDED SOLDIERS CONVALESCING IN THE HOSPITAL AT MUKDEN
]
[Illustration:
DINNER TIME IN A RUSSIAN MILITARY HOSPITAL
]
[Illustration:
OPERATING ON A WOUNDED SOLDIER IN THE HOSPITAL
]
[Illustration:
HOSPITAL STAFF OF THE GRAND DUKE BORIS
]
WITH THE RUSSIAN RED CROSS SERVICE IN MANCHURIA
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN BALLOON IN THE CAMP AT ANPING
]
[Illustration:
SOLDIERS FORDING A RIVER WITH THE GAS BAG
]
[Illustration:
ESCORT OF TURKESTAN COSSACKS WITH THE BALLOON
]
[Illustration:
SIGNAL OFFICER ABOUT TO MAKE AN ASCENT
]
[Illustration:
TAKING AN OBSERVATION FROM THE BALLOON
]
WAR BALLOON AND GAS BAG USED BY THE RUSSIANS IN MANCHURIA
[Illustration:
IN THE RUSSIAN TRENCHES DURING THE FIGHTING AT TALING
]
CHAPTER IX
THE BATTLE OF LIAO-YANG
The battle of Liao-Yang was the culminating event of the four months’
Manchurian campaign which the Japanese began when they crossed the Yalu.
In the point of number of men engaged it was the greatest battle of
modern times, and it resulted in a decisive, though hard-won, victory
for the Japanese. Between 400,000 and half a million men fought in the
two armies, and when the five days’ duel was over the total losses in
killed and wounded were estimated at about 30,000. The result of the
battle was that the Japanese gained complete control of the Liaotung
Peninsula, north of Port Arthur, and that the Russian army was forced to
retreat northward toward Mukden and Harbin.
The Russians under General Kuropatkin had collected a large amount of
ammunition and supplies at Liao-Yang and the town itself was elaborately
fortified. It was generally understood that General Kuropatkin’s plan
was to lure the Japanese on to the plain in front of Liao-Yang and there
to meet them in decisive battle. When the battle proper began on August
26, the Russian army occupied three groups of positions, extending in a
semicircle in front of and to the southward of the fortifications of the
town. Kuroki’s army on the east, Nodzu’s on the south, and Oku’s on the
west—the whole under the command of Field Marshal Oyama—attacked along
the whole front. After five days of the most persistent attack and
defence, and a terrific and almost continuous artillery duel, during
which the Russians were pushed back into Liao-Yang, General Kuroki
succeeded in throwing a considerable force across the Taitse River,
which extends eastward and westward just north of the town. With his
left flank and rear thus menaced, Kuropatkin was compelled, on September
1, to evacuate Liao-Yang and retreat on Mukden.
With the loss of Liao-Yang crumbled to pieces the plan for the defence
of Manchuria which the Russian commanders had adopted when they were
preparing for war with Japan. With the exception of the beleaguered
garrison at Port Arthur, Russia had lost every foothold on the Liaotung
Peninsula. In only one thing were the Japanese unsuccessful. They had
failed to get to the rear of the Russian army and to cut off Kuropatkin
from his line of retreat, and the manner in which the Russian commander
withdrew his army in the face of almost insurmountable difficulties went
far to mitigate the humiliation of defeat. The estimates of the number
of troops engaged on either side vary from somewhat less than 200,000 to
250,000 men. It was generally believed at the time the battle was fought
that the Japanese outnumbered the Russians, but inasmuch as they were
attacking an intrenched force this advantage was apparent rather than
real. No battle in our Civil War was on as large a scale as that at
Liao-Yang. The battle of Leipsic, where Napoleon arrayed 130,000 men
against the 300,000 of the Allies, was, in point of number of men
engaged, the greatest previous battle of modern times.
[Illustration:
JAPANESE RESTING ON THE BANKS OF THE TANG RIVER A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE
TAKING OF LIAO-YANG
]
[Illustration:
THE PAGODA AT LIAO-YANG SEEN IN THE DISTANCE
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIANS SEARCHING WITH SHRAPNEL TO UNMASK THE ENEMY’S BATTERIES
]
[Illustration:
SCOUTING WITH GENERAL WATERNABE IN THE VICINITY OF LIAO-YANG
]
[Illustration:
WATCHING THE DISTANT CITY TO SEE IF THE RUSSIANS ARE EVACUATING
]
ON THE LAST OF THE HILLS, ON SEPTEMBER THIRD, JUST BEFORE THE JAPANESE
ENTERED LIAO-YANG
[Illustration:
JAPANESE FINDING THE BODY OF A COMRADE IN THE FIELDS NEAR LIAO-YANG
]
[Illustration:
DEAD JAPANESE IN TRENCHES ON SEPTEMBER FOURTH
]
[Illustration:
BURYING JAPANESE AND RUSSIAN DEAD TOGETHER OUTSIDE LIAO-YANG
]
SEARCHING OUT AND BURYING THE DEAD THE DAY THE JAPANESE ENTERED
LIAO-YANG
[Illustration:
RUSSIANS RETREATING FROM LIAO-YANG ACROSS THE TAITSE RIVER
]
[Illustration:
BABY CARRIAGE LEFT BEHIND BY RUSSIANS IN THE PARK
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE CROSSING THE TAITSE RIVER TO ENTER LIAO-YANG
]
INCIDENTS OF THE EVACUATION OF LIAO-YANG AND ITS OCCUPATION BY THE
JAPANESE
[Illustration:
CORRESPONDENT EXAMINING WIRE ENTANGLEMENTS BUILT BY THE RUSSIANS
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE DISMANTLING A RUSSIAN REDOUBT AT LIAO-YANG
]
[Illustration:
PICKING THEIR WAY THROUGH WIRE ENTANGLEMENTS AND PITS
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL VIEW OF A RUSSIAN REDOUBT NORTH OF LIAO-YANG
]
VIEWS OF FORTIFICATIONS AND ENTANGLEMENTS BUILT BY THE RUSSIANS AT
LIAO-YANG
[Illustration:
NATIVES, WITH JAPANESE FLAGS FLYING, AWAITING THE CONQUERORS
]
[Illustration:
CHINESE MANDARIN AND ESCORT GETTING READY TO RECEIVE THE JAPANESE
]
SCENES IN LIAO-YANG ON THE MORNING OF ITS OCCUPATION BY THE JAPANESE
[Illustration:
JAPANESE ENTERING LIAO-YANG THROUGH ONE OF THE MANY BREACHES IN THE
WALLS
]
[Illustration:
ENGINEERS OF THE FIFTH DIVISION ENTERING LIAO-YANG, SEPTEMBER 4
]
[Illustration:
TAKING A RUSSIAN PRISONER OUT OF THE BIG SOUTH GATE
]
VIEWS OF THE FIRST ENTRY OF THE JAPANESE FORCES INTO LIAO-YANG
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN STORES BURNING AT LIAO-YANG ON SEPTEMBER FOURTH, ON THE
ARRIVAL OF THE JAPANESE
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE WORKING ON RAILROAD TRACK NEAR THE COMMISSARY SHEDS
]
[Illustration:
THE DOME-SHAPED ICE HOUSE AND FRESH JAPANESE STORES AT LIAO-YANG
]
SCENES IN LIAO-YANG IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING ITS CAPTURE BY THE JAPANESE
[Illustration:
CALLING THE ROLL IN A JAPANESE COMPANY AT LIAO-YANG
]
[Illustration:
PUNISHMENT OF CHINESE CAUGHT LOOTING IN LIAO-YANG
]
[Illustration:
TWO CORRESPONDENTS WITH THE RUSSIAN FORCES CAUGHT BY THE JAPANESE AT
LIAO-YANG
]
SCENES AT LIAO-YANG AFTER ITS OCCUPATION BY THE JAPANESE FORCES
[Illustration:
JAPANESE SOLDIERS SITTING IN RUSSIAN DROSKIES CAPTURED AT LIAO-YANG
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL NODZU ENTERING THE SOUTH GATE
]
[Illustration:
EXAMINING AS CURIOSITIES THE RUSSIAN SOUP KITCHENS CAPTURED AT
LIAO-YANG
]
SCENES AT LIAO-YANG IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE CAPTURE OF THE CITY BY THE
JAPANESE
[Illustration:
DR. WESTWATER, MEDICAL MISSIONARY, AND HIS MANCHURIAN STAFF
]
[Illustration:
OPERATING ON MANCHURIAN WHO HAD FORTY-SEVEN BAYONET WOUNDS
]
[Illustration:
DR. WESTWATER AND REV. T. McNAUGHTON AND THEIR WIVES IN A BOMB-PROOF
]
[Illustration:
INNOCENT MANCHURIAN VICTIMS OF THE WAR
]
Dr. Alexander Westwater is a Scotch medical missionary who had worked
for twenty-five years in Manchuria. He and his colleague, the Rev. T.
McNaughton, and their wives remained in Liao-Yang during the siege and
after it, ministering to the defenceless non-combatants. Mrs. Westwater
and Mrs. McNaughton were the only European ladies in the city when the
Japanese arrived
[Illustration:
GENERAL KUROPATKIN STANDING IN FRONT OF THE SHED BUILT TO SHELTER HIS
TRAIN
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL KUROPATKIN DEPARTING BY TRAIN
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE IN THE TRAIN-SHED BUILT TO SHELTER GENERAL KUROPATKIN’S TRAIN
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN SISTERS OF MERCY AT LIAO-YANG
]
SCENES AT LIAO-YANG BEFORE AND AFTER THE ARRIVAL OF THE JAPANESE
[Illustration:
ALTERING THE GAUGE OF THE TRACKS TO FIT THE JAPANESE ROLLING STOCK
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE ENGINEERS STRINGING NEW TELEGRAPH WIRES AT LIAO-YANG
]
[Illustration:
COOLIES PUSHING CARS BEFORE THE JAPANESE ENGINES ARRIVED
]
[Illustration:
FRESH TRANSPORT CARTS BROUGHT BY RAIL TO LIAO-YANG
]
BRINGING ORDER OUT OF CHAOS AFTER THE RUSSIANS EVACUATED LIAO-YANG
[Illustration:
FRESH SOLDIERS ARRIVING TO TAKE THE PLACES OF THOSE LOST AT LIAO-YANG
]
[Illustration:
UNLOADING NEW GUNS TO STRENGTHEN THE JAPANESE BATTERIES
]
[Illustration:
USING RUSSIAN TRAIN SERVICE TO BRING RESERVES TO LIAO-YANG
]
[Illustration:
ASSEMBLING THE PARTS OF GUNS AND PUTTING THEM TOGETHER AT LIAO-YANG
]
JAPANESE ACTIVITY AT LIAO-YANG IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE CAPTURE OF THE CITY
[Illustration:
JAPANESE BAND PLAYING AT GENERAL OYAMA’S HEADQUARTERS AT LIAO-YANG
]
[Illustration:
MARQUIS OYAMA, FIELD MARSHAL OF THE JAPANESE ARMIES
]
[Illustration:
TRANSFERRING SUPPLIES FROM CARS TO COMMISSARY CARTS AT LIAO-YANG
]
SCENES AT LIAO-YANG AFTER OYAMA’S THREE ARMIES HAD TAKEN POSSESSION OF
THE CITY
CHAPTER X
THE CHRONICLERS OF THE WAR
The most interesting stories written by the correspondents who were sent
to cover the Russo-Japanese War were probably the ones that never passed
the censor, the most extraordinary sights those which the correspondents
did not see. There has never been a struggle since the days of the
telegraph and the professional correspondent of which the world at large
knew so little. During the early months of the war practically all of
the correspondents were bottled up in Tokio, and when at last a few of
them were released and allowed to follow the army, they were kept far in
the rear, and were only permitted to see the fighting at the Yalu from
the top of a hill several miles from the firing line.
Marking time in Tokio for months were newspaper men and special writers
who were correspondent veterans of many wars, and who were compelled to
waste their energies in the description of tea-houses, theatres, and
other conventional show places. The unfortunate correspondents were
repeatedly told that they were soon to leave for the front, only to
learn presently that there was to be more delay, and to see a repetition
of the Japanese smile, and hear again the Japanese “I’m so very, very
sorry.”
R. L. Dunn, Collier’s special photographer, who was fortunate enough to
get into Korea before the rigid censorship of correspondents began, but
was subsequently forced to return, thus described some of the distresses
of the luckless who were held up in Tokio: “I found more than a hundred
war correspondents at Tokio, hustling from morning to night in order to
get ready in time, and buying a thousand odd things at war prices, so
that their equipments might meet every conceivable emergency. That was
in April. Spring changed into summer. Fur-lined sleeping bags and
firepots made the days seem hotter than they were. The whole winter
outfit had to be exchanged for one suited to summer. On June 1
everything was as it had been at the beginning, except that some
correspondents were contemplating the necessity of acquiring a third
outfit for the rainy season.”
“Never was parting guest more happy to get away,” wrote Collier’s
special correspondent, Frederick Palmer, when he and J. H. Hare,
Collier’s special photographer, at last left Tokio with three other
Americans—the first to be allowed to go to the front; “never was parting
guest more heartily and sincerely sped. With the correspondents of the
first contingent actually going, the hopes of the second and the third
rose to the dignity of expectations. They gathered at Shimbashi Station
with tin horns and gave the chosen few an Anglo-Saxon cheer. For over
two months some of us have waited for official passes to join the
Japanese army in the field. Now that we have the treasure it is not much
to look at—only a slip of paper which would go into the average sized
envelope. By rights, it should be on vellum, with marginal decorations
of storks standing on one leg and an inscription of _summa cum laude_
for patience in flourishes.”
[Illustration:
GENERAL KUROKI WITH HIS STAFF, CORRESPONDENTS, AND ATTACHÉS AT THE
CELEBRATION IN HONOR OF THE SHA-HO VICTORY
This celebration was held in November at Palansansu. The Japanese
correspondents as well as the foreign correspondents and
attaches are shown in the picture. The numbered figures are (1)
General Kuroki, (2) Prince Kuni, (3) General Fuji,
(4) Quartermaster Waternabe, with whom the correspondents had much to
do. The picture was taken by a Japanese photographer
]
[Illustration:
ANGUS HAMILTON, MANCHESTER “GUARDIAN”
]
[Illustration:
J. F. J. ARCHIBALD AND PRESS CENSOR
]
[Illustration:
GROUP OF CORRESPONDENTS AT NEWCHWANG
(1) THE HONORABLE MAURICE BARING, LONDON “MORNING POST”; (2) R. H.
LITTLE, CHICAGO “DAILY NEWS”; (3) FRANCIS
McCULLOUGH, “NEW YORK HERALD”; (4) J. F. J. ARCHIBALD, “COLLIER’S”;
(5) GEORGE DENNY, ASSOCIATED PRESS;
(6) GEORGES DE LA SALLE, FRENCH NEWS AGENCY; (7) VISCOUNT LORD BROOKE,
REUTER’S AGENCY; (8) DUTKEWICH
]
[Illustration:
G. ERASTOFF, RUSSIAN ARTIST
]
[Illustration:
SIGNOR PARDO, “TRIBUNA” OF ROME
]
[Illustration:
CAPTAIN SCHWARTZ, GERMAN
]
[Illustration:
T. M. MILLARD, “SCRIBNER’S MAGAZINE”
]
CORRESPONDENTS OF VARIOUS NATIONALITIES WITH THE RUSSIAN FORCES IN
MANCHURIA
[Illustration:
THREE RUSSIAN ARTISTS AND RUSSIAN PRESS CENSORS AT NEWCHWANG
]
[Illustration:
FUNERAL AT NEWCHWANG OF LOUIS ETZEL, THE FIRST CORRESPONDENT TO BE
KILLED
]
[Illustration:
UNITED STATES ARMY ATTACHÉS WITH THE RUSSIAN FORCES
]
[Illustration:
FOREIGN MILITARY ATTACHÉS WITH THE RUSSIAN FORCES IN MANCHURIA
]
CIVILIANS AND MILITARY ATTACHÉS WITH THE RUSSIAN FORCES IN MANCHURIA
[Illustration:
GENERAL KUROKI SHOOTING AT THE TARGET
]
[Illustration:
SIR IAN HAMILTON AND PRINCE KUNI
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL FUJI TRYING A SHOT FROM A SITTING POSITION
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL CROWDER, THE UNITED STATES ATTACHÉ
]
[Illustration:
CAPTAIN DANI, AUSTRIAN ATTACHÉ
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL SIR IAN HAMILTON SHOOTING
]
THE TARGET-SHOOT GIVEN FOR THE MILITARY ATTACHÉS BY GENERAL KUROKI IN
THE WINTER QUARTERS ON THE SHA-HO
[Illustration:
CAPTAIN HEGARDT, SWEDISH ATTACHÉ, AND COLONEL HUME OF THE BRITISH ARMY
]
[Illustration:
MAJOR ETZEL, GERMAN ATTACHÉ, READY TO FIRE
]
[Illustration:
BARON CORVISART, FRENCH ATTACHÉ, SQUINTING AT THE MARK
]
[Illustration:
THE ITALIAN ATTACHÉ, MAJOR CAVIGLIA, SHOOTING FROM THE GROUND
]
MILITARY ATTACHÉS, FIRING AT GENERAL KUROKI’S TARGET-SHOOT WITH CAPTURED
RUSSIAN RIFLES
[Illustration:
COLLIER’S PHOTOGRAPHER, VICTOR K. BULLA, WITH THE RUSSIAN FORCES
]
[Illustration:
COLLIER’S PHOTOGRAPHER, ROBERT L. DUNN, AND HIS COOLIES IN KOREA
]
[Illustration:
(1) JAMES H. HARE (COLLIER’S), (2) J. F. BASS (CHICAGO DAILY NEWS),
(3) FREDERICK PALMER (COLLIER’S), (4) W. DINWIDDIE (NEW YORK
WORLD), (5) R. M. COLLINS (ASSOCIATED PRESS AND REUTER’S)
AMERICAN CORRESPONDENTS WITH THE FIRST JAPANESE ARMY
]
[Illustration:
(1) RICHARD HARDING DAVIS (COLLIER’S), (2) W. H. LEWIS (NEW YORK
HERALD), (3) JOHN FOX, JR. (SCRIBNER’S), (4) W. H. BRILL (ASSOCIATED
PRESS), (5) GEORGE LYNCH (ENGLISH), (LONDON DAILY CHRONICLE)
AMERICAN CORRESPONDENTS WITH THE SECOND JAPANESE ARMY
]
WITH THE WAR CORRESPONDENTS IN KOREA AND MANCHURIA
[Illustration:
ATTACHÉS AND CORRESPONDENTS WITH GENERAL KUROKI’S FIRST ARMY CORPS AT
FENG-WANG-CHENG
(1) R. M. Collins; (2) David Fraser; (3) Capt. Dani; (4) Capt.
Jardine; (5) F. A. McKensie; (6) E. F. Knight; (7) Victor Thomas;
(8) O. K. Davis; (9) W. Maxwell;
(10) R. J. McHugh; (11) W. Dinwiddie; (12) Frederick Palmer; (13)
Capt. Vincent; (14) J. F. Bass; (15) M. H. Donohue; (16) Capt.
Hegardt; (17) Capt. Hoffmann;
(18) Capt. Payeur; (19) Col. Hume; (20) Baron Col. Corvisart; (21)
Gen. Sir Ian Hamilton; (22) Major Caviglia; (23) Major Etzel; (24)
Col. Gertsch; (25) Capt. Peyton C. March
]
CHAPTER XI
THE FIGHTING ALONG THE SHA-HO
The Japanese armies occupied Liao-Yang on September 4, and on September
8 the Russians announced that their entire forces had safely reached
Mukden. For a fortnight or so the two vast armies paused for breath,
while far to the southward the bombardment of Port Arthur continued, and
thousands of miles to the westward Russia’s Baltic fleet sailed from
Kronstadt for the Far East. During the latter part of September there
was desultory fighting along a considerable battle front, and when
General Gripenberg took command of the second Russian army in Manchuria,
General Kuropatkin began, the first week in October, an offensive
movement against his conquerors.
Whether this advance was his own idea or whether it was prematurely
ordered from St. Petersburg was not positively known, but it began with
an oratorical proclamation to the army that the time had come for Russia
to take the initiative and force Japan to do her bidding. Kuropatkin’s
force numbered nearly 300,000 men, his artillery was said to be superior
to the Japanese, and it was plain that the fight was to be on as vast if
not a vaster scale than that at Liao-Yang. For a time there were a few
slight Russian successes, and after sharp fighting Kuropatkin succeeded
in capturing Bentziaputze, about half-way between Liao-Yang and Mukden
and on the Japanese right. The offensive movement was directed along the
whole Japanese line, extending about thirty miles from Bentziaputze
westward to the Sha-Ho. For nearly a fortnight fierce fighting
continued, a test of endurance on both sides, until the Russians were
finally obliged to retreat, leaving behind many guns and having lost, it
was estimated, some sixty thousand men. The Japanese losses were about
twenty thousand. Desultory engagements continued through October and
November, in the midst of heavy rains, until the cold set in in earnest,
and both armies went into winter quarters.
In zero weather the two armies faced each other, burrowing underground
in their dugouts, in many places so close to each other that the
sentries could almost call one to another. The time was spent in target
practice, in chopping up wood to be used for building and for making
charcoal, and in drilling the recruits who were sent up to refill the
shattered regiments. The quarters in which the armies found shelter were
dugouts roofed over with logs, kowliang, and earth. That same attention
to detail which was characteristic of the Japanese army during the
campaign was as noticeable now that they were idle. There were even hot
baths for the soldiers. Earthenware jars were sunk in the ground much
like the Russian soup kettles. Water was heated in these and baths could
be taken as in so many vertical bathtubs. During the lull in the
fighting there was a celebration in honor of the successes on the Sha-Ho
at which there was a target-shoot between the military attaches.
Meanwhile the Baltic fleet was pursuing its slow journey to the Orient,
and the army of General Nogi was closing-in on Port Arthur.
[Illustration:
STAFF OF THE SECOND DIVISION AT THE BATTLE OF THE SHA-HO
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL SIR IAN HAMILTON, BRITISH ATTACHÉ, WITH GENERAL KUROKI
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL NISHIJIMA AND STAFF VIEWING THE FIGHT FROM A BOMB-PROOF
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIANS SHELLING VILLAGE OF CHONG-JU ON OCTOBER TENTH
]
SCENES DURING THE FIGHTING EARLY IN OCTOBER IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE
SHA-HO
[Illustration:
ATTACHÉS WATCHING THE FIGHT FROM POSITION NEAR THE YENTAI COAL MINES
]
[Illustration:
RESERVES UNDER FIRE SHELTERED BY AN EMBANKMENT
]
[Illustration:
SHELLS SWEEPING A KOWLIANG FIELD—“NO TRESPASSING HERE!”
]
[Illustration:
EMPTY SHELL CASES LEFT AT A BATTERY POSITION AFTER THE ACTION
]
CLOSE TO THE FIRING LINE DURING THE ENGAGEMENT NEAR THE YENTAI COAL
MINES
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN SHELLS BURSTING CLOSE TO JAPANESE BATTERY DURING THE SHA-HO
FIGHT
]
[Illustration:
A REMARKABLE PHOTOGRAPH SHOWING SHRAPNEL SHELLS BURSTING AND SWEEPING
ACROSS A FIELD
]
Of these two unusual close-range photographs the lower one shows how
shrapnel looks when it bursts properly. The thick white smoke is one
bursting shell, and the little puffs of smoke to the right are the 250
or so shrapnel bullets zipping along the ground. Those to the left are
from another shell. The photographs were taken at great personal risk by
Collier’s photographer, James H. Hare
[Illustration:
EXHAUSTED ENGINEERS SLEEPING UNDER FIRE DURING THE SHA-HO FIGHT
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE BATTERY PEPPERING THE RUSSIANS ACROSS THE FIELDS
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE BATTERY IN ACTION NEAR CHONG-JU
]
[Illustration:
IN THE KOWLIANG FIELDS WITH A JAPANESE BATTERY
]
WITH THE JAPANESE ON OCTOBER TENTH AT THE SHA-HO
[Illustration:
COLLIER’S PHOTOGRAPHER, JAMES H. HARE, RESUSCITATING WOUNDED RUSSIAN
]
[Illustration:
CORRESPONDENTS ASSISTING DISABLED RUSSIANS DURING THE SHA-HO FIGHT
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE SOLDIERS ASSISTING WOUNDED RUSSIANS AFTER THE ENGAGEMENT
]
[Illustration:
SAPPERS REVERSING RUSSIAN TRENCH AFTER JAPANESE HAD TAKEN IT
]
ON THE SHA-HO BATTLEFIELD WITH THE JAPANESE
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN SOLDIER KILLED WITH HIS HAND ON THE TRIGGER
]
[Illustration:
DAMAGE WROUGHT TO THE “TEMPLE OF EVERLASTING PEACE” AT THE SHA-HO
]
[Illustration:
GATHERING UP DÉBRIS FROM THE FIELD OF BATTLE
]
[Illustration:
FIELD TELEPHONES AT THE SHA-HO, SHELTERED BEHIND CHINESE HOUSE
]
VICTORS AND VANQUISHED IN THE FIGHTING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE SHA-HO
[Illustration:
RICE FOR THE JAPANESE ARMY STORED AT YENTAI
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE QUARTERMASTER’S STORES PILED UP AT YENTAI
]
[Illustration:
THE YENTAI COAL MINES AFTER THE RUSSIANS HAD BEEN REPULSED
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN AND JAPANESE WOUNDED BUYING FROM CHINESE PEDLERS AT YENTAI
]
THE AFTERMATH OF BATTLE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF YENTAI
[Illustration:
JAPANESE WOODSMAN SMOKING HIS LITTLE JAPANESE PIPE WHILE AT WORK
]
[Illustration:
CUTTING UP TIMBER TO BE BURNED FOR CHARCOAL
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE BURNING WOOD TO MAKE CHARCOAL FOR THE ARMY
]
PREPARING CHARCOAL FOR THE ARMY WHILE IT WAS ENCAMPED ON THE SHA-HO
[Illustration:
SALUTING THE CAPTAIN AS HE EMERGES FROM HIS DUGOUT
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE CUTTING TIMBER FOR FUEL WITH PORTABLE SAW
]
[Illustration:
IN AN OUTPOST TRENCH ALONG THE SHA-HO
]
IN WINTER QUARTERS WITH THE JAPANESE ARMY ON THE SHA-HO
[Illustration:
HEADQUARTERS OF THE REGIMENTAL COMMANDER
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE BUILDING A BATH-HOUSE ON THE SHA-HO
]
[Illustration:
SENTRY ON DUTY AT OFFICER’S DOOR
]
[Illustration:
TAKING A HOT BATH—THERMOMETER TWELVE BELOW
]
[Illustration:
SOLDIERS’ DUGOUTS IN THE SHA-HO WINTER QUARTERS
]
WITH THE JAPANESE ARMY IN DECEMBER IN CAMP ON THE SHA-HO
[Illustration:
JAPANESE REINFORCEMENTS MARCHING THROUGH SHI-LI-HO TOWARD THE FRONT
]
[Illustration:
WOUNDED RUSSIANS AND JAPANESE AT PALANSANSU
]
[Illustration:
TRYING TO KEEP WARM AT SHI-LI-HO WITH THE THERMOMETER FIFTEEN BELOW
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE WOUNDED GOING FROM YENTAI TO LIAO-YANG BY TRAIN
]
BETWEEN BATTLES WITH THE JAPANESE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE SHA-HO
[Illustration:
DRILLING THE NEWLY ARRIVED RECRUITS IN THE MILITARY STEP
]
[Illustration:
DRAWING WATER FROM THE WELL IN FREEZING WEATHER
]
[Illustration:
RECRUITS DRILLING AT THE SHA-HO WITH CAPTURED RUSSIAN RIFLES
]
[Illustration:
COOLIES DRAWING WATER FROM THE SPRING FOR THE JAPANESE
]
WITH THE JAPANESE IN WINTER QUARTERS AT THE SHA-HO
[Illustration:
CHILDREN PLAYING DUCK-ON-THE-ROCK WITH PIECES OF BROKEN SHELLS
]
[Illustration:
OFFERING UP THE HOG’S HEAD TO PROPITIATE THE JOSS
]
[Illustration:
PEASANTS STACKING UP KOWLIANG FOR WINTER USE
]
[Illustration:
MANCHURIAN WOMEN PREPARING VEGETABLES FOR PICKLING
]
TYPICAL VIEWS OF MANCHURIAN PEASANTS AFTER THE ARRIVAL OF THE JAPANESE
[Illustration:
MAJOR YOKURA, FIRST JAPANESE ADMINISTRATOR
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE CROSSING THE LIAO AT NEWCHWANG BEFORE IT FROZE OVER
]
[Illustration:
CHINESE CROSSING THE FROZEN LIAO RIVER ON SLEDS
]
SCENES AT NEWCHWANG SHORTLY AFTER THE FALL OF PORT ARTHUR
[Illustration:
JOSSES OF AN ANCIENT CHINESE TEMPLE LOOKING DOWN ON THE WOUNDED
INVADERS
]
CHAPTER XII
THE FALL OF PORT ARTHUR
The first day of January, 1905, witnessed the end of the gigantic siege
that had furnished a tragic background for eleven of the twelve months
of 1904. The first blow struck by the Japanese in the war was aimed at
Port Arthur, and during the month that followed they and the defenders
employed and endured more terrific forces of destruction than were ever
used at any other siege in the history of the world. The fall of this
Gibraltar of the East seemed to prove that there can be no such thing as
an impregnable fortress. The attack on Port Arthur began with Togo’s
dash against the Russian fleet on the night of February 8. Four months
later, through the successes of the Japanese on the Liaotung peninsula,
the fortress had been cut off from all outside help.
From the outer line of defence at Nanshan, and thirty miles from the
town, the Japanese worked their way literally inch by inch, burrowing
underground, digging deep trenches that zig-zagged toward the enemy’s
lines, until near enough to make a rush. In many places the ground was
solid rock and countermining was impossible. Barbed-wire entanglements
covered the country for miles, and wide stretches of bare ground had
been covered a foot deep with powdered white ash, which stirred into a
thick white cloud when trodden on, so as to make a splendid target for
machine guns. There were buried mines, some to explode automatically,
others to explode when the lookout man in a distant fort pressed a
button. At night searchlights flashed across every yard of the country
near the lines of forts, and sometimes the Russian gunboats creeping
along the shore outside the harbor got far enough to pour a cross-fire
into the Japanese encampments. Day and night Togo’s squadron sent in
from long range the terrible Shimose shells, worse than lyddite, on the
battered town and forts. Where it was impossible to tunnel or burrow,
masses of rock and bags full of sand were rushed forward at night to
make a temporary shelter where a regiment could go forward a hundred
yards, rest, fire for a few minutes, and advance another hundred yards,
until at last they were close to the enemy. Then, in the teeth of fierce
rifle fire, reinforced, perhaps, by shells from the other forts, the
final charge was made.
The last stage of the advance began on November 30 with the capture of
203-Metre Hill. From this hill the Japanese were able for the first time
to get the range of the Russian ships in the harbor. All the larger
vessels of the Russian fleet were soon disabled. The great Keekwan
Mountain fort was captured on December 18, and on the 30th Ehrlung Fort,
the key of the inner defences, was stormed. That day and the next the
Japanese captured half a dozen neighboring positions, and finally, on
January 1, General Stoessel, who had said at the beginning of the siege
that Port Arthur would be his tomb, sent a message to General Nogi
offering to surrender. For a second time Port Arthur passed into the
hands of those from whom the European powers had wrested it ten years
before.
[Illustration:
NOGI’S FIGHTING MEN RESTING IN CAMP AT HOOZAN HILL
]
[Illustration:
WOUNDED IN A SHELTER TENT THREE MILES FROM RUSSIAN BATTERIES
]
WITH THE JAPANESE DURING THE LAST DAYS OF THE SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR
[Illustration:
SIEGE GUNS ON THE SLOPE, FIELD GUNS AT THE TOP OF THE HILL
]
[Illustration:
ONE OF THE SHELLS BEGINNING ITS LONG FLIGHT TOWARD THE TOWN
]
THE GREAT SIEGE GUNS THROWING ELEVEN-INCH SHELLS INTO PORT ARTHUR
[Illustration:
TWO OF THE GREAT TWENTY-EIGHT CENTIMETER SIEGE GUNS USED BY THE
JAPANESE AGAINST PORT ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
FIVE-HUNDRED-POUND SHELLS WAITING TO BE HURLED INTO PORT ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN BOMB-PROOF NEAR NANSHAN HILL CAPTURED BY THE JAPANESE
]
[Illustration:
THE SLOW WORK OF MOVING THE SIEGE GUNS TO NEW EMPLACEMENTS
]
SCENES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF PORT ARTHUR DURING THE LONG SIEGE
[Illustration:
INFANTRY HIDDEN BY CORNFIELDS AND RAVINES WAITING THE ORDER TO ADVANCE
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE INFANTRY CREEPING THROUGH A CORNFIELD TOWARD THE RUSSIAN
POSITION NEAR HOOZAN
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE WAR BALLOON AND GAS BAG IN A FIELD ABOUT FOUR MILES NORTH OF
PORT ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL NOGI AND HIS STAFF, THE CONQUERORS OF PORT ARTHUR
]
General Nogi sits in the centre, the gray-bearded man with the round
decoration on his breast. On his right is General Ijichi, his chief of
staff, who conducted the negotiations for the surrender. On Ijichi’s
right is the Surgeon-General of the Third Army, and beyond, with the
beard and many decorations, is Major Arriga, Japan’s greatest expert on
international law
[Illustration:
BETWEEN FIGHTS IN THE TRENCH AT SHOGERSAN FORT
]
[Illustration:
SHELTERED INFANTRY AWAITING OPPORTUNITY TO ADVANCE
]
[Illustration:
BRINGING UP THE BIG TWENTY-EIGHT CENTIMETER SHELLS
]
[Illustration:
SIEGE GUN SHELTERED BEHIND BAGS OF EARTH
]
WITH THE JAPANESE AS THEY CLOSED IN AROUND PORT ARTHUR
[Illustration:
THE JAPANESE AND RUSSIAN WHITE FLAGS OF TRUCE
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL STOESSEL ABOUT TO PRESENT HIS FAVORITE HORSE TO GENERAL NOGI
]
[Illustration:
GENERAL STOESSEL AT THE STATION WAITING TO TAKE THE TRAIN FOR DALNY
]
INCIDENTS OF THE SURRENDER OF PORT ARTHUR TO THE JAPANESE
[Illustration:
ONE OF THE MANY “BOMB-PROOFS” USED BY CIVILIANS AT PORT ARTHUR
]
Although a woman was killed in this shelter shortly before the
photograph was taken, they were, generally speaking, fairly effective
protections. During the heavier bombardments, the occupants lived in
them for days at a time. The Russo-Chinese Bank transacted business
underground in “bomb-proofs” constructed in this manner for some time
during the latter part of the siege
[Illustration:
ENGINEERS’ STORES, SET ON FIRE BY JAPANESE SHELLS, BURNING AT PORT
ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE SHELL BURSTING IN THE BASIN IN THE EASTERN SECTION OF THE OLD
TOWN, PORT ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
VIEW OF THE OLD TOWN, PORT ARTHUR, IN NOVEMBER, AFTER A BOMBARDMENT
]
[Illustration:
THE PRICE OF VICTORY—PART OF THE JAPANESE DEAD LYING ON 203-METER HILL
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN DEAD AWAITING BURIAL IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF PORT ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
PHOTOGRAPHER’S STUDIO AT PORT ARTHUR AFTER IT HAD BEEN STRUCK BY ONE
OF THE JAPANESE SHELLS
]
[Illustration:
MAIN ROAD OUT OF THE NEW TOWN, PORT ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN POLICE STATION, PORT ARTHUR, HIT BY JAPANESE SHELL
]
[Illustration:
VIEW OF THE NEW TOWN, PORT ARTHUR, IN OCTOBER
]
[Illustration:
WHERE A JAPANESE SHELL HAD EXPLODED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TOWN
]
VIEWS OF PORT ARTHUR, IN OCTOBER, WHEN THE SIEGE WAS HALF OVER
[Illustration:
INSIDE FORT NILUSAN AFTER THE RUSSIANS HAD GIVEN IT UP
]
[Illustration:
STANDING ON A “BOMB-PROOF” INSIDE ONE OF THE PORT ARTHUR FORTS
]
[Illustration:
NORTH KEEKWANSAN FORT AFTER THE SURRENDER
]
[Illustration:
DISMOUNTED SIEGE GUNS INSIDE ONE OF THE RUSSIAN FORTS
]
INSIDE SOME OF THE RUSSIAN FORTS AT PORT ARTHUR AFTER ITS SURRENDER
[Illustration:
WOMEN AND CHILDREN ABOUT TO TAKE THE TRAIN FROM PORT ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
PRISONERS TAKEN AT PORT ARTHUR WAITING TO BOARD JAPANESE TRANSPORT
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN AND JAPANESE SOLDIERS GETTING ACQUAINTED
]
SCENES AT PORT ARTHUR IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SURRENDER
[Illustration:
JAPANESE SOLDIERS IN THE NIRYUSAN FORT AFTER THE SURRENDER
]
[Illustration:
THE CRUISER “PALLADA,” WITH THE “POBIEDA” SHOWING JUST BEHIND HER
]
[Illustration:
ON THEIR WAY TO 203-METER HILL WITH A TWENTY-EIGHT CENTIMETER GUN
]
[Illustration:
THE BATTLESHIP “RETVIZAN” BEACHED AT PORT ARTHUR
]
SCENES AT PORT ARTHUR IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SURRENDER
[Illustration:
BATTLESHIP “POBIEDA” BEACHED AT PORT ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
THE “POLTAVA” AND “PERESVIET” AGROUND IN THE HARBOR
]
[Illustration:
THE BATTERED “RETVIZAN,” “POLTAVA” AND “PERESVIET”
]
[Illustration:
FORWARD TURRET OF THE BATTLESHIP “RETVIZAN”
]
SUNKEN RUSSIAN BATTLESHIPS AT PORT ARTHUR AFTER ITS CAPTURE BY THE
JAPANESE
[Illustration:
THE BATTLESHIP “RETVIZAN” THE DAY AFTER THE SURRENDER OF PORT ARTHUR
]
[Illustration:
THE RIVER GUNBOAT “GILYAK” OF THE RUSSIAN “VOLUNTEER FLEET”
]
VIEWS OF THE HARBOR OF PORT ARTHUR WHEN THE JAPANESE TOOK POSSESSION
[Illustration:
CONVALESCENT WOUNDED RUSSIAN SAILORS AND THEIR JAPANESE NURSES AND
DOCTORS AT MATSUYAMA
]
CHAPTER XIII
THE BATTLE OF MUKDEN
Judged by the number of men engaged, the vast extent of the battlefield,
and the losses, the battle of Mukden was the greatest of modern times,
if not of all history. Even the tremendous duel at Liao-Yang, which was
on a larger scale than any modern battle that had preceded it, pales
before this nineteen days’ struggle. Between 750,000 and 800,000 men
were engaged, of which about 361,000 were Russian and at least 400,000
Japanese. When the nineteen days’ struggle began, both sides faced each
other in the valley of the Sha River, the Russian lines stretching back
upon tiers of defences, backed up with over 1,300 guns and forming south
of Mukden a barrier which foreign experts pronounced impregnable.
From east to west the five Japanese armies were assigned under the
following commanders—Kawamura, Kuroki, Nodzu, Oku, and Nogi. Field
Marshal Oyama’s plan was for these five armies to form a crescent nearly
one hundred miles in length, the cusps of which would gradually draw
together, the western cusp being finally thrown forward so as to form a
closed curve with the eastern. The plan thus outlined worked with
perfect success. Kawamura, in the eastern sector, began the attack first
on February 22, driving the Russians back toward Tita. For over a
fortnight the fiercest sort of fighting continued in this part of the
field, in the midst of zero weather and almost continuous snowstorms. It
ended with the Russians driven across the Hun River and the right horn
of the crescent having reached its final position opposite Mukden.
Meanwhile, Kuroki broke through the formidable works which guarded the
road to the Hun River from Pensihu, and arrived on March 5 in line with
the general advance. Nodzu, to the left of Kuroki, drove the enemy from
his last outworks south of the Sha River, and on March 6 paused to await
the other turning attacks on east and west. Oku, between the Sha and Hun
Rivers, rolled back the enemy’s line until its superior numbers and
strong intrenchments near Patishu, about ten miles from Mukden, forced
him to await the final turning movement of Nogi’s men on the extreme
west. These men of Nogi’s were Port Arthur veterans, who looked upon
this work as a mere picnic. On March 1 they reached Sinmintung,
thirty-three miles west of Mukden, where they wheeled to the right. They
carried position after position, assisted Oku’s attacks against the
enemy’s position southwest of Mukden, swinging eastward in an
arch-shaped line with a front of fifteen miles.
The crisis of the fight had come. On March 7 Kuropatkin gave the order
to retreat. All along the hundred-mile line the Japanese closed in. The
whole stupendous structure of the defence fell to pieces in an instant.
The Russians poured northward almost in a rout, and on March 10 the
Japanese occupied Mukden. The Russians had left more than 30,000 dead on
the field, lost 50,000 prisoners, and they had over 100,000 wounded. The
total Japanese casualties, as reported by Oyama, were 50,000.
[Illustration:
TYPICAL SCENE DURING THE RAINY-WEATHER CAMPAIGN ALONG THE HUN
]
[Illustration:
GETTING THE RANGE THROUGH THE HYPOSCOPE FROM 203-METER HILL
]
[Illustration:
CHINESE DIGGING GRAVES FOR RUSSIAN DEAD AT HIGH HILL
]
VIEWS AT PORT ARTHUR AND WITH A RUSSIAN BATTERY ON THE HUN RIVER
[Illustration:
TENTH RUSSIAN DRAGOONS SCOUTING NEAR MUKDEN
]
[Illustration:
ON THE MARCH ALONG THE ROAD NEAR MUKDEN
]
[Illustration:
CHUNCHUSE BANDITS RIDING THROUGH SINMINTUNG
]
RUSSIAN CAVALRY AND NATIVE HORSEMEN IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF MUKDEN
[Illustration:
MUSTER OF ONE OF KUROKI’S DIVISIONS AFTER THE BATTLE OF MUKDEN
]
All the battalions were full before the battle. There was not one that
did not lose at least ten or fifteen per cent of its quota—as the gaps
in the ranks show. Kuroki’s army during the closing-in movement on
Mukden was between Nodzu’s and Kawamura’s, the latter being on the
extreme right wing. This photograph was taken by Frederick Palmer,
Collier’s special correspondent
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN STEAMSHIP BEACHED IN THE HUN RIVER
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN CENSOR, BARON HOVEN, IN A GERMAN CART
]
[Illustration:
CHUNCHUSES LEAVING MUKDEN FOR SINMINTUNG
]
[Illustration:
RUSSIAN SCOUTS HALTING AT MONTOUR PASS, NEAR MUKDEN
]
SCENES IN THE MUKDEN NEIGHBORHOOD BEFORE THE JAPANESE WERE NEAR
[Illustration:
WHERE SOME OF THE SHELLS BURST DURING THE ARTILLERY DUELS NEAR MUKDEN
]
[Illustration:
DESOLATION IN MUKDEN IN THE PATH OF THE JAPANESE ATTACK
]
[Illustration:
JAPANESE CELEBRATION OF THE MUKDEN VICTORY
]
[Illustration:
VILLAGE HUTS AND STOCKADE BURNING NEAR MUKDEN
]
[Illustration:
THE MAIN STREET OF SINMINTUNG, NEAR MUKDEN
]
SCENES IN THE VICINITY OF MUKDEN AFTER THE RETREAT OF THE RUSSIANS
CHAPTER XIV
THE END OF RUSSIA’S SEA POWER
BY CAPTAIN A. T. MAHAN, U. S. N., RETIRED
The Battle of the Japan Sea resulted from the wish of Russia to
overthrow the naval control which has enabled the island Empire of Japan
to sustain her land warfare upon the continent of Asia. Preliminary to
this struggle, it was desirable that the fleet despatched for the
purpose, under Admiral Rojestvensky, should reach Vladivostok. There it
could refit after its long voyage, and there leave in security the train
of supply ships which had been the necessary accompaniment of so distant
an expedition.
After the junction of a second division under Admiral Nebogatoff, the
whole Russian fleet moved northward, passing between the Philippine
Islands and Formosa. Rojestvensky thus left open to doubt, and retained
in his hands the decision, whether he would seek his port by the Straits
of Korea, or, circumnavigating the main island of Japan, pass through
the Straits of Tsugaru, opposite Vladivostok. It may be presumed he was
as ignorant as the rest of the world just where Togo was; but he knew
that, whether in the Straits of Korea or of Tsugaru, he would have to
fight, if Togo chose, as he probably would. He decided to take the most
direct and shortest route through the Korean Channel.
Toga awaited him there; at what particular point is immaterial, for the
Straits are but sixty miles wide, which space is halved by the Island of
Tsushima, whence the Straits have the alternate name—Tsushima. In such
narrow waters, wherever the Japanese Admiral might be, he was certain,
by an extensive scouting system, to receive notice timely enough to
ensure intercepting his enemy. The notice came by wireless telegraphy
early on Saturday, May 27, from cruisers off Quelpaert Island, 150 miles
southwest of Tsushima; and as the Russian fleet, heading for
Vladivostok, drew up with Tsushima, the Japanese battleships were seen
rounding its northern point. As regards the position of the Russian
ships, it seems certain, that, upon sighting the enemy, they formed in
two columns of vessels. One contained the armored ships, a very
heterogeneous assembly in size and qualities, composed of battleships of
the first and second class, armored cruisers, and coast-defence
ironclads. The second column was of lighter cruisers. This took the left
hand, toward Tsushima, while the battleships were on the right, toward
Japan. At the head of the battle column were three battleships; two of
the first order of strength, 13,516 tons, the third of 10,000 tons,
between them.
Admiral Togo divided his principal force of fighting ships into two
squadrons. One, of four battleships and two armored cruisers, he kept
under his own immediate direction. The other, of six armored cruisers,
which are battleships of superior swiftness, but somewhat lighter armor
and armament, was intrusted to Admiral Kamimura. The first of these
approached from the north of Tsushima; the second, and faster, followed
a little later from round its southern end. The head of the Russian
battle column received the weight of the Japanese fire, and the superior
speed of the latter enabled them so to choose their positions as to keep
their fire concentrated on these leading ships. Kamimura’s attack was on
the rear, and after that the battle soon became general. There was also
a third Japanese squadron, of vessels not belonging to the armored
fleet. These alone had been shown by Togo, until the Russian was
committed to the passage of the Straits. They are said now to have
attacked the other side of the Russian column. In brief, while Togo
threw the weight of his force upon the head of the enemy’s order, he
provided that the remainder should be so occupied as not to render
serious assistance.
There was a strong breeze from southwest with a heavy sea. This favored
the Japanese, because of their longer experience and better training in
the use of their guns when the ships were in violent motion. This
disadvantage of the Russians was increased by the rolling of their
vessels, exposing the underwater body, giving the Japanese a target more
easily pierced, and the holes from which are more dangerous. Through the
five hours of daylight the contest was purely one of gunnery under the
conditions named: concentration upon the head of the Russian columns,
and heavy sea. The result was twofold. The head of the column, beaten
down by superior gunfire, was disordered; and individual ships, pierced
below water, filled and sank. As described, the Japanese, keeping ahead
of their enemy, forced them to change direction; but this by no means
need follow, were the Russians holding their own in the gunnery contest.
Had they given as good as they got, there was no reason why they should
forsake their course. The disorder, thus occasioned in the front, was
transmitted to the ships which followed; and there ensued the confusion
which is the sure precursor of defeat.
Upon this scene night fell. Of the Russians, three battleships and two
others had already been sunk. Then came the time and opportunity for the
torpedo vessels; darkness, and an enemy both crippled and broken. By a
singular coincidence, the wind which in its strength favored the
Japanese gunners—an advantage which they had earned and deserved—now
fell somewhat; and with it fell the sea, rendering easier the work of
the torpedo craft. This is one of the chances of war. Of the scenes of
that night we as yet have little description, and from the fearful loss
of life we possibly may never know enough justly to estimate the
difficulties of the defence of the routed ships, or the degree of
resistance experienced by the assailants. From Japanese sources we have
heard that, under all the disadvantages of the Russians, some attacks
were successfully repelled; and three torpedo destroyers were sunk. That
pursuit continued to the Liancourt Rocks, 200 miles from the scene of
the battle, indicates that, had not superior gunnery already won a
decisive victory, the torpedo alone would scarcely so have reduced the
Russian fleet as to leave the Japanese the secure mastery they now
possess of the waters which constitute their vital line of
communications.
The captured ships were the battleships “Orel” and “Emperor Nicholas I,”
the coast-defence vessels “General Admiral Apraxine” and “Admiral
Seniavin,” and the destroyer “Bedovy.” Six battleships, five cruisers,
one coast-defence ship, three destroyers, and a repair ship were sunk.
[Illustration:
THE SECOND SQUADRON OF THE BALTIC FLEET JUST BEFORE IT SAILED FROM
KRONSTADT
]
[Illustration:
THE LITTLE ARMORED GUNBOAT “KHRABRY”
Built in 1890; of 1492 tons, has one 9-inch, one 6-inch, eight Q. F.
guns, and two torpedo tubes
]
[Illustration:
THE FAST ARMORED CRUISER “SVIETLANA”
Built in 1896; has six 5.9 Q. F. Canets, ten 1.8-inch guns, four
torpedo tubes, and a speed of 20.2 knots
]
FIGHTING SHIPS OF VARIOUS CLASSES IN RUSSIA’S BALTIC FLEET
[Illustration:
THE BATTLESHIP “EMPEROR ALEXANDER II”
An old boat, built in 1887; armed with two 12-inch, four 9-inch, eight
6-inch, twenty-four smaller guns, and five torpedo tubes
]
[Illustration:
THE BATTLESHIP “SISSOI VELIKY”
Built in 1894; of 8,800 tons, has four 12-inch, six 6-inch Q. F.,
eighteen smaller Q. F., and six torpedo tubes
]
[Illustration:
THE POWERFUL BATTLESHIP “OSLABYA”
Built in 1898; of 12,674 tons, has four 10-inch, eleven 6-inch Q. F.,
sixteen 3-inch, twenty-seven smaller guns, and six torpedo tubes
]
[Illustration:
THE FIRST-CLASS BATTLESHIP “BORODINO”
Built in 1901; of 13,400 tons, has four 12-inch, twelve 6-inch Q. F.,
twenty 3-inch, many smaller guns, and six torpedo tubes
]
FORMIDABLE FIGHTING SHIPS OF RUSSIA’S BALTIC FLEET
[Illustration:
THE FIRST-CLASS BATTLESHIP “OREL”
Built in 1903; of 13,400 tons, has four 12-inch, twelve 6-inch Q. F.,
twenty 3-inch Q. F., and many smaller guns, and six torpedo tubes
]
[Illustration:
THE BATTLESHIP “NAVARIN”
Built in 1891; of 10,000 tons, has four 12-inch, eight 6-inch, and
twenty-two smaller rapid fire guns, and six torpedo tubes
]
[Illustration:
FIRST-CLASS BATTLESHIP “ALEXANDER III”
Built in 1901; of 13,600 tons, has four 12-inch, twelve 6-inch Q. F.,
and forty six smaller guns. The speed is 18 knots
]
[Illustration:
THE COAST BATTLESHIP “GENERAL ADMIRAL APRAXIN”
Battleship of the fifth class, built in 1893; of 4,126 tons, has three
10-inch, four 4.7-inch, and thirty-six small quick-fire guns
]
FOUR OF THE BATTLESHIPS OF RUSSIA’S BALTIC FLEET
[Illustration:
THE BATTLEGROUND OF THE WAR AND THE VICTORIOUS PROGRESS OF THE
JAPANESE
]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
● Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained.
● Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
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