The First Japanese Disaster--The "Hatsuse" Strikes a
Mine--Admiral Togo Undaunted--Rammed in the Fog--Renewed
Russian Hopes--The Vladivostock Squadron--A Thrill Through the
Civilized Globe--Skrydloff the Raider--Kamimura on the
Track--Approaching Port Arthur--The Importance of
Nanshan--Japanese Dispositions--General Oku's Attack--Terrific
Carnage--A General Bombardment--Chances of Defeat--Rushing the
Trenches--The Russians in Flight--Tremendous Moral
Effect--Terrific Casualties--Alarm in St. Petersburg--Fatal
Russian Strategy--Old Tactics versus New--The Veil over the
Tragedy.
[Sidenote: The First Japanese Disaster]
The Japanese fleet, as we have seen in the last chapter, had once again
done its work thoroughly. The Russian fleet, crippled in the early days
of the war and harried incessantly ever since, was now for weeks to
come securely shut up in the harbor of Port Arthur, and could do
nothing seriously to affect the course of events. Admiral Togo, with
his six powerful battleships and his splendid cruisers, had absolute
command of the Gulf of Pechili, and the transports from Japan were able
to pour troops with perfect safety upon the shores of the Liao-tung
Peninsula. It was at this moment of conspicuous success that the first
serious calamity of the war overtook the Japanese Navy, and two
terrible accidents occurred which filled the Russians with hope, as
appearing to betoken a turn at last in the tide of fortune and to
threaten the forces of the Mikado with something like the cloud of
misfortune that had so far hung over their opponents. There was,
however, this notable difference between the two cases. The losses
suffered by the Russians at sea were almost all due to their own lack
of forethought or of skill; they seemed to court defeat, and defeat
came to them in full measure. But the blow which now befell the
Japanese fleet was of a kind which the utmost ability and precaution
could hardly have prevented, and, moreover, serious as it was, it did
not materially affect the main course of the campaign, although
undoubtedly it compelled the Commander-in-Chief in some degree to
modify his plan of operations.
The disaster was a double one. On one and the same day, the 15th of
May, the magnificent battleship, the _Hatsuse_, was blown up by mines
and sunk with fully 500 men; and the protected cruiser, _Yoshino_,
colliding with the _Kasuga_ in a dense fog, was totally lost, only 90
of her crew being saved.
[Illustration: OUTSIDE PORT ARTHUR.]
[Sidenote: The "Hatsuse" Strikes a Mine]
It was at a spot ten miles southeast of Liaotishan promontory that the
_Hatsuse_ met her fate. With the _Shikishima_, the _Yashima_, and two
cruisers, she was engaged in watching Port Arthur and protecting the
landing of troops on the peninsula. Heavy fogs come off the land in the
Gulf of Pechili at this period of the year, and during the morning
navigation had been rendered difficult owing to this reason, but by 11
o'clock the weather had changed and the sky was clear. No enemy was in
sight, when suddenly, without any warning, a shock was felt under the
stern of the _Hatsuse_ and a heavy explosion took place, damaging her
steering gear. She signalled to the other ships at once to stand by and
give assistance, but before anything could be done another mine
exploded under her and tore a great yawning hole in her plates. The
water rushed into her in torrents, and at once the great ship began to
settle down. In a few moments, with appalling swiftness, she sank like
a stone, with all her freight of humanity. Had the catastrophe occurred
during the night hardly a man could have been saved, but fortunately in
the broad daylight something could be done to lessen the tale of death.
The boats of the other battleships and the cruisers were quickly upon
the spot and succeeded in picking up 300 officers and men out of a
total complement of about 800. Among these were Rear-Admiral Nashiba
and Captain Nakao, the commander of the vessel. The list of the drowned
included some of the brightest officers of the Japanese Navy, including
Commander Tsukamoto, Commander Count Nire, and Commander Arimori.
Besides these, five second lieutenants, five engineers, two surgeons,
six midshipmen, four engineer cadets, and ten non-commissioned officers
perished.
While the work of rescue was proceeding, sixteen of the Russian
torpedo-boat destroyers seized the opportunity to come out of the
harbor and effect a diversion, but the Japanese destroyer flotillas
engaged them hotly, and other cruisers from Togo's fleet coming up with
all speed, drove them back into Port Arthur.
[Sidenote: Admiral Togo Undaunted]
The _Hatsuse_, which was built at Elswick in 1899 after the type of the
English ship _Majestic_, was a ship of 15,000 tons displacement, and
15,000 indicated horse-power. She could steam 18 knots, her armor was
14.6 inches, and the weight of her broadside fire was 4,240 lbs. Her
destruction of course meant a serious weakening of Togo's first
fighting line, for six battleships were by no means too large a force
for the work he had to do. Moreover, the _Hatsuse_, with the _Asahi_,
_Shikishima_, and _Mikasa_, were the most modern and up-to-date ships
of their class in the fleet; the _Yashima_ and the _Fuji_, which
completed the list, being older and less heavily armed vessels.
Nevertheless the grip of the Japanese Admiral upon the beleaguered port
never slackened one whit, and in the event his five battleships, with
their accompanying cruisers, were destined to prove more than a match
for the navy of the Czar in the great battle in blue water which took
place three months afterwards.
The sinking of the _Yoshino_ was not so heavy a blow, but it was
serious enough in the circumstances, and the loss of life was in itself
greatly to be deplored. This second-class protected cruiser was also
built at Messrs. Armstrong's famous works on the Tyne. She was of 4,180
tons displacement, and her engines had an indicated horse-power of
15,750, with a speed of 23 knots, and a weight of broadside fire of 780
lbs. She was quite an old ship, as modern men-of-war go, having been
launched in 1892, and taking an honorable part in the Chino-Japanese
war of 1895.
[Sidenote: Rammed in the Fog]
On the fatal 15th of May she formed one of the cruiser squadron which,
under the command of Rear-Admiral Dewa, was engaged in the blockading
operations outside Port Arthur. The squadron had been standing off the
harbor during the night of the 14th, and early in the morning steamed
southwards. An impenetrable fog concealed everything from view, and the
big ships had to proceed with the utmost caution. But in such difficult
circumstances the utmost caution is sometimes unavailing, and at 1.40
the _Kasuga_, one of the twin ships recently purchased from the
Argentine Government, rammed the _Yoshino_ on the port stern. A
terrible gap was torn in the hull of the unfortunate cruiser, and at
once she began to settle down to starboard. From the meagre accounts
furnished by the survivors, it is clear, as indeed might have been
expected, that the most perfect discipline prevailed on board the
doomed vessel. Collision mats were quickly got out and placed over the
hole, but the injury was too severe to be dealt with by such means, and
the swift inrush of water made all efforts to save the vessel vain.
Captain Sayegi, the commander of the ship, ordered all the crew onto
the upper deck, and the boats were lowered without delay, but the
disaster was too sudden for them to be of any use. Five were lowered on
the starboard side and one on the port, but before they could get clear
the cruiser listed heavily to starboard and went down, smashing all the
five boats on that side to pieces. The cutter, which was lowered on the
port side, was the only boat that escaped. With perfect coolness and
self-devotion the captain remained on the bridge and shouted
encouragement to his men as they were getting into the boats. When last
seen he was shaking hands with his second in command, Commander
Hirowateri. In another moment both officers had gone down with their
ship. The boats of the _Kasuga_ were on the spot with all possible
speed, and succeeded in picking up 90 of the crew, but the rest,
numbering upwards of 270, perished with their captain.
[Sidenote: Renewed Russian Hopes]
When this two-fold disaster became known, the Russians were naturally
elated and even filled with renewed hope. Its true proportions, too,
were greatly exaggerated, and in the expectation that the Japanese
would be seriously hindered in their landing operations on the coast of
Liao-tung, General Kuropatkin countermanded the evacuation of
Niuchwang, which had already partly taken place, and his forces once
again occupied that port. However, as we have already stated, the loss
he had sustained did not lessen the grip maintained by Admiral Togo
upon Port Arthur. His weakened condition did, indeed, at a later period
give the Russian fleet, after it had been patched up with infinite
pains and difficulty, an admirable opportunity to break through the
cordon, but the attempt was made with singular feebleness, and the
admiral in command took his ships back to the refuge of the harbor
without effecting anything. On the other hand, the destruction of the
_Hatsuse_ and the _Yoshino_, by necessitating the withdrawal of some
ships from Admiral Kamimura, who was guarding the Korean Straits,
indirectly gave the Vladivostock squadron a chance of raiding the coast
of Japan for some time with impunity, of destroying a great deal of
merchant shipping, and incidentally of bringing about the most serious
international complications, in which Great Britain, as the chief
trading country of the world, was the power principally involved.
[Illustration: A SKIRMISH ON THE MANCHURIAN RAILWAY.]
[Sidenote: The Vladivostock Squadron]
It will be convenient at this point briefly to advert to the exploits
of this squadron, which have necessarily been put on one side in the
recent course of the narrative by the claims of the more important
events. After the destruction of two small Japanese merchantmen on the
11th of February nothing more was heard of Captain Reitzenstein's
cruisers for more than two months. In April, however, the command was
taken over by a more highly-placed officer, Rear-Admiral Jessen, and a
sudden burst of activity took place. With the _Rossia_, the _Rurik_,
and the _Gromoboi_, and a flotilla of torpedo-boats and destroyers, the
new commander made a raid upon the east coast of Korea at Gensan. At
that very time Admiral Kamimura's squadron started on a voyage
northwards to search for the Russians, and there can be no doubt that
the two would have met, but by a stroke of the most perverse ill-luck
one of those dense spring fogs, which descend upon the Sea of Japan
like a pall, intervened and the opposing squadrons passed close to one
another without discovering their proximity. When, totally baffled by
these weather conditions, Kamimura returned to Gensan after a three
days' cruise, he found to his chagrin that the Russians had visited the
port in his absence and had even sunk a small merchant steamer called
the _Goyo Maru_. But of more serious importance still was the
destruction of the _Kinshiu Maru_, a transport with 124 soldiers of the
37th Regiment of Infantry on board. She fell in with the enemy's ships
on the night of the 25th while they were on their way back to
Vladivostock. A summons to surrender was met by a haughty refusal. An
hour's grace was given, at the end of which a torpedo was discharged
against the doomed vessel, striking her amidships. Under the orders of
their officers the men fell in upon the deck, as calmly and steadily as
if on parade, to wait for inevitable death. The officers themselves,
five in number, following the stern traditions of the ancient Samurai
clan, went below and committed suicide; but the rank and file
determined that they would strike one blow at the enemy before they
died, and so they opened a gallant but ineffective fire upon the
Russians with their rifles. The cruisers made a deadly reply with their
machine guns, tearing great gaps in the masses of men thickly gathered
together on the deck of the transport. Still, however, the soldiers
fought on with desperate bravery, until another torpedo brought the
tragic drama to a swift conclusion, sinking the ship in a few seconds.
Undaunted even at the moment of death, the Japanese went down with
triumphant shouts of "Banzai" upon their lips. Seventy-four of the rank
and file perished, but forty-five others escaped by means of the
steamer's boats, which they found floating on the sea, and on the 29th
they arrived at Gensan with their thrilling story.
[Sidenote: A Thrill Through the Civilized Globe]
It was a story mournful indeed in one aspect, but in all others
glorious and inspiring. It may be doubted, indeed, whether any one
event which had hitherto occurred in the whole course of the war so
inflamed the martial ardor of the Japanese and filled them with such
high hopes for a successful issue from the great conflict upon which
they had entered, as the splendid heroism and calm self-sacrifice with
which the soldiers and bluejackets on board the _Kinshiu Maru_ met
their death. Who could withhold the conviction that if this was the
spirit in which the sons of Dai Nippon advanced to the work that lay
before them, no misfortune, no temporary defeat could in the end
prevent victory from resting upon the banners of the Rising Sun? Nor
was the moral effect of the deed confined to Japan. The story sent a
thrill through the whole civilized globe, and taught the nations of
Europe and the masters of the New World that, accustomed as they were
to acts of daring and devotion among their own people, a race had
arisen in the Far East whose dauntless bearing in war they could not
hope to surpass.
[Sidenote: Skrydloff the Raider]
Another month elapsed before the Vladivostock squadron proved
troublesome again. It had then come directly under the control of the
new Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific fleet, Admiral Skrydloff, who had
been appointed to succeed the ill-fated Makaroff, and whose reputation
in the Russian navy was second only to that of his distinguished
predecessor. Unfortunately for Russia, Admiral Skrydloff arrived in the
Far East too late to reach his main fleet. At Harbin he learnt that
Port Arthur was invested both by land and sea, and that it was
impossible for him to assume the command at the place where his
services were most needed. He was, therefore, compelled to go on to
Vladivostock instead and direct the operations of the cruiser squadron
there in the desperate hope that at a later period an opportunity might
occur of effecting a junction with his Port Arthur fleet. A further
piece of bad news awaited him at the northern port. One of the four
cruisers which were all that now furnished his attenuated command had
gone ashore in a fog a few days previously, and had become a total
wreck. This was the _Bogatyr_. She was, indeed, the smallest ship in
the squadron, being a second-class protected cruiser of 6,750 tons, but
her speed was high, and her loss in the dark circumstances of the hour
was a serious blow. However, the gallant Admiral proceeded to make the
best of the material which lay at his disposition, and in the course of
the next two months he pursued most vigorous tactics, venturing
southwards with great frequency, harrying the coasts of Japan, and
bringing maritime commerce in that part of the world almost to a
standstill.
[Sidenote: Kamimura on the Track]
Admiral Kamimura with his cruisers made the most strenuous efforts to
catch his elusive enemy, but the bad luck which had visited him at
Gensan at the end of April continued to dog him still for a long time.
Again and again a convenient fog intervened to favor the escape of the
Russians; moreover, the Japanese squadron had to be depleted in order
to furnish aid to the main fleet which was blockading Port Arthur, and
assisting in the landing of troops; and furthermore, the strategic
necessity of closely guarding the Straits between Japan and Korea and
preventing the possibility of a junction between the two Russian
fleets, severely limited the area of Kamimura's activity. In these
circumstances Admiral Skrydloff's cruisers had an almost uncheckered
run of success for a period of two months. The Japanese Admiral came in
for some sharp criticism at the hands of the general public in Japan
for his apparent lack of energy, but the authorities at Tokio, who had
all the conditions of the campaign before them in their true
proportions, trusted him thoroughly, and their trust was magnificently
vindicated on the 14th of August, when he at last managed to trap the
Russians into his net, and administered to them a signal defeat in a
pitched battle on the high seas.
[Sidenote: Approaching Port Arthur]
A return must now be made to the land operations upon the Liao-tung
Peninsula. Undeterred by the loss of the _Hatsuse_ and the _Yoshino_,
the Japanese continued to pour in troops at Yentoa Bay and Pitszewo. At
the same time the 3rd Army, under General Nodzu, began to disembark at
Takushan. But it was to General Oku and the 2nd Army that the honor
fell of striking the next blow for the Mikado. This was the capture of
Kinchau and the storming of the Russian entrenchments on Nanshan Hill,
which, after preliminary operations lasting over some days, was finally
effected on the 26th of May.
[Sidenote: Importance of Nanshan]
The narrow neck of land, a mile and three-quarters in breadth, running
between Kinchau Bay on the west and Hand Bay--a small inlet of
Talienwan Bay--on the east, possesses great strategical importance. The
high ground to the south of it, of which the salient point is the
Nanshan Hill, completely commands the approach to Port Arthur from the
north, and, as it cannot be outflanked by any ordinary method, it gives
an admirable opportunity, to a defending force to resist an attack from
that quarter. It is, indeed, commanded in its turn by an eminence
called Mount Sampson, which lies to the northeast; but in this instance
the disadvantage was more than counterbalanced by the fact that the
Japanese could only oppose to the heavy fortress guns which the
Russians had mounted on Nanshan, field artillery of an inferior
calibre. After the landing of the enemy at Yentoa and the cutting of
the railway had made clear the imminence of the peril which threatened
Port Arthur, the governor of the fortress, General Stoessel, wasted no
time in erecting powerful defences at this naturally strong position.
During the ensuing weeks the Russian engineers went feverishly to work
constructing entrenchments on Nanshan and the connecting chains of
hills, and also on a second line of eminences further to the south, the
chief of which is named Nankuenling. These careful preparations might
well seem to have rendered the position impregnable. Ten forts almost
permanent in character were established on Nanshan, and at every
available point trenches and rifle pits were dug and concealed with the
greatest skill, and their approaches guarded by barbed wire
entanglements, while at convenient places mines were laid to entrap an
unwary foe. Over 70 guns, many of them pieces of fortress artillery of
heavy calibre, were placed in position here, and the whole was manned
by a force of 12,000 men; the utmost number of troops that could with
advantage be employed in such a confined area. Altogether, with the
exception of Port Arthur itself, no more formidable obstacle has ever
been presented to the advance of an invading army in modern times than
was offered by General Stoessel at Kinchau. The village of Kinchau
itself, it should be explained, though it gave the name to the battle,
was of comparatively small strategical importance, lying as it does on
the low ground to the northeast of the isthmus and offering an easy
prey, but at the same time no particular advantage, to the enemy.
[Sidenote: Japan Dispositions]
The concentration of the Japanese army proceeded in the circumstances
with great rapidity. On the 21st of May, the whole force, consisting of
three divisions, or about 60,000 men, was established to the north of
Hand Bay. Under the protection of the angle formed by the range of
hills to the south of Mount Sampson, the troops were formed up for
battle, and General Oku explained to his chief subordinates his
dispositions for the attack. Careful reconnaissances during the next
two days, by drawing the fire of the enemy, revealed the strength of
the Russian position, which stretched from Nanshan to the west to
Hushangtao on the east. At this latter point eight guns were stationed,
commanding the waters of Hand Bay, so that co-operation by the Japanese
gunboats from this side was impossible. On the other hand, the Russians
had a gunboat themselves stationed in the bay, and this was able to
render valuable assistance to the defending force when the attack
developed. On the west the waters of Kinchau Bay were too shallow to
admit of the approach of vessels of any but the smallest draught, but
four of the Japanese gunboats were able to enter close up to the shore,
and gave conspicuous aid to General Oku in the course of the operations.
[Sidenote: General Oku's Attack]
On the 25th of May the Russian positions at Kinchau and Nanshan were
heavily bombarded, and General Oku extended his line to the north as
well as to the east. At dawn on the next day the attack began in
earnest. A fierce and sustained bombardment, lasting for five hours,
prepared the way for the advance, after which the Japanese made an
onslaught upon the village of Kinchau, and drove the Russians at the
point of the bayonet back upon their main line of defence, Nanshan. In
this attack they were greatly assisted by the gunboats, the _Tsukushi_,
_Saiyen_, _Akagi_ and _Chiokai_, which brought their fire to bear upon
the enemy's batteries at Suchiatun and Nanshan, and kept them hotly
engaged. The capture of Kinchau, however, was only the first step in
the fiery progress which lay before the Mikado's troops. To dislodge
the Russians from Nanshan itself was a work of much greater magnitude.
It was to the 4th Division that the main part of this honorable duty
was assigned, the centre of the Japanese line being held by the 1st
Division, and the extreme left by the 3rd.
[Sidenote: Terrific Carnage]
Another fierce artillery duel preluded the general advance. By 11
o'clock the Russian batteries appeared to have been silenced, and the
Japanese pressed forward to storm the heights. But it turned out that
General Stoessel was only reserving his fire. No sooner did the
Japanese debouch into the open upon the slopes which led up to the hill
than a storm of missiles swept across their path, mowing them down in
serried masses. The wire entanglements, too, proved a deadly obstacle.
Rush after rush was made by the gallant Japanese, but every attempt to
get near to the trenches was vain. The carnage was terrific. The
officers fell in all directions, the rank and file lay in piles of dead
at the foot of the hill, and the advance came for a time to an absolute
standstill.
[Sidenote: A General Bombardment]
It was clear that further artillery preparation was necessary, and
therefore General Oku ordered a general bombardment once more. For
hours his field batteries, supplemented by the gunboats, rained shot
and shell upon the Russian positions, searching the whole range of
forts and trenches, and doing terrible execution. The Russian fire
slackened under this fearful cannonade, but still the Japanese
continued their bombardment.
[Sidenote: Chances of Defeat]
And now came the crucial moment of the day. The artillery ammunition of
the attacking force began to give out. To bring up fresh supplies from
far in the rear meant that before the bombardment could be resumed
night would have fallen upon the scene, for it was by this time late in
the afternoon. When this untoward intelligence was brought to him,
General Oku was presented with a problem of the utmost difficulty and a
responsibility which might well have seemed overwhelming. He must
either hazard another infantry attack at once, fraught with all the
possibility of failure, or he must temporarily withdraw his forces and
wait for further ammunition and perhaps heavier guns. The second course
meant only delay; the first, in the event of a repulse, meant not
merely delay, but the possibility of a crushing defeat as well. It must
be remembered, moreover, that the troops had been close upon sixteen
hours in the field. In these circumstances a commander of less
resolution and with less confidence in his men would have been under a
strong temptation to choose the alternative which offered the smaller
risk, but General Oku was made of different mettle. He knew that delay
would upset the general arrangements of the campaign; he knew, too,
that it might give a fatal opportunity for the advance of a relief
force from the north. He therefore at once accepted the tremendous
responsibility of ordering a resumption of the attack all along the
line. Fortunately, a weak point in the Russian defences had been
discovered. The shallow waters of Kinchau Bay allowed men to wade in
and approach Nanshan from the southwest, at a point at which, owing to
the angle of emplacement of the Russian guns, they could do
comparatively little damage to an advancing force. It was resolved to
try this plan.
[Illustration: RUSSIANS CHARGING JAPANESE TRENCHES AT PORT ARTHUR.]
[Sidenote: Rushing the Trenches]
Once again, then, the bugles rang out for attack, and the Japanese
threw themselves with desperate bravery upon the Russian entrenchments.
The wire entanglements gave as much difficulty as ever, and the slopes
of the hill were one blinding sheet of flame; but still the Japanese
pressed forward, climbing over their own dead and working their way
gradually through the obstacles placed in their path. By a piece of
good fortune the electric wires connected with a large mine field were
discovered just in time and cut, and thus a dreadful disaster was
averted. But brilliant as was the dash of the 1st and 3rd Divisions on
the Russian right, the defence of the Czar's troops was stubborn and
hardly contested, and it was not till the 4th Division on the extreme
left had carried through their flanking operation that the issue of the
day was put beyond doubt. Here the gunboats in the bay rendered
invaluable service. They steamed close in and poured in a heavy fire
upon the Russian batteries, covering the advance of the infantry
through the shallows. In this gallant operation the commander of the
_Chiokai_, Captain Hayashi, was killed, and several other casualties
were sustained by the crews engaged. But the work was accomplished.
Climbing the hill like cats, the Japanese soldiery broke through the
entanglements in face of a galling fire and rushed the trenches,
bayonetting the defenders where they stood. Nothing could stop that mad
onslaught, and after a fierce hand-to-hand conflict on the summit the
flag of the Rising Sun floated triumphantly over the position which the
Russians had so fondly, and indeed so naturally, deemed to be
impregnable.
[Sidenote: The Russians in Flight]
General Stoessel, finding that there was no use in continuing the
sanguinary conflict now that his flank was turned, ordered a general
retreat. The Japanese, however, in spite of the tremendous fatigues to
which they had already been subjected since dawn, fiercely pursued
their retiring enemy, with the result that the Russians found it
impossible to make a stand at their second line of defence at
Nankuenling, and were compelled to flee as far as the immediate
neighborhood of Port Arthur itself.
[Sidenote: Tremendous Moral Effect]
The moral effect of this great victory of the Japanese was tremendous.
The Russians, and with them a great many Continental critics, had
attempted to minimize the importance of the battle of the Yalu. The
Japanese, they said, were in overwhelming numbers, the position was one
that could be easily turned, and General Sassulitch ought never to have
tried to stand his ground. But such criticisms were silenced by
Kinchau. The little Japs were seen to be equal, if not superior, man
for man, to their Russian opponents, and the fierce, almost fanatical,
fervor of their patriotism proved a factor in the struggle the
importance of which few people had properly estimated. It was felt at
once by military men in Europe, that if 12,000 Russians, armed with
heavy guns, could not hold such a post as that of Nanshan against the
onslaught of the Japanese, the fall of Port Arthur itself, provided
there were no effective diversion from the north, was merely a question
of time.
[Sidenote: Terrific Casualties]
Nor were the material fruits of General Oku's success less striking.
His losses in _personnel_, of course, were heavy, amounting to 133
officers, and 4,062 non-commissioned officers and men killed and
wounded. The casualties of the defenders were naturally not so great,
but over 500 Russians were left dead upon the field, and it is
estimated that their total losses in killed and wounded must have
numbered over 2,000. Sixty-eight pieces of artillery and ten
machine-guns fell into the hands of the victors.
[Illustration: AFTER FOUR MONTHS.
Continuing their advance, the first Japanese Army, under Kuroki
occupied Kuan-tien on May 14. In the meantime the second Japanese Army,
under Oku, had effected a landing on the Liaotung Peninsula at Pitzuwo.
On May 16 they seized the Kinchau heights, and ten days later defeated
the Russians at the battle of Nanshan. Dalny was occupied on May 30.
The third Japanese Army, under Nodzu, began landing at Takushan on May
19, and on June 8 occupied Siu-yen.
The shaded portion shows the Japanese advance.]
Four days afterwards the Japanese entered Dalny and occupied that
important station. With the exception of the great pier, all those
enormous works upon which the Russians had been expending vast sums for
years were found to be intact, and the invaders were able henceforth to
use the port as an invaluable base for their operations against Port
Arthur.
[Sidenote: Alarm in St. Petersburg]
This series of disasters caused the greatest alarm in St. Petersburg.
The seriousness of the danger that threatened Port Arthur was realized
in all its fulness at last, and the lofty assurance which had hitherto
reigned supreme among the Imperial _entourage_ gave place to feelings
of panic. The result was that desperate measures were embarked upon
which only led to fresh misfortunes. General Kuropatkin himself had
seen from the first the impossibility of relieving Port Arthur from the
north until he had a larger force at his disposal than he was likely to
secure for months to come. His plan had always been to concentrate his
main army at Liao-yang, or, if necessary, at Mukden, and wait till the
arrival of large reinforcements enabled him to advance against the
Japanese with some hope of success. If the Commander-in-Chief had been
left to himself it is possible that this plan would have been pursued
consistently and a great _debacle_ might have been avoided. Port
Arthur, indeed, would have been almost certain to fall, but in the
opinion of nearly every strategist who had studied the problem, nothing
short of a miracle could now save the so-called Gibraltar of the East.
The only sound policy for the Russians was one of retirement and
concentration until a more favorable opportunity presented itself. But
now the Evil Genius of Russia interposed with his fatal counsels. To
Admiral Alexeieff it was unthinkable that Port Arthur, at which for so
long he had held his haughty Viceregal state, should be abandoned
without a mighty effort. Ever since the arrival of General Kuropatkin
in Manchuria had reduced him to a position of comparative inferiority,
he had been intriguing against that commander with varying success, but
on this occasion he received powerful backing amongst the Czar's
advisers in St. Petersburg. The heaviest pressure was brought to bear
upon General Kuropatkin to induce him to dispatch a strong force
southwards to the relief of Port Arthur, and in an evil hour for his
country and his own reputation the Commander-in-Chief weakly consented
to be overruled. Lieut.-General Baron Stackelberg, the commander of the
1st Army Corps, with an army 35,000 strong was ordered to advance by
forced marches into the Liao-tung Peninsula and lead a forlorn hope to
save the doomed fortress.
[Illustration: RUSSIAN PRIEST IN THE TRENCHES, WITH GENERAL
STAKELBERG'S ARMY.]
[Sidenote: Fatal Russian Strategy]
The folly of this course is obvious to the veriest tyro in military
science. Kuropatkin's line was already too far extended for safety. On
his left flank, creeping gradually closer and working round to the
northeast to effect a wide turning movement, was General Kuroki, with
the 1st Army; General Nodzu, with the 3rd Army, was advancing from
Takushan in the direction of Kaichau; while in the extreme south
General Oku, having received large reinforcements, was able to hold
Port Arthur securely invested and to march northwards with forces
numbering 60,000 men, flushed with recent victory. The southward march
of Baron Stackelberg, therefore, was doomed to disaster from the first.
Not only was it highly improbable that he would ever succeed in getting
through to Port Arthur, but in case he had to retreat, he ran a grave
risk of being cut off by General Nodzu, and imperilling the position of
General Kuropatkin himself. This was exactly what happened in actual
fact.
[Sidenote: Old Tactics versus New]
The ill-fated expedition, after some preliminary skirmishing, met
General Oku's main body at Wafangkau or Telissu on the 15th of June.
Telissu is a village situated to the east of the railway line about 20
miles north of Port Adams. Nothing could better prove the superiority
of the Japanese over the Russians in the matter of tactics than the
dispositions which were made for this battle by Oku and Stackelberg
respectively. Kuropatkin's lieutenant fought in the old-fashioned
style, with his men closely packed together over a narrow front. The
Japanese, on the other hand, advanced in an open formation over a
widely extended area. At dawn General Oku ordered his troops to attack.
They advanced in two columns, the main body proceeding along the
railway line against the enemy's centre and right, while a second and
more mobile force worked round to the west to turn Stackelberg's right
flank. The Russians threw themselves fiercely upon the Japanese right
and centre, and for some hours the battle was hotly contested. But in
the meantime the turning movement to the west was proceeding with
entire success. Before he realized the imminence of the danger,
Stackelberg found that his right flank was driven in, and that his rear
was threatened. He withdrew troops from his left and centre to meet
this new danger; but it was too late, and he merely weakened his
position in one part of the field without strengthening it in another.
From three sides the Japanese now pressed their attack home, gradually
encircling the Russians with a ring of fire. The terrible effectiveness
of Oku's artillery was borne witness to afterwards by the Russians
themselves. Their positions were heaped with dead. General Stackelberg
in his dispatch describing the battle said that the 3rd and 4th
batteries of the 1st Artillery Brigade were literally cut to pieces by
the Japanese shells, and thirteen out of sixteen guns were rendered
completely useless. A large number of officers were killed, and among
the wounded was Major-General Gerngross. In spite of this tremendous
pounding the Russians held their ground with great gallantry; but, as
the Japanese attack developed, General Stackelberg saw that if he
maintained his position much longer, he would be altogether surrounded.
Therefore, just in the nick of time, he ordered a retreat. Slowly and
painfully the retirement was conducted over difficult, mountainous
country. The Japanese, exhausted by forced marches and two days'
fighting, were unable to cut off Stackelberg's escape entirely, but
they inflicted terrible losses on his retreating troops, and he only
succeeded in reaching Kaichau some days afterwards with a shattered
remnant of his force. The Japanese casualties in this great battle were
not more than 1,000. On the other hand, upwards of 2,000 Russians were
found dead upon the field and buried by the victors, and the total
losses sustained by General Stackelberg's army, including prisoners
taken, amounted to about 10,000. Large numbers of guns and regimental
colors were captured.
[Sidenote: The Veil over the Tragedy]
Thus ended this ill-advised attempt to relieve Port Arthur. Henceforth
all hopes of succor from the north had to be abandoned. In fact,
General Kuropatkin, instead of being able to render assistance to the
beleaguered garrison, was himself threatened with irremediable
disaster, largely in consequence of this ill-fated operation. And now
for upwards of two months almost complete darkness fell upon the
tragedy that was being enacted round the doomed fortress. Rumors
reached the outer world from time to time of the sanguinary combats by
which the besiegers slowly fought their way nearer and nearer to the
heart of the stronghold; but rumors they remained; and the Japanese,
true to their policy of silence while important events were in
progress, allowed no authentic news to percolate through the
censorship. At last, however, the veil was partially lifted. When in
the early days of August the Russian fleet, threatened with ignoble
destruction by the fire of the rapidly approaching batteries of the
Japanese, made an unsuccessful dash for freedom, it was recognized on
all hands that the end was near.
[Illustration: GENERAL NOGI BEFORE PORT ARTHUR.]