PROGRESS OF THE WAR
An hour after the capture of the Chinese junk one of the officers of the
ill-fated craft was thrust into the prison pen with our friends.
He was a small sallow-eyed Celestial rejoicing in the name of Won Lung,
and it was soon learned that he could speak a little English, he having
once paid a visit to San Francisco.
"All go up spout!" said he, referring to his own ship. "T'ink we safe
when Russian gunboat come, den all up spout!"
"Did they sink your ship?" asked Captain Ponsberry.
"No sink--shoot holes, back, front, side--all up spout. No fightee no
more den--all up spout!" The latter was his pet phrase and he used it
over and over again.
"You were in the Japanese trade?"
"Yes--carry rice. Now Russians got rice, got junk--all Won Lung's money
gone up spout!" And the Celestial made an odd little grimace.
"Well, they took my ship, too."
"Big schooner your shipee?"
"Yes."
"Won Lung weep for you--all ship gone up spout, samee like Won Lung's
ship gone up spout!"
"Well, we haven't gone up the spout yet," put in Larry, with a laugh.
"Let us thank fortune that we are alive and well."
"Dat so--Won Lung lose fliends on junk--six, seven, ten--don't know how
many yet," and the Chinese officer shook his head sadly. "Bad war, bad!"
"Can you tell us how the war is going?" asked Tom Grandon. "These
Russians say everything is a Russian victory."
"Russians sayee dat?"
"Yes--they pretend to say they have the Japs about beaten."
At this Won Lung screwed up his eyes into mere slits.
"Big lie dat. Japanese win everyt'ing allee timee. Russian warships gone
up spout--Russian army run like--like--up spout!"
After that Won Lung told them all he knew. It was hard to understand
him, yet they gathered that there had been another sea fight in the
vicinity of Port Arthur, in which the Russian navy had come off second
best, and that the Japanese army that had landed in Korea had driven the
enemy to the northwestward, over the Yalu River, and was now forcing
them back upon Liao-Yang.
"If this news about the army is true, Ben and Gilbert must be having a
hot time of it," was Larry's comment. "I must say, I am mighty glad they
are on the winning side."
"Didn't I tell ye them Russians are a lot o' blowers?" came from Luke.
"The truth ain't in 'em half the time."
"Perhaps they do not get the correct news from the front," came from
Captain Ponsberry. "The censors may keep the bad news back, for fear of
disheartening the rest of the men in the army and navy."
"They tell me the Russians are very strict about sending out news,"
rejoined Larry.
"It is true, Larry; no country on the globe is stricter. No telegram can
be sent without it is inspected, and the newspapers cannot print a
single scrap of news, or a single editorial, until after the press
censor has passed upon it."
"If that's the case, I don't wonder that some of the people want to be
free."
"Russia is more free to-day than she ever was before, and freedom is
bound to come sooner or later--that is, I mean, not such freedom as we
have in the United States, but such freedom as they have in England and
Germany--where, at least, a man can call his soul his own."
"It's a wonder the Russians will fight for their country, if they are so
ground down."
"They know nothing better, and besides, they are really patriotic. If
the Czar would only treat them a little better, and give them a little
more liberty, they would be the most faithful of subjects. But when a
man can't do at all as he wants to do, and can't open his mouth about it
either, he is apt to grow sullen and ugly."
As day after day went by life on the Russian warship became almost
unendurable for Larry and the others. They suffered greatly for the want
of fresh air, and at last made a vigorous protest to the captain of the
ship, when he happened to be passing the pen. As a result orders were
given that they should be allowed three hours on deck each day, one in
the morning and two after dinner.
"This is a little like," said Larry, when coming on deck for the first
time. "Oh, how good it feels to breathe fresh air once more!" And he
filled his lungs to their fullest capacity.
For their daily exercise Larry and Luke were chained together, and the
pair inspected with great curiosity as much of the warship as was
allowed.
"It's not so very different from some of our own auxiliary cruisers,"
said Larry. "But, after all, I like ours better."
"That's right, lad; stick up fer your own country every trip."
"Well, what do you say, Luke?"
"I say I'd rather be on one of Uncle Sam's ships than on any other in
the world."
While allowed to roam around on deck, Larry often looked eagerly for the
_Columbia_, but the schooner and the Chinese junk were too far off to be
distinguished with the naked eye.
"We'd give a good deal to be back on her deck, wouldn't we, Luke?" said
he.
"Don't mention it, lad; it makes me sick," grumbled the Yankee tar.
"I wish I knew just what was being done on land, don't you? Perhaps this
war will end soon, and then we'll be set free."
"It won't end yet awhile, Larry, mark my words on that," answered Luke.
The old Yankee sailor was right--the war was far from ended, and here it
may be well to note briefly what was taking place on the sea between
Russia and Japan, while the army of the Mikado was pushing through
Manchuria in the direction of Liao-Yang.
The loss of the great battleship _Petropavlovsk_ has already been
recorded in "Under the Mikado's Flag." This vessel was sunk by a mine in
Port Arthur harbor, April 13, 1904, and carried down with her Admiral
Makaroff and about five hundred officers and men. At the same time the
battleship _Pobieda_ was also injured by a mine.
The loss of the admiral's flag-ship was a great blow to Russia, and
while she was trying to recover, Port Arthur was vigorously shelled by
the Japanese fleet, and many buildings were more or less damaged. Some
warehouses were set on fire, but the local fire department, aided by the
Russian garrison, succeeded in putting out the conflagration.
While the Japanese fleet was hammering at the city and the ships from
beyond the harbor, the Japanese army encircled Port Arthur on land,
taking possession of every available hill beyond the Russian line of
defenses. As a consequence, by the middle of May the city was in a
complete state of siege, nearly all communication with the outside world
being cut off.
But now came a turn in affairs which, for a short while, made matters
look favorable for Russia. While the fleet of Admiral Togo was
patrolling the whole of the southeastern coast of Manchuria and
protecting the Japanese transports which were pouring troops into the
country, occurred a catastrophe as appalling as it was unexpected.
On the same day, May 15, the magnificent battleship _Hatsuse_, of the
Japanese navy, was blown up by mines and sunk, and the protected
cruiser, _Yoshino_, also of Admiral Togo's fleet, collided in the fog
with a sister ship, and was a total loss. It is estimated that by these
two disasters seven hundred men were lost. Among the officers who met
their fate were men of marked ability which Japan at this crisis could
ill afford to lose.
The loss of the _Hatsuse_ is worth relating in detail. She had been
along the coast during a heavy fog, but this had cleared off and the sun
was shining brightly. Not an enemy was in sight, and all was quiet on
the great battleship when, without warning, a terrific explosion was
felt near the stern and a portion of the steering gear was damaged.
"We have struck a mine!" cried some one on board, and without delay
signals were hoisted for the other vessels in sight to stand by. The
battleship was drifting and the locality was full of mines. It was a
moment of terrible suspense. Then came another explosion, greater than
the first, which ripped large holes through her heavy plates. At once
the battleship began to fill, and presently she sank like a stone to the
bottom of the sea. The other warships put out their small boats with all
speed, and succeeded in rescuing about three hundred officers and men
out of a total of nearly eight hundred. Among those lost were
Rear-Admiral Nashiba and Captain Nakao, the commander of the warship.
The _Yoshino_ was lost while steaming slowly southward, after a night's
vigil near the entrance to Port Arthur harbor. Other vessels of the
blockading fleet were close by, so each ship had to advance with extreme
caution. But the fog, instead of lifting, became thicker, and at a
little before two o'clock in the afternoon the cruiser was rammed by the
_Kasuga_, another vessel of the fleet. A large hole was torn in the hull
of the _Yoshino_.
"Out with the collision mats!" cried the commander of the cruiser, and
the mats were brought out without delay and placed over the side. But
the hole was too great to be stopped in that manner. Then the captain
called the entire crew on deck, and ordered the small boats to be
lowered, five on the starboard side and one on the port. Before the
boats could be gotten away, the _Yoshino_ listed heavily to starboard
and went down, smashing the five small boats under her. The other boat
managed to get away, with only a handful of jackies and a couple of
officers. The captain remained on the bridge and went down with his
ship. As soon as possible the _Kasuga_ put out her boats and succeeded
in rescuing about ninety men, out of a total of over two hundred and
fifty.
It was a great blow to Japan and the Russians were correspondingly
elated. Feeling that Admiral Togo's grip on the sea was now weakened,
the Russian squadron at Vladivostok sailed forth and did much damage to
the shipping on the northern coast of Japan, sinking several merchantmen
and taking a number of others as prizes. The Russian squadron also met
the Japanese transport _Kinshiu Maru_, having on board the 37th regiment
of Japanese infantry.
"Surrender, or we will sink you!" signaled the Russian commander. The
Japanese refused, and were given exactly an hour in which to think it
over. As they still refused, a torpedo was discharged against the doomed
ship. As she began to sink the Japanese soldiers opened fire with their
rifles, and then the Russians answered with their machine guns, mowing
down the Mikado's men by the score. But the Japanese were brave to the
last, and sank beneath the waves with the cry of _Banzai_! (hurrah!) on
their lips.
It was an auxiliary cruiser of the Vladivostok squadron which had taken
the _Columbia_ and the Chinese junk as prizes of war. The captain of the
cruiser was now looking for the rest of the squadron, but so far none of
the warships had been sighted.
"They must have returned to Vladivostok," he reasoned, and then turned
in that direction with the _Pocastra_, never dreaming of what the near
future held in store for himself, his ship, and his crew.