SETTLING DOWN TO IT
From that day onwards Port Arthur was, after dusk, plunged in complete
darkness, the screened windows and deserted streets giving an ominous
impression of desolation. The town became noticeably empty, though
numerous families, anxious to share the fate of husbands and fathers,
were still allowed to remain. In spite of the Viceroy's order (No. 49)
that all families should be sent out of the besieged Fortress, General
Stössel made no effort to enforce this. In vain it was pointed out that
women--except nurses--and children are a most undesirable element in a
fortress: he took no action.
About this time much valuable time and labour was wasted by Stössel on
the construction of an inner wall[4] with a ditch round the Old Town.
The futility of this as a defence would have struck a first year's
cadet, for it ran all along the hollow in which the town was situated,
and would therefore be absolutely useless should the Japanese seize
the hills in rear of the line of forts. Whilst he thus squandered
time, labour, and money on this 'folly,' Stössel delayed the work on
the forts, and paid no attention to the fortification of that most
important position--Kinchou.
Another curious point about the conduct of affairs was that officers
were strictly forbidden to make themselves acquainted with the
topography of the Fortress. In fact, the object seemed to be to
handicap our forces as much as possible by ignorance of the ground,
for practice manoeuvres were only held once, and the troops which had
taken part in these manoeuvres and were the only ones that knew the
ground--the 3rd Siberian Rifle Division--were sent away to the Yalu.
Their places were taken by corps fresh from Siberia.
Though Russian officers were not allowed to learn their way about the
Fortress, numbers of officers of the Japanese General Staff, disguised
as washermen, coolies, etc., were permitted to move about the batteries
without hindrance. No one watched them. Not only were they able to
learn all they desired and to make maps, but they drew up accurate
range-tables for the siege-guns which afterwards did such brilliant
service. When Smirnoff arrived and organized a fortress gendarmerie
this was put a stop to.
The supply question was another branch of the organization that
was shockingly mismanaged. Slaughter cattle, etc., were largely
requisitioned from the surrounding district, but, owing to the
disgraceful system of accounts and to the fact that the civil
authorities in charge of the work were much under-staffed, only about
one-half of what was available was obtained. In spite of the advice
and protests of Colonel Vershinin, the Chief Commissary for the civil
population, Stössel went his own way and quite serenely left the
Fortress under-supplied. After the departure of the Viceroy to Mukden
he assumed complete control of the commissariat, and, in addition
to the failure of the system as far as supplies went, earned the
resentment of all the civilians by the severity of his regulations. The
Chinese naturally tried to drive away their cattle into Manchuria, as
the requisitioning price was not a large one, and after a proclamation
issued by Stössel on February 21, by which requisitioning was still
more restricted, they were largely successful. Thus, with a close
blockade looming in the near future, the district round the Fortress
was being denuded of live-stock.
Stössel's influence was not confined to the question of slaughter
cattle. As the armies in the north gradually concentrated, a horde
of officers turned up in Port Arthur trying to purchase supplies of
every sort, and whole vans of sugar, flour, salt, tinned milk, green
foods, preserved fish and meat, etc., were actually allowed to be taken
from this important fortress--a fortress separated by many thousands
of miles from Russia, blockaded by sea, and expecting, according to
the natural course of events, to be blockaded also by land. General
Stössel, who wrote in his order No. 126, of February 27, that there
could be no retirement, since the sea was on three sides and the
enemy on the fourth, allowed--nay, encouraged--the export of articles
of vital importance. There was, consequently, in October, November,
and December a shortage, which brought on an epidemic of scurvy. To
all protests he replied that Kuropatkin would never allow us to be
cut off, and, if we were cut off, it would only be for a very brief
period. When the protests were repeated he 'came the senior officer,'
and said that, as Commandant of the besieged Fortress, he would stand
no interference. The civil authorities, who were under him, watched
with silent indifference the melting away of our reserves. Several
of the shopkeepers, indeed, hearing that supplies of every kind were
badly wanted by the army in the north, themselves began to despatch
truckloads. The state of affairs was almost a burlesque. Port Arthur,
instead of being a fortress preparing itself for a siege, might have
been a sort of general market, a principal supply depôt for the main
army, to which every one came to do business, or to gamble, and
dissipate, for although Stössel allowed only three restaurants for
general use and closed the gambling hells, rowdyism was rampant and
money flowed like water. Never in my life have I witnessed such
orgies as I saw that February in Arthur before the arrival of General
Smirnoff, and this in spite of the most severe efforts at prevention.
Whenever I passed by the fire-brigade station in the morning I
heard the swish of whips and the heartrending shrieks of men being
flogged for drunkenness, for permission had been given to the Chief
of the Police to correct drunkards with some 'homely treatment.' The
usual procedure was as follows: The men to be corrected--workmen,
cab-drivers, Chinamen--were drawn up in the prison courtyard. The
inspector presented the charge-sheet, and the police-officer stopped in
front of each prisoner.
'What have you to say?'
'Sir, yesterday----'
'One hundred lashes, two weeks' cells. Next. What have you to say?'
'Yesterday, sir----'
'One hundred lashes, to-day and to-morrow.'
And so on to the end. And then these God's creatures, some of them
future heroes who died for the honour and glory of Russia, were removed
and flogged. Later, owing to the protests of the Chief of the Fire
Brigade, the flogging was carried out in the prison-house, where it was
still more cruel. I know that men are flogged in Russia, but there it
is only after trial. With us in Arthur things were more simple, more
patriarchal.
During that time laws did not exist in Arthur. Once when Colonel
Vershinin, the Civil Commissary, remarked with regard to an order that
it was illegal, a staff-officer replied: 'How can you have laws on
service? General Stössel's orders are law for us.' And this was the
state of affairs right up to the capitulation, more especially after
Stössel's appointment as aide-de-camp to the Tsar.
After he had left the garrison and the sick and wounded to their fate
and departed to Russia, Japanese military law came into force. It was
strict, but it did not prevent freedom.
On February 22 we perused the following order by the Commandant with
fear and trembling:
'Colonel Petrusha will ride round the Old and New Towns and the New
Chinese Town, and will make prisoners of all men who are drunk or
disorderly, and anyone else whom he may consider it necessary to
arrest.'
This was alarming. Colonel Petrusha authorized to arrest 'anyone'?
Several people went to the military Procurator to find out what it
meant. It would be dangerous to go out in the streets, for if Colonel
Petrusha thought it 'necessary' he would arrest you. The following day
you would be up under the cold grey eye of the Chief of the Police. He
would ask, 'What have you to say?' and you would be flogged. The only
advice that the Procurator could give us was to be careful and retiring.
As February passed guards were placed along the whole of the
railway-line from Tashihchiao to Arthur, and guns were mounted near
the longer bridges, for bands of Hunhuses were now on the prowl.
Train-loads of soldiers from the reserve battalions arrived every day,
and the confusion and lack of system shown in their distribution were
hopeless. Though all concerned strove to appear busy, it was mainly in
the direction of writing orders that their energy was expended.
The general mental attitude towards the enemy was at this time
remarkable, for from Stössel down to the last-joined recruit all
professed the greatest contempt for the Japanese. The whole nation was
judged by the specimens seen in Port Arthur. 'A Japanese? Pooh! he's
a mosquito. Why, I'll stick a pin through him and send him home in a
letter,' was a favourite remark of the moment. The General commanding
the 4th Rifle Division, who led Stössel by the nose, absolutely,
assured all and sundry that the Japanese were 'fools.' 'The Japanese
are fools, because in their field regulations it is laid down, that in
the attack, the firing-line should extend at wide intervals.' Sitting
on his horse in front of the regiments under his command, he would
explain this, and then say: 'Front rank, tell me why the Japanese are
fools.' The soldiers would shout in chorus: 'Because, when attacking,
their firing-line extends widely.' Is it to be wondered that our men
thought the Japanese fools--till their first engagement, and that after
systematically retiring before the 'fools' and suffering heavy losses
they lost confidence in their General?
Having spent more than a year in Japan, I knew of the enemy's energetic
preparations for war. But our people would neither pay attention to
the serious articles in the newspapers nor to the warnings of their
own keen officers who had been through the Chinese campaign. The
majority, especially those who had recently come from European Russia,
preferred to accept Fock's estimate, for, thanks to the inferiority
of our professional military literature, the army had no idea of what
modern Japan was like, and in particular of her military strength. This
stupidity and ignorance was shameful and sad. Whose fault was it?
On the whole, the daily life in the town little resembled that in a
besieged fortress, for there was a false sense of security, and people
did not seem to realize the position. Because, since bombarding us on
February 9, the enemy's fleet had disappeared and made no sign, people
almost believed we were not at war, and things went on as before. The
population, especially the garrison, believed that everything was 'all
right,' and, together with their commanders, carelessly passed the time
without worrying about the future.
'Why, if there was a chance of our being cut off, do you suppose
for a minute that Stössel would let supplies be sent out? Do you
really imagine that the Japanese can wage war on two fronts? They are
concentrating against the main army on the Yalu, and Stössel says the
more that land in Kwantun the better. He will take them all prisoners,'
were remarks made. Nearly all talked similar nonsense, and, what's
more, believed it, and beyond mining the shores, carried out by Admiral
Loschinsky, no precautions were taken to prevent a landing.
A certain amount of activity was visible within the Fortress. We
commenced laying a fortress telegraph, but the system was overhead.
Both the telephone and telegraph systems worked very badly when they
were installed, and their faults were intensified when falling shells
cut the wires. It was usually quicker to send an orderly than to
attempt to get a telephone message through the exchange. Not only was
the system unreliable, it was also unsafe, for the private and military
lines were all together, so that, owing to the induction, anyone could
overhear the most secret military message. Such a state of affairs in
a besieged fortress was a monstrosity. One might have thought that at
a place like Port Arthur a proper telephone system would have been
organized in peace-time. But no! A system had been worked out by a
certain captain of artillery, and the money had been allotted; but when
the time came this officer was sent to the north, and the scheme was
not carried out. The question of what happened to this money would form
an excellent subject for an inquiry.
In addition to his intense activity in writing profuse orders, Stössel
developed a mania about 'signalling.' He was convinced that the enemy
were being continually signalled to from the hills, and the strictest
orders were issued to watch day and night for the culprits. The hills
were always being patrolled, and 'signaller-catching' became a kind
of amusement. Even the civilians joined in, although anyone who gave
the matter a thought knew that the Japanese would not require to have
messages sent them when they already knew every inch of the place; but
owing to this practice many an innocent human being was wafted to a
better world. An order on the subject--No. 120, of February 26--ran as
follows:
'Although twenty men were caught yesterday in the act of making
some kind of signals, about 3 a.m. this morning some one was seen
signalling with a lantern between my house and the commissariat
depôt. It was impossible to catch him, as he ran off to the New
Chinese Town. Pickets detailed for this work will in future fire on
any men seen signalling, if they run.'
Though in the majority of cases, of course, the military procurator was
unable to produce any proof of guilt against the Chinamen arrested,
after this order they were shot like partridges.
Though many were lulled into a false security by the absence of any
military operations by the enemy since their first attack, yet to
every one the complete state of unpreparedness of the Fortress, as
well as the chaos reigning in every corner of it, was patent. _In vino
veritas_, and in the restaurants and clubs the strongest opinions were
expressed about Stössel and his actions by those who had exceeded. So
much of this criticism went on that a special order upon the subject
was issued:
'It has come to my knowledge that in the garrison club officers busy
themselves over matters which do not concern them, criticize the
course of the military operations, and repeat various stupid stories,
picked up from God knows where. An officer's duty is to think how
best to carry out his orders, and not to judge the actions of his
seniors. Those who cavil do much harm, and I, of course, will punish
them to the utmost of my power.'
After this tongues ceased to wag, for it was known that the Commandant
had wonderful ears. Officers even began to suspect each other of
espionage and tale-bearing.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 4: The Central Wall.]