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]