The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-12-11
JAP INFANTRY IS
FINEST IN WORLD
To Il is Due Victories Over the
Russians
MEN ARE WITHOUT FEAR
VIII Rush Forward Under Greater
Losses Than Any Other Sol
dlers-ArtIIIery Service Is
Weaker Than Russians.
MEN ARE WITHOUT FEAR
From the London Chronicle.

From the London Chronicle.
Unquestionably the greatest battle of
the war up to the present-that of Lao
Yang-was so great and big that its story
can only be made up piecemea1. No single
man could from his individual standpoint
estimate or describe it in its entirety. I
have discussed the fighting with many
attaches of many nations. and give these
impressions of the lessons to be learned
from Lao Yang, backed by opinions very
much better than my own.
THE best infantry in the world" was
the universal verdict. That was the theme
of innumerable eulogies of the Japanese
army. What even their artillery failed to
accomplish in Its proper sphere the in
fantry achieyed-no infantry so mobile,
none so enduring, none approaching in
the way they took their punishment or
faced almost certain death. There is the
thing in which they surpass all other ma
tons. Many times have l seen Americans
and British in action, and. my goodness!
how they hate being killed! Therefore we
have laid down rules that after certain
losses, varying from Is to 20 per cent,
men cannot be expected to advance.
The scale of all these thermometers of
valor must be readjusted after this war.
More than one regiment still advanced
with loss of more than sc per cent at
Nanshan, and never went back until the
gallant remainder had planted its flags
en- the heights; and SO at Lao Yang the
losses in individual instances were UNI
precedented and appalling, yet the unit
OF company or regiment or division went
on as if intact. It was magnificent beyond
European ideas of war.
Artillery Is Weaker.
A lot Of what may be described as
more or less nonsense has been written
about the great superiority of Japanese
artillery with very little basis of solid
fighting fact to go on. Like the infantry
their artillery is more mobile than the
Russian, and hence has been more eff
fective, but the Japanese guns are shorter
in range and smaller in calibre, 1900 kilo-
grams, as against 1884 Kilograms, and
have a muzzle velocity of 300 feet a
second less than the Russian The Rus
sian guns can fire sixteen rounds a min
ute without relaying. If you have ever
been under shrapnel fire, reader, just
think what this means, when every shrap-
mel shell belches 200 bullets. 1t requires
pretty good umbrella of a trench to pro-
tect men from this death shower; and
how can men in the open DE expected to
stand up and serve guns under such
downpour?
One of the lessons of Lao Yang appears
to be that about three miles is the ut
most effective range. The Japanese had
that with the lightest guns that would
give 1t. The Russians had a longer range
with guns whose weight was a handicap
to them. What the Russians gained in
rapidity OF fire, greater calibre and longer
range they lost In not being able to move
their guns so quickly. The Japanese ar
tIllery practice and the timing of their
.shrapnel were distinctly superior to the
Russian, and they carried out the scheme
of focusing a concentrated fire slmultan-
eously which was very effective.
The cavalry on either side did very lit
tie effective worl1-as cavalry practically
nothing, in fact-but the Japanese made
use of theirs to a considerable extent
as mounted infantry One of the surprises
of the campaign was the utter failure of
the Cossack cavalry, of which we had
heard so much and Of which so much
was expected. Some say that these Cos
sack cavalry are badly officered; others
that the horses are not up to the weight
Of the men and accoutrements they have
to carry. There was ample opportunity
for them on the long march up to have
harassed the TANKS Of the Japanese army,
but during that march, as well as during
the eight days fighting at Lao Yang,
they were practically useless. Speaking of
the cavalry, perhaps the greatest defect
In the Japanese army is the lack of good
veterinary surgeons. A very large num-
Der of the horses suffered from sore backs
and those belonging to the correspondents
and attaches were not exempt. In the
treatment of these the Japanese vets were
too fond of using the knife. 1t is all very
well when in the swelling a lot Of pus
has accumulated which must be let out,
but they carved away in a manner quite
unnecessary.
Defence Works Excellent.
When, Immediately after the evacua-