Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-09-03
ATTACK HEIYINGTAl
Kuropatkin's Great Struggle. to Hold Russian Positions.
GREAT BATTLE ALONG TAITSE RIVER
Liaoyang Reported In Flames--Ku, rokf Pressing Fierce Charges to Surround and Cut Off Cxar's
 Troops From Mul6den.


 dispatches it would seem that General Kuropatkin, the Russian commander. has effected a partial retirement plac ing the river between himself and the main body of the Japanese and at the same time establishing a position that will enable him to oppose the force under General Kuroki, which has sue ceeded in crossing the river. and is now attacking the Russian left.
 The fate of the great bulk of the re treating Russian army hinges, there fore, upon the bravery and fortitude of it's left flank.
 It is reported here that General Ku- roki has succeeded ill piercing the left flank of the Russian forces on the right bank of the Taitse river, giving him an opportunity to cut off tele- graph communication with St. Peters burg.
 From now on the Russian forces will fight desperately to cover the twenty five miles to Mukden before the Japa- nese armies can again turn their flank and get between them and supplies.
 It is the hope of the Russians to check General KurokIs advance so as to protect their line of retreat, de- spite the fierce assaults of the Japa- nese. If the latter should succeed in striking hard blow at the flank of the retreating Russian army it may place the forces of the czar in a pre- dicament from which it will be diff cult for them to escape
 The greater portion of Kuropatkin's protecting force seems to have been massed in the neighborhood of Hei- yingtai, twelve miles northeast of Liaoyang, where it is being fiercely assaulted by General Kurozi.
 Advices from Tokyo say that Gener- al Kurokis right is continuing to press the attack at Heiyingtai, seeking ground whence their guns will domi- nate the railroad. The troops under General Kurol1i are jaded and weary. They have been marching and fighting since Aug. 23, but in spite of this they attacked with spirit. The Japanese are confident that they have already swept back the strong Russian force with which they have been engaged, and 1t is probable that when the details are known it will be found that great tragedy has been enacted along the Taitse river.
 The river is flooded and cannot be forded General Oku, in command of the Japanese left army, has directed his energies to forcing the Russians to the Thitse, and 1t is probable that many were drowned there.
 Dispatches lately received report that great fires are raging at Liaoyang. The fires are believed to result from Japanese shells or from the Russians attempts to destroy their stores with the hope of injuring the city as a fu- ture Japanese base.
 Unofficial estimates place the Rus sian forces in the vicinity of Liaoyang at fifteen divisions of 15 GOO men each. These are probably excessive, but it is evident that numerically the Russians exceed the Japanese.
 The opinion that the Russian casual ties in the recent fighting will reach 3O,0o0 is confidently expected in high quarters here Neither Field Marshal Oyama nor the Japanese army com manders have yet estimated the Rus sian losses.
 It seems that the Japanese avoided a direct assault upon Liaoyang itself, but devoted their energies to the troops outside the city and an effort to cut off the Russian retreat. Liaoyang is strongly fortified, and the Japanese did not attack the city directly until they had succeeded in isolating it.
 Nemirovitch Danchenko, the well known Russian correspondent, in dis patch from Liaoyang says:
 The Russian balloon corps has been of the greatest service throughout the several days fighting in locating the Japanese advance.
 The Japanese are using lyddite and Chinese powder. The latter is ter rife in it's effects, and it's brown haze is easily distinguishable on the cur tain slopes of the hills, where hundreds of Japanese guns all day long pour in a deadly rain of fire. In some of the batteries it was impossible to remove the killed or wounded for three days.''
 There seems to be an air of consid- ace. An official who saw the emperor said that his majesty is extremely con tident and in good spirits.
 The report that Rear Admiral Prince Ouktomsky, now in command of the naval forces at Port Arthur, is to be court martialed utterly lacks confirma- ton.
 kurOpatIxin Trying to Reach ETukden
 PARIS, Sept. 3.-The foreign office has no confirmation of the report of the Japanese occupation of Tiaoyang, but it's adyices lead the officials to say it is probable that General Kuropatkin decided to carry out his original plan to retreat on Mukden. This plan, it is added, was temporarily abandoned, as Kuropatkin believed that the defenses of Liaoyang would permit him to Ii back the Japanese. This failing, it ls stated, the Russian commander will at tempt to revert to his first plan that of