The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-02-14
FTER the capture of Port Al

that place and in Kinchow and Talien-
wan (now Dalny) to await orders for
a second campaign. These orders
came in about seven weeks, directing
the Marshal to cooperate with Admiral
Ito in the reduction of Wei-hai- Wei,
the fortified harbor across the Gulf of
Pechili, on the Shantung shore, where
Admiral Ting's powerful fleet had TAX
en- refuge after the battle of the Yalu.
Oddly enough, the first thing the Jap
anese commanders did was to warn the
enemy of their intent in joint letter
which is one of the curiosities of mar
tial literature. The writers-Marshal
the Count Oyamae and Admiral Ito-be
gan by stating the causes of the sue
cessive failures of Chinese arms by
land and sea, ascribing them in the
main to the authority of the literary
class in all the affairs of the empire
I'VE do not venture to deny so the
letter ran, that this system is ex-
cel1ent in itself and might well be per-
manent and sufficient if the Chinese
We're to stand alone in the world. But
natural isolation is no longer a posi-
bility. What hard experience the
japanese empire had thirty years ago
and how narrowly she escaped the aw-
full calamity which threatened, Your
Excellency we'll knows To throw away
the sole condition of preserving the in
tegrity of the empire is as necessary
with your government now as it was
with ours them
With this good start, Oyama and Ito
went on to say that Ting himself was
the man to reform China, but that he
could only do it by putting an end to
the war and giving himself over I'M
reservedly to Japanese tutelage.
Compared with the re-establishment
on a sound working basis of the oldest
empire in the world with it's glorious
history and it's extensive territory,
what is the surrender of a fleet or the
loss of a whole army? If Your Ex-
cellency be truly patriotic and loyal to
the cause of your country we would |
beg you to listen to the>words of a |
sympathetic heart filled with the sense
of honor representative of the fighting |
men of Japan which asks you to come |
and stay in Japan until the time shall |
arrive when your services shall be re-
quired for the good cause.
mot to speak of the numerous in
stances of final success after tempo
rary humiliation in your own history |
of the ancient dynasties, let us call
oft 10 ha nf
French Marshal, Mcmahon, who al
lowed himself to be detained in the
enemy's land till it was expedient that
he should return and aid in reforming
the Government, which, instead of de-
stroying him, raised him to the Presf-
dency, or to the case of Osman Pasha,
whom the unfortunate event of Plevna
did not prevent from subsequently fill
ing the post of Minister of War and
rendering important services in reform
ing the army
The letter closed with the assurance
that Admiral Ting would be received
in Japan, 1.-THE Emperor hav-
ing even forgiven rebels against his
own authority and. as in the cases OF
Enomoto and Privy Council
lor Otori, raised them to high rank
But all this sophistry was wasted on
the Chinese commander who at once
began to strengthen his position and
prepare for the coming struggle. He
made no reply to the letter, although,
weeks afterward in making his capitu-
lation he referred to it briefly.
Ting might well have thought him.
self secure from capture if he had any
faith in the figl ting stamina of the
land garrison about Wei-hai-Wei har-
bor His own officers and men he
thought he could trust. They had |
borne themselves pluckily at the Yalu.
where they had so crippled Admiral
rto's slips that all but five of their own
were able to make port. AS for the :
soldiers, they were behind entrench- ,
ments and the foreign officers with Y
them believed they could stand fire. ]
Certainly no means of defence which {
engineering skill could devise were t
lacking. The island of Liu-kon-Tau, s
which cut off the harbor from the sea G
save for two narrow channels on either 4
side. lowered precipitously hundreds g
Of feet, with Krupp and Armstrong
guns of the largest size defending it. h
Other forts stood further back on lower q
ground, dominating the bay. In the a
eastern channel was a small island c
ort. also well armed. On the eastern I
md western mainland, near the sea- o
we're seven granite and earth fortress 7
IS, built by German engineers and c
mounting fifty siege guns. Back of a
hese. facing interior approaches. We're Y
e6oubts. mines and rifle pits. Booms g
made of logs cabled together had been IS
aid across the harbor openings and s
,ack of them were electrical mines and
ests of torpedoes. The Chinese YES
els of war lay behind Liu-Kon-Tau-
'hey consisted of twenty-sfx fighting =
raft-two battleships, several cruisers q
nd gunboats, thirteen torpedo boats
nd a training ship. With 1000 men III h
he fleet and 10000 in the shore de-