Evening star., 1904-03-24
Weakness of Port Arthur
Pointed Out by an Expert.
1.-THE REGENTS SWORD"
A PENINSULA VERY DIFFICULT
OF DEFENSE.
Success Of Attack Depends Much Upon
the Celerity Of Landing the
Invading Troops.

"To understand the events which are
about to take place in the far east" said
a military expert today. sit is necessary
to understand something about Port
Arthur.
From the extremity of the Liaotung pen
insula, which Is shaped something like
Florida, the smaller peninsula, called the
Regents Sword. projects. The Regents
Sword resembles not a sword in the least.
but is very irregular bit of rocky and
barren country nearly forty miles long and
ten miles wide. 1t Is about four times as
large as the District of Columbia, and a
line drawn tight around its shore line would
be about 110 miles long. On the north and
west coast there are Kinchow, Louisa and
Pigeon bays and a considerable line Of
coast where landings could safely be ef-
fected in good weather. At the south are
Port Arthur, Talien-Wan and Kerr bays
all five anchorages. The neck of land which
unites the Regents Sword with the main
land Is less than two miles wide.
To Protect Port Arthur.
"It Is seen at once that unless Port
Arthur possesses remarkable defensive ad-
vantages Of Its own. the only safety lies in
.
entire peninsula. To do this the defending
army always must be prepared to meet
feints and serious attacks at any points on
the long coast line, and must be
able to concentrate a superior force there
before such force could be landed from
the sea. The vulnerable points on the
coast must be fortified. and Talien-wan
Port Arthur itself. The neck Of land con-
Meeting the Regents Sword with the MAIN
land must be strongly defended. In ad-
dition to the garrisonS of Port Arthur and
Talien-wan, a movable field force must be
available to reinforce all threatened points.
All this requires a large number of men. A
bold enemy has thus many opportunities,
and the best of them are offered at Talien-
wan and Pigeon bay, feint being made at
one of these points and the real attack be-
Ing made at the other.
Landing the Troops.
'The efficiency of such an attack will de-
pend upon the perfection Of the arrange
ments for landing troops from transports.
The Japanese did not do this well In the
last war, but perhaps they now know that
an army Of 10000 men has been repeatedly
at an open roadstead in a few
hours The best plan Is to carry RATS on
the decks of the transports. When they
reach the landing place the RATS are
thrown overheard. quickly loaded and tow
poled in shallow water, In this way it has
not been considered difficult to land suffi-
cient troops In short time at an unpro-
tected point on the coast, and to defend 1t
against the troops which are rushed to
prevent the landing at a late hour.
I'm the last war Talien-wan was defend
ed from the sea by some excellent forts
but it was not at all defended from the
land side. Now we are told that the land
defenses are good, and that the isthmus at
the northeast is also we'll protected. But
Talien-wan has the disadvantage OF offer
ing many points of attack. To make 1t I'M
pregnable would be even a greater task
than at Port Arthur, and probably 1t has
not been attempted. The successful land
ing of a large force at Pigeon bay ought
to cause the abandonment OF Ianen-wah
and the retreat of it's garrison to Port Ar
thur Probably the efforts of the Russians
to defend it's seaport to the last will all be
directed to Port Arthur.
Weakness of Port Arthur.
when we come to Port Arthur we find
a fortress which is impregnable from the
sea. but weak on the land side. The
town and bay are in basin. surrounded
by hills of 100 to 500 feet in height at
distance of about 5000 yards. Growing
these hills in an irregular line are num-
ber of forts at about 500 yards interval,
connected by lines of parapet and trench
for infantry. -
"A careful study Of this position dis
closes many defects. There are other
hills. too far beyond to be used by the
defense which can be used effectively Dy
the siege batteries Of the enemy. The
hills used by the defense are so high and
the slopes are so steep that there is
much dead space"-that is, ground not
swept by the fire of the forts. There is no
second line Of defense, SO that the cap
ture of one point may endanger the
whole defensive system. The forts do not
mutually support each other. so that only
a limited amount of fire can be had In
any one direction. The rocky nature of
the soil is not good for field works or
hasty intrenchments.
The Key to the Position.
"At the western end of the line of forts
the elevation is much greater than at other
points of the line, and also they are slightly
in rear of the line. This makes Table Hut
the keypoint to the entire defense, because
its guns can be turned on the rear of its
own line 1t is In the first line of defense
and is not fianked by the fire of the bal
ance of the line so that 1t is rather q yul
nerable point.
1.-The report that the Japanese have seized
one of the Elliott Islands, off the southern
coast of the Liao-tung peninsula, gives
some color to the idea that they are plan
ming an audacious attack on the Regents
Sword. If this occurs the Russian COM
mander has very discouraging situation
Arthur he will be writing q very pretty
page of history"
THE HOUR BILL.