Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1904-06-10
!APAN'S ART OF WAR.
How 1t Was Developed For
the Present Conflict.
MINUTEsT DETAILS WORKED OUT

Eorehandedness, Planning Power
and Mastery Execution Revealed
In the Work of Her Army and Navy.
Probable engagements often Re
hearsed-Her Readiness For War.
"Wiring from co." reads typical
printed dispatch, admiral Togo re-
ports" etc. Where, everybody is Curl
GUS to know, is "OO?" Russia is puz-
zled about it. So short is the time be
tween appearances of ships off Port
Arthur that it is plain some base not
on Japanese territory has been estah-
lished from the first. Moji is the obvi-
GUS base, says the New York Posts
special correspondent. AS you sail in
to the strait you see miles of huge con
ical piles of coal, uncovered. Long be
fore the break in the negotiations
stores had been accommodating there,
and, although there are coal mines a
little way inland, a quarter of Il mil
lion tons of Welsh coal We're imported
for operations that would require fast
steaming Moji, however, is not where
the squadrons in the Yellow sea are
coaling and provisioning. If one reads
the dispatches of the admirals with at
tention he will observe that the 'un-
mentioned place." the rendezvous"
the "OO," is for torpedo boats only
seventeen hours steaming distance
hn Of hn hn Ia l,
has been so long subject to attack.
One could give good guess as to
where 100" is Il saw the cable ship
laying wires, but it does not seem fair
to look over shoulder and give away
the mans hand. All that can be said
is that 100" is off Korea and is an is
land with an English name. Its selec-
ton and the secrecy of its maintenance
are part of the strategy of the naval
campaign. The more one learns of that
strategy the higher zone regards the
forehandedness. the planning power
and mastery of execution possessed by
this suddenly awakened people.
| When Japan was despoiled of her
|
by three European nations she saw,
first, that she needed q European ally
to offset color prejudice and, second,
that she needed to measure her Gapaci-
ties against the most Immediately ag-
gressive of the white nations. One
morning the world was astonished to
hear Of the treaty with England
Japan went forward then with re-
newed energy and decision. While we
in America, up to the very charge Of
the torpedo boats at Port Arthur, were
more than hopeful that there would be
no war, Japan was ready and eager
For at least three years she had been
training, building, maneuvering, study
ing, testing herself for conflict, and
Russia was more ignorant of it than
the rest of the world.
Port Arthur, Hardin, Vladivostok
these made the strategic triangle. All
attention, all ingenuity, was brought
to bear ON how to assail Port Arthur.
how to deal with the fleets there and
at VladivOstok, how to assist the army
to cross the Yalu. The minutest de
tails We're worked out and then prac-
ticed. Ships were grouped as they
would be for action, and their com.
manders learned the pecuiarities of
vessels they would operate with. The
probable fights were fought over and
over. Every man knew by heart the
part he would have to take. The dis.
cipline was strict Men were praised
or blamed according as they played
the mimic game. If, as once happened
a squadron did not successfully inter
cept squadron representing the
enemy at prearranged spot, the com
= manding officer was called to explain
his failure. Always after series OF
evolutions there would be a genera
consultation and discussions among
the commanders to learn wherein the
tactics might be improved
Officers gave themselves wholly tC
their duties. No books of fiction. nc
illustrated papers, were permitted il
their libraries, only technical treatises
and professional works. ION the Rus
sian ships at Port Arthur there were
pingpong tables) The proficiency be
came great. One day, for instance, the
navy office in Tokyo, by wireless tcleg
raphy, started ship out of one har
Dor, guided her thirty miles out to sea
and brought her back to a different
harbor. This was done by giving com
mands for steering. The commands
were received, blindly obeyed and the
ship perfectly navigated, as,though the
general staff We're in person on hel
bridge instead of nearly 200 miles in
land, around table in the second
story of brick building.
Probably no cruisers of the same di
mansions have been built as fast as
Japan built some recent ones. Ameri
cans have taken nearly four years al
ready to build the cruiser Denver. The