The Savannah morning news., 1904-09-02
RUSSIANS DUG PITS
THAT PROVED DEATH TRAPS
Japanese, in Their Charges, Turn
bled Into the Pits.

bled Into the Pits.
ST. Petersburg. Sept. 1, 1925 p. NJ
The battle at Lao Yang yesterday
was of the most desperate character.
1t ragged continuously from dawn I'M
til midnight, and the slaughter must
have been immense. At 8 in the even
ing, after holding his outer positions
all day in the face of most desperate
charges, Gen. Kuropatkin gave the
order to retire upon the main works
about the city.
The Japanese assaults during the
day had been directed principally
against the Russian center, a little
east of Maietung Hill, near the rail-
road, and three miles southwest of
Lao Yang. Nothing approaching the
severity of the infantry and artillery
fire, here had been heretofore ex-
perienced in this war. Gen. Kond-
ratsvitch's division bore the brunt and
suffered the most. Bayonet charges
succeeded one another in rapid sue
cession, while the artillery duel never
ceased for a moment.
No attempt was made in the official
advices to estimate the number of guns
the Japanese used, except that they
had many hundreds. Each gun car
ries $50 charges, and these must have
been expended many times, as sew
eral hundred thousand shots were fir
ed between sunrise and sunset.
Gen. Kuropatkin's order to fall back
on the Notifications was probably
due to the receipts of infor-
nation that the Japanese had
succeeded in crossing the Taitse
river, northeast of Lao Yang, al
though Gems. Rennenkampff's and
Mandarileffs divisions had been. es-
pecially placed in position in this di-
rection to checkmate such move.
The Japanese crossed at a point call
ed Sakankankwantun, twenty miles
east and somewhat above Lao Yang
and marched in force directly west
ward with the evident object of cut
ting the Russian line of communica-
ton with Mukden. Their exact
strength was not established, but a
division was made out.
AS soon as the japanese found that
the Russians were retiring from their
outer positions southwark, they re-
sumed the attack, although it was
then quite dark. Thus pressed, the
Russians arrested their movement to
the rear and again faced the japanese,
With the view of eventual retirement
from their outer positions, the Rus
slams had dug a large number of pits,
with stakes concealed in their bottoms.
The pits were artfully concealed among
the high, Chinese corn. When the
Japanese charged after the Russians,
they fell into the pits in hundreds and
were engulfed and impaled on the
stakes and their lines we're trown into
confusion. When the Russians faced
about and returned to their old posi-
tons, they found these death traps
filed with dead and dying.
Gen. Sakharoff, in reporting the bat
tie. says the japanese suffered enor-
nous losses, much larger than those
of the Russians, who also lost heavily.
No statement is made in regard to
the losses.
Gen. Stakelberg, who is among the
wounded, still retains command of his
army corps, although he is no longer
in chief command of the southern
army, which has since been colsoli-
dated under Gen Zaroubieff. Stakel-
berg's injury is slight, and he did not
leave the field.
Gen. Morozovsky, who was also
wounded, commanded the artillery
brigade. He distinguished himself dur
ing the suppression Of the Boxer
troubles i'm China. His wound is Sc
we're.