The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1904-04-29
SITUATION ALONG THE yALu.
Japanese Army of One Hundred Thou
sand Men Now There,

OIL OAIIOO LON IHE YALU.
Japanese Army Of One Hundred Thou.
sand Men Now There.
st. Petersburg, April 2S.-The Asso-
ciated Press has obtained from the
general staff the following statement
OF the situation along the Yalu river:
Before beginning the passage of
The galu the %Japanese evidently com
pleted their concentration of the
armies along the river, commanded
by Generals. Kuroki and Oku. Each
army is composed Of three divisions
n three reserves brigades. The
The total force is 100000. The Rus
slams on the Manchurian bank of the
river are inferior in strength.
Having perfected the essential
preparations, the ~J&~3anese, without
waste OF time, commenced the PASSAGE
OF the river, and the Russians realized
that it would be impossible to prova~t
their crossing. The Japanese front
extended from Win as far as Pick
tong, v eighty miles. We facel
the possibility that they would cross
at a score OF places and all we could
hope was to harrass and impede the
crossing, for every day gained enabled
up to push u preparations and bring
up more men.
"There are only two instances in
history where an armv was unable to
cross a river--that of NAPOLEON, at
Aspern, and that of Prince Eugene, a
Savoy, at Lech. Both failed because
of floods. The Ya'l proved no e..
ception to the estahIi~hed rue.
1--WE know that the Japanese crossed
at least at two points. Their first at.
tempt to force a passage near Chand-
sekow, about twenty mics above Win.
near SiaOpoussikhe. on the Poussi} he.
a tributary of the Talu. was success.
full. This is important, because q rca2
leads from Siaonoussikhe northeast to
Kwantien. which commanl Is one cf the
roads to Mulldca.
Attempted to Cross Near Wiju.
"It is evident that the Jaranese de-
voted most of their attempt to cross
ing near VIII. The river here is Si-
vided into several channels by islan~e.
the largest of which is Samalindo.
Above and below VIII the river was
brideed at three points.
cup the stream near S~indaigou, the
Japanese were watched by a small de-
tachment of Cossacks, but the enemy
was practically unopposed. At Ia
tench, lower down. our outposts d.
rected a fire from a field piece so sue
cessfully that they destroyed the
1nnoTings and wrecked the pontoons.
The enemy was thrown into disorder
and suffered considerable loss. Still
down the stream the Japanese
proceeded to make a third attempt at
crossing.
1--WE do not think that the japanese
attempt to land at Ta',ushan or
nov that they have
crossed the Yalu. The object of such
landings has been to cause a diversion
so as to enable the Japanese to cross
the river. Takushan is not a good
strategic point. The road leading
therefrom is bad and troops could
only be supplied with great difficulty.
with regard to future operations
cannot speak. The Russians will
not show their hand at this stage, but
will continually harrass the enemy,
choosing their own time for a battle"
A military expert. who is particular
" impressed with the Japanese cross
ing near Siaopoussikhe. said that the
of the road therefrom would en-
the enemy not only to march up
Mukden, but to outfank the Rus |
sian position at Fenghuancheng ar'
,ut off any of General Rennenkampf's
Sossacks, who NAV have gone to join
attack on Gensan.