The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1904-07-14
japanese Defeated the Russians in
liand.to.nsnd Conflict and
Killed Two Hundred.
THE JAPANESE WERE ASLEEP
Awoke and Grasped Rifles and
with Bayonets Slaughtered
Attacking Party, Their
Own Loss Being Sixty.

Seoul, Korea. July 1s.-(At the Front
with General Kuroki's Forces, July -
The brief and disastrous attempt OF
the Russians to overwhelm the small
Japanese force which guarded the en-
trance to the Mo Tien pass was .
bloody affair. The japanese troops
again exhibited their resourcefulness
ana courage, and the Russians again
threw away many lives. The losses
can not be ascertained until the battle
field has been searched. The Japanese
are still driving the enemy up the
valley.
The correspondent of the Associated
Press saw enough to justify the esti-
mate that the Russians lost more than
200 men killed or wounded, and that
the Japanese casualties viii probably
amount to so. The Russians left so
dead in front of and in the trenches
where the attack began. At this point
they had an equal number of men Sc
verely wounded. and the Japanese took
several prisoners and captured 100 RI
fies. The Russians were seen carry
ing away two officers. who had been
either killed or wounded.
Mo Tien pass opens upon a funnel
shaped slope which rises for a quarter
of a mile from the valley, and which
is fianked by hills. Thirty-six Japanese
were quartered in Chinese house near
the bottom Of the hill. and two COM
panies Of Japanese soldiers were in
trench 100 yards long located on the
summit of the hill. which commanded
the approach. Two other companies
Of soldiers slept near this trench.
Between and o'clock in the MORN
ing, in complete darkness and with a
heavy fog enshrouding the hills. two
battalions of the Tenth and Twenty
fourth East Siberian regiments, to-
gether with 100 cavalrymen, approach
ed the Japanese position. They sur
rounded the pickets and the outposts
in the house, and gained a position
from which to rush the trench. Sew
eral other Russian companies were so
disposed that they could attempt a
Ranking movement on both the Jap
anese right and left.
When the fighting began. the build
ing where the outposts were quartered
became a slaughter-house. The Jap
anese, aroused from their sleep by the
enemy, seized their swords and bayon-
cts to resist the attack. The Russians
were at such close quarters with the
japanese that it was impossible for
the latter to use their rifles. The first
fight in the trench and in front of the
trench was hand-to-hand, and the Jap
anese, who ran out to man the trench,
were but half clothed.
The first Russian onslaught was re-
PEELED, but the Russians charged twice
again within half an hour. The re-
mainder of the japanese regiment, how
ever, to which the outposts and the
companies at the trench belonged, re-
inforced their comrades and began to
drive the Russians back.
AS soon as it was sufficiently light to
distinguish the enemy, two hours after
the beginning of the fight, the Japanese
forced the Russians to retreat one mile
down the valley. The trench and its
approaches on the hillside were thickly
covered with dead and wounded men.
Blood-spattered stones and grass every
where testified to the holiness of the
fighting.
Chinese stretcher-b bearers, impassive
under dropping bullets, were collecting