The San Francisco call., 1904-10-11
MIKADO'S TROOPS
WITHDRAW FROM
L|AOYANG POSTS
Meager Advices From Front Show General
KuropatNn IS Marching Resoutey
Against Enemies Of Car.

ST. PETERSBURG, Oct II, 2:15 q.
m.-A battle. upon which the fate Of
this years campaign in Manchuria de-
pends, seems only a few days ahead.
Advices from the front are meager. All
that is positively known officially is
that General Kuropatkin has cast the
die at last, about faced his army and is
marching resolutely against the enemy
as If resolved to do or die.
According to unofficial reports, Field
Marshal Oyama, at the first sign of
General Kuropatkin taking the often
sive, began drawing in his line and con-
centrating upon fortified positions
north of Liaoyang. According to the
latest reports, which are contained in
dispatch from Mukden, dated at
6 o'clock tonight, the Japanese out
posts are being driven in all along the
line.
The strategy of the forward move
ment will be concealed, as were the
preparations for the advance, so that
all surmises as to where General Kuro-
patkin intends to strike are mere
guesswork. 1t is not clear whether
General Kuropatkin Contemplates
blow on the left, center or right of the
Japanese army, but the fact that stress
is laid upon the capture of Bentsia-
putze, which opens the road and forts
to Bensihu, twenty miles east of Lao
yang, where General Kuroki crosses. and
that Cossacks are already reported in
the neighborhood of the stream. might
foreshadow an exact reversal of the
battle Of Liaoyang. this time the Rus
sian commander fianking and turning
Liacyang with his left, as Field Mar
shal Oyama did with his right. Little
light had been thrown upon the conSid
era fi0nS which led General K11rOn9tl<in
to suddenly assume the offensive, but
no word is heard at the War Office in
timating that the course savors of
rashness officers of the general staff.
while not Understanding the heavy
task and severe sacrifices that are in
volved in assuming the offensive,
nevertheless express absolute conf
dence that General Kuropatkin has
found a weak point in the Japanese
armies Different explanations abound
as to the reason for making the for
ward movement at this time. The adj
vance is attributed to a realization by
General Kuropatkin of the difficulty the
Japanese encountered In making good
their losses at Liaoyang and replenish-
ing their supplies and ammunition, or
possibly to the drawing off of portion
of the Japanese troops to reinforce
General Nogi in a desperate endeavor
to end the siege of Port Arthur.
Whatever the explanation, it is ap
parent from the hasty manner in which
the japanese withdrew before the first
show of Russian strength that their re-
cent ostentatious preparations for an
advance were largely bluff. The best
opinion here is that the pending battle
is likely to develop with startling ra-
pidity.
1t is reported that the panese have
abandoned Sianchan, Saimatsze and
| Meichoulin, positions east of Laoyang.
In political circles considerable stress
| is laid upon the moral effect upon the
Chinese that may be expected from Cen
| eral Kuropatkin's advancing without
being compelled to abandon the sacred
| city of Mukden, 1T being remembered
| that the Japanese failed to reach the
city of imperial tombs during the Chi
no-Japanese war.