The Savannah morning news., 1904-04-28
WON'T GIVE OUT
YALU FIGHTING
RUSSIANS KEEP 1T SECRET.
PEOPLE AWAITING NEWS THAT Is
WITHHELD.

Russian General Stnff Gives a Com
prehensive Description of the Sit
uatiOn on the YnIu-AccOunt of
the japanese Movements and How
They Were Met by the Russians.
Russians Harass the Japanese
as Their Present Tactics.
st. Petersburg, April %, $50 a. m.--
Disappointment prevails in st. Peters
burg that no official dispatches giving
details of the operations on the Yalu
river have yet been made public. The
press dispatches are so meager as to
becloud rather than enlighten the peo-
pie, who are hourly awaiting news.
The Associated Press has obtained
from the general staff the following
clear statement of the situation:
Before beginning the passage of
the Yalu the Japanese evidently COM
pleted the concentration of two armies
along the river. commanded by Gems.
Kuroki and Oku. Each army is COM
posed OF three divisions and three re-
serve brigades. The total force is 1OO,-
900. The Russians on the Manchurian
bank of the river are inferior in
strength
Having perfected the essential
preparations, the Japanese, without
waste of time, commenced the passage
of the river, and the Russians realized
that it would be impossible to prevent
their crossing. The Japanese front ex-
tended from Wiju as far as Pick Tong,
over eighty miles. We faced the pos
sibility that they would cross at
score of places. and all we could hope
was to harass and impede the cross
ing, for every day gained enabled us
TO push our preparations and bring up
more men.
Usually Easy to Cross.
There are only two instances in
history where an army was unable to
cross river-that of Napoleon at As
perm and that of Prince Eugene of Sa-
voy at LEIGH. Both failed because of
floods.
The Yalu proved no exception to
the established rule. We know that the
Japanese crossed it at at least two
points. Their first attempt to force
a passage near Chand Che Kow, twenty
miles above Wiju, near Siapoussikhe
on a tributary of the Yalu, which was
successful This is important because
road leads from Siapoussikhe north
east to Kwan Tien, which commands
one Of the roads to Mukden.
1T is evident that the Japanese de-
voted most of their attention to cross
ing near Wiju. The river here is divid-
ed into several islands by channels,
the largest of which is Samalindo.
Above and below Wiju the river was
bridged at three points.
Up the stream near Sindiagou the
Japanese were watched by a small de-
tachment of Cossacks, but the enemy
was practically unopposed. At Turen-
chen, lower down. our outposts di-
rected fire from field piece so sue
cessfully that they destroyed the moor
1ngs and wrecked the pontoons. The
enemy was thrown into disorder and
suffered considerable loss. Still fur
ther down the stream the japanese
proceeded to make third attempt at
crossing.
Were but Feints.
We do not think the Japanese will
attempt to land at Takushan or Ia
tung-Kau now that they have crossed
the Yalu. The object of such landings
mas been to cause diversion so as to
enable the Japanese to cross the river.
Iakushan is not a good strategic point.
Inc road leading therefrom is bad and
loops could only be supplied with great
With regard to future operations we
cannot speak. The Russians will not
snow their hand at this stage, but will
continually harass the enemy, choosing
lheir own time for a battle"
military expert, who is particularly
Impressed with the Importance or the
sapanese crossing near Siapouslkhc
eSio that the road therefrom would en-
sSole the enemy not only to march upon
snuKden, but to outflank the Russian
position at Feng Huan Cheng and cut
VI vi any OF Gen. Rennenkampff's Co.'S
sys-Hs, :, who may have gone to join the