The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-06-30
THE DRAMA or WAR.
Description Of the Scene il Man
churia as 1t Is Present to
the Eye To-day. .a

| AM EU3i. tlbNsNS y =
The drama Of war being enacted IN the
far East has a deep and intricate plot as
we'll as many bloody situations. The par
Elephants are as follows: p3 d! /.
The main Russian army OF Genera
kur'cpatkin, about 100000 strong, whose
base is ut Lao Yang but whose man
body. about 125,0O0 strong, Is now con.
centrated under the personal command OF
Kuropatkin at Taschiichao (spelled. ~
the Russians ia Tqhe 1<iao). About
10000 men Of this force are engaged ~
guarding the railroad and about 2e,ooo
are in Lao Yang and Its vicinity.
The Russian army Of General Stakel-
berg. about 10000 strong, when was re-.
Gently operating toward Port Arthur Dut
has now Joined Kuropntkin.
The Russian army Of General Stoessel.
about 10000 strong. manning the defenses
OF Port Arthur.
The Japanese first army, under General
Kuroki. about 5000 strong operating
from Feng Wang Cheng as base. Is
left wing Is stretched out toward Hal
Cheng, and its right wing toward Molten
Pass. 85
The Japanese second army. under Gem
eral Oku also about 5000 strong, Of
whom approximately 5000 are under his
command In the neighborhood Of Siung
Yae $cheng (often spelled bysthe Russians
senuchen). The remaining 5000 are about
fifteen miles north Of Port Arthur.
maintaining a Gordon around the rear of
the fortress,
The Japanese third army, under Cen
eral Nordzu. about 5000 strong. opera
ting from Taku Shan as d. base and now
stretched out to Stu Yen and beyond.
The naval forces of the combatants
are:
The Russian fleet of Admiral without
In Port Arthur. held there by the Japan
ese fleet Of Admiral Togo.
The Russian fleet Of Admiral Teszen
In Vladivostok, watched by a Japanese
fleet under Admiral Kamimura. vics-Ad-
smiral Skrydloff. Russian naval COM
mander-in-chie In the far East. Is also
at v1adivost ok. At both ports theJapanese
naval forces are considerably superior to
those Of their opponents
From February sth, when theawar be-
gan. to March 4th, the conflict was ex
clusively naval, The Japanese inflicted
repeated losses on the Russian sea power
and succeeded In bottling up both fleets.
1t being then safe to move troop trans
ports, the Japanese first army began
landing at Chinnampo. Korea. and push
ed gradually northward until on tho
morning OF May 1st 1t was concentrated
5000 strong at Wiju, on the east bank
of the Talu River. the boundary of Korea
and Manchura-
kuropatkin's plan fro mthe beginning
has been to delay the Japanese. but tt
avoid a decisive combat until he can get
enough achievements from Russia to
overwhelm his opponents. He calculates
that he can get the necessary men by
August 18th.
The 10000 under General zassalitch.
whom he left at the Yalu tn larass the
Japanese in crossing, were defeated May
list in the bottle of Kulien Cheng and
zassalitch was superseded by sakharoff
for fighting harder than his orders called
for The Russians fell back on their
main force at Lao Yang. evaouating
Feng Wang Cheng, which the japanese
occupied as their base.
1t, therefore became safe to reinforcs
the japanese first army by way OF Taka
Shan. instead Of using the long Korean
route and General Nodzu has been LAM
ing troops and supplies there almost ever
since.
Early in May, a short time before the
Taku Shan landing, the Japanese Second
army. under General Oku had landed at
Pitsewo and pushed on toward Port Ar
thur Kuropatkin had thought that stoes-
sci could deal with this force But on
May 18th, In the first clash between Oku
and Stoessel. the Russians were over
whelmingly dsIeated at Kin Chow, or
Nanshan Hill. and Oku began rapid
prepare lions to assault Port Arthur by
land. It's capture would, Of course, be
great blow to Russian prestige. such as
the English would have suffered had the
Beers captured Ladysmith iii 1s3s-l9oo.
kuropatkin now adopted the bold plan
OF detachlng General stakelberg with
1860 men and sending him down rhe
peninsula to threaten Oku's rear. He
bly, miscalculated the size OF Okus
army. for Oku. with 5000 men, dashed
up the railroad to meet stakelberg, and In
the battle Of Fafangow. June 14th. 18th
and 18th. inflicted a severe defeat.
General kuroki hogan to stretch his
army down to catch Stakelberg in the
rear, but Kuropatkin suddenly massed
large part Of his force at Tashichao and
advanced to meet and succor 6takelborg.
thus practically threatening to drive a
wedge between Oku and Kuroki and at
tack them In detail with superior num-
bers on his side. stakelberg escaped
and Joined him.
The able Japanese generals We're equal
TO the emergency. Kuroki threw his left
wing toward Hal Cheng. threatening to
cut Kuropatkin off from his base at Lao
Yang, and hurled his right wing north
ward toward Molten Pass. mcnacing Sc
riously the safety OF Lao Yang and Muk-
den. This is tho situation as the latest
dispatches describe It.. The expected bat
tic when the armies were to center at
Kali Chow will not take place and Kuro-
patkln must retreat in order to save
himself
The japanese will consider the cam
paign a decided success because they have
forced the Russians to retire and have
fought brilliantly. On the other hand,
IL General EUROPA tkin wlthdraws his
main army safely no will have delayed
tho attack in force ON Port Arthur a
month or so without suffering decisive
reverse. In this he has been aided by
the recent raid OF the YIadivostok fleet.
which sank three Japanese transports
and created panic, which seriously i'm
peded the sending OF reinforeements to
General Oku.
Following is a table OF distances In,
volved In the military movements
Port Arthur tor Miles,
Kinrhovy