The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-07-06
Fortunes of War.

The regular rainy season has af
rived at the seat Of war in the east,
bringing with it prolonged torrents
of rain and a combination Of heat
and moisture which engenders ST.
fling atmosphere, while the roads are
flooded or impossible for artillery
trains and heavy army wagons.
This is the period toward which
General Kuropatkin, the Russian
commander, has been looking with
hope, for he counted upon the wealth
err to arrest the concentration OF Jap
troops and artillery upon Hai-cheng
and Liao-yang on the China Eastern
railway.
The Japs, however, seem to have
continued fighting and gaining ground
and do not seem to be in favor of
sitting down, after dragging their
useful artillery, which has shown it's
superiority to the Russian, over the
rugged mountains from the east. If
the rainy season compels them to
wait awhile, it is most probable that
Kuropatkin, when the atmosphere
clears, will find the little brown men
as alert as ever.
1t is given out from his headquar-
ters that, as the railway is in better
running order, he will have reinforce
ments to the extent Of about 100000
men by the time the rainy season is
ended, and between that period and
the coming Of ice and snow there will
be time to carry out his former threat
. m drive tha Taps into the
For a power which boasts of it's
ability to place a million men on short
notice wherever there is occasion in
the far east, Russia has shown singu-
lar helplessness. The czar is COM
PEELED to keep SO many garrisons
among subject peoples to watch them
and suppress uprisings, from the
western boundary in Europe to the
Ural mountains, and even eastward,
sthat he cannot send a million men, or
even half a million men. into Man
5churia. Nat
Up to the coming Of the rainy sea-
son. the ordinary signal in that region
for closing active operations on the
land, there have been four months
fighting by the belligerents since the
outbreak of hostilities. The Japs
sduring this time, have occupied Korea
and driven back the Russian armies
sent to cross the Yalu river the
boundary between Manchuria and Ko-
rea; have forced back the advancing
Russians to the line of the Chinese
Eastern' railway, and have made the
Russian territory of Kwangtung the
battle-ground of the conflict; have
come over the mountains and hol6
the most important passes; con
front Kuropatkin with a line over 6
hundred miles long from Kai-chou
$northward, and hold the Liao-tuns
peninsula exclusive Of the Port Arthur
fortress and naval station, agains
which they have now succeeded il
with a plunging fire.
On the sea, Japan has been re
markably successful in coping up thu
Russian squadron at Port Arthur ant
5Vladvostok. Only recently has thu
alatter made a sortie of an offensive
nature, inficting damage on the Jal
navy not of a very serious nature
however, while the larger Port Arthur
$squadron has been very seriously i'm
paired in the two sorties it has made
and has. most Of the time, been in tn,
Inner basin for repairs. The Jap
have succeeded also in placing obstruc
tions in the channel entrance which
prevent the passage Of war vessels ex
cept at high tide. The Jap navy
while reduced in former strength, re
mains in control Of the sea and will
continue offensive operations durin,
the rainy season, of course, and, will
the besieging land force, will probabl,
compel the surrender Of the Russian
Gibraltar.
The first round between these bel
ligerents reveals a very hollow plac
In Russia's boasts of unlimited mill
tary and naval strength. Actual ties
afield has proven her inability to crusl
little nation Of 45,000,00O people
True, she can by weakening her force
elsewhere, reinforce her generals 70
the fall campaign, but such operatio
will increase the probability Of do
nestle uprisings and, consequently
she has before her new eXploitatio
/ of the astute strategy of the Japs, VIII
have excited the wondering admiratio
of war experts all over sthe civilize
world. Indeed, it would hardly b
safe to bet that the Japs will not b
able to demonstrate that they do nc
fear the rainy season, and that the
will not contrive to keep on fightin
among cloudbursis if necessary. The
are still at it and bivouacking in mu
and waterpools.
In telling how the antimerger plar
got into the state platform in spite Of ii