The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-09-14
CHARGE OF THE MEN OF NAGAYA.


 "
 CHARGE OF THE MEN OF NAGAYA.
 Desperate Fighting Done by the Army
 UndeF General Oku.
 Headquarters in the field of Second Japanese Army before Liaoyang, un- dated. via Tientsin, Sept. 13.-The cap ture of Liaoyang was accomplished
 only after, nine days of desperate fight ing on the part of the second, or left, Japanese army under the command of General Oku. During the time while the artillery arm carried out its part of the greatest artillery duel the world has ever seen, there occurred the hard est fighting and the most desperate in- fsntry charges of modern times. The fighting began August 2s. when this Japanese army. moving to the !northward. collided with the Russian
 shanshan. The Japanese bombarded this position all day long and at night the Russians retired. The next three days. August 27, 2s and 2e, were occu- pied fin following the retreating Rus sians. The Russians retreated steadily
 with the artillery in the rear guard en- gazing the Japanese and succeeding in
 retarding 1t until the main force ef
 Russians reached in safety the strongly fortified positions in the Shoushanpao hills, eight miles north of Liaoyang.
 At dawn August 30. the Japanese
 began an artillery attack upon this position. the second army bringing 216 guns to bear upon the Russian fortifcations The fourth Japanese army was formed upon the extreme right, occupying a position on a small chain of hills running at right angles to the Russian position. skiIifui Works of Defense, The fourth army employed nearly 100 guns more against the enemy at Shoushanpao. This Russian position
 was the strongest the enemy had held up to that time. It consisted of three hills averaging three hundred feet high. all fortified with very strong inc trenchments connected with skilfully concealed bomb-proofs capable of holding all the men engaged in work ing the guns. The artillery duel at this point was probably the biggest I that has ever taken place. It lasted | all day August 30 without any appre- | ciable result.
 The next morning, the artillery duel | was continued with increasing | strength. the Russians answering shot I for shot. The Japanees were hidden | under corn eight feet high and were barely visible to the enemy who lssearched the corn fields with sharpnel The fire caused heavy Japanese losses. but it failed to silence the guns. | At II o'clock in the morning the fire | of all the Japanese guns were concern | trated on the trenches at the end of q hill on the extreme left of the Russian position. For an hour shell and shrap- ] nel and the dust of exploding shells hid the position from sight. Infantry Make Charge. The artillery ceased at noon and the Japanese infantry then charged from I an adjoining hill in the face of a heavy | fire from the trench itself and a terri l ble cross fire from Russian artillery posted on another hill to the rear. Strong wire entanglements. military | pits and exploding mines failed to stop the advance. and in spite of enormous | casualties, they took the trench at the point of the bayonet, driving the Rus sians back the length of the hill As soon as the Japanese were in posses sion of this trench, the Russians turned | the fire of scores of guns against them in an effort to dislodge them. This heavy fire was maintained until night
 fall. but did not drive the Japanese out. Both sides kept up an artillery fire all
 through the night of August 31. and at o'clock in the morning of September
 l the Japanese attacked the center Rus sian position. This was a hill defended by three lines of entrenchments. The bottom of the hill was defended by wire | entanglements after terrible slaughter. 1 one detachment losing seventy seven out of eighty men.
 The men of Nagoya. the flower of
 the second army, were assigned to
 charge this hill. They took the first
 trenches with a rush. In the second
 trench they met the enemy in a hand to hand fight and went in to the top l of the hill. treading on their own dead
 The trench at the crest of the hill was taken after another hand to hand fight, the Russians being driven out at the point of the bayonet and with
 clubbed guns.
 ThOusands Are Killed.
 Thousands were killed in this charge,
 and the trenches were filled with the
 mangled bodies of Japanese and Rus-
 sians. In many cases attacker and de- lenders were found dead clutched in each others arms. No more desperate charge was ever made. The position | apparently was uassailable and 1t should have been held by one man
 against twenty. The taking of this hill ended the defense of this line of
 positions. the Russians right evaeua.
 ting after slight resistance.
 At udylBHt, ospleHDeT l tn6 jdp-
 anese flag floated over all the hills
 and the Russians had retired In good
 order toward Lisoyang.
 At sunset September the Japanese
 center and right had moved forward and n general charge was ordered
 The Japanese guns bombarded the
 Russian defences for one hour before the sun went down and then the in-
 fantry charged. The left was suc- | cessful in driving the Russians out of their position. but the right and cen-
 ter did not achieve as favorable a re- suit. They forced the Russians to re-
 tire to the defenses close to the walls of Liaoyang.
 Here another desperate stand was
 made. the Japanese pouring shell and
 shrapnel into the Russians all day of
 September 8. The Russian artillery
 was located in exceedingly well built
 supplements which afforded them
 complete protection.
 The City Set on Fire.
 Shortly after noon of September 8 it
 was seen that the Russians had begun
 to burn the city. Great piles of stores near the railroad were set on fire and | many buildings were destroyed. Du-
 ring the night of September 3 the last | of the Russian forces withdrew from | Liaoyang and early in the morning of | the fourth the Japanese occupied tho | town.
 According to a dispatch from Tokio
 dated September II an approximation
 of the Japanese casualties In the battle
 of Liaoyang based on reports of the chtafs of ha roadIca1 coVpa nf or-