Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1904-10-20
BIGGER BATTLE
THAN LAO YANG
Fighting Has Been Resumed
After a Brief
LuII.
DRAWING NEARER MUKEEk
Russian Army is Now Ten Miles
Southwest-Thought That Japanese
viii Not Be Able to Interfere Witt
kuropatkin's Retreat.


Mukden, Oct. 17.-There was a lulu
in the battle Saturday, but fighting
was continued yesterday on the right
The army is ten miles southwest Of
Mukden.
1t is now certain that the army wild
be able to extricate itself.
The losses amount to 10000.
1t has been bigger battle than Lac
Yang. .-........
Mukden, Oct. 1.-THE battle was
renewed and continued throughout the
night, being especially heavy at mid.
night. The Russians retain their posi-
tion along the Shakhe river and have
made frequent attacks upon the Jap.
anese, capturing six guns. The east
ern army is helping the western
forces. There has been very heavy
artillery fire today. The fighting is
now centered on the plain.
st. Petersburg, Oct. 17.-Dire disas.
ter describes the deplorable defeat of
the Russians at Sakhe.
All the wounded are being carried
to Hardin, or further north. 1t is un.
derstood that the correspondents also
have been ordered to Hardin, which
indicates that the retreat will not even
stop at Tie Pass, sixty miles north Of
Mukden.
All hopes heralded in regard to Port
Arthur have been abandoned. Streams
are bank high and fords are impass-
able; but it is impossible to say how
will off 81 IA, T.
may prove the Russians salvation by
preventing Japanese pursuit On the
other hand, however, if the Russians
are on the wrong side of the stream,
the flooded rivers may only emphasize
the completeness of the disaster.
Another serious fact that remains
undetermined is the ammunition sup
ply. Seven days of furious fighting
must have greatly depleted the supply
of both armies. Official circles ex-
press great confidence that General
Kuropatkin is better off in this respect
than Oyama, but at latest accounts
the Japanese were bombarding as if
they were confident of an inexhaus-
tible supply of powder.
The official story of the battle says
that the Japanese made determined
effort to break the Russian center FRI
day night, but this, it seems, may be a
clerical or telegraphic error for Thurs
day. Simultaneously the Japanese
launched heavy assault against the
village of Shakhe, which had already
been the scene of so many furious at
tacks and counter attacks. The Rus
slams were forced to evacuate the viii
lage, but heroically recaptured the po-
sition. This brought reserves of both
sides into action, but whether the
whole of the reserves of either side
were engaged is not clear. In any
event, the Russians were again and
finally driven out, making five times
that Shakhe had changed hands in the
course of the battle. The Russians
then retired to new position north Of
Shakhe. Out of the fragmentary infor.
nation at hand it is possible only to
conclude that the costly withdrawal
and retreat from Lao Yang is being
duplicated upon an even grander scale,
with far more desperate fighting and
heavier losses.
General Kuropatkin's official report
leaves the Russians still tenaciously
holding the north bank of the Shakhe
river, but general belief is that this is
only the desperate end of one of the
greatest military dramas of history
and the Russian army as a whole is
retiring towards Mukden, having suf-
fered at the most conservative esti-
mate, loss of over 10000.
OF the left flank, which was one OF
the most important points in the line
of battle, nothing is heard which
leaves the inference that it is not in a
position to communicate with the re-
mainder of the army.
Although the official account of the
battle does not present the disastrous
picture that many in st. Petersburg
had resigned themselves to see, the
general feeling is of the deepest
gloom. If the battle had not been
Russia's Sedan in fact, the moral and
political effect could hardly be worse.