Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1904-06-10


detachment on the bridge. A seconC
shell followed quickly, and a third
and both seemed to burst RIG ht among
the japanese.
The Russians had the range a
exactly as if they had measured i
with line. Their shells exploded
with great precision all about th,
bridge. No damage was done to tn,
japanese, for at the very first they
had scattered on the run. The mer
, at work at the Kinteto end ran t
cover under the bank, and after IL
) minutes or so the Russians ceased
firing.
There followed half an hour oi
silence. A man or two came out or
the. bridge and one venturesome chap
sculled sampan across the stream
A long string of pack ponies came
up behind from Win, bringing
planks for the bridge. They gath
cred in a bunch about the shore,
On the reverse slope of the hill a
couple of companies of infantry had
halted and stacked arms.
The Russians evidently took note
of the transportation punched on
the river bank. Again the guns
opened and again there was a
scattering of men from about the
bridge. The animals ran, too, some
of them with their loads. Many of
the ponies had two planks each for
a load, one fastened on each side.
AS one pony ran back toward the
town the plsnks slipped from their
fastenings, worked under his feet
and threw him fiat.
Meantime the japanese at two or
three places down the river began
what seemed to be preparations for
bridging. The Russians apparently
believed them TO be such and fire.
quently turned their guns upon them,
but the real WORK was going on in
the opposite direction. The bridge
material and the pontoons that had
been massed below Wiju were loaded
on carts again and sent around to
the right. 1t was done so swiftly
and quietly that did one not happen
to see it going on he would never
have known it.
The japanese took good care that
no one should see it who could be
| prevented. The foreign correspon-
dents were forbidden to climb any
hill or go on any high place. The
result was that whenever it suited
any sentry he could turn CORES
pondent back from any place.
Thus the day passed and on several
that followed there was no fighting
Of note, though the batteries coca.
sionally fred away. We turned in
each night with a cold breakfast
prepared for an early start and
instructions to all correspondents to
be ready.
On the afternoon of the goth the
shelling was considerably heavier
than it had been before. Several
japanese batteries we're engaged up
the river from Wiju. The Russians
pounded away in leisurely fashion,
Kinteto being the target for most of
their work.
Just at the close of day there was
a sudden increase in the vigor of the
shelling and an outbprst of rifle fire
that continued few minutes. 1t
developed later that a battalion of
one of the regiments of the Imperial
Guard had been sent across from
Win to Tiger Hill in an effort to
discover how far east the Russians
were present in any strength. This
was successful, for when the men
were discovered by the Russians on
Tiger Hill they sent out CoGsaoks
from the direction of kulien Cheng
The Cossacks took up a position in
the hills back of the Al river, and
there was short scrimmage between
them and men of the Guard, which
was not serious to either side. 1t
showed, however, that the Russians
were not near enough to the Tiger
to defend it without advancing q
force from somewhere else.
That night the crossing Of the
Yalu began in earnest. The divis-
ion commanded by Lieutenant-Gen
eral Inoyo was sent from its position
on the right of the Japanese, a few
miles up the river, to a place called
lspiko, which was we'll beyond the
extreme left of the Russians. 1t
had been carefully determined that
no preparation had been made by the
enemy to prevent crossing there,
and the necessary bridge material
had been collected with the greatest
secrecy.
Everything worked like charm.
The bridges were laid down over the
different channels of the Yalu en-
tirely without opposition. Nearly
all the men of the division crossed
and were concealed in the folds of
the Manch9rian hills before daylight.
They took with them some batteries
OF mountain guns, but did not
undertake to use field guns.
The alarm was sounded in the
camp of the correspondents about 4
o'clock on the morning of the 30th.
AS We advanced we saw that all the
batteries which had been placed near
our camp had been moved during
the night. 1t was after 6 O'Clock
and the sun was clear of the hills
when we took up our position,
which commanded "a good view Of
the bills on the Russian side and
concealed perfectly the location of
almost all the Japanese batteries
that might be engaged. With glasses
we studied the hills on the other side
of the river until we became familiar
with almost every nook and crevice.
AS the columns disappear behind
the hills there was a sudden sharp
crack from the bank of the river
almost in front Of us and the sound