Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-14
Bulldog Tenacity Of the jap
anese Infantry.
A SUPERB DISPLAY
HOW OYAMA'S PLANS WERE
EXECUTED.
Desperate for the Possession Of the
Shaho-Attacks and Counter
s Attacks at Night.

Correspondence Of the Associated Press.
HEADQUARTERS OF GEN. KUROKTS
ARMY, near Tiehling Pass, Manchuria,
March 15.-The combination of the most eff
ficient staff with the bravest and more in
telligent soldiers to execute its plans de-
cded the mastery of Manchuria. Again the
Russians gave splendid exhibit on of the
old school of fighting. They were cour
ageous beyond criticism and stubbornly de-
tended their lines. but in generalshp and
the employment of modern methods the
Japanese surpassed them. The Russian re-
treat began in as good order as thta from
Lao Yang, but when the soldiers realized
that they were being surrounded it became
a panic with incidents which must have
been humiliating to the officers.
Russians Waited Too Long.
The battle of Mukden. like Lao Yang,
had for the Japanese some days of sus-
pense when it appeared doubtful if the Rus
slams could be forced from their positions.
1t was full of surprises. and the climax.
when kuroki's soldiers who. judged by all
standards, should have been completely ex-
hausted from ten days of fighting and eX-
posture. marched rapidly forward in thick
sand storm and appeared across the Tieh-
ling road beyond Mukden. was a decisive
surprise. The Russians about Mukden had
delayed their retreat too long. Only on the
9th kuropatkin appears to have realized the
danger and warned foreign officers and
correspondents to leave. Those who start
ed that day are yet with the Russi,.n army.
but the others who delayed until the 10th
were captured.
The Russian soldiers expected victory.
They were told that the Russians were win
ming along the Shoho and at Fushun When
the soldiers found the enemy approaching
from every side and ignorant peasants de-
luded with tales of Japanese atrocities, they
ara1o ,1 AoI tlya Shnn ar6 hnir chr
rounded surrendered in squads to unarmed
Japanese transport men and coolies, begging
not to be massacred. Many have been hid
ing about the country inside the japanese
Ines and now, driven by cold and hunger.
are coming into the camps. Corpses of
Russians and even japanese lie unburied
away from the roads, where they were not
noticed or were passed over by the army in
Its hurried advance, and no doubt numbers
of wounded who were not discovered died
from exposure.
Advance Of Port Arthur Army.
The japanese staff mad long ago resolved
upon a winter campaign. They would have
launched it sooner, but were obliged to
await the fall of Port Arthur for a force
large enough to give reasonable assurance
of success. If Stoessel had persisted an
other month the Japane-e would have faced
the difficult problem of bridging the rivers
to be crossed instead of walking over on
the ice. and the odds against them would
have been far greater. After Port Arthur
surrendered 1t was necessary to fill the dec
mated ranks with reserves and to march
them up to Lao Yang. The heavy siege
guns had to be brought north by trains and
founda lions constructed for them. Had the
japanese being driven back from the Shaho
all Of their twenty eight centimeter guns
would have fallen into the hands of the en-
envy, but a Russian success was not con-
templated in the plans. These big guns
proved as effective in field fighting as
against forts. The shells tore through the
Russian entertainments and the protected
huts though they had been paper. leav-
ing the soldiers without shelter or refuge
from the fire. The cavalry and Cossacks.
of which the Russians have a great force.
and which they expected to play a leading
part In the Operations on level country, were
not a factor in the battle.
japanese in Five Bodies.
The beginning of the battle found the
japanese forces organized into five bodies.
Three were along the Shaho and westward
to the Hun. Nogi's veterans were ready
to march northward and attack Mukden
from the northwest and they executed their
part Of the plans brilliantly. On the ex-
IRENE east was an untried force, which had
started in January from bases on the Yalu,
and was to make a junction with the jap
anese right wing and sweep around to the
north of the Russian lines of defense Its
work was to outtiank Fushun. the terminus
of the Russian branch railway and Kuro-
patkn's eastern stronghold, as Nogl did
Mukden.
Kuropatkin mistook his contingent for
the Port Arthur veterans and paid 1t the
compliment of arraying great BODY OF his
best organizations against 1t. Thus he was
able to check it's advance with strong en-
trenchments on the hills south of the town
of Bagantan, fifteen miles southeast of
Fushun for several days and prevent 1t
40, lii hn n
Along the Shaho the japanese armies
were the same organiza tons. although
with greatly changed personnel and altered
in details, that met the Russians at Lao
yang.
Two divisions of Kurokrs army were
sent eastward as soon as the battle began,
indeed they were on the march before the
opening of the bombardment, to cooper
ate with the right army. There was
break of almost twenty miles in the line be-
tween the easternmost division and the
others at one time, and the ground was
covered only by cavalry brigade and some
infantry reserves. That division encoun-
tered the same experience which befell the
Yalu force, and the town of Shateray, in the
mour tains northeast of Witesan was its
stumbling block. There was also inter-
val of some miles west of Witesan left I'M
covered between kuroki's left and the
several battalions in reserve to meet an at
tack at that point but the expected attack
was never delivered. Afterward 1t was
learned that the Russian line was equally
weak along that stretch of the river, and
the Russians were wondering why the Jap
anesc did not strike them there.
AS the attack upon Mukden progressed.
one army drew away from the Shaho to the
north to cooperate with the one fankng
Mukden, and the Japenese forces on the
south had great space to cover, but plenty
of artillery to engage the enemy. The bat
tie on the south line was practically dead
lock until the Russians were ordered to re-
tire for the defense of Mukden. The Japa-
nese policy WAS to hold and engage the
Russians along the Shaho while their flank
ing armies were pursued forward.
japanese Bombardment.
The Japanese bombardment of the Rus
sian positions was fixed to begin on Sunday,
February 26. The left army was then start
ed on their march across the Hun to Muk-
den but the right army had not advanced
as far as had been expected. The japanese
generals. however, were confident of VIC
tory. No army could have gone into battle
with letter spirits. Almost every pos
sibie preparation had been made; ev-
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