The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-03-11

= he fate of the Russian army of up
wards of a quarter of a million
men. and the 1000 pieces of ar
ttllery with which it was expected con-
tidenuy General Kuropatkin and his
lieutenants could prevent the advance
OF the Japanese beyond the Shakhe and
Hun river positions. still is in the bal
auce. They have been driven from
those positions and now are rushing
Horthward toward Tie pass. around
which are high hills. which were pre-
pared for defense after the battle of
Lao Yang in September, there being
no hope at that time that the Japanese
would allow the. defeated army to rest
south Of the Tie pass. That the Rus
SANS have lost many men and large
quantities of ammunition and supplies
IS certain. for. with "a single track rail-
way To the north, il would be impOS-
Eible to remove the large stores which
had been gathered together at Muk-
den.
Had Two Thousand Guns. -.--
These. it seems certain. have. been
destroyed. The Japanese have not Yet
reported tho capture of guns. which
they generally 90 almost Immediately,
but IL seems hardly likely that KuTO-
patkin could have removed all of his
artillery. on the lSt of January, ac-
CordiUE to correspondents who have
just returned from Mukden. the Rus
STAINS had i'm position along the Shakhe
and Hun rivers 100 guns. Including
q number of six and eight-inCh guns
ON cement foundations rtraddlmE the
railway just north of Sha1he station.
In addition. many guns arrived in
Mukden during January and February,
so that the Russian artillery. when
the big battle started. must have num-
bered nearly 1000 pieces.
Difficult Task.
= It is likely that Kuropatkin has sac
'Tifced some of these and is bending all
his energies toward eXtricating his
army. That his task is a difficult one
all the dispatches indicate, but Rus
sian SympathiZerS point to his retreat
from Lao Yang. where conditions were
opposed TO him. The retreat from
Lao Yang was accomplished during
terrific rainStOrm. over roads hub-deep
in mud. while at the present time the
Munchurian roads are frozen hard as
stone and have been worn as smooth
rs asphalt by the continual passage
OF the big wide-tired cOmmiSsariat
wagons. The result OF Oyama's great
turning movement depends almost en-
tirely upon Kawamura's army. which
har not yet been located definitely. al
though supposed to be moving from
the east toward KurOpatkins line of
retreat
Would Be Fatal.
should he reach the military road.
which runs almost in a direct line from
Tushun to Tie pass, before the pas
sage of the Russian army, the circle
will be complete. as NOgi's guns al
ready command the railway and should
soon control the Mandarin road,
which IS but a short distance east Of
the railroad and runs parallel with
il. The army Of General Kaulbars
which has been pressed back across
the western plain. fighting every inch
of ground. is moving nOrthward to pro-
teCt the line of retreat from the at
lacks from the westward. while Cen
crai Bilderling IS protecting the rear
against Generals Ollu and Nodzu, ana
LiHeVitch Is doing his best to hold the
military road against Kuroki. They
have numbers against them. but have
succeeded against odds in similar re-
treats Hefore. The appearance of Gen
eral x hamUra would render futile all
their efforts.
Russians Concentrated.
General Rennenkampff's force of
somewhat less than 10000 men, which
has been the extreme left, is in a pre-
carious position, but the force is a
mobile one and the officers know the
mountains well. With the exception
Of this latter force, all the Russian
troops are now concentrated on the
roads leading nOTthwaTd, and it may
take another twenty-fOur hours before
their fate is decided. The army which
!. General Grippenberg turned over to
General hauADdTS Wnen ne ietL Man
churia. and a portion of which Cen
eral Bilderling commanded. consisted
Of GeOrgOf'S cavalry, MistchenkO's mo-
bile division, and the Fifth. Sixth.
Eighth, Tenth and Seventeenth army
CORPS. extending from the Lao river
To the Mandarin road. General Line
vitch's army which held the inport-
ant positions at the bend OF the Shakhe
river. including Erdagou hill. COM
prised the First European. and the
First. Second, Third and Fourth ST.
berian corps, Rennenkampff's mobile
division and Samsonofts cavalry. The
troops which arrived in January and
February, probably two corps, are not
Included in this list
FJven should Kuropatkin extricate
himself il is believed in European cap
itais that peace soon viii follow this