The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-10-26
TIE HEROIC JAP SOLDIERS.
Some Deeds of Daring During
Manchurian Campaign
SIX SOLDIERS ROUT ARMY
One Private Volunteered to Find a
Ford; Plunged Into River Six
Times to Emerge, Wounded, with
Clothes Frozen Sold.-HoW They
Go to What Means Certain Death.

At the battle of the Yalu says VIII.
m Thorp in the Worlds Work."
20 Japanese sailors, on different
lips. when in the very throes Of
5th, gasped out, Has the Chen
flen sunk YETI" that vessel being one
1t the two most formidable iron.clads
the Chinese fleet.
During my campaigning in Man.
churia," said a Jarlnese who went
through the Chinese war, and who
now resides in New York, Il think the
greatest hardships we had to endure
was the terrible cold at Taiching. 1t
was bitter even for a Manchurian win.
ter When we were on the march our
boards froze to our coats. and | saw
many men who had their ears and
feet frozen off. But never once did |
hear single murniur or complaint
from any man in the force"
The energy and initiative of the
japanese soldier were strikingly dis
played by private named Kato Jur.
ORC, at Kiomaishan in the Chinese war.
His regiment, when about to engage
the enemy. was stopped by broad
and rapid river. He was in the lead.
ing company. His captain sent back
to the colonel for instructions, and the
Colonel replied that somebody must
find a ford. But before the order
could be received Juroro had waded
out into the river in half a dozen
places, until he found a shallow place.
The river was frozen by a thin coat.
Ing of ice, and the enemy on the op-
posite bank kept up hot fire at him
all the time. When he emerged, he
was wounded, and his clothes were
frozen to him like a sheet of mail ar.
NOR, but he had found the ford and
was content.
The Japanese soldier possesses
abundant initiative. and is never
afraid to act upon his own RESPONSE
bility. One Of the stories held up to
the admiration of recruits tells of the
exploit of a sergeant named Kodama
and five men at Hwangchiatai, in the
Manchurian campaign against China.
They were sent to reconnoiter the
Chinese position in the night While
they were doing so, the sergeant
1oted the extreme confusion and un.
reparedness of the enemy and he
o.ceived the daring idea of attack.
3 the entire army with his five men.
hey discharged their rifles as quick.
as they could and rushed rapidly
ON point to point, utterlng blood.
curdling yells. The Chinese thought
they were attacked in force and fled
in confusion, leaving their camp and
supplies behind them.
did you see Fire Boss Gordon the
""shikata go nail" ("There is no
help!) This phrase is heard in Japan
as often as "Manana" in Latin in
America. 1t expresses at once the
fatalism and the Spartan resolution of
the Japanese character. When a
mother hears that her son has been
killed in battle, she does not weep
or show any visible sign of emotion.
She bows her head and calmly says:
"Shikata go nail" When a man is
sent by his officer to certain death,
he does not sit down and write his
last letters home or go around shak-
ing hauds with his comrades for the
last time, as white men would do
in the same case. He simply mutters,
"Shikata 80 nail" and walks out of
the officers tent straight to his mis-
sion.