Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-14
GRAPHIC STORY OF KURoKrs
ADVANCE I TOWARD MUKDEN

so that the bombardment was reluctantly
abandoned
This mountain constituted the generals
coming tower throughout the battle until
the Russians retired from the river. There
the officers stood at a great telescope OF
sat around charcoal fires while snow storms
| and sand storms swept by In Icy blasts ana
Russian shells burst about the batteries on
the lower hills at either side and upon
Wftesan. A cluster of wires connecting
with the divisions with the artillery COM
manders directing the fire from other hills
and with the headquarters of Marshal
Oyama, was focused a the rocky peak ana
| the tinkle CT the telephone bell sounded
constantly. For three days the artillery
duel continued with hardly a crack of a
| rifle. and until Wednesday there We're no
Japanese soldiers in sight along the llnes
except few men occasionally darIins
from their shelter around the guns. All VI
| the infantry at the front were concealed
| in the earth huts and burrows on the slopes
behind their trenches. The artillery nre
was neither as heavy nor as continuous as
along the lines to the west. where the Dig
| guns were planted. The Japanese seldom en-
gagged their full strength, and there were
| few exhibitions of such rapid hre as was
displayed at Lao Yang. Close by Wltesan
the japanese had two batteries of captured
Russian guns which nearly exhausted their
ammunition before the artillery stage or
| the battle was finished. but when the Rus,
toward Tiehling confident that they would
| get q new supply.
The Shaho river resembles the Yalu on
| small scale, having two or three sire rs
| only few yards wide and shallow at TINS
| season. running in irregular channels along
a wide sandy bed. On the south side me
| line of hills and mountains which were 11i-
| lowed by the Japanese trenches was ABOUT
a mile from the stream. while the lower
hills and bluffs on the Russian side were
much nearer. The hills were bare of trees
and rocky and the whole landscape had a
barren and bleak aspect. In front of Wite-
san and for some miles in both directions
| the river ran nearly east and west. To the
east 1t made a wide bend northward among
high, steep hills AT the west it took an
other turn toward the southwest in front
of the great rocky hill called Monpaushan,
or Tower Hill.
One division of Kurokfs troops was to
crc-s in front of Whites; n, another division
at the bend of the river east and third
among the hills several miles from the GEN.
ter division.
Infantry Begin Action.
Wednesday the men who have done more
than any other branch of the army to win
battles-the Japanese infantry-came into
evidence. During the night two companies
had been sent forward and occupied a vii
lage in the plain to the right of Witesan.
in front Of hill where the correspondent
was watching events. That day they were
subjected to the hardest test that infantry
has to endure, to lie still under heavy
Smelling all day and take their chances of
being hit. There was no protection in the
town except huts with straw roofs ana
mud walls and mud walls around the
yards. The soldiers huddled in long rows
behind the walls. while the Russian shells
fell near by and sometimes among them.
The Russian battery working on this vii
lage used mostly solid shells, but its aim
was poo-. so that the majority dropped
either in front of the village or behind it,
and when night came the fields looked as
though they had been plowed at random,
but only thirty soldiers were hit
During the night of Thursday and early
morning Of Friday the infantry began to
play the leading part in the battle before
Witesan and from that time until the Rus
slams raised a white flag to ask for
armistice on the afternoon of Tuesday, the
ith, they successfully endured an ordeal
that has few counterparts in the history OF
battles.
Two brigades crossed the river Thurs
day night and drove the Russian advance
line from the first trenches at the foot OF
the hills by one of the night rushes with
the bayonets which the Japanese army has
successfully attempted so often during this
war. contrary to the text books OF the best
European theorists. Friday morning they
were arrayed at the foot of the hills which
were the Russian defenses Of the main line
and some attachments were part way I'D
the slopes. There was sharp fighting dur
ing the day. in which the japanese made
further advances and planted themselves
along line two miles long facing the Rms.
sian trenches and in a few places only a
few yards distant. They got little further
In the next four days, but they held their
line. and under difficulties, which made n
seem impossible.
Fierce Russian Attacks.
In the first night the Russians made four
attacks to drive them back, with fusillade
of continuous rifle fire, supported much of
the time by Smelling. The fighting contin-
ued in this character for three successive
nights, beginning before midnight and last
ing until daybreak. and 1t was continuous
although not so heavy during the days. Ali
the advantages lay with the Russians
Their guns could fire upon the Japanese
lines at closer distances and with greater
effect than could the Japanese guns across
the river upon the Russians. Their trenches
ran at an angle which commanded the ap-
preaching slopes from front and fanks
and behind them were rooted shelters in
which the soldiers could find rest and
warmth On their side the Japanese had
only such protection they could impro-
wise under great disadvantages, digging the
frozen ground in the face of rifle fire and
turning the face of some of the smaller
Russian trenches.
Going into action, each man carried on
his shoulders a pair of small sand bags,
and for many these bags were the only
shelter for hours and days. To raise head
or even arm drew fire. For the first day
they got no warm food, only the rations
carried in their hayersacks. All of this
time the nights were several degrees below
freezing and In the day the temperature
hardly rose above freezing point. The losses
of this contingent. most of them in the first
nights work, reached 1900, including sixty
officers.
Brave Non-Combatants.
The non-combatants gave a splendid ex-
hibition of their devotion to duty, with al
most the same risks and without the oppor-
tunities for glory Of the men in the fight
ing line. All supplies of rations and ammu-
milton had to be taken across the river
and the open fields under fire from the Rus
! sian batteries, and during the last stage of
the trip before the Russian rifles. South of
the river bed was the plain. at least a mile
wide. with no shelter, and over this went