The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-07-26
HOW THEY Do IT.
Secrets of Japanese Victories
Coming to Light.
American Army officers Are
Sending in Reports.
CARRY LITTLE WEIGHT
Every Piece of Metal in Outfit Is
Aluminium.
Each Foot Soldier Carries En-
trehching Tools.

washington, July zo--t1OW lne Jap
anese have invariably whipped the
Russians is being disclosed by Amer
lean officers sent out to observe the
operations, whose reports are just be-
ginning to come in.
The war has been in progress eigh
teen months, but it is only within a
month that the American observers
have been able to send in reports that
were Of any value. Japanese COM
manders stopped reports of any value,
though they let through reports of
operations that did not differ from the
usual methods.
Now that the Russians are suing for
peace the Japanese are permitting the
observers to forward dispatches that
make American officers open their
eyes.
Never before have so many army
boards been engrossed by so many
war studies of prime Importance
Every branch of the Japanese army
has been heard from except the en gI7
neers. Major Kuhn is still in the field
and unable to get through reports of
worth to American engineers.
Lightest Marching Order.
The quartermaster generals depart
ment is one that has found most to
think about in the reports. The ex-
traordinary mobility of the Japanese
troops, of course, is a fact which all
the world has been specializing about
wondering how the cat-Hke moves
were accomplished by men supposed to
be weighted down by the customary
camp Announcements. The Quartermas-
ter's department has satisfied itself
that the Japanese march extraordi-
narily light-do not carry half as much
weight as Americans would.
Every piece of metal in a Japanese
soldiers carrying outfit is aluminium.
He carries an aluminium canteen, an al
minimum cup and wherever metal is re-
quired in the way Of buckles that light
metal is used. His haversack is made OF
lightweight materials and his gun is
lighter than an American soldier would
have to pack with him. Everything is
reduced to a minimum of weight.
Because his general accoutrements
are light weight, each Japanese foot.
tools; that is, a pick and shovel. That
is a fact not generally known, and it
accounts for the comparatively small
mortality on a number of fields in which
the Japanese apparently fought with
out cover
Examination of the fields at Liaoyang
and Mukden show that in every ad-
vance the Japanese army practically en-
trenched itself. The first line of Skin
mishers thrown out dug very shallow
trenches. The second line occupied
them and the first moved forward The
third dug them still deeper and the
fourth completed them.
But in trenching the japanese
showed a new trick. They dug their
trenches as if they were preparing to
bury huge telegraph poles, each bear
ing as many cross-arms as possible
The trench in which the pole was to lie
led back to the ammunition carts and
the reserves. The transverse or arm
trenches extended parallel with the
front of the Russian positions. The am
munition servers passed through the
and were never exposed to rife fire at
all. Shrapnel fire might reach them,
but it did not often.
Trap for the Enemy.
After having constructed the elabo-
rate entertainments in the face of the
enemy's fire, the Japanese were ready
to show another trick. That was to
fall back from their trenches nearest
their enemy and thus invite him to
charge forward, only to be met by the
whole strength of the organization
making the attack in the last trench,
into which machine and mounted guns
had been hurried as soon as it waA
completed. When the Russians reach
ed the last trench the CALLING fire was
too much for men entirely exposed and
they went down by the thousand.
Another thing about their field work
is that there is no blind firing; no
shooting simply because the Russians
are known to be in a certain direction;
no shooting until the range finders
pick up the Russians and the distance
is accurately measured with the best
scientific instruments the Japanese
government can buy.
The men with range finders go out
with collapsible extension ladders.
They pop up all over the debatable
ground, take measurements and tele-
phone the result to the men who do
the shooting. Each range finder ope-
rator has telephone receiver strap
ped to his ears and a transmitter in
front of his mouth. and he never takes
observations beyond the end of his coil
or insulated wire. Thus range finding
work is done not only for artillery, but
for infantry.