The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-05-29

of campaigning into hardy veterans
They plodded on silently. as usual, with
no show of rejoicing over victory, with
out confusion nor excited officers. Japa-
nese dominion over Manchuria was
spreading at the rate or two miles an
hour BY the river banks were fields of
kaoliang which had stood unharvested
since fall between the lines Of hostile
cannon, and through these were swarmng
men, women and children reaping and
stacking their crops. The Chinaman fritz
ters away no time gaping at victorious
armies when a few dollars are to be
gathered.
Country Filled With Dust.
For ten days from that morning the
whole country within the area of the
fighting was covered with a mist of fine
dust stirred up by the feet of more than
million men and animals. 1t never
settled for minute, it cholzed the throat
and blinded the eyes, sifted under clothing,
made food gritty and turned all water into
mud. The flames from burning houses
and stacks of grain showed through it in
the nights like the moon through a fog.
The sand storms which began on the
second day Of the pursuit and continued
at intervals for week came from the
north directly into the faces of the Japa-
nese and made the discomfort and hard
ship worse.
There was great contrast between the
country south of the Shaho and north
of it, The villages toward Mukden were
larger and more prosperous, with bet
ter buildings, and the picturesque tenn
pies and tombs surrounded by groves of
dark green frs made welcome, panorama
to the eyes of the men from beautiful
Japan, who had spent months among the
dreary and monotonous hills Chinese
families gathered In front of their houses
and greeted the japanese with shouts
Doubtless they were equally ready to
claim the Russians, and denounce the
Japanese, when 1t was polite. Outside the
larger towns Chinese officials wearing
their robes of office and buttons their
caps with banners and soldiers In guady
uniforms received the Japanese generals
and General Kuroki and his staff rode
into the village where his headquarters
ere now through a double file of villagers
kneeling on both sides Of the road.
Retreat Had Orderly Beginning.
The beginning of the Russian retreat
from the Shaho was orderly and they
left a clean field. None of their portable
effects worth taking had been abandon
ed except hundreds Of stacks of tin cases
In the trenches and huts containing cart
ridges
Toward evening Of that day General
Kuroki's troops overlook their rear guards
eight or nine miles north of the Shaho
and from that time the retreat became
q scramble for safety At the various
supply stations huge piles OF grain were
fired and smouldered for days. The pur-
suit continued all through the night of
the eighth and the right division of Kuro-
kris army came to the branch line of
railroad running from Mukden to the
mines at Fushun. On the morning of the
ninth the sand storm began which threw
both sides into confusion and made or
Derby retreat or pursuit on a large scale
impossible. All the telegraph wires con-
Meeting the headquarters and the diff
fe-ent divisions were blown down so that
each contingent proceeded largely on its
own responsibility. The left division cross
ed the Hunho under cover of the thick
dust clouds without a battle. Apparent
ly the Russian commander was afraid to
risk a defense on sucn a day even In the
elaborate works which should have made
he Hunho the most formidable line of
defense, perhaps because his own men
were in panic.
Decisive Day of Battle.
Probably this was the decisive day of
the battle, for the japanese forces west
of Mukden were being pressed hard and
the brigade on the extreme left was al
most wiped out. Had Bildering repulsed
Kuroki two or three days at the Hunho
the, Russian reserves might have been
able to turn the tide at Mukden. Good
generalship and good fortune made his
tory otherwise Kuropatkin had hurried
his reserves from Mukden east to Fushun
as the Japanese had planned that he
should, and then hurried them back to
Mukden but only too late The jana
nese center army from Kuroks left was
pushing past Mukden to the north and
Kurokis left division was marching still
further north protecting its right flank
Having lost the Hunho the Russian CEN
trail army left Mukdent to its fate and
continued its now dsorderly retreat to
Tiehling. That all their dead were left
where they fell showed what the re-
treat had become. On the morning of
the tenth the left division again encoun-
tered the Russian rear guard in con-
siderable force northeast Of Mukden and
as the Russians attempted to make a
stand they were beaten In two engage
ments and in the afternoon the division
arrived at the town Of San-a, ten miles
beyond Mukden on the main road from
Mukden to Tiehling.
Men Were Nearly Exhausted.
Until the tenth the army had been
pushed forward day and night in the
| face of every difficulty to draw the at
| tention of the Russians from Mukden.
| and the men were nearly exhausted by
their forced march. The military roads
| from Fushun to Tiehling wound along
| the plains among sharp hills and the
| division followed this to get to the vth
of Mukden while General Linevitc' =