SHAHO, AND ITS SLAUGHTER.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 130, 29 November 1904, Page 5

SHAHO, AND ITS SLAUGHTER.

ONE OF .HISTORY'S GREAT BATTLES. WHOLE REGIMENTS SWEPT AWAY. SIX DAYS' FIERCE AND TERRIFIC FIGHTING. With but few exceptions the battle which raged round Shaho last month was one of the most sanguinary in. history, and by far the greatest in the present war, both in, regard to the ferocious character of the fighting and the record of casualties. About 80,000 men were killed ahd wounded. Independent accounts of the battle from Russian sources testify to the relentless vigour with which the assaults on both sides were delivered and met. M. Nemirovitch Dantchenko, telegraphing from Suyetun (on the railway, 12 miles south of Mukden) on- 13fch October, describes the fighting round Dvoorogya Hill. , "For over two days," he says, "the battle raged ceaselessly. It was close on midnight on the 11th when the Japanese attempted a surprise attack on our frontal* positions. In impenetrable darkness they hurled the full force of their battalions against our entrenchments. The gloom of night was split by the blaze of their rifles and the answering volleys of our men. The attack never ceased. For hours we lay closely hugging our entrenchments, with but a few brief minutes of respite, every man with his rifle at his shoulder firing at the faroff Sashes. "Near dawn the evil-boding rifle fire ceased, and even the distant batteries were silent, and we lay and watched the daylight break. Bands of red and yellow clouds, looking as if they were tinged tfith streaks of blood, hung over the silent valley, which might have been empty for all the signs of life it gave. From the plain below us rose the dark and silent hills, like the silhouettes of tombstones, through the half-light. The fog thickened, covering the low-lying places. Water dripped from our beards and rifle-barrels, sodden with heavy night dew. Weary, cold, and sorrowful, we recommenced the duel between the two races. "Day had hardly lightened the slopes of the Two-Hornetl Mountain when our batteries began to cover it with shrapnel. Puffs of white smoke marked the bursting of each shell. With the naked eye we could see the Japanese being SHELLED OUT OF THEIR TRENCHES. First, singly, then in groups of three or four, black figures sprang into view, then squatted down and scuttfed to cover, scurrying away among the rocks. • The shells followed them, tearing up the rocks, and the Japanese fell literally like wheat at the hand of the reaper. On a mountain beside a Buddhist temple one of our batteries was also working. Then another opened from the opposite «ide, and the Japanese fled so quickly that x the gunners could hardly foliow them. "Soon the Japanese resourcefulness showed itself. They set fire to a big native village on the side of Two-Horned Mountain, rightly guessing that the wind from tho east would carry * the smoke towards us, affording them a screen and confusing the aim of our gunners. From 8 ia the. morning the fight boiled along the whole line. The infernal din of the rifle fire continued as on the previous day, but up to noon the Japanese batteries gave no sign of life. It appeared that they had-beeD waiting to locate otfr positions before opening fire. Even after they commenced, the cannonade -vas not so heavy as the bombardment on the previous day. "Far to the west the Japanese are tiying to work round our flank, but there we are safe, as we have sufficient force to meet them. Two simultaneous turning movements are proceeding, theirs and ours. "Reports of heavy losses during the night attack are coming in. The Tomsk Regiment suffered terribly. Of the brilliant Tomboff Regiment few. remain. The troops fought like heroes throughout the hours of darkness. Morning found them dead on the ground they had so bravely defended. Those remaining continue to fight in the big village before us. The remnants of several regiments, after repelling a whole night's attack, have ensconced themselves in the shelter of the walls of houses, prepared for a fresh day's work. "The Japanese attack on Temple Mountain 1 , which was held by the Volonski Regiment, began at a quarter t6 9 in the morning, but our batteries on each side kept them in view, and we repelled the attack. The assault was repeated at 10 o'clock, and finally at noon, when the general commanding, and we with him, retired from the position, going to Shi-khi. We had scarcely left the hill before it was covered by Japanese projectiles. •" From our turning column on the left nothing has been heard. We are anxiously expecting news that it has reached ila destination. Our men are displaying the GREATEST BRAVERY AND ENDURANCE in the, face of all the obstacles they enCounter. Our guns have been dragged by hand up impassable mountains. In one harrow defile the Japanese rolled down stones upon them. We could not take the vass, but our men scaled the hills on either side, and captured the heights commanding th 6 Japanese positions after a stubborn fight. Our centre and right have recovered themselves. We have kept in touch with our turning column, so strategically we are at a decided advantage. " The Japanese to-day landed an unexpected blow on our right flank, and captured two batteries. A brigade of the enemy attacked a hill occupied by the Novocherkask Regiment, and partly surrounded the batteries, killing all the gunners. Oui infantry, however, came up and re-took the guns after desperate fighting. " We are depending on holding the positions captured from the Japanese two days ago". It is impossible at present to judge of the situation. We shall probably have to wait some days for the final success, in which our men still believe. At present we are all wet to the skin. A terrible thunderstorm swept down on us last night, flooding the trenches. It was renewed to-day. The sky is torn with bolts heavier than those of any artillery. It is now 10 in the morning, and the storm i& increasing. _ The crash of the thunder is mingled with the roar of cannon and the whistle of bullets and shells. It is a terrible and yet a glorious spectacle." — Renter's Special Service. " SAUVE QUI PEUT." Correspondents describe all the roads, paths, and railway trains as swarming with wounded, drawn in Chinese twowheeled carts, which inflict smaddening tortures on them, carried on stretchers attached to horses' backs, or tottering uphill and downhill, laboriously supporting each other, and often bleeding to death. The troops are utterly demoralis- ; cd. They went into the battle, says th?

journal Russ, exclaiming "We must win or die this time. We cannot retreat, for such are the orders, and they will be carried out to the bitter end." " But they retreated, crying "The fire is unbearable." One eye witness states that shrapntl and bullets fell like hail from the summer clouds. Once twelve Japanese field guns were silenced, all the gunneis being killed, but tho Russians, although very near, were unable to take them, and two battalions who attempted to capture them were swept out of existence by volley after volley. Afterwards the Russian infantry, which screened its own artiHery, was literally mowed down, and the Japanese looked upon the silent Russian guns longingly, but could not take them until after sundown-. The SLAUGHTER WAS UNPARALLELED. It seemed as though the elements, not human beings, were fighting each other, and the blood flowed iv streams. Japanese and Russians met at times in hand-to-hand encounters, and individuals flung bombs into the enemy's ranks, changing jubilant shoufcs into harrowing moans. Several companies lost every officer, and had fourteen or fifteen survivors, all told, and mere privates took command. One officer retreated with eleven men, mostly wounded, and met a general, who furiously shouted, "How dare you abandon your troops! Return immediately! Where is your regiment?" "Here, your Excellency." "What ! Are there no more left?" "No more, Excellency." Whereupon the general turned away in silence. Another body of troops received orders to occupy the village of Yendonintai, and, stealing up at night, found the Japanese sleeping or preparing their supper. A sudden rush in the darkness, piercing shouts in the silence of- the night, and the bivouac was transformed into a field of blood and death. Scarcely a dozen men escaped. .The Russians then took the warm blankets, woollen leg coverings, and knitted jackets of the Japanese, and sat comfortably before the fires to eafc the supper prepared by their enemy. The correspondent of the Russ telegraphed : " I have always praised our artillery, but now I must pay the highest tribute to the Japanese, which marked marvellously in this engagement. It was, indeed, unparalleled. Obviously all the distances .had been accurately measured and divided into squares. Our troops, rushing forward to the attack, were positively annihilated in a few minutes." Other correspondents describe the Russian losses as enormous. The press is unanimously reticent about the fmal results, but recognises that the engagement will be a decisive one fdr this year's campaign. I am assured (writes* the Paris correspondent of the London Daily Telegraph) that it is a mistake to suppose that General KuTopatkiri was obliged agaiii&t his better judgment to ;tdopt the offensive. The truth is that hti had announced beforehand his intention to attack if a certain number of reinforcements were sent him, and, having received them, he advanced. His extreme optimism is sKown by the telegrams he forwarded to the regiments at Liaoyang. '