NOTES ON THE WAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12852, 28 April 1905, Page 5

NOTES ON THE WAR.

• There is practically no Hews from the Baltic fleet. Whether it is in. the Gulf of Tonquin, at Hainan, at Batavia, or off Borneo, we are not told. There is 110 mention of the third squadron, under Admiral Nibogatotf. It may be the hush before the storm breaks. The probability is that Admiral P.oshdefitven.ski is somewhere about the island of Hainan. The. striking news comes to hand from Manchuria that General Linevitch lias made attacks upon thfc Japanese positions at Kaiyuen and Changtu. The Russians speedily found that the Japanese; were in force and retreated. This news alters the whole situation. in Manchuria. It had been reported that the Japanese were advancing, in crescent form, with the railway as their centre. There is certainly no advance by the railway. That Russian columns should inarch south as far as Kai-yuen, th,. Japanese headquarters, .indicate that the Japanese army has vanished. Field-Marshal Ovama is said 10 have 475,000 men in Manchuria. Where are they? Perhaps they are converging upon Kirin, or may be a large part of them are inarching upon Vladivistok. The possession of the port is more important to the Japanese than the possession of Harbin. Some of the vessels of the Baltic fleet, may get to Vladivostok, but if the place is- besieged, those ships will be in danger of the fate of the Port Arthur fleet. There have been many reports as to movements in Manchuria, and some of them no doubt were issued for the entertainment of "the other side."

It is reported that General Kuropatkin lias resigned rather than take part in an offensive movement. The operation to which lie objected was doubtless the advance upon Kai-juen and C'hungtu, which ended in fiasco. General Linevitch apparently knew the way was clear, but the operation wa« not well conceived, seeing that the counterstroke was allowed to fail with a, loss of only 200 killed. The lives of these men were thrown away. Kai-yuen was not likely to fall to a raiding column, nor FieldMarshal Oyama to be diverted from his settled plans by attacks against which he must have provided.