MANCHURIAN CAMPAIGN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12856, 3 May 1905, Page 5

MANCHURIAN CAMPAIGN.

THE RUSSIAN SUCCESS. London, May 1. General Linevitcb reports that after taking five positions held by the Japanese in the vicinity of Tunghuashien, ins troops have occupied that town.

THE BATTLE OF MUKDEN. JAPANESE LOSSES MADE GOOD. London, May I. All the vacancies in the Japanese troops caused by the battle of Mukden have been made good by reinforcements. General Linevitch, on the other hand, has received only 42,000 fresh troops to replace the 200,000 lost in the battle. A JAPANESE LOAN. London, May 1, The fifth Japanese loan of £10,000,000, raised locally, has been covered fivefold. THE BRITISH SQUADRON. REINFORCEMENTS. (Received M»y 'J, 9.10 p.m.) London, May 2. The British China squadron is to be reinforced. Five destroyers have sailed from England for Hongkong. NOTES ON THE WAR. i General Linevitch apparently believes he has gained a victory. He has carried a place called Tunghuasien. This is probably a place south of Changchan, and styled Tunglaling on the maps. The Japanese possibly wanted him to have the place. General Hasegawa is said to be about to march to Vladivostok from Corea with 100,000 men. This officer distinguished himself in the early battles of the war, and experienced rapid promotion. He has been in command in Corea since early in the year. It is not likely, however, that the investment of Vladivostok will be entrusted to his army, for it consists cliiefly of recruits and reservists. The third Baltic squadron passed Singapore on Saturday, and may now be said to be at "the front." Apparently the Japanese do not intend to prevent the Russian squadrons meeting. In Tokio it is expected that the opposing fleets will be in contact in a few days.

WAR ITEMS.

A despatch from Harbin describes a) great ovation received by General Kuropatkin when lie left for the south to rejoin the army as one of General Linevitch's subordinates. A crowd of thousands of troops and civilians cheered him with immense enthusiasm, raising thunders of "Hurrahs," and shouting, "God send you fortune!" "Good-bye, father!" Hundreds of soldiers crowded by the side of the train, and after it moved off ran after it for some distance. The men threw up their caps, and those who were near kissed the general's hand. General Kuropatkin was deeply touched by the warmth ot the farewell. He raised his cap. bowing repeatedly, and tears streamed down his cheeks.

The horrors of the retreat from Mukden are suggested by some of the Russian despatches. Men fell out of line by the hundred, owing to exhaustion. They received neither food nor ammunition. "Throughout 10 days of unceasing battle, under the fire of shrapnel guns and whirlwinds of whistling Indicts." says the correspondent of the Russ, " our men have eaten scarcely anything, avid slept'where they could. The gray-coated Russian soldiers have accomplished miracles. The enemy also seen* made of steel. They were tired! out after two days without food, but Marshal Oyama, told his men that the end of the slaughter would arrive. The infantry on both sides l light as if they despised death." General Linevitch's retreat, by way of Tinman, became a, rout. His artillery was impeded by mud, caused by an unexpected thaw, and while his men were entangled in the ravines hordes of Chunchuses raked them | with rifle fir© from the mountains. The i fiercest fight in the battle was in the neighbourhood of Mukden. According to the | Matin, General Kuropatkin deliberately i sought death, exposing himself in the thickj est of the fight. Although shells burst all i around him, he was not touched.

A graphic picture of the "battle around Mukden is sent by Renter's correspondent. Much of the fighting was hand-to-hand. Dead soldiers littered the streets and court-yards, none having been buried! for four days. Twisted rifles were everywhere. Gruesome encounters happened! on every hand, mercifully hidden by the smoke of 100 great guns and the sweep of a blinding duststorm. Reserve troops dug holes for themselves in the ground, as wide apart as possible, to escape the shrapnel fire. The evacuation of the Shaho was stupendous. It involved hundred's of miles of telegraphs, railways, military roads, and complete Red Cross towns.

The correspondent of. the B,uss describes Hie Japanese as a cruel and obstinate foe. Why he.' called them cruel may be inferred from a story told by the Petit Parisieu. A Japanese officer 'with a haversack full of dynamite cartridges leaped into the trench, lit the fuse of a bom'b, ami threw it into the middle of the Russians. Sixty mutilated bodies were all that remained.