THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1680, 11 May 1904, Page 31

THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR.

; ' . , LONBG-N,, May 8.. Admiral reportsr that 1 a. strong, mad: so- hindfered; the- “ bottling r up- ,Ji operations ate. Pont; Arthur that, the* cominlander accoonpanyting- the torpedo* flotilla. coinaidierejjll it: neoessai'y to st op but; liis. orders; did nottreacu. tiie-. .ships intended for blocking purposes;’ The? eighir steamers* dashed into the- harbour,, and,, despite the enemy’s searchlights, the fircv from, the. fort.ra.ises, and! the- danger of raiin.es exploring, live gained! the,- mouth of- the- harbour., tivo getting well inside. The- flotilla stood by the- sunken, steamers till the moming, and succeeded in rescuing, half of the crews. A torpedo Boat was liit cm the steam-pipe arid dasiiblbcfc. hot- a companion boat to-wed /bear saifefy away.. The destroyer 'Aotaka was. damaged in the vicmitv of the port engine, but escaped. The casualties of the flotilla were two killed and three, wounrievL It is ecmsidsere-dl that the harbour ••».■ effectively blocked,, at least as for as cruisers and battleships aue; eon-ct riie-d. The other' steamers sank, before? re ach ng the entrance; • 1 - - . The, Japanese? have- captured' Fenghwangreheng, ahcsate forty irri'es north,- - west of Kin lien eh eng, in south-eastern Manchuria: Chefbp report® stated that, General Kouropatkin,. who is- in command of theRussian fprces, is concentrating, -one hundred men at Liao-yr-ng- tou the Port Arthur-Harpmg, rii way), whither General Kuroki is marching' from the* scutk-easti at: the- rate f thirty Mloinetres’ "(about twenty-live milesl daily. LONRCP. May 9. - The? pfEcla# report af the casualties inr cuiretfiißy the Japanese- in- blocking the- ' harbour. entrance: ate Pert: Arthur state.--thaf one oifi'cear. and. five men bare and! five, officers and' fifteen men wounded 1 ,, while; fourteen; officers and seventy-faux- 'mens are massing. •Tha-report goes- on to sayr mat in the ' face of an incessant fire poured into the channel, Lieutenant Sosa,, commanding the steamer; Einikawa Maru,. ramin.. . his way through the boom, and reached . the centre off the* inner entrance. He then anchored,, and blew up his ship. The? Russian' gaa- fire and <mines helped to- sink the. others. The- Totomi Maru collided, with the boom, and? sank athwart the passage, blocking nearly half of it. As the Yedo Maru was -anchoring at the entrance to, the channel, Commander- Takayanagi was. shot. Sublieu tenant Nagatii then assumed command; and sank the- ship.

The- “Morning, Pbst” reports that Dalny was captured on the. 6th inst,. (last Friday)... rDalny ffi a Russian town of consider- . able ■ importance ■ near' Talienwan. north of Port Arthur., It has been, made Die terminus oil the; Chinese Eastern Railway and its connections the Central Manchurian and' Siberian, tinea. The harbour la - described as? one of the best in the Pacific. Extensive; dacha have been in course. Of construction for? some- years; involving a total estimated outlay of 1110.500,000* Several milliona have already been expended! Sixteen, waaishi.ps protected the* landing '’f ten thousand J apian ese. at Kin- • ohau Bay (on. the western side of Liao- / tnng peninsul'a,, nurtih of Dalny and Port Arthur). The? fii-praf tlie warships’ guns sivept the-narrow isthmus. ‘ Ten- thousand! Japanese have also-* landed! iate; Fuchau (north of Kinchau Bay) and others at Taknnshan (on the eastern side? of the. peninsula). After landing on the Lia.o-tung peninr sula the Japanese rapidly entrenched, and mounted quick-firers. They havedestroyed miles of railway and' telegrapli line, also/ four bridges between Port Arthur and Newehwang.. Advice has been received’ at Tokio that General Euroki, who commands the Japanese? forces in south-eastern Manchuria, pressed fonvard before the enemy had recovered from the demoralisation and. confusion caused by the recent Japanese successes. ' General Kuroki sent two columns forward —one by-road and the other along the; Ailio river. Feng-hwang-cheng was occupied after skirmishing. ’ The Russians, after blowing up the. magazine, had withdrawn, taking with them eight hundred woudded. .. Supplementary, reports which have been received from General Kuroki give increased -estimates, of the Russian casualties during the late fighting on the Yalu.

The Japanese have buried fourteen hundred Russians, and have five hundred- Russian' wounded in ,the field hospitals. • . rtJvea' : three hundi-od prisoners reach,ed! Matsuyajna,-. Japan, on Wednesday. The Russians have begun to evacuate- Newphwang (at the. head of the Goiilf o-f Liao-tung, and on the Manchurian railway)'. i '

They have dismantled their'guns, and are retreating; to Haicheng, (about thirty miles, north of ' The Russians a>re.- evacuating the western side of- the Liao-tung peninsula* / foreigners at Nowchwang fear ait-

tanks near ’ Yhihow (a few miles to- the west); The* British Consul- has? asked that a gunboat, be sent; there- for their protection*! The. Russian general" staff at Liaoya g has. removed to Mukden? .(forty miles. further north)!

The Russians, at Neweliwang consider their forces insufficient to hold tllaate section of country,, and expect to reneat to Harping (an important railway j motion- in; northern Marich;aria) - . General Yuan-shi-kai (formerly Viceroy of Cliirli, who was appointed last December to. fhe supreme command cf. the. Chinese aimj and navy) reports that: the Russians in Manchuria number twelve thousand cavalry and a hundred: and fifty thousand infantry, with two hundred and twenty-four guns. In Eastern Siberia there are five thousand cav.'d-y and twenty thousand infan try. with thirty-two guns. Belated messages sliow that early on <he morning of Sunday, tlio Ist inst. .(when the Japanese captured Kijalien. che g); die Russians opposite Wij'u reinoved their batteries,, leaving the. infa "vv vo co'-ei the retreat*

• The .successful frontal attack which dfd.'dael the Russians might, have otherwise .involve'! enormous losses, in-asny-’ph as the Japanese crossed' an: air most , shelterless. ■ sandy plain, and their dak 'v if it ms were conspicuous; Reuter’s Agency declares that. a. small ar-:p- might have held out against a greatly superior force,.if strongly fortified. in the 'mountain posits from which, the- Russians wore driven. \ SYDNEY,. Mav 9.

Consul’s advioas state that tli>• Russians wpre firing. cm their during: ti'e/r retreat in the Yalur engagement, killing seventy and wounding 110.