KUROKI'S FIRST VICTOTY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1686, 22 June 1904, Page 17

KUROKI'S FIRST VICTOTY.

THE PASSAGE OF THE YALU.

LEADING THE WAY TO MANCHURIA.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 25. WIJU, May Ist. —When early mists drifted from the Yalu River this morning, the Japanese infantry was disclosed lined up for battle on the low, sandy island of Kinteito, which is-in front of Wiju. The walls and towers of the city on the hill rising abruptly from the south bank of the river, and the nearest of three channels, were crowded with Japanese and Korean spectators of the forthcoming attack. Kinteito Island is hardly anything more than the dry bed of the river; it is a low, sandy plain, only a few feet above the level of the water, and without shrubbery or cover except on. its southern side. The infantry lay with stacked arms across the island, awaiting their work. The soldiers were spread out in thin black lines, three miles long, from a point on the island opposite the village of Chiu-1 ien-clieng on the west, to a point opposite the extremity of Tiger’s Hoad on the east. The division of Imperial Guards occupied the centre of the line. Another division was on the west, and a third on the east of the line. Tiger’s Head forms a peninsula projecting into the river almost parallel to the south bank. The Japanese division which executed a flanking movement from, up-stream yesterday with almost its full force present, was now on the sands north of Tiger’s Head. Four field batteries were behind the infantry on its extreme flank, concealed by shrubbery. Two batteries began action. by THROWING SHELLS to the Manchurian side of the river. Fop half an hour, while the sun was rising, they sprinkled with shells the embankments whence the Russian guns had been firing for the past week, but no response to the fire was forthcoming, and it looked as if the Russians had removed their batteries during the night. It seemed as if the enemy had withdrawn entirely, as no- sign of life could be seen on their works. Soon after seven o’clock the Japanese began to advance. The' distance from tho Korean to the Manchurian ■ bank of the Yalu is about.two miles. The Japanese troops spread out in extended formation as they went forward. When they were a few hundred yards from the hills on the Manchurian side they threw themselves prone on the ground ' and began volleying. In the meantime the Japanese batteries searched the hills with shrapnel. The Russians could now bo seen at intervals where the road was exposed, hurrying in small squads. These exposed stretches of road made fine targets for the Japanese gunners. A fierce fire was concentrated on one open space, and shrapnel burst over the small area with wonderful precision. There was a perfect shower of puffs of white smcpce at this place, and observers could see the work of an occasional shell as it dug a great hole in tho earth and scattered quantities of rock. Still the Russians remained silent. There was no»answering fire from them until the first Japanese line was within a few hundred yards of the river bank. Then sharp volleys burst almost simultaneously from several trenches and tiro ATTACKING JAPANESE found themselves under heavy and continuous fire at easy range from covered positions high above them. They lay behind sandhills, the batteries replying bravely and hotly to this fire. The Japanese officers sat on their horses or walked along their lines in no way sheltered or protected. A few stretcher-bearers coming back to the field hospital indicated thht men were being wounded. The Russians’ • smokeless powder was excellent. Its use made it impossible for the Japanese to discover the exact position of their adversaries. Soon after 8 o’clock the Russian fire was largely silenced by the combined artillery and infantry attack of the Japanese, and parties of the enemy’s troops could be seen hurrying upwards over the mountain roads ’n retreat. Two regiments of Japanese troops, one directly opposite Wiju and another near a village on tne west, ran to the river, stopping to fire now and then as they progressed, and giving shrill cheers which echoed clearly over the plain. Their formation was closer than that of British or American troops, and it looked as though their losses must be great. They waded the river and ran across the sands and climbed up the steep, rocky hillsides like swarms of ants, their red and yellow cap-bands gleamingin the sun. One Japanese soldier in one of these regiments carried something white with lain. This was seen, and it caused a shout, to go up that the Russians had surrendered; but upon reaching the top of the first Russian trench a hundred yards up the hillside this man shook out the Japanese flag and waved it to and fro. The storming party on the -west side •of the advance mounted the hill comfliandin<r the Russian line of retreat. Just as the men were bunched thickly on the crest of this hill two Japanese shells burst among them. The shells had fallen short, and when the smoke cleared away a dozen bodies could be seen lying where the shells had exploded, the remainder of the storming party clambering down hill to escape this unexpected fire from their rear. The sound of rifle firing soon passed on over the hills as the Japanese pursued the . retreating enemy. One column of weary soldiers who had been almost two

DAYS WITHOUT REbi\ was trudging down the river toward Antung, where the Japanese gunboats were shelling the Russian works. At 9 o'clock a solitary soldier, climbing ahead of his comrades, unfurled a huge Japanese flag on the face of the topmost Russian fort on the ridge, a thousand feet above the Main. He marched back and forth along,,

the parapet waving the banner, and then for the first ttime tbe Japanese on the walla of Wiju broke the impassive silence with which they had watched the battle, and shouted “Banzai.” Already foot soldiers, batteries and pack trains were streaming on to the island by every road, and to-night the entire Japanese army willl be in Manchuria.