THE BATTLE OF YEN-TAI.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13106, 17 October 1904, Page 5

THE BATTLE OF YEN-TAI.

Wf, are able to publish tliis morning a fuller and more complete account of the great, battle which took place last week between the Japanese and the .Russians near the Yen-tai Mines, from 15 to 20 miles north of Liao-yang. There is no longer any room for doubt that the Japanese have inflicted a signal, perhaps decisive, defeat upon the Russian army, and have struck a blow from which it is hardly possible that General Kourapatkin can recover during the present campaign. It is liot surprising that dismay and dejection prevail in St. Petersburg. The cabies this morning indicate that the consternation of the people has, in fact, almost readied the stage of a paiiic. Only a fortnight ago the hopes of the nation were buoyed up by General Kourapatkiu's proclamation to the army on his assumption of the defensive, and upon his ordering a general advanc.?. Some light is now thrown on the raison d'etre of the movement, which in some respects resembles the unfortunate attempt of General Staekolburg to relieve Port Arthur in June last. Both advances seem to have- been made at the holiest of tho -authorities in St. Petersburg, and both have had t:n same disastrous ending, with this difference: that in the former instance only a portion of the Russian forces were engaged, while at Yen-tai Mines the Japanese have scored a brilliant victory over the main Russian army. .Had the Czar and his Advisers been content with Kourapatkiu's masterly retreat beyond tho Hun River, and had they allowed him to go into winter quarters where be could make adequate preparations for renewing the war in spring, the present campaign might have ended on anything but satisfactory terms for the Japanese, as they would liave been under tho necessity of holding throughout the winter a wide stretch of country, with the Russians constantly in striking distance of them. But the humiliation of defeat rested heavily on Russia, and with fatal rashness an advance was ordered when in reality its Government ought to have been congratulating Itself on the army's escape from destruction at Liao-yang. That General Kourapatkin was anything more than an unwilling instrument in Nie hands of his Government is highly improbable, for the experience he has had of the Japanese since tho battle of the Yalu must- have convinced him that, without very extensive reinforcements of fresh troops, an advance in the face of a victorious enemy had a very small prospect- of success. Unfortunately, we have no means of knowing what new forces he was able to put into the,firing line, and we have nothing more than tho statement in his proclamation of the Snd inst. that " the Czar had now assigi:--?d sufficient forces to assure victory." The disposition of the armies during the fighting, which seems to have lastc-i from the 12th to the 14th, is not quite easy to follow. Tho Japanese fror.i apparently extended from Yeii-ti-.i Mines across the railway to the west, with General Kuroki, as usual, on the extreme right, General Oku on the left, and Gener.il Nodzu in the centre. The cable states that the Russian defeat was attributable to the -success which attended the Japanese ofTort- to drive a wedge through the middle of the enemy's line, which was weakened, possibly, by the rigour of the attacks oil either Hank. The fierceness of the lighting is said to have eclipsed that at Liao-yang, if that ■were possible, and one estimate give? tho casualties at the frightful total of 80,000. This is probably, however, an exaggeration, for Field-marshal Oyama estimates the Russian losses at 30,000 and the Japanese losses are supposed to he smaller. In addition to the loss of men the Russians have left behind them some 70 pieces of field artillery, and this, more than anything else, serves to indicate the crushing nature of the defeat. Moreover, this may not represent the full measure of the Russian disaster of last- week, for it is difficult to see how the large force under General Mistchenko, which moved south and crossed the Tai-tso Ho on the oth inst., can now escape capture. This force cqnsisted of a brigade of infantry, 2000 cavalry, and two guns, and its position cannot fail to be one of extreme peril. As the outcome of the fighting last week it is probable that the Russians will no longer attempt to defend Mukden, and that" they will letire to Tie-ling.