THE CROSSING OF THE YALU

Otago Witness, Issue 2623, 22 June 1904, Page 29

THE CROSSING OF THE YALU

(Feom Ovr Own CoßßES?oir>s>rr.) YOKOHAMA, May 7

The successful crossing of the. Yalu by tho Japanese army, under General Kuroki, in the closing days of April has convinced a reluctant world that the Island Empire is as thoroughly efficient in her military arm as in her naval. Rumours of Japan's latest feat of arms reached the capital on the 29th of April, and were at first discredited, for after all the Russian brag and bluster Japan had grown to think that tho enemy would hold the precipitous river bank with great tenacity, and yield only after tho bloodiest of battles. The first skirmishes had occurred on the 7th of April, when a party of 14 Japanese- soldiers put off from Wiju in a small boat and crossed to the island to make a reconnaissance. Seven iexnained in the boat and seven landed. During the absence of the latter tho men in the boat were discovered by a detachment of 70 Russian sharpshooters. Unwilling to be taken prisoners, the seven plunged into the river, but owing to the floating ice and the extreme cold only one reached the other side, the remaining six being swept away. The Russians, thinking they had disposed of the whole, went away, and after an interval the seven scouis r turned, found the boat, and escaped in her. The next encounter between reconnaissance parties took place on the lltb, but •n&'i nothing- morethan an infcerchaage of shots. On the 12th an attempt was made by a party of Russians under a lieutsnant to cross to the Japanese side by the legular rou*c f rom Kiu-lien to Wiju. They embarked in tl.rce boats, and, coming under the fire of a detachment of Japaneso infantry tinder Captain Matsui, were driven back, leaving three dead and having several wounded. Captain Matsui called for volunteers to cross to the island whence the Russians had embarked and to bring back the bodies lying there. Among tkm was the corpse of the lieutenant in charge. In his bosom were found three photographs — one of an old lady (apparently his mother), another of a young woman (doubtless his wife), and the third a picture of children. The officer himself ceemed to be about 30 years of age. The Japanese! were deeply moved by the spectacle. They buried the body with military honours, interring on either side the corpses of the corporal and private who had shared the liutenaut's fate. Tablets were erected to mark the spot. By the 26th of April General Kuroki's dispositions were all complete. He- had against him a force, of 30,000 Russians, with a park of 48 field guns, who were> guarding a broad river, davided into three separate streams by a group of islands, each of which could be easily defended. It was a formidable task in very sooth. Speaking broadiy, General Kuroki's plan 6i operations seems to have been THREE FEINTED CROSSINGS AND

ONE REAL.

The lowest of these down stream can scarcely be called a crossing. It consisted merely of a naval attack in the estuary and a little above it, and may be said to havebeen limited to ai> artillery duel, in which the Russians failed to infrict any injury whatever on the Japanese, but were nevertheless obliged to confront them in some strength, since the movements of the Japanese gunboats and armed launches might have preluded tho transport of a division from the sotith to the north bank by water. To give additional colour to these naval movements they were carried on vigorously for two days prior to the main attack. Then there were two pretended crossings in the neighboxirhood of Wiju — one by the Second Division, immediately below Wiju, the other by the Guards Division, immediately above Wiju. The principal attack was made by the Twelfth Division at a pomt — Suku-chin — 13 miles above Wiju. Suku-chin is the place where the Japanese ciosoed the Yaiu in October, 1894. They chose it then, and they chose it now, because the key of the* whole position is the high lend on an Island called Husan (Tiger's Hill), which lies near the northern bank of the river, neaiiy opposite to Suku-chin. So long as Husan remained in the enemy's linncta and so long as his artillery \\?s posted there, any attempt to pas& a large force over the river at points lower down must have been highly perilous, and could hardly have succeeded, at all events without heavy loss. The programme was that, during the 29th of April, the Second Division (below Wiju) should cross to the island of Keum-chong, which lies nearest to the southern bank • at that hide, there to prepare for bridging the middle branch of the river, which, in this position, would separate the troops from the middle

inland of Cheung-sang. Simultaneously tho Guards Division (above Wiju) were to cross to Kulido Island, and similarly prepare for bridging' the central branch cf the river. Thus posted, the Second Division and the Guards Division would be advancing on either side of (ho ZNlain ioad which traverses (.he Yalu Islands from Wiju to Kiu-lien. Meanwhile the Twelfth Division, during the night of the 28th and 291h had bridged the branch of the river immediately before Suku-chin, but thereafter throughout the 29th this division remained inactive, waiting until the operations on either «.ide of Wiju had developed sufficiently to be a pressing menace to the Russians. This state of affairs having been attained towards evening, the Twelfth Division oros.=-ed, and, apparently encountering little resistance, reached a position in the rear of Tiger's Hill. The night of the 29th passed with the three divisions in these positions. On the opposite side, facing them, were some 20,000 Russians. Of course it is not possible to speak with certainty as to this last point, but the number here giVe-u is said to^. be the estimate of the Japanese staff, whose judgment and information may be trusted. At dawn of the 30th the three divisions resumed operations, but the Twelfth Division took the lead in point of time by capturing Tiger's Hill and thus converting the passage of the lost branches of the river above and below Wiju into a comparatively easy performance. The artillery on both sides was brought largely into play on this day, as it had been in the preliminary stages. Tiger's Hill commands Wiju, and its capture by the Japanese constituted a cardinal operation. The night of the 30th found them all posted on the north side of the river, and prepared to resume their advance the following morning. Their artillery fire had subdued that of the Russians in some of the latter's principal batteries, and the men were in high spirits. The Twelfth Division, however, had still a hard task. It had to crocs the River Ai, a tributary of the Yalu, which runs between the latter and Kiu-lien. Kiu lien-ching, it may be explained here, is a- walled city lying on the northern bank opposite Wiju and beyond the River Ai. The Russians had entrenched themselves on the right bank — the Kiu-lien side. — of the Ai, and ths Japanese advanced against them over a front of five miles in skirmishing order. The Ai, which is a deep stream with a slippery mud bottom, was crossed by wading up to the armpits, and the marvel is that the men managed to keep their rifles and ammunition dry. But they did, and by 8.50 a.m. this serious obstacle had been traversed. Then, despite their icy-cold, water-drenched clothes, they we>nt

STRAIGHT FOR THE RUSSIANS, and seve-i entrenchments on the Yushi-kau and Makau heights were captured, together with eight pieces of artillery. The Twelfth Division now found itself on the left rear of Kiu-lien (speaking wifi regard to the enemy's front), while the other two divisions — the Guards and the Second — were advancing upon its right. The three divisions seem to have attacked the place simultaneously. Apparently the Russians had their artillery posted in«. the immediate neighbourhood, fGT when the position was stormed 20 guns were taken, together with 20 officers and a large number of rank and file. The Japanese casualties are estimated at 700 kiiled and wounded ; the Russians are believed to have lost much more heavily — some 1500 by the last estimate to hand. Long after the actual fighting had ceased the Japanese continued to make prisoners of their foes, the long boots of the Russian Soldier incapacitating him for flight. With the 23 Russian guns there were also captured their teams and waggons — a sjileudid haul for the Japauese. As I said above,

THE NAVY played an important part in the battle of the Yalu. During the Ist inst. a squadron of gunboats, torpedo boats, anJ armoured! launches rendered every possible assistance. The gunboats Maya and Uji ascended the river to Antsu-3han and Lutan-kan respectively, and the torpedo boats went as far as Sztan. These various craft engaged the enemy at two or three points. The squadron opened fire on the Russian position near Antung, and so hot was their attack that the Rus s ians precipitately evacuated that place, after first se-tting it on fire. To burn the town on leaving it was, in tho opinion of the Japanese, an act of wanton destruction, and I agree with them. The left wing of the Japanese army in it, final advance extended to a distance of seven miles and a-half below Wiju. The Guards were in the centre. The reserves advanced along the Kiu-lien-Liao-yang road, being- thus virtually in the rear of the Guards. The right wing, which consisted of the Twelfth Division, extended 13 miles above Wiju. Thus, roughly speaking, the length of front covered by "the three divisions in their advance was 20 miles, but of course they were not equally distributed throughout the whole distance. The Japanese took into the field one or two batteries of heavy guns— that is to saj-, guns Oi very much larger calibre than is usual in field-pieces. These guns are said to have been most effective. But without the a&sistanee of the navy it would not ha\e been possible to tiansoorb them. They were, in fact, carried oveisea to the estuary of the Yam. In this the value of "the command of (he saa" is clearly seen. To the fire of these gums a Rubsian officer who was among the prisoners attributes the wounding of the Russian Commander-in-Chief and a general of division; while in their official reports the enemy frankly acknowledges that it was

THE ARTILLERY FIRE that defeated them. It is very nlain. tkat

the artillery duel which iook place throughout two days pnor to the crossing movements .showed :i decided superiority on the Japanese side. How inueh of this was due to superior gunner}-, how much to heavier metal, how much to a larger park, it is hard to tell. The Russian field artillery is armed with the Fiench gun, a weapon of great force, firing 20 rounds a minute. En fh battery consists of <=ix guns and therefore discharges 320 phelh a minute. The calibre is 8.5-eent., but the gun labours under the disadvantage of being very heavy. According to official reports the Russian park consisted of 48 jjieres, out of which the Japanese captured 28. and the captured guns were all of the machine type. On the othor hand, General Kuroki, in a telegram, sent to Tokio while the artillery duel was in progress, said that the enemy's batteries crowning the heights above the Ai River were firing 9.5-conrimetrc shells, with a tinie-fiue sot for a range of 7500 metres. It is diffkiilt, therefore, to tell what was the composition of the Russian park. The probability is that some of these heavy 9.5oent. guns would have, been among the pieces captured ; but they were not. On the Japanese side there was the Arisaka field-guv, a weapon corresponding in many features with tho German field-piece, and there were also the heavier gun?, carried by the navy to the mouth of the Yalu.

THE CASUALTIES,

The latest report from General Kuroki, dated May 2, reads: "Owing to the very stubborn defence made by the enemy at Hoh-mu-tang, where he organised his second resistance, and where he fought to the very last with dogged bravery, our casualties must be put at sorfle 300 more than the original estimate. The enemy clung to the position witli great tenacity. Two batteries of his artillery had lost nearly all their horses and men before they raised their white flag, having previously broken the breech-pieoes of their guns. One of the prisoners declares that during this fight Lieutenant-general Ka-shitariwsky, who commanded a division, as well as the officer commanding the Eleventh and Twelfth Regiments of Rifles, were killed, and that irany other officers of rank shared their fate. Not until they were shattered by several attacks did the Russians retire. Since last evening many who had escaped hither and thither came to our lines and surrendered. The prisoners consist of Lieu-tenant-colonel Roefiski and 30 officers, of whom 10 are not wounded, and 300 noncommissioned officers and privates, of whom 200 are unwounded. An exact statement of our killed and wounded cannot yet be furnished, but at present the total is belioved to be 798." The details, so far as ia known, are : — The Guards Division.— Officer killed, 1 : officers wounded, 4 ; non-conamissioned officers and men killed, 17 ; non-commis-sioned officers and men wounded, 110; — total, 132. The Second Division. — Officer killed, 1: officers wounded, 6; non-commissioned officers and men killed. 43 ; non-commis-sioned officers and men wounded, 300; — total, 350. The Twelfth Division.— Officers wounded, 4 : non-commissioned officers and men killed, 61 ; non-commissioned officers and men wounded, 251;— total, 316.