Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 97, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 July 1904 — PROGRESS OF THE EASTERN WAR [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PROGRESS OF THE EASTERN WAR

Bo far ea Is known at this writing the expected great battle between the Russians and the Japanese in Mongolia has not been fought, and the respective forces occupy much the same positions they did severs days ago, says the Chicago Tribune.. At that time it was known that the Russians had evacuated Kalchou and had fallen back on Tatcheklao. According to General Oku, Kalchou was occupied after three days of severe fighting. The Russian reports do not treat the matter so seriously, and indicate that there was little more than a rear guard resistance to th<s advance of the Japanese. The Russians have abandoned Ylnkow, the port of bjpwchwang, a position which they could not safely hold after their retrograde movement. The Japanese do not appear to have taken possession. A Llaoyang dispatch reports that a Japanese column advancing along the coast In the direction of Ylnkow was roughly handled by General Bamsonoff and his Cossacks and had to retreat. It is likely that the Japanese were merely making a reconnolssance, because the Indications are that General Oku has withdrawn his forces west of the railroad and has massed them near Kalchou. If the Russians are defeated, or if they retreat, Ylnkow and Newehwang will fall into the hands of the Japanese without any fighting, and they will then have complete control of the coast of Manchuria and a new base of supplies. According to Russian reports, which are probably correct. General Oku Is slowly moving northward from Kaichou in the direction of Tatcheklao, where General Kuoropatkln has his headquarters. General Kuroki’s main force is on the east bank of the Llank River, about twenty-eight miles from Llaoyang, while, the Russians under General Keller are on the other bank, strongly fortified and prepared to resist an advance. The only fighting reported in which Kuroki’s men took part was a skirmish near Siamatse, in which General Rennenkampf was wounded.

The Takushan army, of which General Nodzu was in command originally, is said to have come in touch with that of General Oku at Tangchi, ten miles southeast of Tatcheklao, and also presumably is in’touch with General Kuroki’s northern army, The Japanese appear to be in position, in readiness to attack the weakest point in the Russian line, provided the -weather will

permit The rains seem to have ceased and the roads to have become passable. If they should suddenly become a sea of mud, as Virginia roads sometime! did during the Civil War, military movements would become, almost impossible. There is nothing definite as to the occurrences at Port Arthur. The Japanese are known to have completed a chain of forts at distances of from six to eight miles from tho fortifications. Whether, and if so where, they have drawn any nearer is uncertain. The wild story that the Japanese lost 30,000 men in attacks made by them on the fortifications on July .10 or 1\ rs contradicted from Tokio. Other reports placing the loss at 22,000 or 25,000 are doubtless equally fabulous. The report that on the 4th and sth of the month the Japanese were driven from the heights commanding Lusantan pass with a loss of 2,000 has not been officially denied. The statement to the effect that the Japanese on the 11th Inst stormed Chungta, the key to the defensive works at Port Arthur, has Dot been confirmed. The Japanese say there was no fighting on that day. Little more Is known about naval than about military operations. A -

miral Togo reports that on the night of the 11th his torpedo boats attacked the Russian guardship Diana at the mouth of the harbor. Whether it was Injured he does not know. It is more than likely that there has been much savage fighting around Port Arthur and much loss of life in the engagements of last week and week before last Field Marshal Oyama, a furious fighter, has taken personal charge of the operations at Port Arthur, and the'siege doubtless will be pressed with increased vigor. There is a well-defined feeling in

London that the seizure of the British and German steamers by the Russian volunteer cruisers Smolensk and Petersburg marks the first European complication resultant upon the RussoJapanese war. How extensive this complication will prove to be time and future events alone can determine, but at present the feeling of uneasiness has become a fear that the end of the matter will not be reached before England and perhaps Germany are forced to take stringent measures to bring Russia to terms in the matter.

MAP OF THE THEATER OF WAR.