Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 108, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 September 1904 — LIAOYANG TAKEN. [ARTICLE]

LIAOYANG TAKEN.

Japanese Army Crushes Kuropatkin and Occupies Town. ■ ; . ' - • •• - - RUSSIANS IN A ROUT/ . • -*■ Terrible Three-Days’ Battle Ends in Victory ror’Mifcado's Troops. * / . • < i. s; ; c ; t-A. Russians OverwhelmiiiKly Defeated in the im'ttfe- > Wish « .Loss of 30,000, Kuropatkin Is ITrivenNorth of Taitse River—JW ( ikftdo’s Soldiers Relentlessly Pursue, Fleeing Foe—lo,ooo Islanders Slain. ■ ■' .Ski ti ■ ‘ I.iab Yang, the magnificently fortified Manchurian town wl*leir has been so stubbornly defended by--the RubBian forces under •General Kuropatkin,' has been occupied by the Japanese. The evacuation of the town wps forced by General Kuroki's a riny, which, crossing the' 'Taitse; "' twenty miles east of Yang, threatened the Russian- troops with 41 flanking 4 movement which would have plaicedthem between two fires,. the. arjnleS* of Generals Nodzu and Qku enveloping the front. % ' •>,- Charged with bayonets and shOTC-.. ered with a hail of sli'rapnef enemy’s dehth-deallng artillery, the Russian tfoe^es’wore forJ«i<l to evacr •’ uate retreat • to tife) iic^rth.of itbe llaitse jif^c^,-hotly pursued .by,.the relentless . Japanese,The .Japapese casualties in tlieiTlwee’dayV ’battle are Officially estimated at. Tokio to be ' 19.W0.-‘‘wfiile an unoffidilapes tjie..ampunt ; ,at ajjnQat 30,000. TJie Japanese are.ndw iii suprejue control' of 4 i Joii Yang, according to the latest: information, * and: ■ 'Will, push ’ ( aJiead, to prevent ■ Kuroppt k in and. fils army ‘ fromreaching Mukifep,. for which point lie is to be beaded., I' - v-' ’ 'L' Dispatches from St. Petersburg," while admitting' the overwhelming de-r feat df the assert that Ku-' ropatlfln has retreated; north of the where he expects to he aide to make a more formidable stand against the( Japanese." This "move, i& regarded in a different light, Inasmuch as Kuropatkin, has repeatedly stated that he would make a final stand against the enemy at I.iao Yang and had constructed what was generally lielieved to be Impregnable fortigcatfoins. In fleeing from the city Kuropatkin is believed to lutve abandoned large r stores, many guns and othertrophies which will prove of great value to the Japanese.

; Crushing Defeat for Czar. In the liglit of events the evacuation of Liao Yang, therefore, is looked upon as a crushing defeat for the Czar's army. Kuropatkin’s retreat‘to north of the Taitse River is not regarded as a move of the Russians for strategic purposes, but is generally believed to have been a determhled effort to escape and prevent a capture of the entire army. The Japanese are reported to be pursuing as rapidly as the Russians are retreating and It is believed that Kuropatkin’s attempt to reach Mukden will fail. General Kuroki, having crossed the Taitse River, has thrown his entire army toward the railroad leading from Liao Yang to Mukden and late say that train service on the road- has been interrupted and that the line is impassable. This is an important move and can have but one meafiing— that the Japanese' have seized the railway between the two cities. In this event it would seem that Kuropatkin’s way to Mukden practically is cut off and that he will be forctfS" to make his last stand against the eneniy just north of the river,. The armies of Generals Oku and Nodzu are expected to join forces with Kuroki and another carnage will be the result." Tltatfigiiting nt Liao Yang, with more than 500,000 men on both sides engaged, was the largest battle in the ta’oclil's’ history'. •*