Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 110, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 September 1904 — PROGRESS OF THE WAR [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Russian Retreat Was a Rout.

The retreat of Russian-; from I.iaoyinig, at first prderly. developed-into a wild,flight to Mukden. Kuropntkin did not stop at Mukden, but eoufintied liis flight toward Harbin. His rear guard was in continuous fighting since the retreat from Liaoyang began, men falling by thousands under the terrific fire of the relentless-and tireless Japanese, who clung to the retreating army like leeches. The Russians, in dire panic, fled for their lives, abandoning their guns ta lighten their burdens, and leaving their dead where they fell. So frantic was the despairing rush toward Mukden that tlie Russians wertyunable to care for their wounded, leaving men, in throes of anguish, lying in tlie roadways, to fall into the hands of the Japanese. Many soldiers, losing their self-con-trol under the terrible strain, attempted to seek safety by flight. The Russian officers, dashing among the men, used their revolvers freely, shooting down many of them in an attempt to keep the troops iu some semblance of order. Dispatches via London Thursday reported that the Russian army, again defeated In another terrific battle that raged furiously for hours five miles south of Mukden, rushed through that city in a mad flight toward Harbin, 2(55 miles northeast. General Kuropntkin, leading the battered rear guard of the army-, did hot delay in the ancient city. Leaving orders that the men should liurrv on as rapidly as possible and still keep up a semblance of resistance to the pursuing Japanese, he hurried through the city to the north to gather his—scattered—forces. The line of the Russian retreat has grown longer and more straggling each day, covering twenty-five or thirty miles, with the Japanese sharpshooters on each side, snipping at them continually, and killing hundreds on their light. It is claimed that more than 21,000 Russians have been lost since the flight from Liaoyang. Five miles south of Mukden the flee-

lug Russians turned and. again attempted to make a final desperate stand against their relentless foes. For hours the battle raged. The fire : of the Japanese light artillery, which had not been left behind in the pursuit, was terrific and mowed down the Russians by hundreds. Corpses strewed the battlefield. For the length of time tlie fighting continued it wus the most sanguinary battle of the war. The Japanese, seeing the awful es feet of their machine gun Are ou the Russians, charged with fixed bayonets, disdaining tq use their rifles. Charge nfter charge they made with reckless bravery. The battle became a furious hand-to-hand conflict and degenerated Into a butchery as the Japanese pushed the Russians hack, Then the line of the Czar's troops broke, and they turned again In flight. It Is now apparent that Oyanin’s purpose l>y pressing the Russian positions In front of Liaoyang was to hold Kuropat kin's attention while the Japanese right wing was thrust around the Russian rear to block tlie Russian line of retreat. But Kuropntkin, at Its very Inception, had his eyes upon this flanking movement and countered by early withdrawal of Ids main army to the right bank of the Taltse river, changing bis front to meet and hold Gen. Kuroki in check while Gen. ZaronlmlelT'a corps, at Liaoyang, crossed, burning the bridges behind him and placing the river between him and Gen. Oku.

TIGHTENING THE LINES.