Grossing of the Yalu River by the Japanese
By Frederick Palmer, Collier's War Correspondent Attached to Japanese General Staff in Manchuria
V' F
ft
I-"
tJATIVES ATTEMPTING TO SAVE A RTTRNTNtt HOUSE m ANTUNO, BET ON
FIRM BY THK RETREATING RUSSIANS. Ptaoto by James H. Hare, Collier's
Special Photographer with. Kuroki'a Army; Copyright, 1904, by Collar's Weekly.
f -M , f w r i.. I II w , m. - A-W.. . in. iii.
SVOUKCKD RUSSIANS, BELONGING TO THE ELEVENTH AND TWELFTH
SIBERIAN RKG1MENT8, TAKEN PRISONER AT CHIU LIEU CHENG. Photo
by James 11. Hare, Col'Ier'a BpeUal Photographer with Kuroki'a Army; Copy
right, lm, by Collier1 Weekly.
Through the courtesy of Collier's
Weekly, The Bee la enabled to repro
duce here photographs of the scents
that accompanied the righting when tre
Japanese army crossed the Talu river
wapaneae army crossea me inn
at Wlju. on April SO and May 1.
photographs were made by Jar
llare, Collier's special photoi
rnese
imes H.
DhotoaraDher
who uenerai nuroni s army.
Accompanying the photographs are
letters (ram Mr. Frederick Palmer,
Collier's commissioner with . the Japa
nese "army. The first of these letters
was - written Just before the advance
movement began. Mr. Palmer wrote hla
description of the battle of the Talu In
three parts the first describing the
crossing of the river, which took place
April 3rt; the second describing the bat
tle of May 1, and the third probably a
summing up of the victory. The follow
ing letter (datel Antung. May S) Is
the second one of this set lea. The flrst
letter has not yet reached Collier's of
fice, although It wb! undoubtedly mailed
before or at the name time as the one
- we are now printing, as Mr. Palmer re
fers to it in the fifth line of the first
. psracraph of hla letter from Antungt
'The account of the one I have already
ent." This first letter was either held
up by the Japanese military censor
after leaving Mr. Palmer's hands or
failed to catch the same steamer which
brought the other correspondence. It
will be published In Collier's as aoon
aa It reaches the office.
' -tor
ae Battle.
(Copyright. JWM. by Collier'a Weekly.)
T THE FRONT, April 17. At 4 a.
m. the word cam that at day
light there waa to be an action.
You stumbled into your clothes,
you stumbled out of your tent.
with field-glasses over on shoulder and
flash over the other, and a piece of choco
late In your' pocket. Aa your eyes strained
to make out the path in the darkness, you
felt the cold night mist on your face. From
a hill where you waited for dawn, you
could see the outline of other hills, and
tn the valley something dark the town of
Wlju. . . . . i'
There, expectant, in the oppressive still
ness, one looked toward the 'east for the
sunrise, and listened for the rattle, of mus
ketry, at once the merriest and the' most
terrible sound of war. It began far away
n our right in volleys, aa company after
compuny ofa. line pulled their ' triggers.
It was not a heavy fire; it did not signify
by battle, but, only one of those many op
erations by which uii offensive force gets
the positions that provide striking ground
for -a great action. Except that one heard
the". musketry, you at home knew aa much
of what was passing under cover of the
ridges In the' breaking light aa the spec
tator who bod oome 12,000 miles and waited
leni in Tokio. 'The moment of 'darkness
before dawn" waa theatric, as if the lights
erf a stage were turned down and then up.
One second - you eould see nothing. Ten
seconds later, only, the mist banging la
the valleys and cut by the heights shut
out the view.
From the left, with a great stretch of
silence between, came more musketry and
some gun-fire. The left, one waa told, was
to see the work of the morning. On a
ridge near the guns you had the positions
of the two armies separated by the river,
which may be the scene of vast slaughter
if the Russians are strong and If they
choose. Nature here has made a natural
barrier of empire; but when a sea free of
an enemy's ships permits of landing a
flanking column, men, rifles, guns and in
domitable energy are superior to nature.
To Corea and Manchuria, the Talu Is what
the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence are
to the United States und Canada. It runs
through a country of hills and mountains.
Were there roads, the precipitous banks
would be an obstacle more than offset by
fords higher up stream. An army, how
ever, ia tlod to its transportation. Men
who climb over untraveled ground must
have their dinners and their blankets. So
the Japanese keep to the road, and Wlju
Is on the road. All things in Corea, in
cluding the Goreana. serve the Japanese
well.
The situation of Wlju la typically Corea n,
with the water from the aacenta making a
stew of ita ewn tilth. You go downhill to
approach It from any direction. Every
bouse la unseen from the Manchurian side.
A natural wall protects it from one shore
at a point where the Yalu's waters pass In
a single channel,.'" Above and below there
are Islands, low and sandy. This one point
in the enemy's lines la an unassailable
center.
From the Manchurian bank rises a bare
and rooky bluff, with one high hump and
one lower, like a camel that ia kneeling. A
winding path leads between the humps.
This la the only sign of human occupation
and no one ascends' or descends It, Until
the Russians ... put their mountain guns
there it waa never of any human service.
Behind It, as the Japanese do In Wlju. the
Russians may move an openly aa if they
were in a peaceful valley -at home. Fur
ther down . the banks on "both sides are
allll high and . on the Japanese side are.
formed of ridges, which are natuial breast
works and earthworks." Sheittr for reserves
la ready to hand, aa If made tn orJer.
With thesun ri"ing gloriously, silhouet
ting numerous great pines that crown the
heights, the sheet of mist lifted from the
town, revealing Its dark thatchea and the
water tower at the highest point, where
the master eye may see all possible that
will serve the master mind which carries
the fortunes of an army for an expectant
nation. Dots, patches aad lines) of
1 ujju.jei. .t x i 4i-'Mu-jj.ijmj.wLiaiM i.iFnw"iwgyiiiWTi wp' i i mi m i ? jew-
fr If
JAPANESE BRINGING INTO ANTUNO BOM19 OF THH CAKNOH CAPTURKU
AT CHIU LIEU CHENG. Photo by James H. Hare, CoHIra Special Photosrapbac
with Kuroki s Army; Copyright, 1W4, by Collier's Weekly.
ti. k-
w-Vv
RUSSIAN CANNON CAPTURED BT THE JAPANESE DURING THE TWO DAYS
BATTLE AT THE CROSSING OF THE YALU. Photo by James H. Hare.
Co'.lier's Special Photographer 'with Kurokl's Army; Copyright, 1904, by Collier
Weekly.
uniform have taken the place of the peas
antry who In other times would be show
ing spring activity. The only plowing that
Is done Is by bullets and shell.
. Rare is the figure of the Corean. The
work In hand Is war, the scene distinct in
Its cleavage from all gatherings of hu
manity. The hlllBldes where there have
been only paths are cut by roads prepare 1
for a battle's work, as the mechanics of
the stage prepare for producing a pi y. In
a word this means mobility. The passage
of a field gun must be made as ea-lly as
that of the theatrical star. The guns
are the stars that Impress and demoralize
the enemy and the little rifles do the work
of killing. Below the Tiger's Tail, as the
natives call the humps of the kneeling
camel, the current is divided between chan
nels that make three Islands.
Whoever crosses the river with an army
must possess, these or those above Wlju.
Whoever possesses them may no longer
screen the movements on his Immediate
front, and submits his force to ahrapnal
from the enemy's heights. Two channels
may be forded; the third must be bridged.
If the Japanese are to open the way Into
Manchuria by this route, the making of the
bridge, and crossing it in sufficient force
to drive back the Russians (should . they
resist), form the diamond point of Interest
in this war. It means more than, a pass,
for here the pass must first be. built.
The first of the Islands the Japanese al
ready held. . The taking of the second I
understood waa to be . attempted at day
light I understood 4 a. m., daylight being
at 6:30. (Your spectator of batttles does
not get his reserved seat weeks ahead).
On the ridge chosen for seeing opposite
the second island (Genkato), we still heard .
occasional rifle Are to the left (down' the
river). On the first island (Ranshi), held
by the Japanese, we could see. the Japanese
Infantry. in their trenches, and the details
for water, and wood, and provisions going
and coming. There were "no signs of an
assault by them. Probably from the Rus
sian heights the Russians inMhelr trenches
on their Jaland, Genkato, were as vlalble
as the' Japanese to us, and the Japanese
eiually as Invisible from the Russian
heights a the Russians to us. .-
On the Russian island is the custom house
and a-small village, T which - needed no
Goldsmith to, sing Its desertion.. - So far
as we could, see, 'not a oui was (n sight
on the. whole Russian front except a Rus
sian officer, who rode up. and down on his
trottipg Cossack pony as if he were on hla
morning . constitutional.' -,. Waa he riding
along an entrenched line or notT . Were
there Russians on Genkato or only pre
tense T ' To the-onlooker 'it seemed as if
the Japanese might cross ovtr from Ranabi
y
and take possession of the empty houses.
But a gun Is silent until it speaks. Later,
we had a foretaste of what might happen
If the Japanese should rise . from their
cover.
At the Summit of the path leading over
the Tiger's Tail, between, the two humps,
were visible three figures, the only others
besides the itinerant horseman which in
dicated the presence of an enemy. At
Intervuls one of the three would bend
over and the other two would stand back.
Then there was a puff of smoke, and a
shell went flying down the river. Where
it burst you could not tell. The solitary
horseman rode back again. Some reservea
nearby were formed in line and marched
away ;' transportation trains and soldiers
on fatigue, and an occasional officer could
be seen coming and going, while the roofs
of Wlju covered whatever activity existed
there. "
Ever this is the Land of the Morning;
Calm, where the still cold of night breaka
Into the still warmth of day. Aa I counted
the seconds from the time of the Tiger's
Tall gun fire till we beard ita report. (In
order to Judge the distance), I could hear
no sound in this area where two armies
faced each other, except the ticking c'
my watch. Directly from the cover of
the Tiger's Tall two companies of Cos
sacks rode out widely deployed. They
were a fair mark; too fair a mark. The
Japanese, are not so naive, in "the art of
war aa to disclose their . gun positions on
such slight temptation. The Japanese' gun
ners , alt and wait..-. .Where their guns are
no foreigner knows. Where some of the
Russian guns are we learned before the
day was over. -
Just opposite Wlju itself a number of
Japanese engineers were building a bridge
over to Ranshi. . They -vent about their
work in a methodical way, aa if their task
was the most natural and commonplace
thing . in the - world.- They ' crossed back
and forth in boats with timbers, and they
laid .planks , with.-seeming unconcern, as
seen through the glasses, when doubtless
they were making every minute count.
It Is. distance that gives perspective. The
doubts or worries of the bridge builders .
did not occur to the spectators" on the
heights, who saw. simply, so many moving;
figures, ascertained their object and passed
to other things. They had. the advantage
of an army of offense. - Either the Russian
had to unmask some of his batteries or
allow them to' make headway. He acted
on his decision as to which was the lesser
of the two evils with a burst of shrapnel,
which made the . 'bridge builders take to
cover. That waa the work of a few mo
mentsan incident, of warfare. So was the)
(Continued ea Page Eleven
