PORT ARTHUR.

523 defence on the 25th and 26th October was contemptible, his large force withdrew from positions that could easily have been made impregnable, and despite the strength of their forts, which were admirably constructed, the Chinese officers and soldiers retreated after a merely nominal resistance. In the positions abandoned on the Yalu, the Japanese captured an enormous war matériel, including 74 cannons, over 4000 rifles, and more than 4,000,000 rounds of ammunition. The defeated Chinese army had retired to Feng-hwang, the border town of the old neutral zone, and for a moment it seemed as if they would make a stand there; but on reaching it, on the 30th of the month, the Japanese found it evacuated, and rumour said that the Chinese army had dispersed in a senseless and irretrievable panic.

While Marshal Yamagata was forcing the passage of the Yalu, and beginning the invasion of China, another Japanese army under Marshal Oyama had landed on the Regent's Sword, or now more generally called the Leaoutung Peninsula, with the object of attacking the great Chinese naval station of Port Arthur. Port Arthur was not only very strongly defended by art, but its natural advantages were such that it only needed capacity and courage in its defence to be practically impregnable. In Chinese hands it was even formidable; in those of the countrymen of Todleben it will be a second, and probably an inexpugnable Sebastopol. Over three hundred guns were in position, and the Chinese garrison numbered at least 10,000 men, while the attacking Japanese army did not exceed 13,000 men, although of course the co-operating Japanese fleet has to be added to the land forces. The Japanese landed at the mouth of the Hua-yuan river, nearly 100 miles north of Port Arthur. They then advanced south and captured the strongly fortified city of Chinchow without losing a single man. If this was surprising, what happened the next day at Ta-lien-wan bay was still more incredible. Here the Chinese had five batteries admirably constructed and heavily armed. The garrison was quite sufficient for an effective resistance, but on the approach of the Japanese it fled from its positions almost without firing a shot. In the forts, the victors found over 120 cannons,

2 million rounds of cannon ammunition, and nearly 34 million rounds of rifle. This easy and bloodless capture of the outer defences of Port Arthur pointed to the early and inevitable fate of that fortress.

On the 20th November, 1894, the whole of the Japanese army was drawn up in front of Port Arthur while the fleet lay off the harbour. The preliminary reconnaissance showed the Japanese general that three forts on the northern side, known as Chair Hill, Table Hill, and Hope Terrace, practically commanded the others, and that their capture would probably entail the fall of the place. The Japanese began their attack early in the morning of 22nd November, and concentrated their efforts on the capture of the Chair Hill. Forty guns, of which half were siege guns, delivered their fire on this place, and in about one hour silenced its guns. The Japanese infantry then rushed to attack it, and with a loss of eighty killed and wounded they drove out the garrison. In consequence of this success, the Chinese soldiers abandoned the forts on Table Hill and Hope Terrace, which might easily have continued their defence. The panic-stricken troops from these positions were practically annihilated during their flight by the fire of a Japanese regiment which they met, and of the Japanese warships. The other forts fell in rapid succession. Only at the Dragon Hill forts did the Chinese offer any resistance worthy of the name, and then it was overcome by the impetuous gallantry of the Japanese attack. The remaining forts attempted no resistance, and thus in one day, for the insignificant loss of 18 men killed and 250 wounded, the Japanese captured the strongest position in China, and a naval fortress and arsenal on which six millions sterling had been expended.

The month of December was marked by the advance of the force under Marshal Yamagata into Manchuria, where a fresh Chinese army, under several commanders, of whom Ikotenga a Manchu was the most capable, had come down to defend the approaches to Moukden, the old Manchu capital and the home of the dynasty. The warfare partook of an irregular character, and skirmishes, rather than battles, characterized the progress of the campaign, which was

WEI HAI WEI.

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rendered more difficult by the fact that winter had set in, and that the whole region was covered with snow. The Chinese fought in this part of the campaign with far greater courage than at any other, and in one fight at Kangwasai they inflicted a loss of 400 men on the Japanese. The capture of this village, hastily fortified, cost them far more than that of the strong fortress of Port Arthur, thus showing that the Chinese only lacked honest leading and some military experience to make a good fight. At the town of Kaiping the Chinese also offered a stout resistance, and although the Japanese carried the place, they had to confess a loss of over 300 killed and wounded. These instances of returning courage will be referred to when at some future date the Chinese have been turned into good soldiers.

There only remains now to be described the second most striking military episode of the war, viz. the capture of Wei Hai Wei, with the remainder of China's modern fleet, which had taken refuge in that harbour. It was not until the middle of January, 1895, when the Japanese found further campaigning in Manchuria slow and difficult, that they turned their energies in the direction of this place. Wei Hai Wei was called by the Emperor of Japan one of the leaves of the gate of China. It was strongly fortified, but neither by art nor by nature as strong as Port Arthur. On the 20th January, and following days, the Japanese troops were landed at Yungchang on the promontory of Shantung, a little west of the place to be attacked. On the 26th, the Japanese appeared at the gates of Wei Hai Wei. The land defences of this place consisted of a line of forts and batteries in the form of a semicircle round the range of hills commanding the bay and harbour. In the bay itself are two islands: one called Liukung is 500 feet high, and six miles in circumference, the other, Jih, is small, and covered by a fort. The defences of the place consist, therefore, of these two islands, besides the land forts, and the squadron under Admiral Ting furnished a powerful auxiliary, although its commander, whose courage was beyond dispute, did not deem it safe to venture out to engage the Japanese. The Chinese fleet comprised nine large vessels: six small gun-boats, seven large, and four small

torpedo-boats. The entrance to the bay had also been protected by two strong booms, attached to which were torpedoes, and these seemed to preclude the possibility of the Japanese effecting an entrance. It should also be added that nearly half the garrison consisted of 4000 sailors on the fleet, and that these men had at least undergone some training, while in Admiral Ting they had a leader of proved courage and energy, whose spirit was not at all likely to fail.

The attack on the land side of Wei Hai Wei began on the 29th January, and continued throughout that and the following day. The Chinese resistance proved considerable, and at several points Admiral Ting's squadron intervened with such effect that the Japanese were repulsed. Jealousy between the naval and military leaders detracted from the vigour of the defence, as the generals refused Ting's offer to lend them the services of a number of men from the ships to work the guns in the forts properly. This refusal facilitated the capture of Wei Hai Wei. The Japanese had not been able to bring any guns with them, owing to the badness of the roads, but when they captured some of the forts they turned the guns in them on the others, and on Ting's fleet. When Ting realized that the Chinese soldiers in the forts would make no resistance, he sent landing-parties to the different batteries, and rendered all the guns in them useless. By this means he deprived the Japanese of the greater part of the artillery on which they counted for his destruction. The next day the Japanese occupied the remaining forts without resistance, for the whole of the land garrison had fled panic-stricken to Chefoo. For a time it seemed as if they had come to an end of their success, for Admiral Ting's squadron and the island forts continued to defy their assaults.

The Japanese could not afford to rest content with this half success, or to remain inactive. They therefore resorted to an attack by torpedo boats, and on the 5th of February this so far succeeded that the Ting-yuen, the great remaining vessel of the Chinese, was struck with two torpedoes, and sunk in a few hours. The Japanese had themselves suffered heavily, but on the following night they renewed the attack, and sank three Chinese vessels. This demoralized the

Chinese, and when the magazine on Jih island was blown up by an accidental shell the Chinese torpedo squadron attempted to escape to sea, but all the vessels were taken. On the 9th February, the Ching-yuen was sunk by a shell that struck her below the water-line, and with her the very last chance of victory disappeared. Still Admiral Ting would not give up the struggle, and it was only after receiving a telegram from Li Hung Chang that no help was possible, that he arranged to capitulate. When the terms were agreed on, Admiral Ting retired to his cabin and took a large dose of opium. Among those who fought on the Chinese side Admiral Ting was the most prominent officer to exhibit a high form of courage and some capacity. His name will be ever exempted from the charge of cowardice, and when all the details come to be told it will be known that he was not to blame for any shortcomings in the action of the Chinese fleet, from which so much was expected. Even under every disadvantage Ting held out at Wei Hai Wei for three weeks, whereas Port Arthur was lost in a day.

The war continued for a few weeks after the fall of Wei Hai Wei. The Japanese continued their advance in Manchuria, and captured the two places called Newchwang, thus securing a footing on the Gulf of Leaoutung, and menacing Pekin on the one side and Moukden on the other. At the moment when spring was about to render easy the prosecution of military operations in that northern region, the Japanese possessed an army of 100,000 men ready to advance on Pekin. There is no reason to believe that, however much the Chinese might have improved in courage and resolution for the defence of their capital, they could have offered a successful resistance to the Japanese advance. The prolongation of the war would therefore have signified only the further humiliation of China and the addition of the loss of Pekin to that of Port Arthur and Wei Hai Wei. Peace was, therefore, of the first necessity from the point of view of China's interests. Reserving for another chapter the consideration of the peace negotiations and terms, it will be appropriate to conclude this brief narrative of the war between China and Japan with a few general observations.