Sept 1

The united Manchurian armies of Japan have engaged in a desperate attack upon Liao-Yang, where Gen. Kuropatkin has concentrated every available Russian soldier…Victory at Liao-Yang means the domination of Manchuria and possibly the end of the Autumn campaign.

The Japanese found the Russians holding a long chain of splendidly fortified positions, with a tremendous force of artillery.

This long article give a couple of paragraphs to successful Japanese action for several days before the 30th before moving to the battle of that day.

At dawn of Aug. 30 all the Japanese armies conjointly attacked all the Russian positions on the southern front.  The Japanese centre attacked with all its strength.

Throughout the afternoon of the 30th additional reinforcements reached the Russians until their strength was estimated at two divisions and fifty or sixty guns.

The Japanese continued to attack desperately, and at 3  o’clock in the afternoon a junction was effected with the left column of the First Army.  The Russians were dislodged from Tsa-fang-Tun and that vicinity.

The Russians fought with dogged determination until nightfall.

The main force of the Japanese left also attacked Russian positions.  The Russians used machine guns against the Japanese with effect, and the Japanese were unable to press their attacks home.

During the night of Aug 30 the Russians at Shou-shan-Pao attacked the Japanese left, and repulsed that portion of the left which occupied Shao-yan-Zui.  The Russians also made a night attack upon the ridge south of Shou-shan-Pao.

Sep 2  Headline:  Russians Admit Retreat

[first paragraph] The news of the evacuation of Liao-Yang and the withdrawal of the Russian army to the right bank of the Tai-Tse River reached only a small section of the people of St. Petersburg at a late hour and caused intense excitement and disappointment.

This is a long article that gets into details about the movement from a military strategic point of view.  I’ll offer the summary:

“Gen. Kuropatkin’s move, therefore, is not to be considered a retreat, but rather as the carrying out of a well-defined idea.”

It is more than likely….that the Gen. will decide to fight to the a finish.  The cards are all in his favor, it is believed, now that he has the Japanese divided by the river, thus effectually turning the tables upon his foe.

The determined pursuit by the Japanese of the Russian outposts when Gen. Kuropatkin gave the first order to withdraw was probably due to their anxiety to keep the Russians south of Liao-Yang until Gen. Kuroki should be able to strike from the northeast.  Gen. Kuropatkin, however, saw the trap and cleverly avoided it.

The fighting at Liao-Yang has beaten all records for the desperate valor of the assailants and the stubbornness of the defenders.  The whole history of warfare tells of no such bombardments, no such carnage, and no such persistency.

(No Gitmo for this guy….Click image for full view — It appears a Japanese observer is a really good Ghillie suit was caught – well, I guess it wasn’t that great of a suit in that case…)

Sep 4 – short article

Emperor Nicholas this afternoon received a telegram from Gen. Kuropatkin asking for the immediate dispatch to the Far East of the Sixth Army Corps.

(A Russian army corps on its peace strength numbers 46,000 men.)

Sep 6

Headlines:  Kuropatkin Threatened by Fresh Armies Now Racing for Safety at Harbin – Cossacks May Save Army – Heavy Losses are Reported – Japanese Said to Have Annihilated Rear Guard and Taken 200 Guns – Kuropatkin Estimates Casualties at 16,000

Developments of Japanese strategy have put the entire Russian Army under Gen. Kuropatkin in periol of annihilation or capture and have caused the Russians to begin preparations for the evacuation of Mukden.

…His plan to crush Gen. Kuroki before the other Japanese armies could cross the Tai-Tse failed because a Japanese column of which he had no information was discovered further north than he thought Kuroki had penetrated.

Hastening north to prevent this column from cutting the railroad, Kuropatkin has discovered that still another column from the eastward is pushing directly on Mukden.  He has sent a force of cavalry to oppose it.

….In this desperate race Kuroptkin is hampered by the transport of his wounded who are clogging the railway cars.

Sep 11 – Headline:  Japanese Looted City

The Japanese officers were unable to restrain their soldiers after six days of desperate fighting, and looting became general.

Last night the soldiers, in attempting to rob the missionary and Red Cross compound, stabbed Dr. A. M. Westwater, a well-known medical missionary, in the neck and hand.

Sep 12 – Headline:  More Details of Battle – long article

The Morning Post’s correspondent in the field with Gen. Kuroki describes the operations against Liao-Yang as 12 days of the hardest possible fighting and marching on short rations, with a temperature of 100 degrees in the shade, and frequent falls of rain.

Article gives a brief day-by-day description of the situation.

What surprised me more than anything else was the wonderful manner in which the Japanese continued for a whole week their awful bombardment of the Russian positions.  It was the fiercest artillery attack, perhaps, in history.

I doubt it was “wonderful” for the Russians…

The article claims the Russians were often drunk (I’d think I’d have a few under that) and that the soldiers were fine but badly led by their officers:

The war is most unpopular with all the Russian soldiers.  In Japan it is just the reverse.