her in central
Manchuria at the close of the year is such as to render military
manoeuvres almost impossible on a large scale, and this difficulty is
greatly accentuated by the almost complete absence of roads. In fact,
the reasons which induced Kuropatkin to defy these obstacles, and
renew his outflanking attempts after the beginning of the cold
weather, have never been fully explained. The most probable theory is
that held by Japanese strategists, namely, that he desired to find
some opening for the vigorous campaign which he intended to pursue in
the spring, and that his attention was naturally directed to the
region between the Hun and the Liao rivers, a region unoccupied by
either army and yet within striking distance of the bases of both.
Moreover, he had received nearly three whole divisions from Europe,
and he looked to these fresh troops with much confidence. He set his
forces in motion on the 25th of January, 1905. Seven Russian
divisions were engaged, and the brunt of the fighting was borne by
two Japanese divisions and a brigade of cavalry. Two other divisions
were engaged, but the part they acted in the fight was so subordinate
that it need scarcely be taken into account. The Russians were
finally driven back with a loss of some twenty thousand killed,
wounded, or prisoners. This battle of Heikautai was the last
engagement that took place before the final encounter.

PORT ARTHUR

The relief of Port Arthur had ceased to be an important objective of
Kuropatkin before he planned his Heikautai attack. The great fortress
fell on the last day of 1904. It was not until the middle of May that
the Kinchou isthmus and Dalny came into Japanese hands, nor was the
siege army under General Nogi marshalled until the close of June.
During that interval, General Stossel, who commanded, on the Russian
side, availed himself of all possible means of defence, and the
investing force had to fight for every inch of ground. The attack on
the outlying positions occupied fully a month, and not till the end
of July had the Japanese advanced close enough to attempt a coup de
main. There can be no doubt that they had contemplated success by
that method of procedure, but they met with such a severe repulse,
during August, that they recognized the necessity of recourse to the
comparatively slow arts of the engineer. Thereafter, the story of the
siege followed stereotyped lines except that the colossal nature of
the fortifications enta