From the moment I joined the army in Manchuria, I invariably told every unit that I met or reviewed that the war could only end after we had been victorious; that till then none of us would be allowed to return home; and that victory was certain when sufficient reinforcements reached us. And belief in these facts sank into the hearts of officers and private soldiers. Both before and after Mukden, I more than once heard the men themselves—particularly those in hospital—say that they could not return home till the enemy had been defeated. “The women will laugh at us,” were their words. Another important factor, and one which the Russian especially values, is constant and affectionate care for his bodily needs and his health. For anyone who has not been on active service it is difficult to appreciate how troops who have been disorganized and badly shaken by hard fighting can regain heart if they suddenly find hot food ready for them. A night’s rest, a full stomach, ammunition replenished, a quiet calling of the roll, and the calm demeanour of their officers—all assisted to make our splendid soldiers once more ready for the fray. As regards the army’s moral generally, I should mention that the nearer our men were to the enemy, the better were their spirits and the fewer the carping comments and criticisms which always do so much harm; there was no time to read the papers. When I visited the advanced units of the 1st Army (those of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Siberians, and of the 1st Army Corps commanded by Colonels Prince Trubetski, Tikhomiroff, Redkin, and General Kashtalinski), I found universal keenness to advance. The men were well looked after, discipline was strict, and the attitude of both men and officers was one of quiet and steady determination. But in proportion as the distance from the advanced lines increased, and direct touch with the enemy was lost, there was time for talk and gossip. It was on the lines of communication (particularly at Harbin) that drunkenness and gambling took place, besides other forms of dissipation that disgraced the army. It was here that the white-livered brigade collected, leaving the front under any excuse even when fighting was in progress, and, indeed, what else could be expected of them? It is much to be regretted that some of our pressmen judged the army by what they saw at Harbin, and that we were judged by this standard even in Russia. Many officers and others in authority who had failed to pass the “ordeal by fire” lived on in Russia, and from them a correct opinion as to the self-sacrifice and devotion of the army and its readiness to continue the war could hardly have been expected. Unfortunately for us, also there happened to be on the Committee of Imperial Defence two general officers who had been at the front. One had left it; the other had been deprived of his command of an army corps. Clearly, such men as these could not have much assisted this new and important body to insist on the necessity of continuing the struggle.
A step taken by me to raise and to maintain the spirit of the army was the rapid promotion of those officers who had most distinguished themselves in the field. We obtained a number of our best senior regimental officers by promoting captains, and, what is more important, we appointed many distinguished officers to the command of regiments without regard to their lack of seniority, or to the fact that some of them were only lieutenant-colonels. In a very short time these commanding officers improved their regiments almost beyond recognition, and fully proved how important a careful selection is in war. By promoting to Major-General those colonels who had most distinguished themselves on service, we began to get at the head of brigades leaders who were worthy of every confidence, and offered a splendid selection from which to choose divisional and corps commanders.
A further step which I took to woo victory was to enforce the humane treatment of the Chinese population of Manchuria. I, and those immediately under me, insisted on their being protected (as far as war conditions permitted) from unnecessary hardships, and on their property being guarded, and I made a point of their being promptly paid in cash for everything they brought in. This assisted us considerably in getting supplies, and, notwithstanding the great hardships we ourselves occasionally suffered, I invariably insisted on these relations being maintained. Consequently, not once was I forced to have recourse to requisitioning supplies or transport, nor had I to use force to get local labour. The results surpassed all my expectations, for, in spite of the great efforts made by the enemy to raise the Chinese population against us, and in spite of the unfriendly feeling towards us of many of the Chinese authorities themselves, the mass of the people appreciated our attitude, remained quiet, and, by freely bringing in their products, saved us from hunger. Although they might have easily kept us in a perpetual state of alarm by killing isolated officials, attacking small detachments, destroying the telegraphs and the roads, they—with very few exceptions—lived on peacefully in the theatre of war, in some instances even joining with us in fighting the Hun-huses.
Thus, besides the plan of campaign for carrying on the war—in which the possibility of retiring even behind Harbin was foreseen—the principal means taken by me to secure victory were:
1. To instil in all ranks a firm belief that the war could only be brought to a close with victory, and that till victory had crowned our efforts not one of us would return home.
2. To foster a constant fatherly endeavour on the part of all in authority to attend, as far as the exigencies of the Service permitted, to the comfort and preserve the health of the troops.
3. To assist in all ways the readiness and preparation of the troops, particularly by accelerating, irrespective of mere seniority, the promotion of the most distinguished of the officers.
4. To maintain a uniformly humane attitude towards the Chinese population of Manchuria.
III.
The enemy’s army began to weaken in the moral as well as the material sense.