I then saw that, far ahead of the battery, our dense columns were advancing, apparently attacking some one. The regiment advancing on the left of my column had sent out a line of skirmishers to the flank on one side of our advance, and I learnt that they had noticed a hostile column in a hollow on our left flank. It turned out that this was a company of that regiment which had advanced on Shih-san-li-tai from the south, and occupied the position covering Chin-chou from the Shih-san-li-tai side.
“Form a reserve for the attackers, and with one company occupy the hill towards which the head of your column is moving,” ordered General Fock. I galloped off to comply with this order.
This advance went on for an hour. We occupied a succession of positions, but it was very noticeable that our men did not take full advantage of the ground, but rather tried not to lose touch with each other. It was all right when the officers were actually keeping them together, but what would happen when they were not there to do so? Our men are not accustomed to act on their own initiative, and a long skirmishing line does not permit of the officers directing their men by voice and example. It was lucky that we were the defenders and not the attackers!
While occupied with these thoughts, I heard the “assembly” sounded by our buglers; our men remained where they were, but the commanders hurried off to the general, who had called them by this signal. The enemy had not been encountered; he was at Chang-chia-tun, or perhaps to the north of Shih-san-li-tai. The operation had been thought out in great detail by the general. For me it was remarkable in that we had manœuvred under the enemy’s very nose, while contemptuously leaving him also in the rear. After a short halt we returned to the position with the men singing loudly.[18]
After this expedition we received an order which brought home to me the exactness with which General Fock gauged the situation. His directions were clear and fully conformed to the real state of affairs. Here are some characteristic paragraphs of the order: “God save us from those commanders who wait for orders in the heat of battle: they won’t get any given them, so let them get that idea out of their heads.” Or: “I ask all company and battalion commanders, as soon as they meet the enemy, to raise their heads, open their eyes, and keep their ears shut. Believe me, your eyes are everything: your ears won’t help you much, though, unfortunately, this is not a generally accepted idea. Even an old captain of twenty-two years’ service will, during manœuvres, begin to prick up his ears like a hare so as to catch some order from his commander; but his commander is dead, or is himself engaged with something else.” These golden rules are worthy of a place in every book on tactics, and in all regulations on the general direction of an action.
Immediately after our return our scouts brought us news that the enemy was near Shih-san-li-tai station in small numbers, and massed on the shores of the bay, a little to the south of Chang-chia-tun. This was about May 11, and from this time onward our scouts had daily skirmishes with the enemy.
General Fock remained true to his decision to meet the enemy in front of the Nan Shan position. We only roughly knew the enemy’s strength, so he decided to carry out another reconnaissance in force, and again moved his forces forward to the villages of Chang-chia-tun and Shih-san-li-tai, and thus blocked the line of the enemy’s advance southward along the Pu-lan-tien and Nan Shan road. All the regiments of the 4th Rifle Division, except the 15th, were employed; our eight companies were in the advanced guard; the 3rd and 4th at Shih-san-li-tai, and the 6th and 8th, and the 3rd Scout Detachment at Chang-chia-tun, our 3rd Battalion being placed in the interval between these two detachments. The positions to be occupied by us were well studied beforehand. The companies moved out and took up their positions. On the night of May 15, and the morning of the 16th, other troops with guns moved off, two batteries were placed near the railway bridge on the road to Pi-tzu-wo, and one (Romanovski’s) with the regimental half-battery under Second-Lieutenant Sadykov on the hills above Shih-san-li-tai. After our battalions had occupied their positions an order came from General Fock that our 3rd Battalion, under the command of Colonel Dounin, was to return to the position. In order not to give the enemy a chance of working round behind us, I was ordered to move the 7th Company and the scout detachment with Lieutenant Naoomov’s two guns through the space between the shore of Kerr Bay and Mount Sampson to the old Chinese fortifications, and to form half the 9th Company as a reserve to the 7th, but I myself was left on the position with three companies.
At daybreak on May 16 I went to Battery No. 13,[19] and had an excellent view of the engagement[20] and the movements of our troops. Our companies and guns were already in position on the left flank. The other regiments were moving round towards the foot of Mount Sampson in a south-westerly direction, and the head of the column had just reached the hill, when heavy rifle fire broke out, and Lieutenant-Colonel Romanovski’s and the bullock battery on the left began to speak. In five minutes the fire of these batteries had become awful, and thick smoke completely hid them from my view (this smoke was caused by bursting Japanese shells). After half an hour, when the tail of our main column had passed Mount Sampson, the batteries on the right flank opened fire. Firing continued for an hour from both flanks, and we followed the course of the fight most intently. I was very much afraid that the enemy would try to get round our rear, but the 7th Company was silent, and its commander reported that no movement was noticeable in his front. The fire on the left flank began to slacken, and carts and stretchers were seen moving from that direction. Half an hour later I noticed Romanovski’s battery on the road from Shih-san-li-tai, followed by our bullock battery, both moving towards us at a walk. An orderly from the left flank came up and reported that we were retreating, but he had not seen the Japanese infantry, having only observed that the Japanese had swept our battery with shells, thereby silencing it and compelling it to retreat behind the hill. At the same moment that the batteries on the left flank moved, I saw that the reserves had occupied a shoulder of Mount Sampson facing the village of Shih-san-li-tai. Dense lines of skirmishers quietly lay on the crest of this ridge, allowing the guns, and subsequently the skirmishers of our left flank, to pass through them. From this I concluded that the enemy was pressing our right and that General Fock thought that we could not hold our ground, and had, therefore, strengthened his left flank, which had, so far, not been assailed by the Japanese. After another hour had passed, our retreating lines came into view from behind Mount Sampson, and the guns near the railway bridge opened a terrific fire. The rifle and gun fire behind Mount Sampson continued, now weaker, now stronger, till at last the lines of reserves, passing through the left flank, quickly collected and began to retreat on our position. I expected to see the Japanese in pursuit, but none appeared. At last the batteries on the right flank retired and our companies followed in their wake, but still the Japanese did not pursue. It was now that I saw a picture of a truly wonderful retreat, in which our men marched in column as at manœuvres. The left flank had already reached our position, when General Nadyein came in wounded in the hand, and Lieutenant-Colonel Romanovski with a wound in the leg. The situation naturally gave rise to a good deal of questioning and surmise. It appears that Second-Lieutenant Sadykov, who commanded our bullock battery, had himself gone to the assistance of Lieutenant-Colonel Romanovski and commanded his half-battery to the end of the engagement.