On May 28 we overtook an enormous train of baggage from Dalny,[34] accompanied by the male inhabitants of the town, with their women, children, and household goods. As the horses in the wagons were wretchedly small, the train had to come to a standstill, blocking the road from end to end.
We went round by a narrow side road, and in the evening reached the great Shipinsin Pass,[35] where at last we overtook our baggage.
Now in high spirits, we bivouacked, cooked our suppers, ate them ravenously, and slept the sleep of the just.
On the following day, May 29, we began to ascend the pass, which, thanks to our excellent horses, our baggage train speedily traversed, and although at midnight we lost our way, owing to bad maps, we eventually reached the outskirts of Port Arthur and halted at the village of Pa-li-chuang, where we had been ordered to rest for three days.
General Stessel visited the regiment the following day. The companies quickly formed up near the bivouacs, and the general rode round them all and thanked them for their splendid behaviour. The men felt tremendously encouraged, many of them having laboured under the dire impression that we had committed a crime by surrendering Nan Shan to the enemy.
General Stessel called to the front all those wounded who had remained in the ranks, in order to address them, and to bestow praise and rewards in the shape of the Cross of St. George. There were, however, so many of them (more than 300) that the general thought it was impossible to get so many crosses; he therefore ordered the doctor to inspect them and separate the badly from the slightly wounded. There were sixty of the former category, and they were given St. George’s crosses accordingly. These were the sole recipients of rewards for the Nan Shan battle, those slightly wounded receiving nothing for their bravery—and the number of such was great.
I have already mentioned the fact that our men came away with only their rifles, most of the tents and great-coats having been left on the field of battle. It was fortunate that just before the battle we had transported the bulk of our stores into Port Arthur, where they had been deposited in Captain Preegorovski’s house, which had been hired for the purpose. We brought all we wanted out of Port Arthur without delay, and distributed the necessaries among the men. At the same time we drove out with us a large herd of cattle, amounting to about 200 head.
I forgot to mention that our ordinary military anxieties on the Nan Shan position had been augmented by the worry due to an order to collect all the cattle belonging to the inhabitants and to drive them to the rear of the position. Some officials, supplied with money, were sent out for this purpose, but as they could not effect their object without the assistance of the regiment, the whole burden of the work fell upon us.
Unfortunately, the order was given when the enemy was already in touch with us, but we managed to collect about 1,000 head and drove them to the rear of the army, almost into Port Arthur.