The first army, finding the country in the direction of Mukden wasted and deserted while guerilla troops harassed them continually, now virtually abandoned the march to Mukden and formed a junction with the second army drawing together at the acute angle to which they had been so long converging. Oyama and Nodzu met and from that time worked with their forces conjointly. The Chinese were becoming bolder in the vicinity of Hai-tcheng which made the necessity greater for a union of forces. At the same time Mukden itself was in a state of riotous disorder, the Manchoo and Chinese troops continually at conflict with one another and therefore scarcely needing the attention of the Japanese to attack either side. Military operations in Manchooria were now exceedingly difficult owing to the depth of snow and the bitter cold weather. Both armies were suffering from the rigors of the season, and neither regretted the opportunity for a cessation of active hostilities. General Nogi moved forward his headquarters to Huntsai. Cavalry skirmishes between scouting parties between Niuchwang and Kai-phing, and between Niuchwang and Hai-tcheng were of daily occurrence and with them we will consider the season’s campaign of the armies in Manchooria closed.
The raising of Li Hung Chang’s enemy, Liu-kun-yi, to the chief military command in China stirred up more and more trouble for military and naval officers as the time went by. Half of the generals of the army and the admirals and commanders of the navy were arrested, charged with various degrees of guilt, and many of them were sentenced to death. As a matter of fact, however, not many of these sentences were carried out, although General Wei was beheaded in Peking, January 16. The influence of Li Hung Chang could not, however, be destroyed, even though he had been relieved of all his functions except that of governor-general of his province. His connections with prominent officials in China had been too intimate and his strength too great that all could be taken away from him even by imperial edict. The old viceroy, the Bismarck of Asia quietly bided his time and waited the results that he felt sure would come. The Chinese envoy and his suite of fifty-six lingered at Shanghai day after day delaying their start to Japan with the avowed explanation that further instructions were expected, but with the understanding frankly held by every one except themselves that they were really detained in the hope that something would turn up, that some special providence would interfere to relieve them of the necessity of presenting China’s suit for peace to her ancient enemy.
And now the third Japanese army was ready for its descent upon the Chinese coasts and another invasion of the Celestial Empire was impending.
THE EXPEDITION TO CAPTURE WEI-HAI-WEI AND
ITS SUCCESS.
Plans for the Third Japanese Army—Description of Wei-hai-wei and its Defenses—Arrival of the Japanese Troops—Landing of the Forces at Yung-tcheng Bay—Bombardment of Tengchow—Capture of Ning-Hai—Wei-hai-wei Forts Taken—Severity of the Weather—Action of the Fleets—The Torpedo Boats—Continuing the Bombardment—A White Flag From the Chinese—Surrender—Admiral Ting’s Suicide—After the Surrender.
The command of the sea definitely gained by the Japanese at the battle of the Yalu, now enabled another expeditionary force to be landed on the shores of China, this time on the Shantung peninsula, which juts out between the Gulf of Pechili and the Yellow Sea on the south, as the Liao-Tung peninsula does between the Gulf of Laio-Tung and Corea Bay on the north. Since that eventful action, the Chinese fleet had remained in port, and the Japanese had been free to use the water-ways of the east, as if no enemy’s ships existed. To undertake a new enterprise was merely a question of men and means. The transports employed at Port Arthur were available, and a third army twenty-five thousand strong was mobilized at Hiroshima in December. These troops were embarked for an expeditionary force to threaten Wei-hai-wei. There were fifty Japanese transports in the squadron, convoyed by a few war ships, and the fleet sailed away from Japan just before the middle of January.
Wei-hai-wei is about twenty-five miles west of the extreme northeastern point of the Shantung promontory, and fifty miles east of Chefoo, which was the nearest treaty port. Wei-hai-wei consists of an island some two miles long, and the adjacent mainland, running in a semi-circle around the bay. Between the island and the shore is a large and safe harbor, with an entrance at either end. At both entrances, two rows of submarine torpedo mines furnished protection against invading squadrons, and on the island stood the naval and gunnery school of China, and the houses of the foreign instructors. The island was defended by three forts, one at the east end, one at the west, and the third on a little island connected with it. On the hills which rise from the island also six small batteries with quick firing guns. In one of the forts were four heavy Krupp guns, in another three, while in the third were two Armstrong disappearing guns of twenty-five tons, on revolving planes. On the mainland was a small village, while three forts commanded the eastern entrance to the harbor, and three the western, armed in the same way as the forts on the island. Seven men-of-war remaining to the Chinese fleet were at anchor in the harbor, and would be useful in defense of the place, though not enough for battle at sea against a fleet. The fortifications were built under the direction of Captain Von Hannecken, and several foreigners in the Chinese service had remained there throughout the war as artillerists and in other capacities. The Chinese Admiral Ting was also there, against whom the Chinese censors had been speaking so bitterly. There were strongly equipped forts, a beautiful harbor, a good naval school, and all was ready to be captured by the Japanese.
DISTANT VIEW OF WEI-HAI-WEI AND ITS SURROUNDINGS.