Altogether in these first engagements of the war, ten Russian ships were put out of action, while the Japanese vessels suffered little damage and reported no loss of life. The best ships of the Russian fleet were now out of the problem of attack against Japan; and Japan felt free to pour her troops into Corea.
Admiral Togo, however, continued to blockade and harass Port Arthur, at the same time sending a small squadron to hover off Vladivostok, and hold in check the Russian cruisers there. The Japanese control of the sea was so complete by this time that preparations were made to resume the mail steamer service between Shanghai and Japanese ports without convoy, and to return several of the liners, which had been taken as auxiliary cruisers, to their regular runs across the Pacific and to Australia. Such were, in brief, the naval operations during the first month of the war.
The land operations of the same period included no engagements that might be called battles. The Japanese landed twenty thousand men on Russian territory, south of Vladivostok; and a similar number of men had been landed on the east coast of Corea. Thus Japan began a flank movement, whose objective was the isolation of Vladivostok; while at the same time other troops advanced toward Harbin, in Manchuria, where the Russians occupied a strategic position. During this time the Russian and Japanese outposts clashed repeatedly near Ping-yang in northern Corea. On March 1st, the Japanese General Staff left Japan for Corea, and a few days later the landing and the mobilization of the Japanese army in Corea was complete.
In the first week in March, Japan announced that a treaty had been made with Corea which recognized the entity of that kingdom, included guarantees against absorption by Japan or Russia, and virtually established a protectorate, such as England held in Egypt. Corea became an ally of Japan by the terms of this treaty.
At the end of the first month of the war both combatants had settled down to the most thorough preliminary campaign, for the establishment of bases and lines of communication, before their armies swung into battle line. Such was the war situation in the Far East in March, 1904, when throughout the world it was feared that the Russo-Japanese War would end in a world war, or in a conflict involving, at least, Japan’s ally, England, and Russia’s ally, France. Friends of the Japanese put the matter thus: “Russia and Japan can not both breathe freely in the Orient. One or the other must be cramped in opportunity and warped in development. Each is acting upon the law of self-preservation, not as a pretext, but as an immediate, pressing necessity. If Russia wins, Europe becomes rapidly more like Asia. If Japan is the victor, the continent of so many glories may have a future of its own.”
CHAPTER XV
THE WAR WITH RUSSIA, AND JAPAN A WORLD POWER
War Operations on Land—Four Great Japanese Armies in the Field—The Siege and Capitulation of Port Arthur—Operations of the Navy—The Annihilation of the Russian Fleet—Terms of the Treaty of Portsmouth—Treaty of Alliance with England—Financial Troubles in Japan and Riotous Demonstrations against the Government—Supplementary Treaty with Russia—Government Control in Corea Transferred to Japan—Abdication of the Corean Emperor and a Japanese Resident-General Appointed—Attacks on Japanese on the United States Pacific Coast—General Arbitration Treaty with the United States
With the striking of the first blows to check Russia’s advance, Japan at once became master of the situation in the Far East and remained master till the end of the war through repeated victories on land and sea. Japanese progress and expansion had been imperiled by Russia’s occupation of Manchuria and by Russian aggression in Corea, these two countries being the very territory needed by Japan for her overflowing population. Therefore, behind national pride in the splendid achievements of the Japanese army and navy, was national instinct of self-preservation. Corea and Manchuria were to Japan national necessities; and so Japan began ridding herself of the menace of Russia in territory that the Japanese regarded as being logically their own sphere of influence. Japan won; and, by reason of victory, became a world power, to dominate in the East for years to come.
The last week of February, 1904, found General Kuroki, commanding the Japanese First Army in the East, with his forces concentrated along the Yalu River that separates Corea from Manchuria. General Kuroki had already occupied Ping Yang, and now was ready to begin the forward movement against the Russian army under General Kuropatkin.
March and April witnessed the steady advance of the Japanese First Army, Kuroki having crossed the Yalu River with three divisions to attack divisions of Kuropatkin’s army under General Sassulitch and others. On May 1st, the first serious blow was struck, at Kiu-lien-cheng, when Kuroki drove the Russians out of that place. The Japanese immediately followed up this victory with another—driving the Russians from their position north of Kiu-lien-cheng, to which they had retreated. The losses in these two engagements were (officially) 2,397 officers and men of the Russian forces; and (unofficially) 800 officers and men of the Japanese army.