| Show I I o Pet JS a Loob aM w ioa a of a Gret AnaY W the R e s 8 caws n v D B By 0 By y JOHN c OLAU O HLIN Colliers Special War ar Correspondent at St St Petersburg 28 N THE UNIFORM or of a Cossack k general l Czar cr N bo bolas las reviewed the other da day a regiment ot of IN which swung by the Lite Vinter PAlace under orrs W ie th far east eRst A few minutes later dressed as s a of If the na the emperor drove to toUl the W admiralty yard ard and Inspected the warships arebe are Ing rushed to eO completion titers It will not be the fault ot of his majesty should there not be in lI I and Asiatic waters within the n next few months month a militarY and naval force superior to that of the Japanese Japan To Ta lifts kohl officers he must the utilization or of the which he Is placing in their hands These two acts of the ordinarily of little IM IMportance I IT brought to mind the question which al aU T St Petersburg has bas been discussing since the outbreak or of towar Ute to war ar What is plan lat or of operations The E lt h journals arrIving ill in St SL Petersburg contain the speculation upon what is a simple matter maUer to the Russian strategists at least so far as concerns the method of ef effecting c Japans defeat First Fin I was told mass in MAnchuria an arm army superior to tb the J She will place in Asiatic wat waters rs a fleet t superior to te that o of her enemy Then Japan will wUl he be au ht that It is Mot ot advisable to thrust wear r upon ulOn a nation that d desired red peace and nd which offered huml humiliating concessions in the hope of c preserving it Ever Every expert knows knos that the question of men does not concern Russia it ft is t the he question of those finally concentrated upon the battlefield which Is Ia causing chief concern concen General Kuropatkin has arly arb charged himself to look alter after his communications ions affil his as aM chief of state staff in 11 past wars wilt will willbe be to him in the campaign upon which he Is about to embark The hats has its own special guard Arid and wherever necessary additional troops wilt ed to protest proteCt the line Port Arthur and Vladivostok k have Po strong strout gArrisons well equipped d And armed and supplied with food There remain available for active operations almost M men who have hae been organised Into three strongest tron t of about 1000 occupying well fortified strategic positions upon the Yalu river the second holding a central between the left of the first brat division and which will wUI step stepa I no a flank movement front from the Sea of Tapan and thee tAe third so M as aK to prevent OperAtiOns by bJ a f force 4 disembarking barking barkin at th the head of the gulf Among these e ethree three divisions are r eom Cossacks a ks IncomparablY mounted Wait V it till uti the Cossacks Co get at them the an average Jt will tell leU you The Japanese can not stand up Q against them The Cossacks are fUt as great devils today Ms s they ever eer were ere They are arf armed With fine carbines and long fv and they will rill bP be able to move rapidly The South African war taught the value of mobility in tails ary operations operation General recognizes recognises that this army i is not large e enough Before he left St Pete Petersburg he asked r ra far fara a fighting force of then His request wu was not DOt complied with Heas informed inform that he should have e 4 men with a reserve resene of As rapidly as a single track railroad will permit penult this ann army J Is being in Manchuria The trains Are ruu running Te regularly r th the railroad on The ma i estimate of the number of troops t the scene of operations is 1110 The minimum is 3 r I should say that an average of men are daily being to Mukden or some other convenient point The larger Jarger the army the greater the quantity or of that must be shipped to it and the fewer the trains that can an be sent with troops Consequently June JUR will have arrived before General will have his army at atthe tb the strength th determined upon Turning noW to the na navy some facts have come COnte to tom tomy m my attention which will have an al bearing upon the fixture ture camPAign The assignment or of four cruisers ru to Vladivostok and th the damages sustained by the cad aAd rendered the Russian RUf Asiatic fleet tI t inferior to that tat of Admiral Togo The which was gotten olten lain deck i is alain again in active service rice The which had a large section o of 11 her 1 bottom ripped out by bythe the ex explosion of the hole bole i is said to have had Rad an al anarea area are of 18 square on pontoons in the har harbor d cannot be repaired in time tim for the projected fleet opera operations t Repairs are being pushed upon the R which h can be considered re 1 again a as n a part of the effective Rue Ruso ian Sian t force Th There re is no truth in rumors circulated abroad d that th the guns of the H have item been removed and in Installed stalled in II a shore battery The Russians are consequently inferior to what they w were re before war ar commenced by but butone one battleship and two Ya ria sunk at atC C and the Bo destroyed b by trines And a afe fe fete destroyers Nevertheless the fleet will m not participate in offensive operations but for the will remain undamaged ed It is hoped bOId under the guns ns or of Port rott Arthur I f JI I J I Continued from Page I 1 Section 2 It Is 15 he who accompanies the emperor upon aU all Inspections ships to be beI assigned to the Baltic fleet He does I not appear in Jool looks s to be more than I II 63 53 years cars o of age H He Is exceedingly quiet I I and reserved reminding me of Rear I I I Admiral Sampson He gives you a grIp or of the hand band when hen you approach him that Is not soon forgotten and then listens to what you JOU have to sa saI say sayI I He considers a moment and out jumps the decision There Is 15 no doubt about the mInd of the man when he be heI behas has f spoken I IThe I The Russians Are Confident I I This completes the exposition of the tho forces and gh gives an Idea of I the character r or of the ien who are to direct them It remains to be seen what use it Is contemplated to make or of these thee weapons This is the log ing topic of wherever Russian military and naval men meet I The ann army tIlled with courage is pat hog Itself On the back anti telling the thenaY I naY navy In a way a that it itI iti i nill see that th the are de dett deI I I tt The nay navy accepts the banter I but It is determined to avenge the thc In Int injuries 8 by the Port Ar Arthur Arthur t thur The other dR lay I met I Baron Fersen who served until recent recently I J ly as naval nRal of oC RussIa In Wash Yash Washington Ington He will m have command of the In blowIng up his ship he said the commander or of the took the only proper course It is tm tm In oar navy never to surrender to go down first That tradition will nill willbe be observed Baron Fersen made this statement simply without any thought ot of vainglorious boasting and I ac accepted accepted his statement as an expression of the vIews vies of ever other who will be attached to the Baltic fleet Naturally it is pure speculation to dl discuss the plan pIau of operations to be followed The general naval staff and the general army staff have been con considering considering this Important matter separ separately atel and together Had Hod the general naval staff had its I wag as told by bj an authOrity when I first arrived In St Petersburg the Asiatic fleet o of Russia would weak never neer been weak weakened ened by o the eta of four at ar armored mored cruisers and their assignment to Vladivostok This is re recalled called now to sho shor that the generaL I has a jut just appreciation of af naval I strategy But what it has decIded upon cannot be known in spite of positive statements made bY b overanxious cor correspondents respondents or 01 by br subordinate military i and naval o in St Petersburg i wlad believe that the they themselves pos pOe post t sees the capacities of a thousand and who are arc eager euger to offer ad I to their But when an all anthO the thO 8 Is sifted down It re I solves Itself into Inti this The greatest care will lie be to guard the Port I Arthur I 8 f further damage until the or of the Bf Baltic tlc fleet The squadron is not hut to In of offen fen he Oper unless there should I be all an interIor Inferior to forc Uh which it ma mahave may have an opportunity to deal The tor torpedo torpedo boat and cruisers wm will willbe be allowed to themselves m selves more freol o th The four I d f are arc arcI I also 10 to be t Th They y tm not ica s nor norL 1 L run oer eve tn In waters TIt he c I titi it a apS pS br ar dst K it l n il in Juno June It InI l got it the mu meat t economical f speed l bt oIl tJ as s sch Vich ch S li 1 i coal tot snips ships no d w oil humOrs and for tor a active operations I France e will not nat permit the t take coal tro front her p pIrt iI but she will raise no objection to their s from comers colliers within the heIter or of her bar Itar bore bora Thus the Rus Russian l n fleet call take fuel at MarseIlles and a again n at Opposite Aden the Indian ocean the fleet will have hye Sled the half wa way point between Pert Arthur and It can It nOr put Into an or ci C Ceylon pee art and demand coal eoal to e enable e it t tor to rach a h Its ItH nearest home poet wk would bl be Port 1 ml might ht ett t tp the of their ally aUy hut Iut it if they should reat raut the thy they would not I te ity and if f th they hould taU fall to do so t belor becore angered eNd It Is ift n Ia fa St I that Japan never er permit the sal BaI tit and Port Arthur ne fleets to effect a I junction Ie IC It can ci be It mut be the effort of Admiral Togo TOIto to torne rne one unsupported by the other else mere weight wIght of numbers will crush him But as far as Ito must confine the squadron under Admiral In Port Arthur or It mh might ht join the Vladivostok squadron and de destroy destroy stroy the communications of the Jap Jaa Japanese anese army with the mother do un try tryan an interruption which would perhaps s be tem temporary oran but In case or of the de destruction or of the Japanese e squadron would b bu serious Admiral sky k may he be instructed hw however vcr not notto notto to proceed ut t once to Port Fort Arthur but butto butto to arrange to meet the Vladivostok squadron and its four modern ar armored armored mored cruisers which are superior to the Japanese type would make a for addition to his squadron Togo Will Eave His Han FuR Full I AdmIral Togo must therefore set I himself to solve a search problem or of i gigantic Importance to his country He I will be Informed of the progress of oC the Russian fleet certaInly from Singapore and perhaps from C and Formosa in the vicinity or of which Jap Japanese Ja anese cr cruisers andt and torpedo boat de destroyers be cruising But If the Ru Russian lan fleet steams into the Pacific I to find It Will be like Uke the old task or of a from a haystack It has been suggested that Admiral Togo 1 will become alarmed for tor the safety of oC hIS home ports perth anti and will wUl withdraw from I Port Arthur tor their But Rue RUB i isla sla strategists ay that the Uie bombard I of Ja Japanese ese porto port be pro productive productive of and the they believe Admiral Togo would perceive that to permit the Baltic fleet and Port Pert i Arthur squadron dron to join jota would be to toI I present Russia with a moral victory of great Importance Therefore It is ex cx II I here that Admiral Togo will willI I station his force just to the south of I Ii i Korea a position which will enable I him to guard the Yellow sea and the I Korean straits But before the Baltic I squadron can arrIve It is expected he will make a desperate effort to d destroy I the squadron of Admiral Makaroff I I So much depends upon Russia gain lug Ing mastery of the sea that military I I operations will be co conducted slowly and circumspectly by b General Kuro Kuropatkin until the Baltic fleet In Inthe inthe the east If the Japanese na nav e de destroyed destroyed the Japanese must finally succumb Without help belp from I Japan Japon without means of escape to their own country they cannot avoid I annihilation In itself Itsel the general idea or of the Rue Rus Russian I alan sian authorities will be pr pronounced I good by bO all war experts But tile the ques question I tion will be asked Can they execute it The future Will give the answer I Copyright 1904 b by Colliers Weekly |
