OCR Text |
Show v . . . ! Russian Commaiider Details His Defeat at Kin him Cheng f"m ST. PETERSBURG, May 4. The ' Emperor today received the following dispatch from Gen. Kuropatkln: MaJ. Gen. Kahtallnsk reports as follows: "I consider It my duty to re- i port tho circumstance of tho grievous yet glorious battle fought by the troops under my command with the superior forces of the Japanese on May 1. , "Early on the morning of.Aprll 30 the .Tapaneso began to oppress our left flank, having on tho previous evening occupied the Khussan heights after an attack In consequeuco of which I ordered or-dered the Twenty-second regiment, which had occupied Khussan, to rotlre across the AI river to our position at Potientlnslcy. "On the morning of the same day an extraordinary, prolonged and violent bombardment of our wholo position at Klu Lieu Cheng commenced from WIJu. I foresaw that the Japanese, after the bombardment, in which over 2000 projectiles were discharged, would take the offensive. "I received orders from Lieut. Gen. Sassalitch to accept battle and to retain re-tain my position at Potietlnsky. My left flank was defended by two battalions bat-talions of the Twenty-second regiment and tho third battery of the Sixth. brigade. bri-gade. "Tho .Tapaneso took tho offensive at G o'clock In the morning, dispatching at least one division of infantry', which, advancing In column, sustained onor-mous onor-mous losses, but crossed the fqrd and attacked our position, which -vas exposed ex-posed to tho fire of thirty-six field guns and siege batteries. Thc Japanese advanced ad-vanced and occupied tho position. "Toward noon I ascertained that tho Japanese had routed the battalion of the Twenty-second regiment posted at Chin Gow and were turning my left ilank. I "At 1 o'clock In the afternoon my left ilank was reinforced by two battalions I of the Eleventh regiment and a battery I commanded by Lieut. Col. Morav6lty, which wero sent from the reserve by Got. Sassalitch with orders to hold their ground until the departure of the Ninth und Tonth regiments from Sak-hodza. Sak-hodza. I ordered tho Eleventh regiment regi-ment to occupy a commanding position In tho rear front which they could fire on thc enemy from two sides. Compelled to Retreat. MI held Lieut. Moravsky's battery In reserve and ordered the Twelfth regiment, regi-ment, the Third battery and tho quick-firing quick-firing guns to retire under cover of the Eleventh regiment .My chief of staff led the rear guard to Its position. "At 1 o'clock tho Japanese approached so closely to the position held by the Eleventh regiment that the Third battery bat-tery could not pass along under tho cross fire and, taking up a position a short dlstanco from .tho. Japoneoo re- I i ' mained there until the end of the fight- 1 1 Ing, losing its commander, Lieut. Col. !j ; Moravsky. f i "A company with quick-firing guns i , was brought up from the rear guard und tho officer commanding this force, seeing the difficult situation of Mo- 1 j ravskys battory, took up a position on ': , his own initiative. Ho lost half of his men and all his horses and attempted to rernovo his guns by hand to the I shelter of the hills under tho Japanese cross fire. Tho quick-firing pieces dl3- charged about 35,000 bullets. ' , IH "Thc Twelfth regiment cut Uh way - , IH through and saved Its colors. The sec- IH ond battory of the sixth brigade, having ) attempted to rejoin tho reserves by an- ' IH I other route, could not ascend the moun- f IH tain slopes, with only half Its horses , l nnd, returning to its original proposi- k ! tion, received tho Japanese attack. . t ' 1 i Heavy, Loss to Russians. ! '"The Eleventh regiment, which held f , , Its ground for two hours more with l heavy losses, forced a passage at the . , ! point of the bayonet and crossed the, l ravine with its colors. It lost Its colonel t ! ' lH We lost forty officers and about 2000 . ' fl non-commissioned officers nnd men. j i , The Japanese losses must have been : ( ijl enormous. , 'i jH ''The Russians retired In good order ! 1 ' ,H on Feng Wang Cheng. The men of the j ' ' fH third division maintained tholr excel- ' 'l ltl lent morale and over 700 wounded pro- jl i ( ceeded M ith their, regiments to Fejuj , j ' . 1 ' 1 |