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Show Military Critics Are All at Sea Find It Difficult to Apportion Exact Strategic Significance of Kuro-patkin's Kuro-patkin's Action. LONDON, Oct. 20. English newspapers and military critics find It difficult to apportion tho exact ntratcglc significance attaching to Gen. Kuropatkln'3 action on tho Shakho river. It is supposed that hl3 success hero was due to havlnjr kept throe divisions of troops In resorvo and It Is admitted that tho attack on Lono Troo hill may have been an Intentional counter stroke after drawing out tho Japaneso from strong positions, Victory for Japanese. The balance of opinion, howover, favors fa-vors the Idea that It was a desnerate en-doavor en-doavor to cover the retreat of nls (oroes from tho Bonslhu district, and that the battlo of Shakho may bo considered to have ended In a victory, but not a decisive de-cisive one, for the Japanese, who wore too exhausted to follow up their success. Special dispatches frm St. Petersburg make mention of a crushing defeat of two Japanese divisions. Thore Is no con-Hrmatlon, con-Hrmatlon, however. In any reliable quarter quar-ter of such a reDort. Russian Battalion Annihilated. According to the Standard's correspondent corre-spondent with Gen. Karokl, who telegraphs tele-graphs under date of October IS, a Russian Rus-sian battalion which crossed the Taltse river has been almost annihilated. Whllo ictlrlng over a pontoon bridge, the correspondent cor-respondent eayj, the battalion was overtaken over-taken by a regiment of Japanese cavalry which got Its machine guns Into position and swept the bridge from end to end. |