572 FORDING UNDER FIRE (By aJapanese artist-) CHAPTER Vn.

THE PASSAGE OF THE YALU AND THE INVASION OF MANCHURIA that the Chinese had abandoned all the country south of the Yalu. The roads were in excellent condition. This was the result of the Chinese having employed thousands of coolies to repair them in order to get their heavyartillery from theYalutoPing-yang whenthey werepreparing to defend that place. Thus they had actually done an enormous amount of work to facilitate the Japanese advance. General Sung remained so utterly inactive behind the Yalu that on October 6th a small Japanese detachment was able to occupy Wiju. The Chinese made no attempt to disturb them, and the Japanese engineers began to lay a field telegraph line to link this advanced post with Ping-yang. It was completedon October 18th.

\FTER the battle of Ping-yang about 9,000 Z-\ of the defeated Chinese retreated to the camps on the Yalu River. General Sung, the commandant of Port Arthur, had already assembled about 11,000 men on the right bank, and with the Ping-yang troops he now had an army of 20,000 men under his command. These were concentrated at Chiulien-cheng, opposite Wiju, where the main road into Manchuria from Korea crosses the river. About ten miles higher up on the right bank there was a separate force of 4,500 men, Manchu troops commanded by another generalnamed Iko-tenga.

Marshal Yamagata, who had taken over the chief command of theJapanese armyinNorthern Korea, remained at Ping-yang for nearly three weeks,pushing forwardan advancedguard under General Tachimi to hold the line of the Chongchon River and obtain information as to the Chinese forces on the Yalu. During this three weeks' halt he was collecting supplies for the coming advance into Manchuria. Tachimi pushed bodies of scouts to his front, and found On the bth Yamagata hadbegun his advance, moving his main body from Ping-yang to the Chongchoia River and pushing Tachimi with the advanced guard forward from that river to tlaeleft bank of the Yalu. To GeneralOshima's brigade wasentrusted the task of holdingPingyang and guarding the line of communications in Northern Korea. Tachimi was at Wiju on