THE PASSAGE OF THE YALU. 573 the ioth. Yamagata, with the main body, was on theChongchon on the 15th,and was close up to Wiju on the 23rd. The attempt to cross the Yalu was to be made on the 23th at daybreak.

Tachimi and the engineers had already carefully reconnoitred the river, made preparations for the crossing, and endeavoured to mislead the Chinese as to the actual point where it would be attempted by an ostentatious display of activity, now at one point, now at another.

The river at the most favourable point for effecting the passage was found to be 600 feet the Chinese army wouldmake any very determined standin the plain.

The plan was a complete success. On the afternoon of the 24th Colonel Sato, with seven companies of infantry, two guns, and a few cavalry troopers, crossed the river partly bywading, partly by swimming, partly with boats and rafts at a point about nine miles above Wiju. Iko-tenga wassupposed to be guarding this part of the river, but he had done no scouting or patrolling. If the Manchu general hadused the most ordinary precautions, wide and eleven feet deep, divided byislands into three streams. The pontoons with the army were not sufficient for three floating bridges of this total length,and in order to supplement them the engineers constructed a number ofrafts for thedeep water and trestle piers for the shallowermargin of the stream. Thusallwas ready for the work oflaying the bridge by the time the main body reached the river at Wiju.

TheC'juntryround the Lower Yalu is flat. The only Sato's force would never have got across. Only after he had landed was theJapanesecolonel attacked. The Chinese brought up 300 infantry and sixty horsemen, but they gave way almost immediately and took refuge in a fort, out of which they were d leavingbehindthem two mountain guns and a lot of stores, includinga valuable collection of heavy winter clothing. How little fight the Chinese made may be judged from the fact that the Japa--was one WELD-MARSHAL VAMACATA.

hill, known as Hu-shan, or Tiger Mountain, is a bit of rising ground, 300 feet high,just above Wiju, at a point where a small stream, the Ai-ho,runs into the Yalu from the north-west. The "Tiger Mountain " stands between the two streams. The Chinese were busy fortifying it, and were also erecting forts at various points along the river. Yamagata's plan was to make feints of crossing at some distance above and below Yalu, but make the real attempt nearthe hill. The engineers were to float the bridges into position in the night between the 24th and 25th. At dawn the Tiger Mountain was to be rushed, artillery placed in position there wouldcover the crossing of the bridges by the mainbody, the Ai-ho stream would present ■i" -erious obstacle, and it was not likely that once the Japanese wereover the river,Sung and man wounded. Major Okuyama, with a small infantry detachment, was sent down the riverbank from Wiju to makeanother demonstration opposite the town of An-tung. He pretended to be preparing to cross, though the river here was far too wide. The Chinese lined the right bank with riflemen, and firing went on across the river allnight. Thus Sato's enterprise kept Iko-tenga's attention riveted on the river above the crossingpoint that had really been chosen, and Okuyama's rifle volleys made Sung anxious about apossible crossing at An-tung.

Meanwhile,silently in the darkness a covering party had been ferried across on rafts and pontoons to a point just below theTiger Mountain, where the Chinese guards were sleeping, smoking, and gambling in their fort. Then the engineers laid the bridges across the three