THE CHINO-JAPANESE WAR, 1894—95. 574 branches of the Yalu. There was nohammering or other noise. Orders were given in a lowvoice. Tlae work to be done was to float the parts of the bridge into position and then lash them together and moor them securely. The water was icy cold, and the men who had to stand or swim in it suffered severely. The Japanese artillery was quietly placed in position in the darkness, ready to bring a heavy fire of guns and howitzers on any hostile force that tried to bar tlae passage. The third brigade under General Katsura, with some cavalry and artillery, was to cross first. Tachimi's brigade, with guns and cavalry,was to follow. Nodzu's troops were held in redonedtheir camp andall their forts. They had left behind them in their hurried flight an enormousquantity of arms and stores. Among thespoils that thus fell into Marshal Yamagata's hands were seventy-four field pieces, with more than 36,000 shells and powder charges, four machine-guns, more than 400 rifles, and four and a quartermillion rifle cartridges of various patterns. The success had not been dearly bought. The Japanesehad lost in the fight one officer and thirty-two men killed, and three officers and 108 men wounded. In all, 144 casualties. The Chinese loss wasmuchheavier. The Japanese buried nearly 500 of their dead.

The fight is known to the Japanese as the serve.

battle of Hu - shara (Tiger Mountain). The result of the victory was the forcing of a river line that, properly defended by the 24,500 men at Sung's command, might have been held for weeks.

The Chinese were completely surprised. Moving across by the first light of dawn, Katsura rushed thefort on Tiger Mountain, driving its defenders back across the Ai-ho. Tachimi then passed the bridges and formed on Katsura's left. Three strong columns ofChinese troops were seen moving up from Chiu-lien-cheng to recover the lost hill. For about an hour they ;ried to advanceunder a heavy fire from the Tlae way was now open for the invasion of Manchuria, the province which was the native land of the reigning dynasty ol China. Yamagata's army during the next few weeks was engaged in clearing the border 1HE 1'ASSAC.E OF THE YALU.

Japanese, and they actually crossed the Ai-ho. By that time,however,Nodzu with the reserve had come into action, and the rising ground of Tiger Mountain bristled withJapanese cannon. The Chinese began to give way everywhere. They were driven in confusion across the Ai-ho. By half-past ten the fighting was over. Colonel Sato, who had marched southwards as soon as he heard the fighting, arrived just as the battleended.

districts of the Chinese,reconnoitring the passes leadingover the hills to Moukden,tlae capital of the province, and securing its hold on the country about the head of the Korean Gulf, which would become the base of operations for the invasion of Manchuria if the war continued till the spring. The intensely cold winter ol Northern China was not the time for extensive land operations, during which the harbours would be frozen and the base of supply would have to be somedistant port below the southern limit of the ice. The Japaneseencamped for the night on the right bank of the Ai-ho, and orders were issued for an attack at dawn on the Chinese camp at Chiu-lien-cheng. During the first part of the night the Chinese fired on tlae Japanese outposts in the darkness. But GeneralSunghad adopted the usual tactics of his nation. The firing was intended only to conceal his retreat. By the middle ofthenight the Chinese fire had ceased, and at dawn it was seen that they had aban-But the Japanese fleets and armies were not to be condemned to inactivity. Already while Yamagata's army was advancing to the'ialu a second army was being embarked in the Japanese ports under the command of Marshal Oyama. Its object was the invasion ol the Liao-tung peninsula and the capture of P"rt Arthur, the fortified base of the Chinese fleet.