THE CHINO-JAPANESE WAR. 1894—95. 578 four men were then landed, and started off inland as spies to collect information. moored to the shore. No onecould then foresee the future fameand importance theplace was to possess. On theAdmiralty chartsit wasnamed after its surveyor, Port Arthur. It has since becometlaeGibraltar of the Chinese seas, though, unfortunately, the flag that flies over it is not the same that wavesupon the"Rock."

On October 23rd the vanguard of Oyama's army sailed from Ping-yang Inlet. Itconsisted of the ist Brigade of the First Division,under General Nishi, embarked on transports under the escort of the Japanese fleet. Admiral Ito had already reconnoitred the coast ofLiao-tung witha view to selecting a landing-place. Ithad been decided that the descent should not be made in the immediate neighbourhood of Port Arthur,as Oyama did not wish to beginactive operations until the whole of his force was available,and the deficiency of transports made it necessary to effect the landing in at least two detachments. For the first descent the village ofHua-yuan-kon was chosen. It stands at the mouth of the Hua-yuan (i.e. Flower Garden) river, the entrance to which afforded some shelter for the transports. Before dawnon the morning of the 24th, the same day on which ColonelSato crossed theYalu,the fleetanchored about five miles off Hua-yuan-kon. Just before sun-rise the steam launches conveyed to the shore a party of marines, who hoisted the Japanese flag on a hill behind the village. It was a misty morning, but the haze cleared away as tlae sun rose, andthe villagers wereastonished at the sight of the long line of large shipslying at anchor in waters where they had never seen anythingbigger than the coasting junks. Some of them fled in terror, but the Japanese did whatthey could to reassure those who remained and bring back the fugitives. A proclamation signed by Marshal Oyama was posted up declaring that no one would be injured in person or property by the invaders. The infantry began to land,and the engineersbegan to construct a landing stage for the disembarking of the guns, horses, and waggons. A Japaneseofficer had established himself as local commandant in the principal house in the village. There wasno sign of Chinese troops of any kind being in the neighbourhood,and the landing was a complete surprise. Fourof the villagers were taken on board the flagship and persuaded to sell their clothes, which were immediately transferred to four Japanese, who had already provided themselves with pig-tails, and who could speak Chinese fluently. These On the 25th (the day after the landing, and the same day on which Yamagata fought the battleof Tiger Mountain and crossed tlae Yalu) a small detachment was pushed some milesup the Hua-yuan river, and a battalion marched upon Pi-tzu-wo, a coast town thirty miles nearer Port Arthur. It had originally been proposed to land at Pi-tzu-wo,but the ideahad been abandonedon account of the shallowness of the water. Oyama arrived with his staff at Hua-yuan-kon on the 26th. He had left Pingyang Inlet the day before on a merchant steamer without any escort, so confident were the Japanese that the Chinese fleet had given up allideaof operations at sea. The rest of the army followed. But,although the infantry and artillery were quickly landed,it was not till the endof the first week inNovember that all the horses were ashore. The transports had to lie so far off that they had to be landedin boats; andas the voyage to and from the landing-place amounted to ten miles, they could not make many trips in the day.

Marshal Oyama, however, had begun active operations without waiting to have the wholeof his cavalry and train on shore. Pi-tzu-wo had been occupied by the advanced guard on the 26th, the First Division,under General Yamaji, marching by very bad roads. Oyama reached the place on November 4th. By that time the whole army was concentrated there, with the exceptionof some of tlaemounted troops. The first thing to be done was to get possessionof Kin-chow, the neck of the bottle-shaped peninsula, at the end of which stands Port Arthur. Kin-chow was reconnoitred by scouts and visitedby spies, and the plan of attack was settled in a council of war held at Oyama's headquarters.

He had with him a force of about 25,000 men, wellprovided not only with field artillery, but also with heavy guns for the siege of the forts defending Ta-lien-wan and Port Arthur. TheFirst Division, under General Yamaji, was about 15,000 strong. Hasegawa'sbrigade ofthe Sixth Division numbered 7,560 fighting men. There were 2,000 troops for the line of communications, and 1,000 gunners with the siege train. Besides this combatant force, 25,000 strong, Oyama had brought with hina for transport purposes i2,qoo coolies and soldiers to act as porters. Altogether, taking combatants and non-combatants together, he