THE CHINO-JAPANESE WAR, 1894—95. 628 enormous quantity of ammunition and other military stores, and some hundreds of horses and ponies.

General Nodzu now advanced upon Ying-tzu the port of Niu-chwang, the possession of which had been the object of all his recent operations. OnMarch 5th,leaving one battalion to hold Niu-chwang, he moved the 3rd and 5th Divisions seven miles southwards by the Yingtzu road. Yamaji, with the ist Division, was at the same time ordered to moveup fromKaiping. On the 6th the three divisions movedin converging columns on Ying-tzu, tramping over the frozen snow, and crossing the streams on the thick ice. The 3rd Division marched on the houses, and turned some of the larger buildings into small fortresses by erecting barricades around them, and making loopholes for rifles and embrasures for machine-guns. The garrison has beenvery variously estimated. The summarised record of the warissued bythe British Intelligence Department placedit as low as 2,000 men. Japanese official accounts make it 10,000. It is difficult to imagine how, if the smaller number were correct, the Chinese could have offered so strong a resistance.

General Nodzu advanced in three columns against the defences of Niu-chwang at dawn on March 4th. The 3rd Division attacked the north-west point of the city, the 5th Division was directed against the north-east. A third column moved round to the southward and seized the road from Niu-chwang to Yingtzu to cut off the retreat of thegarrison in that direction. The Chinese artillery was well served, and it was some time before General Nodzu judged it prudent to begin the infantry attack.

The Japanese first got into the city on the east side, but they only penetrated the outer defences after two hours' hard fighting. Then follow-ed a desperate struggle in the streets. The Japanese only won their way by the right, the 5th Division inthe centre,the istDivision on the left. There were occasionalskirmisheswithsmall detachments of Chinese, but the enemyr was everywhere retiring, hardly venturing upon even a show of resistance. General Sung'sarmy had been camped between Tai-ping-shan and Ying-tzu. On hearing of the fall of Niu-chwang and Nodzu's advance from the northward, he fell back on Ying-tzu, Yamaji and the ist Division following close at his heels.

In the afternoon of the 6th, General Nodzu was informed by his scouts that LIEUT.-GENERAL KATSURA. InCommandof One oftheDivisions oftheJapanese ArmyinManchuria. blowing breaches in the walls of the larger buildings with dynamite, and then storming them with the bayonet.

Meantime the 3rd Division had forced the outerline of defence on the north-west, and had begun to fight its way through the snowy streets. The Chinese were thus exposed to a converging attack, but it was not till darkness was coming on that they weregradually- driven out of the city. Numerous fires had broken out among the houses, and more than once a loud explosion shook the place as the flames reached oneof the temporarymagazines of the garrison. Through the night the victors were busy extinguishing the fires and collecting the wounded of both sides into the field hospitals. The Japanese had lost 70 officers and men killed, and 319 wounded. The Chinese had lost 1,884. Seven hundred prisoners were taken besides, twenty-one pieces of artillery, and an Sung and the Chinese army had abandoned all idea of defending Ying-tzu, had crossed the Liao River, and were in retreat on Tienchwang-tai. Before evening Ying-tzu was occupied almost without firing a shot. A handful ofChinese soldiers had remained in the town, but on the advance of the Japanese they gave way at once. Some of them got across the river and rejoined Sung in his retreat, but most of them were cut off and captured. The Chinese still held the coast forts at the mouth of the river, west of the city, from which they kept dropping big shells into the streets as soon as the Japanese entered the place. Some minesunderthe gatesand bridges were also exploded,but only two Japanese were killed. The engineers succeeded in cutting the wires of most of the mines, but the search for them was a tedious and anxiouspiece of work.

A column of infantry moved out towards the