CHINA. 



133 



the rough hills was mined with dynamite and 

 underground electric wires. The Japanese cav- 

 alry encountered the Chinese outposts on Nov. 

 18. and, supported by the infantry, captured 

 the village of Shuiz Ying on Nov. 19, and at 

 noon on Nov. 20 the attack on the fortress be- 

 gan. The artillery went ahead and the Japanese 

 fleet co-operated in the attack on the forts along 

 the bay, the large ships moving in line ahead, 

 while gunboats close inshore were shelling the 

 Chinese lines. The Chinese line fell back be- 

 fore the combined attack, abandoning one posi- 

 tion after another. The naval attack was at 

 every point simultaneous with the land attack, 

 and while the ships kept out of range it pre- 

 vented the heavy guns of the coast batteries 

 from being used against the attacking column. 

 The land defenses, whiqh had been left very in- 

 complete previous to the Japanese investment, 

 were strengthened by 100 new guns, and the 

 Chinese gunners at Hokinsan and other forts 

 served the Krupp guns skillfully. The Japanese 

 kept up a heavy fire with their field artillery, 

 machine guns, and infantry, and when each fort 

 was taken the cavalry cut off the retreat of the 

 garrison. The Chinese made a sortie in three 

 columns, and, supported by the forts, brought 

 the advanced guard of the Japanese to a stand, 

 until after several hours of fighting the artillery 

 came up, and the infantry put the 2,000 Chi- 

 nese to flight. When the Japanese came up to 

 the line of forts the artillery went in advance, 

 and was admirably placed and well served. In 

 the morning of Nov. 21 three forts on a high 

 hill were silenced after two and a half hours' 

 bombardment, and the position was then car- 

 ried by assault. The 8 other ports on the 

 land side were taken soon after noon, though 

 the Chinese poured shot and shell upon the 

 assailants from 50 guns. The cruisers created 

 a diversion by shelling the town from both 

 sides of the peninsula ; and the torpedo boats, 

 just as the final assault was made, dashed into 

 the harbor and plied their machine and rapid- 

 firing guns upon the water forts, driving the 

 gunners from the 50-ton guns, who fired 15 

 rounds, but hit neither the cruisers nor the tor- 

 pedo boats. The sea forts were taken in the 

 morning of Nov. 22. The Chinese generals 

 escaped early, and the troops, utterly demoral- 

 ized, fled in disorder eastward, while the gunboats 

 arid cruisers threw shells among them. The in- 

 habitants of the town, who had been armed with 

 express rifles, fired on the Japanese after they 

 entered the town, and many people were killed 

 by the angry soldiers who stormed the houses. 

 About 18,000 troops were engaged on each side 

 in the final battle. On the Japanese side 250 

 were killed and wounded, and on the Chinese 

 2,000, most of whom were killed in the cannon- 

 ading during the night of Nov. 20. The vic- 

 torious army captured in Port Arthur an enor- 

 mous quantity of rice, and 10,000 tons of coal. 

 The dockyard, dry dock, and arsenal were in 

 perfect working order. They took 80 guns and 

 much ammunition and great quantities of tor- 

 pedoes, and material and apparatus for making 

 torpedoes. Two small steamers that attempted 

 to steal out of the harbor during the progress 

 of the battle were stopped by the Japanese. 

 Finding some of the vessels that had been dis- 



abled in the Yalu fight undergoing repairs in 

 the docks, they completed the work and fitted 

 them out for their own use. Proofs were found 

 that some of the provincial authorities, if not 

 the Central Government, had offered rewards for 

 heads and members lopped off from Japanese 

 corpses, which accounted for horrible muti- 

 lations that were discovered at Ping Yang. 

 The Chinese fleet did nothing for the defense 

 of Port Arthur. The " Chen Yuen," the remain- 

 ing first-class battle ship, started out from Wei 

 Hai Wei on Nov. 18 for the purpose of ren- 

 dering assistance, but before getting out of the 

 harbor she accidentally ran upon one of the 

 sunken torpedoes. Her commander, Commo- 

 dore Lin, who had won honors by his gallantry 

 in the Yalu fight, ran his vessel upon the beach 

 to save her from sinking, and then committed 

 suicide, anticipating the fate of Capt. Fong and 

 of Gen. Wei, who were decapitated for cowardice 

 at the battle of,Ping Yang. 



During the attack on Port Arthur a large 

 body of Chinese from Foochow attacked the 

 Japanese position at Kinchow, but were repelled 

 with heavy losses by the Japanese garrison there, 

 which lost 20 killed and 60 wounded. (For later 

 events of the war, see JAPAN.) 



Anti-foreign Outrages. The excitement 

 produced among the ignorant rabble in the 

 parts of the country affected by the Japanese 

 invasion, and the anarchy and rapine incident 

 to the dispersion or desertion of bodies of sol- 

 diers, rendered the lives of European mission- 

 aries and others in such regions insecure. The 

 Protestant missionaries fled from Manchuria 

 after several outrages had occurred, but the 

 Catholic fathers remained at their posts. A 

 French missionary was murdered in Korea, near 

 Gensan, after the landing of the Japanese there. 

 The Chinese military authorities were suspected 

 of having instigated the crime on the supposi- 

 tion that he wa"s a spy. The United States min- 

 ister in China warned all American citizens in 

 the interior of China to go to the treaty ports, 

 otherwise the United States would not undertake 

 to protect them. In Pekin foreigners could not 

 walk abroad without being insulted by the popu- 

 lace. The United States representative called for 

 a guard to protect the legation, and 50 marines 

 were sent from one of the American war vessels. 

 Other countries also sent blue-jackets to protect 

 their legations. Early in the war the four great 

 powers made an agreement that their forces 

 should protect each other's citizens or unite for 

 common defense if necessary. James Wylie, a 

 Scotch missionary in Manchuria, was murdered 

 by soldiers who w'ere passing through Sine Yang. 

 The commander of the soldiers was condemned 

 to death. 



Punishment of Spies. After the declara- 

 tion of war the Japanese Government issued a 

 proclamation granting Chinamen living in Japan 

 liberty to remain in the places where they were 

 domiciled and to pursue their occupations on 

 condition of their registering their names. Some 

 outrages were committed against Chinese in 

 Japan, but they were stopped by the police. In 

 China the United States consular representatives 

 were kept busy protecting Japanese from the 

 fury of mobs and the persecution of the local 

 authorities. There were Japanese spies in the 



