THE CHINO-JAPANESE WAR. 381 
was at Seoul and just north of it, and consisted of the rest of the 5th 
division. 
General Nodzu’s first plan was to send Oshima’s brigade against 
Ping Yang by the direct road, and the whole of the rest of his troops 
round by the east of Ping Yang to attack from the north and north- 
east, his object being to drive the Chinese westward into the 
sea. This plan, however, was changed and eventually the main 
column crossed the Ping Yang river at a place called Juniho and 
marched up the right bank. So that we have Oshima’s brigade 
approaching Ping Yang from the south, the Sakunei and Gensan 
detachments from the north-east and north and the main part of the 
5th division from the south-west. It was arranged that a combined 
attack should be made from all sides on the 15th September and it 
was left to the several commanders to bring their detachments within 
striking distance by that day. Apparently there was hardly any inter- 
communication between the columns, and until the afternoon of the 14th, 
the day before the attack was to take place, both General Oshima and 
General Nodzu were ignorant of the whereabouts of the Gensan and 
Sakunei detachments. 
On that day General Nodzu ordered General Oshima to engage the 
attention of the Chinese on the 15th, but to postpone the real attack 
till the 16th as the main column was a day behind time; General 
Oshima acknowledged the receipt of the order, but pointed out that 
in all probability the Gensan and Sakunei detachments would attack 
on the day appointed, and, if this were the case, he himself would feel 
bound to give them all the assistance he could ; especially as the main 
column would be unable to help. 
On the 15th General Oshima opened fire with his guns at daylight 
and sent his infantry forward against some works constructed by the 
Chinese on the left bank of the river as a sort of bridge-head. The 
first work was carried by General Oshima’s troops at once, but the 
other works proved too formidable; and now the want of communica- 
tion between the several columns was felt. Colonel Sato and General 
Tachimi, who commanded the troops in the north, hearing the firing 
from the south and not having received the order to postpone the 
attack, went forward from their side and began fighting, and General 
Oshima in his turn, hearing their guns, instead of contenting himself 
with a demonstration, made his attack areal one; but he failed to 
make any further impression on the Chinese and suffered considerable 
loss, retiring in the afternoon to his former position. 
The two northern detachments captured a line of works north of 
Ping Yang as weil as Botandai, which is a walled out-work of the 
town standing on a separate hill. I[t is connected with Ping Yang 
by a narrow saddle along which runs a formidable wall—and in 
this wall stands the Gembu Gate. Two Japanese companies advanced 
to this gate from the north-west and found it shut; so a few men 
most pluckily scaled the wall under a hot fire from the north part 
of Ping Yang and managed to open the gate from inside. It was the 
capture of this gate which caused the fall of Botandai, as the defenders 
