RUSSIA AND JAPAN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 126, 1 June 1904, Page 3

RUSSIA AND JAPAN.

Taking of Nan-shan. GRAPHIC ACCOUNTS OF THE ENGAGEMENT. ' LONDON, May HO. J The Times' correspondents, describ- j ing tiie desperate infantry assaults, j say column after column of Japanese ' in the short extension which Germany taught them, pressed forward, only to become entangled in a che-vaux-de-frise and abatis at Lhe foot of the slopes crowned with dogged Russians. Attack upon attack failed ; still fresh troops reinforced the positions, which each succeeding wave of assault carried nearer to the objective. Occasionally the waves ebbed, but the determination of the infantry, aided by the naval attack on the left and rear, enabled the Japanese batteries to push within ellectivu range. By six o'clock the Russians were beaten. General Uko still had fresh troops' besides the hundreds frenzied to desperation by the sixteen hours' carnage. All reports say that the infantry advanced with magnificent clan, but the formation was costly, depending more on weight of numbers and momentum than on lire for supremacy. When the Japanese carried Nanshan at the point of the bayonet, fighting took place even on the parapet. There were stubborn conflicts, the Japanese pushing on yard by yard. The Russians vainly tried to land troops lr.om Port Arthur at Talienwan, five transports being employed in the effort. WORKS CARRIED BY SHEER DETERMINATION. (Received May 31, 9.48 p.m.) LONDON, May 31. Nine charges were made by the Japanese on the Nan-shan defence works ■bjefore they were successful in gaining a footing. Their left was exposed, during the whole day's operations, to a deadly enfilading fire from the Russian infantry, from the gunboat in Talienwan Bay, and from lour heavy guns on Ta-fang-shen. Eventually the Russians abandoned Chen-ken-sliempa, Nan-shan, and Lushatan. When the Japanese occupied Lusihatan they captured four guns, with much powder, and liitysix railway wagigons. A ROYAL COMBATANT. GENERAL PFLUG SNEERS. LONDON, May 31. Prince Fushini, a cousin of the Alikado, commanded the first division of the Japanese army engaged in the Battle of Kin-chau. General l'flug, one of the Russian stall officials, describes the battle as "a simple demonstration of no importance." A COUNTER-MOVE BY GENERAL KUROPATKIN. LONDON, May 30. A St. Petersburg message affirms that General Kuropatkin is advancing along the Peninsula to take the Japanese in the rear. Inland Operatic lis. A CHECK TO RUSSIAN TROOPS. LONDON, May 30. A body of Japanese infantry attacked a liussian camp nisar Kwantien, compelling three thousand five hundred troops to retire towards Liao-yang. The Japanese have now reached Samal-ji.

China and Russia. A MUSCOVITE REQUEST DENIED LONDON, May 30. The Chinese refuse the Russian demand for the withdrawal of General , Ma's army. General Ma (who is , Chinese generalissimo) has been reinforced for the purpose of disarming the Russians if they enter China. Three of the Viceroys memorialise the Throne to annul all Chinese treaties with Russia. RUSSIA ATTEMPTS TO TEMPORIZE WITH CHINA. (Received May 31, 9.48 p.m.) LONDON, May 81. The Daily Express states that M. Lesser, Russian Minister at the Court at I'ekin, has informed Prince Ching, President of the Chinese Foreign Office, that the Russian troops will evacuate Niu-chwang if China will grant a concession for a railway, to lie seven hundred and soventy miles long, from Kalgan, a fortified town in the province of Pe-chi-]i, one bundled and twenty-live miles northwest of Pckin, and near the Great Wall, across Chinese Mongolia to Kiakhta, a town in Siberia, near the Chinese frontier, one hundred and eighty miles south-east of Irkhutsk and eighty miles southward from Lake Jluikal. It is also promised that Russia will evacuate Manchuria outright if the province of Kuldja, forming the south-west portion of Sungaria, is leased t.o her. Various Items. J APANESE REIN FOItCEMENTS. (Received May 31, 9.18 p.m.) LONDON, May 31. Another army division is reported to have been despatched from Japan for the front. AN AMERICAN S WARM QUARTERS. LONDON, May 31. Captain McCully, an American attache, is stiltud to ije with the forces within Port Arthur. THE liALTIC FLEET. LONDON, May 31. The Baltic fleet .sails 1 on June 24th, in two divisions.