The Second Army, led by General Oku, landed in Liaotung Peninsula at Yentaao on 5 May, being charged with the task of bringing pressure on the rear of Port Arthur. About the middle of the peninsula there is a narrow isthmus, on which a high hill called Nan-Shan stands, and at its foot is a town called Kin chow. It is a place of the greatest strategical importance, constituting the first barrier to Port Arthur. General Stoessel, commander of the Port Arthur garrison, resolved to retain it at all cost, so that he might respond to the advance of the relief army from the north on the one hand and defend Talien on the other. For several weeks past he had spared no pains to fortify the hill by digging trenches, mount ing heavy cannon, laying subterranean mines and wire entanglements and adopting every other method of defense known to military sci ence. Against this strongly defended hill Gen eral Oku hurled three divisions on 26 May, and with the co-operation of three Japanese war ships, which fired on the enemy from the sea, succeeded in dislodging the Russians from their position after a fierce battle. In this way Port Arthur was completely isolated. The Russians in the direction of Liaoyang thought to recover the hill in order to restore communi cation between the south and north. With that object in view they concentrated their strength to the north of Wafangtien. The Jap anese turned to the north to meet them and fought a battle at Tehlitz on 16 June, inflicting a crushing defeat on the enemy. The Japanese then pressed on Kaiping and after three days' fighting occupied the town on 9 July. Subse quently they marched farther north and by taking possession of Haicheng and Niuchwang on 3 August menaced Liaoyang.
Thus, the First, Second and Fourth Japanese armies won victory after victory, and now marched on Liaoyang from three sides ; while the Third Army under General Nogi took the place of the Second Army in pressing the siege of Port Arthur.
The Siege of Port Arthur.— Soon after Russia leased Port Arthur from China she commenced to convert it into one of the strong est fortresses in the world. She built there many forts and mounted on them guns of vari ous calibres, quick-firing guns, machine guns and heavy cannon. Between each fort, trenches or tunnels were built for communication, and in front of the forts covered trenches, wire en tanglements, subterranean mines, abatises and other means of defense were prepared. In fact, Port Arthur was armed to the teeth with every description of the latest and most powerful of weapons and defended by every means which human ingenuity could devise, while a great army and a powerful fleet, commanded by Gen eral Stoessel and Admiral Stark, respectively, were awaiting the attack of the Japanese. There is little wonder that in the course of the Russo Japanese War the Japanese found Port Arthur the hardest nut they had to crack.
Beginning with the attack made on 8 Feb ruary, the Japanese fleet repeatedly essayed its strength against Port Arthur. On 13 February,
in face of a great snowstorm, it attempted a torpedo attack, but without much avail. It then attempted to block the entrance to the harbor by sinking steamers there. The first attempt was made on 24 February, when four steamers were sunk at the entrance. Later three more similar attempts were made, in which the Japanese were partly successful. One remarkable fact in connection with those daring blocking at tempts was that officers and men vied with each other to take part in the task, which meant almost certain death. As a matter of fact, more than 2,000 officers and men volunteered to serve in the third attempt. On 13 April, several Rus sian warships suddenly emerged out of the har bor and appeared to be attempting to escape, but being met by the Japanese fleet with heavy firing steamed back to the harbor.
It was at this time that the Russian flag ship Petropavlovsk, striking one of the mechan ical mines which had been laid by the Japanese the previous night, exploded and sank. Vice Admiral Makaroff, who had succeeded Admiral Stark as commander-in-chief of the Russian fleet some time before, was on board the Petropavlovsk, and was drowned with more than 600 of her officers and crew. The Japan ese, however, were not free of similar disasters. On 12 May the dispatch-boat Miyako struck a Russian mine and sank while engaged in clear ing the Talien harbor of mines. Three days after, the cruiser Yoskino sank off Port Arthur in consequence of a collision during a thick fog with the cruiser Kasuga. On the same day the battleships Hatsuse and Yaskima, two of the most powerful ships of the Japanese navy, were destroyed, having struck the enemy's mines; and to add to these misfortunes, the gunboat Oskima and the destroyer Akatsuki were also lost. In spite of these repeated disasters the Japanese commanders continued to harass the enemy with greater vigor than before. On 26 May, when the town of Kinchow was taken, thus isolating Port Arthur, Vice-Admiral Togo declared blockade over the coast of Liaotung between Pitszwo and Pulantien, and while keep ing up a vigilant watch over those vessels which attempted to smuggle provisions and ammuni tion to Port Arthur, greatly assisted the land force in harassing the enemy. On 10 August the whole of the enemy's fleet attempted to escape from Port Arthur. The Japanese fleet met them about 30 miles off Port Arthur and in a fierce battle which ensued inflicted heavy damage. For instance, the Russian flagship Cesarevitch was greatly injured and Rear Admiral Vithoft was killed. ,Other Russian ships also sustained severe damage and steamed back to the harbor of Port Arthur, except four which made good their escape to Kiaochow and elsewhere. After this great naval engage ment the Russian fleet lay concealed in the harbor and never again attempted to escape.