Corruption.... edicts of reform.... trouble with Japan.... envoy to Europe.... death of Queen Cho.... the fisheries dispute.... oppression.... retrogression.... excessive taxation.... insurrections.... foreigners threatened.... on the verge of anarchy.... prefects punished.... revolt in Song-do.... Tong-hak manifesto.... government helpless.... Japan uneasy.... Kim Ok-kyun murdered.... revolting barbarity.... the fall of Chun-ju.... Korea asks China for help.... Chinese troops arrive.... Japanese movements.... the other powers interfere.... Japanese demands.... proposed reforms.... the palace taken by the Japanese.... the sinking of the Kowshing.... war declared.... Korea breaks with China.... Japan promises to leave Shanghai alone.... Japanese in Shanghai.... battle of Asan.... battle of P’yung-yang.... battle of the Yalu.

At this time the administration of the government was anything but exemplary. The selling of the same office at such short intervals increased the burden on the people to an almost unbearable point, so that there were frequent uprisings in country districts. In Korea the people form the court of final appeal. If a prefect oversteps the line which marks the limit of the people’s endurance and they drive him from the place the government ordinarily accepts it as final.

The following year the government was obliged to take notice of this state of things and the king sent out a proclamation saying that the taking of bribes and the extortion of money in the provinces would be severely punished. He took this opportunity also to speak about robbery and gambling, which had begun to run rife in the land. The people were forbidden to dress in silk, excepting those over fifty years of age.

The year 1890 opened with serious trouble in Ham-gyung Province. Cho Pyung-sik, a man of indomitable will and one whose unbridled temper had more than once gotten him into serious trouble, was governor in that province. The people had mortgaged their bean crop to the Japanese exporters, of Wun-san, and had received some $176,000 therefor. But when the beans had been harvested and were ready for shipment the governor forbade its delivery. He wanted the Japanese to sell it back to the people, as it was a year of scarcity, but this they refused to do; and the beans rotted where they lay. The Japanese promptly took the matter up and demanded an indemnity. The Foreign Office at once recognised the validity of the claim but the king ordered Cho Pyung-sik to pay the bill himself, since he had acted throughout without orders from Seoul. The unhappy governor was obliged to part with all his patrimony and several of his relatives had to do likewise. As this was not enough to settle the bill the government paid the balance.

This year saw the first embassy to Europe appointed in the person of Cho Siu-heui but owing to his illness his place was filled by Pak Che-sun who started on his mission but never got further than Hong-kong. It is probable that it was through Chinese influence that he got no further. The fourth moon of the year saw the death of the aged Dowager Queen Cho, through whose influence the present king came to the throne. She was buried with royal honors and the people assumed mourning for one year.

Serious difficulties arose in regard to the fisheries in the south. The Japanese had been accorded the right to fish in Korean waters, but on the island of Quelpart a curious custom prevails. The women do the fishing. They enter the water entirely nude and gather shell-fish. All males are prohibited by law from coming within sight of the fishing-grounds. The Japanese fishing-boats, however, did not hesitate to pass into these prohibited waters and as a result the Koreans were deprived of the means of livelihood. The Korean government took the reasonable ground that the Japanese in coming near the Korean coast should observe the local customs and prejudices, but the Japanese government refused to take any sentimental view of the question and after a long discussion the Koreans failed to carry their point.

The year 1891 beheld the elevation to power of Min Yong-jun a man who championed the most conservative principles of the retrogressive party in power. The king’s son by the concubine Lady Kang was made Prince Eui-wha. Corruption in official circles was accentuated by the lessening of the term of office of country prefects thereby entailing fresh burdens on the people, for they had to provide each prefect with money to liquidate the debt he had incurred in purchasing the position. There was an instant and loud outcry from all sides. The powers that be saw that the limit of the people’speople’s endurance had been passed and they hastened to revoke the law. This same year a consulate was founded at Tientsin and Yi Myung-sang became the first incumbent.

Another sign of retrogression was the execution of six men charged with being accessory to the insurrection of 1882 although eleven years had passed since that event.

The year 1892 passed without witnessing many events of special importance, excepting that the state of things kept getting worse and worse. It was a time during which the country was ripening for the great disturbances of the following year. History shows that when the Korean people are treated with anything like a fair degree of justice they are loyal and peaceful. So long as the Korean is called upon to pay not more than three or four times the legal rate of tax he will endure it quietly and there will be no talk of seditious sects arising; but the people are well aware that they themselves form the court of final appeal and when all other means fail they are not slow to adopt any means of righting their wrongs.

In 1893 Korea began to reap what she had sown in 1891 and 1892. Having sown the wind she began to reap the whirlwind. The whole province of P‘yung-an was in a ferment. Insurrections occurred in Kang-gye, Song-ch‘un, Ham-jong and in other parts of the province. But the difficulty was not confined to the North. The sect called the Tong-hak which had arisen in 1864 began to show its head in the south again. Rumors began to multiply in Seoul that they were coming to the capital in great numbers to drive out the Japanese and other foreigners. The government despatched O Yun-jung, a civilian, to pacify them and for a time quiet was preserved, but in March threatening plackards were fastened to foreigners’ gates in Seoul inveighing against the Christian religion and warning foreigners to leave the country at once. It was the general feeling that although serious trouble was not likely to occur in Seoul it would be well to be in a state of preparedness in case the Tong-hak saw fit to put their words to the test of action.

At this time the Queen was extremely well-disposed toward that class of female spiritual mediums called mudang, and one of them was elevated to the rank of Princess. A Korean, An Hyo-je, who memorialised the king against such practices, was overwhelmed with obloquy and was banished to the island of Quelpart. Min Yong-jun had taken advantage of his high position to add private profit to public usefulness and loud complaints were heard on all sides against him and against others of the same name. Insurrections of greater or less degree occurred in different parts of the country and it seemed as if Korea were on the verge of anarchy. It can hardly be gainsaid that this state of affairs was the legitimate outcome of pro-Chinese agitation and was directly in line with immemorial custom in China. Nothing could be truer than that Korea needed reforming. The government found it necessary to deal with great severity in some cases. Four prefects were taken to the center of the city and publicly beaten and then banished. Even Min Yong-jun had to go through the form of punishment in this public way, for the people of the capital were so incensed against him that an insurrection seemed imminent unless they were appeased. The Songdo people revolted against the extortion that was practiced against them but they were overcome and their ginseng was taken away from them by Kim Se-geui, the right hand man of Min Yong-jun.

Late in the year the Tong-hak made a startling proclamation which they secretly nailed to the gate of the governor’s yamen in Chun-ju. It called upon all right-minded men to join in the march on the capital and the extirpation of the foreigners. This seemed more tangible than the former rumors and foreign men-of-war began to congregate at Chemulpo for the protection of their nationals in Seoul. Hundreds of Japanese left the city and hurried to Chemulpo for safety. A force of Korean infantry marched southward to head off the revolutionists but they were easily defeated and their arms and accoutrements fell into the hands of the enemy.

It was quite evident that the Korean government was without the means or the men to cope with such determined opposition. This deplorable state of things was looked upon by Japan with some uneasiness. Korea seemed to be coming more and more under Chinese influence and in the same proportion her internal management became more corrupt. Japan regarded Korea as an independent power and was determined to see that independence upheld. This feeling on the part of Japan was sharply accentuated when in the spring of 1894 a Korean detective, Hong Chong-u, succeeded in gaining the confidence of Kim Ok-kyun who was living at Tokyo as a political refugee. He was induced to accompany his betrayer to Shanghai where, in a hotel, his betrayer shot him down in cold blood. The Chinese government condoned the dastardly deed and sent the assassin, together with the body of his victim, to Korea in a Chinese gunboat. The body of Kim Ok-kyun was dismembered on April fourteenth in a most brutal manner and the different portions of his body were sent about the country as a warning to traitors. This lapse into the worst excesses of the old regime opened the eyes of Japan to the actual situation and gave her just the impetus she needed to take the strong position which she did later. Soon after this the Tong-hak took the town of Chun-ju and defeated all the government troops sent against them. The governor of the province, Kim Mun-hyun, made his escape from the place.

The government had at last become convinced of its inability to cope with its enemies single-handed and it determined to have recourse to the dangerous policy of asking China to throw troops into the peninsula to aid in putting down the Tong-hak uprising. China immediately complied and on June sixth 1,500 Chinese troops were embarked at Tientsin and were sent to Chemulpo under the escort of three gunboats.

It must be remembered that according to the third article of the Tientsin Convention China and Japan each agreed not to send troops into Korea without first notifying the other. In this case the Chinese failed to notify the Japanese until after the departure of the troops and there can be no doubt that at this point lies the strength of Japan’s contention. When, later, the Chinese agreed to leave Korea simultaneously with the Japanese the latter naturally refused. The Chinese broke the convention first; they must leave first. But there were other important points involved. Korea was rapidly losing all semblance of independence and Japan was being jeopardized. The Chinese abrogation of the treaty gave Japan just the excuse she wanted for throwing troops into Korea and compelling those reforms which she believed could be effected in no other way. No sooner was she informed of China’s action than the Japanese Minister Otori, then on leave of absence, was recalled, and sent immediately to Seoul with 400 marines, arriving June ninth.

The Chinese force did not approach the capital but landed at Asan some eighty miles south of Seoul. This force was soon augmented till it amounted to 2,000 men. But Japan was not idle. By the twelfth of June she had approximately 8,000 troops in Korea. Matters stood thus when the news came that the Tong-hak, either frightened by the rumor of the approach of a Chinese army or being pressed by the government troops, had suddenly retired and the south was at peace. This tended to hasten a crisis between the Chinese and Japanese. There was no longer any cause why foreign troops should remain in the peninsula. The Chinese had come to put down the Tong-hak and the Japanese had come ostensibly to protect their nationals. Now that the Tong-haks had retired it did not take long to discover the real reasons underlying the actions of the Japanese. On June 16th she landed 3,000 more troops at Chemulpo and matters began to look so serious in Seoul that all the Chinese residents hastened away from the city and sought safety by embarking for China. About a thousand people thus made a hasty exit from the country.

On June 25th the Russian, British, French and American representatives in Seoul, in the interests of peace, jointly requested the Chinese and Japanese to simultaneously withdraw. But the Chinese refused to go until the Japanese did and the Japanese refused to go until reforms had been introduced which would clear the political atmosphere and give some semblance of truth to the fiction of Korean independence. The Korean government was thrown into consternation when on June 28th the Japanese Minister demanded a formal statement from Korea as to whether she were an independent state or not. She replied that she was an independent power.

Early in July the Japanese Minister handed the government a list of the reforms which it deemed necessary. As they were all incorporated in the reforms inaugurated a little later it is unnecessary to enumerate them here. Fifteen thousand Japanese troops had by this time landed on Korean soil and the capital was thoroughly invested. The prospects of peace seemed to be growing smaller each day. The people of Seoul fled in large numbers leaving their houses and all their effects except such as could be carried on their backs. Such was the terror that the very name of the Japanese inspired.

On July 20th the Japanese Minister sent an ultimatum to the king complaining of the introduction of Chinese troops whose coming was undeniably to protect a dependent state. He gave the king three days to accept Japanese reforms. If within that time he did not accede to them they would be enforced. On the night of the 22nd the king returned an evasive answer and this decided the immediate policy of the Japanese. On the following morning two battalions of Japanese troops, feigning to start out for Asan, turned suddenly and marched on the palace. They met with a certain weak show of resistance at the gates but easily forced their way in and soon had the king in their care. Every member of the Min faction was forthwith driven out and the Prince Tai-wun was called in to assume a leading part in the management of the government.

By this time China and Japan were hurrying troops into the peninsula, the former by way of Asan andand the latter by Fusan and Chemulpo. On July 21st eleven steamers left Taku for Asan and the mouth of the Yalu with 8,000 troops. Those that came to Asan were ostensibly for the purpose of aiding the government in the putting down of the Tong-hak. The Japanese government was immediately apprised of the departure of the transports from the Peiho and on July 25th the Akitsushima, Yoshino and Naniwa, among the best of the Japanese navy, were ordered from Sasebo to Asan. Two days later at six-thirty they encountered the Chinese men-of-war Tsi-yuen and Kwang-ki in the vicinity of P’ung Island off Asan.

The Japanese were not aware of the sudden turn which affairs had taken in Seoul but the Chinese were, and they expected the Japanese to take the offensive. The Japanese became aware of the situation only when they found the Chinese did not salute and that they were cleared for action. The Japanese speedily put themselves in fighting trim. As the channel narrowed and the vessels came within range the Chinese opened fire and were answered with terrible effect by the Japanese. The Kwang-kiKwang-ki was speedily disabled and beached. The Tsi-yuen, her bow-gun being disabled, withdrew toward Wei-hai-wei. It is disputed as to which side began firing first but it is quite immaterial. The fact that the Chinese knew what had occurred at Seoul, that they were cleared for action and that they failed to salute would seem to throw the burden of proof upon them.

While the Yoshino was pursuing the Tsi yuen, two more ships appeared on the horizon. They proved to be the Chinese dispatch boat Tsao-kiang and the British steamer Kowshing carrying about 1,500 Chinese troops. The Akitsushima took the former in charge and the Naniwa took the latter. The Naniwa signalled the transport to follow her, but the Chinese on board of her would not let the English Captain obey. Two parleys were held but the Chinese officers were obdurate and would not listen to reason. When it became apparent that the Chinese were bent upon self-destruction the Naniwa turned her battery upon her and blew her up. More than a thousand of the Chinese troops were drowned. A large number were picked up and held as prisoners of war. The sinking of the Kowshing has been judged as hasty but the situation was a peculiar one. The Chinese would neither surrender nor follow. They were plentifully supplied with small arms and could keep a boarding party at bay effectually. The better judgment of second thought proves that the Japanese were fully justified in their action.

The results of the P’ung incident became apparent at once. It made neutrals more careful, it proved that the sea was dangerous ground for the Chinese, it kept over a thousand men from landing at Asan and it proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that Japan was fully in earnest and would fight to the bitter end. Moreover it changed the whole plan of campaign for China. The Tong-hak were forgotten and the co-operation of the force at the Yalu and that at Asan and a joint attack upon the Japanese was the plan determined upon by the Chinese.

The Japanese forces in and about Seoul were now ready for a land campaign. It was wisely determined to eliminate from the problem all the Chinese forces south of Seoul before advancing against those in the north along the Ta-dong River. The army in the north was being watched by mounted spies. For the time being there was no danger to be apprehended from these troops in the north but the two thousand at Asan, if reinforced, might advance on the capital and make trouble unless they were dispersed once and for all. Accordingly on the twenty-fifth of July Gen. Oshima started for Asan with the greater part of the troops in Seoul. The march was rapid. On the way the news of the P’ung incident was received and applauded. The vicinity of Asan was reached in three days. As the Japanese approached, the Chinese retreated a short distance to a point which they could easily fortify. On the twenty-eighth the Japanese army arrived within five miles of this position. A night attack was determined upon by Gen. Oshima. It was not explained to the army until midnight when it was aroused and informed of the intended movement. The advance was made in two divisions. The right wing, four companies of infantry and one of engineers under Lieutenant-colonel Tadeka, sought the enemy’s left. The left wing under Gen. Oshima, and comprising nine companies of infantry, one battalion of artillery and one company of cavalry, swept forward in the dark to attack the flank and rear of the enemy’s right.

It would have been a difficult undertaking even by daylight but in the dark it was fourfold more trying. The Chinese outposts in the neighboring village gave the signal, and, posted among the houses, offered a stubborn resistance. The assaulting column was repulsed and was compelled to lie down to hold the ground already taken. At last however the Chinese had to withdraw. They crowded slowly out into the neighboring, rice fields.

This preliminary struggle was followed by a brief breathing space. It had lasted less than an hour but had proved a stiff encounter. At five the Japanese attached the redoubts. The left wing now came into action and under the smoke of the artillery the troops stormed the forts at either extremity. In half an hour the Chinese were dislodged and the rising sun looked down upon its flaming image on Japanese banners flying victoriously from the Chinese ramparts.

The escape of the Chinese general, Yeh Chi-chao has given ground for the alleged Chinese victory at A-san. It often happened during the Japan China war that, unless the Chinese force was almost utterly annihilated, they claimed a victory. It isis still a puzzle to many, however, that in the Asan skirmish as well as in the battle of the Yalu the victorious Japanese permitted even a remnant of the enemy to escape. Although thoroughly defeated Gen. Yeh brought a remnant of his force around the city of Seoul and arrived safety at P’yung-yang, undoubtedly a difficult and brilliant movement.

This first battle won by Japan in a foreign land, for a period of three centuries, illustrated two points. Not only had the Japanese soldiers learned their lesson from instructors but the officers proved themselves worthy of the steadfastness of the men under them. One man out of every twelve killed was an officer. Nor, when elated by the victory, did the Japanese forget the ends for which they were working. They did not undertake any further subjugation of the south, not even attempting to exterminate the Tong-haks. It was the Chinese in the peninsula with whom they were measuring swords. The forces at A-san being destroyed or dispersed and danger from that quarter was consequently removed, and the banners of rising sun turned northward.

The northern division of the Chinese army, which had been landed on Korean soil near the mouth of the Yalu River and had advanced southward from that point, had now held the city of P’yung-yang for upwards of a month. In anticipation of a Japanese advance they had fortified it as best they knew how, but as is usual with Chinese they had forgotten to guard their rear. On three occasions in this war they were attacked in their unprotected rear and utterly routed.

During the second week of August the commander of the Japanese fleet, Admiral Ito, with twenty men-of-war took a cruise into the mouth of the Gulf of Pechili. The feint had its desired effect, though wholly misunderstood by the world at large. It attracted the attention of the Chinese and transport after transport made its way safely across from Japan to Korea with its complement of troops.

On August tenth Major Ichinohe with the vanguard started northward from Seoul. It was the first step toward Peking. Songdo was reached the following day. The next few days were spent in reconnoitering the Ta-dong River, but this part retired eventually to Song-do and there awaited reinforcements.

On the nineteenth Lieutenant-general Nodzu arrived from Japan with the reinforcements for which Gen. Oshima had been growing impatient. The latter immediately forwarded a detachment by another route toward P’yung-yang. This was ordered to occupy an important position known as Sak Pass and was reinforced on September eighth by a battalion of infantry and a company of artillery. This became known as the Sak Division.

On the twenty-third Gen. Oshima set out from Seoul for the north with a Mixed Brigade. This was the name given to the Japanese army which participated in all the operations in the peninsula, so called because it was made up of various portions of the grand army. On the twenty-fifth Oshima joined the forces at Song-do. A few days before this Gen. Tadzumi had landed at Chemulpo and had been put in command of the Sak DivisionDivision. On the twenty-sixth another division under Gen. Sato landed at Wun-san on the east coast nearly opposite P’yung-yang, and was immediately put under the command of Gen. Nodzu. This is best known as the Wun-san (Gensan) Division.

These three bodies of troops slowly converged upon P’yung-yang by three routes, and made as if they were about to surround the entire city. But the commanders knew the weak point in Chinese tactics too well to begin trying new methods.

P’yung-yang was fortified beyond the expectations of the Japanese and it should have held out indefinitely. The Ta-dong River flows before its walls giving it defense on the south. On the north stands a high eminence called Peony Mountain. To the west there are no special natural defenses. The plan of attack was to take advantage of the proverbial Chinese weakness, make a feint in the front but send the main body of troops around the city and attack in the rear. The capture of P’yung-yang was very much like that of Quebec. The plan of attack was the same in each case. The Japanese made a feint in front of the town as Wolfe did from the shores of Levis, and sent the real attacking party around behind the town. The capture of Peony Mountain like the capture of the Heights of Abraham determined the struggle.

On the morning of the fifteenth the Japanese army was in position. The Sak and Gensan divisions lay before Peony and the other five heights to the north of the city. The Mixed Brigade lay beyond the river along the Seoul road which led by six fortified redoubts to the bridge of boats before the River Gate of the town. The main body had crossed the river at Iron Island below the city and under cover of the cannonading of the Mixed Brigade had crept nearer and nearer the enemy from the west—the rear.

At half past four on the morning of the fifteenth a terrific cannonading was begun. Under cover of this the Sak Division took the fort nearest the river, on the northeast of the city. At the same time the Gensan Division took by assaultassault the fort at the other end, on the north. From its vantage ground the Gensan Division planted its guns and poured a destructive fire on Peony Mountain. The Chinese commander being killed, the defenders became discouraged and demoralized and this strategic position was carried by the Sak Division by a single assault. The guns of the enemy, being turned upon the city from the summit of this hill, determined the contest. The main body trained its guns on the fifteen redoubts which guarded the western approach and thus cut off all hope of retreat from the city.

While the Japanese were having it all their own way on the north and west the Mixed Brigade across the river was suffering severely. Five Chinese forts guarded this main approach to P’yung-yang. The Japanese troops, though ordered to make merely a feint, were carried away by the inspiration of the hour and rashly attempted to capture these forts by assault, but they were greatly outnumbered and were compelled at last to retire having lost heavily. But the fall of Peony Mountain settled the day, and that night the Chinese soldiers, following in the wake of their despicable commanders sought safety in flight toward the Yalu by such avenues as the Japanese left open for them. It is generally believed that the Japanese purposely left open a loophole of escape, not caring to have so many prisoners on their hands.

The feint made by Admiral Ito during the first week in August has been mentioned. During the P’yung-yang campaign the Japanese fleet had been patrolling the Yellow Sea about the Korean archipelegoarchipelego. Finally the last company of Japanese troops were landed on Korean soil and the order was given, “On to Peking.” Never was an invasion undertaken with such relish since the days when, three centuries before, the hordes of Hideyoshi had landed on the coast of Korea and raised this same cry. The outcome now was destined to be far different from that of the former invasion. Marshall Yamagata arriving in Korea on Sept. 12th with 10,000 reinforcements began the new campaign as Commander-in-chief.

During the P’yung-yang engagementengagement the Japanese fleet had been stationed at the mouth of the Ta-dong River, forty miles from the scene of the battle, ready to be used in any emergency. On the sixteenth, the campaign in Korea being settled by the flight of the Chinese army toward the Yalu, the main and first flying squadrons weighed anchor and departed for the supposed scene of Chinese activity at the mouth of the Yalu, where it was believed that Chinese troops were being landed. Two days previous 4,000 Chinese troops had left Taku to reinforce the new army, being gathered on the banks of the Yalu for an invasion of Korea. The transports which contained this detachment were protected by six cruisers and four torpedo boats and were reinforced at Talien Bay by the Peiyang squadron. On the sixteenth the transports landed their burden and on the following day departed again for Taku, attended, as on the trip over, by six cruisers and the Peiho squadron.

On the same morning the Japanese fleet crossed the path of the returning transports. At nine o’clocko’clock the smoke of the Chinese fleet was first discovered and about twelve the fleet came into full view. The battle opened with the main and flying squadrons leading in a single line across the track of the Chinese fleet, which was advancing at half the pace set by the enemy. This formation, the ironclads in the center and the weakest ships on either wing, had been assumed as soon as it appeared that the Japanese line was coming head on as if to pierce the Chinese fleet. At a range of 5,200 meters the battle was opened by the starboard barbette of the iron-clad Ting-yeun. The whole fleet soon joined in the fight but the Japanese did not answer for some minutes. As the Yoshino came on, the course was changed and the enemy was passed from left to right. The comparatively helpless ships of the right flank received the severest fire. The two old cruisers on the extreme right, which were of wood and very inflamable, at once took fire and were thenceforth useless. The Yang-wei took fire at the outset and retired. The Chao-yung was not more fortunate and sank about half past two, the battle having begun at one P.M. Japanese time.

Two of the twelve Chinese ships were thus disposed of at once. Two more, the Tsi-yuen and Kwang-chia, deserted the battle immediately on various excuses and departed for Port Arthur.

When the Japanese line had passed the Chinese fleet the flying squadron had begun to port, when the two Chinese ships, which until then had remained in the mouth of the Yalu, were seen making their way toward the remainder of the fleet. Instantly the flying squadron began to starboard and the oncoming vessels prudently retired. These two ships, the Kwan-ping and Ping-yuen, not having come into action, and two, the Yang-wei and Chao-yung, having retired from the battle in flames, and two, the Tsi-yuen and Kwan-chia, having deserted, we find six ships of 23,000 tons bearing the brunt of the battle.

When the flying squadron began to starboard, the main squadron, which was following in fine order, kept to port. The feint against the Kwan-ping and Ping-yuen proving successful, the flying squadron kept to starboard and followed the main squadron. Soon, however, it was seen that the slower vessels of the main squadron were being left exposed and Admiral Ito signalled for the flying squadron to starboard again and intervene between the distressed vessels and the enemy. Thus the main and flying squadrons moved about the Chinese fleet in opposite directions, the former on the inner track.

This second round proved a severe one for the Chinese fleet. The contest now assumed a desperate phase. During the opening of the struggle attention on either side had been paid to the enemy’s weaker ships. The two slow and defenseless ships of the Japanese fleet, the Akagi and Saikio, caused the Admiral much trouble, if indeed they did not alter entirely his plan of attack. That he brought them out of the battle at all is a great credit to his ability to manoeuver at short notice and under fire. It is, however, inexplicable that such ships were allowed to follow the main squadron into the engagement.

By two o’clock the ranks of the two struggling fleets were considerably thinned out and the battle became simplified though more desperate than ever, as the main squadron began to close in on the powerful iron-clads and as the flying squadron separated the remainder of the Chinese fleet from their only hope of safety and scattered them broadcast over the sea. The Akagi was now out of the fight and, under the protection of the flying squadron, was making for the Ta-dong River. The Hiyei, also disabled and protected by the main squadron, was making for the same destination. The Saikio having come as it were from the very jaws of death, when attempting to attack the burning Yang-wei, lay between the object of her deadly mission and the fleets, watching how the battle fared.

On the Chinese side there was far more destruction, because of the larger number of slow and inflamable ships. Of the total, two, the Tsi-yuen and Kwan-chia, had long since deserted as we have already said. The Yang-wei and Chao-yung were both desperately burning. The Chih-yuen, having passed from the Admiral’s wing to the right wing, had attempted the most ridiculous feat of attacking the flying squadron as the latter come to relieve the Akagi and Saikio. Being severely hit in her foolhardy course, her commander, evidently as revenge for going under, attempted to ram. The guns of the fleet were instantly brought to bear upon the ill-starred ship and, riddled with the fire of the heavy and machine guns alike, she went under, flinging her crew into the air as she listed the last time. A similar fate overtook the Ping-yuen upon whom the flying squadron bore. A terrible fire from the Yoshino riddled her burning hulk and she too, went down like a monstrous bonfire into the tawny waters of Yellow Sea.

Meanwhile the struggle between the two iron-clads and the Japanese main squadron had been raging until both the contestants were nearly exhausted. The former, knowing well that in them rested China’s only hope on the sea, and equally desperate because of the cowardliness and incompetency displayed throughout the battle by their own comrades as well as by the determined wrath of their ancient foe, fought to their last charge save three with undaunted heroism. Nothing in the conflict which raged so many hours could have equalled the sight of the crews of the two battered iron-clads, their ammunition far spent, meeting the last onslaught of the main squadron as it bore down upon them for the last time on that memorable afternoon, with perfect calm and a purpose to go down with the ships when the ammunition gave out.

The last onslaught was made and met, but before another could be made night had begun to fall and the Japanese, themselves not far from exhaustion, deemed it wise to withdrawwithdraw. This battle has been called a Japanese victory and probably with reason, though according to the dictum of modern naval warfare a decided Japanese victory could have been achieved only by capturing or disabling the two Chinese iron-clads which were the soul of the Chinese fleet. Technically the failure to do this made it a drawn battle, each side retiring unconquered. But there is every reason to believe that this battle, in reality, decided the Japanese supremacy over the Yellow Sea.

The land battle at P’yung-yang and the naval battle off the mouth of the Yalu opened the eyes of the world to the fact that Japan was a power to be reckoned with. The incident at P‘ung Island and the battle of AsanAsan had proved nothing except the fact that Japan was fully prepared to go to extremities and that the war was actually begun. It is probable that a majority of intelligent people thought the Japanese would fall an easy victim to the Chinese forces. On the sea China had several war-vessels that far out-matched anything which Japan possessed and on land she had unlimited population from which to recruit her armies. She had enjoyed the assistance of many foreign military and naval men in getting her army and navy into shape, and in addition to this she had the sympathy of Great Britain in the struggle. It was freely predicted that the superior quickness of the Japanese might bring her certain small victories at first but that as time went on and China really awoke to the seriousness of the situation a Chinese army would be put in the field which would eventually drive the Japanese off the mainland. The Japanese invasion of 1592 was cited to show that though momentarily successful, the Japanese would be ultimately defeated.

The battles of P’yung-yang and Yalu changed all this. In the first place it was discovered that the Chinese, with equal or superior numbers, could not hold a strongly defensive position against their assailants. The Chinese had everything in their favor so far as natural surroundings went. They lacked the one essential and it was the demonstration of this lack at P’yung-yang that made the world begin to doubt whether the Chinese would really do what was expected of them.

The battle of the Yalu, while technically a drawn battle, proved that the JapaneseJapanese could stand up against superior ships and hold them down to a tie game. The Chinese ammunition was exhausted and if darkness had not come on the Japanese would have discovered this and the big Chinese vessels would have been captured. From that day the progress of the Japanese was an unbroken series of victories. The myth of China’s strength was shattered and the whole history of the Far East, if not of the world, entered upon a new and unexpected phase.

We have already mentioned that 4,000 Chinese troops had been landed at the mouth of the Yalu to reinforce the army that had been gathered there for the invasion of Korea. That invasion was destined not to be carried out, for the routed Chinese army from P’yung-yang came streaming north in headlong flight and the Japanese followed them up just fast enough to worry them but without making it necessary to encumber themselves with prisoners. It shows how perfectly the Japanese had gauged the calibre of the Chinese that they should have driven them on in this contemptuous manner. When the Japanese arrived at the Yalu they found that the Chinese had occupied an advantageous position on the further side and would attempt to block the advance but it was too late to stem the tide of Japanese enthusiasm. The passage was made with ease, the Chinese quickly put to flight and the war left Korean territory, not to return.

The subsequent operations of war are of surpassing interest to the general historian but they cannot be called a part of Korean history, so we shall be compelled to leave them and go back to the peninsula, where the results of Japan’s victories were to be keenly felt.