Expenditures of the Russo-Japanese war / by Gotaro Ogawa.

INTRODUCTION

19

they determined to complete the blockade and made a third
attempt on a larger scale under cover of the night, on May 3.
Because a strong wind was blowing and heavy seas running,
the steamers experienced no small difficulty in their operations.
Four of the steamers abandoned their enterprise and two of
them failed to attain their object; but all the other seven
succeeded in reaching their allotted points in the channel and
blew themselves up. The blockade of the harbor was now
accomplished and the passage of cruisers and any larger vessels was rendered impossible. During this blockading operation our fleet, together with the destroyer squadron and
torpedo flotillas, covered the steamers; but owing to the very
bad weather, the list of casualties proved very heavy, not a
single person of the crews of three steamers being saved. On
May 12, while our torpedo flotillas were engaged in sweeping
the mines off Port Arthur, under the protection of cruisers,
two torpedo boats sank by striking mines laid by the enemy.
On the I5th of the same month, the Japanese cruisers Yoshino
and Kasuga collided in a very dense fog, and the former vessel was sent to the bottom. Moreover, on the same day, our
battleships Hatsuse and Yashima struck mines laid by the
enemy and sank immediately. These losses were the heaviest
sustained by the Japanese Navy during the Russo-Japanese
War. In spite of the complete blockade of Port Arthur for the
passage of large vessels, gunboats and destroyers made an
egress from time to time, so the Japanese destroyer squadron
and torpedo flotillas began on May25 a reconnoissance in force
and laid mines at important points, finishing the operations
on June 13. Thereupon, the Japanese Navy obtained absolute command of the sea, from the Yellow Sea to the Sea of
Japan.
To turn to the operations of the Japanese Army: Beginning
with the entry of Pyongyang by the advance contingent on
February 24, the First Army under Lieutenant General Kuroki,
with constant reinforcements, marched gradually up the Korean peninsula, clearing the Russians on the way. It took
possession of Wiju on April 4, without any fighting. The