FRESH SOLDIERS ARRIVING TO TAKE THE PLACES OF THOSE LOST AT LIAO-YANG ] [Illustration: UNLOADING NEW GUNS TO STRENGTHEN THE JAPANESE BATTERIES ] [Illustration: USING RUSSIAN TRAIN SERVICE TO BRING RESERVES TO LIAO-YANG ] [Illustration: ASSEMBLING THE PARTS OF GUNS AND PUTTING THEM TOGETHER AT LIAO-YANG ] JAPANESE ACTIVITY AT LIAO-YANG IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE CAPTURE OF THE CITY [Illustration: JAPANESE BAND PLAYING AT GENERAL OYAMA’S HEADQUARTERS AT LIAO-YANG ] [Illustration: MARQUIS OYAMA, FIELD MARSHAL OF THE JAPANESE ARMIES ] [Illustration: TRANSFERRING SUPPLIES FROM CARS TO COMMISSARY CARTS AT LIAO-YANG ] SCENES AT LIAO-YANG AFTER OYAMA’S THREE ARMIES HAD TAKEN POSSESSION OF THE CITY CHAPTER X THE CHRONICLERS OF THE WAR The most interesting stories written by the correspondents who were sent to cover the Russo-Japanese War were probably the ones that never passed the censor, the most extraordinary sights those which the correspondents did not see. There has never been a struggle since the days of the telegraph and the professional correspondent of which the world at large knew so little. During the early months of the war practically all of the correspondents were bottled up in Tokio, and when at last a few of them were released and allowed to follow the army, they were kept far in the rear, and were only permitted to see the fighting at the Yalu from the top of a hill several miles from the firing line. Marking time in Tokio for months were newspaper men and special writers who were correspondent veterans of many wars, and who were compelled to waste their energies in the description of tea-houses, theatres, and other conventional show places. The unfortunate correspondents were repeatedly told that they were soon to leave for the front, only to learn presently that there was to be more delay, and to see a repetition of the Japanese smile, and hear again the Japanese “I’m so very, very sorry.” R. L. Dunn, Collier’s special photographer, who was fortunate enough to get into Korea before the rigid censorship of correspondents began, but was subsequently forced to return, thus described some of the distresses of the luckless who were held up in Tokio: “I found more than a hundred war correspondents at Tokio, hustling from morning to night in order to get ready in time, and buying a thousand odd things at war prices, so that their equipments might meet every conceivable emergency. That was in April. Spring changed into summer. Fur-lined sleeping bags and firepots made the days seem hotter than they were. The whole winter outfit had to be exchanged for one suited to summer. On June 1 everything was as it had been at the beginning, except that some correspondents were contemplating the necessity of acquiring a third outfit for the rainy season.”