At this time there were over a thousand European civilians in the fortress, and of them nearly half were women. Ever since the first bombardment, from Port Arthur, Dalny, Talienwan, and the railway settlements, there had been a more or less involuntary exodus of traders, Russian workmen, settlers with their wives and families, the idle and vicious hangers on to an army of occupation, adventurers and adventuresses of every nationality, and those Chinese who were able to escape also departed. The Europeans went by railway to Liaoyang, Mukden, Harbin, or Russia; some thousands in the aggregate went to the treaty ports of China by steamer or junk. The British steamer, _Foxton Hall_, abandoned by its commander, was taken by the only remaining pilot, a Russian who had been wounded during the first bombardment, to Chifu with as many refugees as could find accommodation. General Stoessel was anxious to be rid of all but his soldiers, though many who were sent away would have benefited by some months of hard labour on the fortifications. As a result there were no non-belligerents to exhaust the supply of provisions. The inhabitants constituted a garrison of formidable strength, who now attended to the business of war. At the end of April the Russian forces were driven out of Korea; at the beginning of May the Japanese crossed the Yalu. Then the Japanese plan of campaign developed with rapidity. The first army under General Kuroki, reinforced from transports arriving at the Yalu, marched north from Antung. On May 5, the Japanese commenced to land a second army under General Oku, at Pitsewo, between the Yalu and the Kwan-tung peninsula. This army marched west and threatened the railway to Port Arthur. The Viceroy, Admiral Alexeiev, left hurriedly before noon on May 5, having with him the Grand Duke Boris, and some members of his staff. The fleet was left under the command of Admiral Vitgert, and the commander of the _Novik_, Captain Essen, raised in rank, until the arrival of Admiral Skrydlov; the command passed afterward to Prince Ukhtomsky of the _Peresviet_. Owing to the propinquity of the Japanese, a car of wounded was attached to the Viceroy’s train, and a Red Cross flag was shown when the train was stopped by the enemy’s infantry near Puliantien. Two days later the line of communication was cut. There was a force of more than 30,000 men on the Kwan-tung peninsula, and these, co-operating with General Kuropatkin’s army operating from the north, managed to restore the railway communication temporarily. A typhoon interfered with the disembarkation of Japanese troops from the transports at Pitsewo; and if vigorous action had then been taken to oppose the invaders, the situation might have been retrieved.