In any event, it would appear that Port Arthur will be won little by little; it will be captured piecemeal at an enormous sacrifice of life, but that it will be captured no one has any doubt. General Stoessel is unlikely to surrender until he is stormed in his stronghold on Golden Hill or on Liaotishan. His losses have been heavy, but not so great as those of the besiegers, and in the struggle to come he will have advantages the outer defences did not place at his disposal, so that the Japanese losses may be even more appalling than the figures yet published indicate. But the siege cannot continue indefinitely. One of the latest messages received from within the fortress states: “There will come a time when there will be no bearing the inconveniences of the siege, due to sickness, scarcity of food, and cramped quarters; no enduring the unceasing hell of bursting shells--shattering houses, killing unfortunate friends, and tearing huge holes in the ground--to say nothing of the miasma arising from a thousand corpses rotting on the hills and in the ravines round the forts. Lately the bombardments have increased in fury, and the fiery messengers of hate and destruction greet us every minute.” CHAPTER XV Japan’s Requirements and China’s Future The official reasons for the war between Russia and Japan are known, but there are matters which lie deeper than the ostensible excuses made for the serious step Japan has taken. All know that Russia has curtailed Japan’s fisheries; that she has the control in south-western Manchuria of all the supplies of beancake upon which the Japanese depend entirely for the intensive cultivation of the poor and shallow soil which covers their islands; and they know that Russia, by her policy in reference to Korea, intended to control the supplies of both timber and rice so necessary to the welfare of the Japanese. What people wish to know is how far Japan is prepared to carry the war into the enemy’s country if she continues to be successful, and what are now the conditions upon which she will accept peace. I have endeavoured to find out from the Japanese themselves what is the minimum gain which will content them. I have asked Russians, too, but the only reply they have made is that Japan must be utterly vanquished--many of them still believe that she will be--must relinquish everything she has gained temporarily, and be taught a lesson of humiliation she will never forget. They do not descend to particulars when asked how this is to be accomplished. The position, therefore, must be taken from the Japanese point of view, as that is the only one profitable for examination in detail now.