In seven days Japan had won control of the Korean Gulf. Fusan was no longer needed as a base, and the weary march of two hundred and sixty miles from Soun-chen was avoided. Troops began to debark at Chemulpo without let or hinderance save such as arose from the absence of landing facilities. Small boats were few, and wharfage and shore accommodation were wanting. The result was that transports were delayed two or three days, and that part of the Fourteenth Regiment, which reached the mouth of the Salee river on the 18th of February, did not land until the 21st. One company of this regiment was already hurrying towards Pyng-yang, conscious of the importance of the mission with which it was entrusted. Landed at Chemulpo on the 6th, this company advanced by forced marches and reached Pyng-yang not a moment too soon, for the Russian cavalry were fifteen miles North, and on the 28th a troop of Cossacks appeared at the North gate of the city. Here the first shots on land were exchanged, and the Russians retired. Pyng-yang is situated on the river Tai-tong, about sixty miles from the coast, and is the capital of the province. Long before the Christian era it was the seat of Government, and remained the centre of royal authority until the tenth century, when the turbulence of the people and repeated assaults by the Chinese drove the Court to Seoul. It is a collection of mean and squalid houses, the number of which is estimated at three hundred thousand. Beyond the ancient walls, which have withstood many a savage raid, dwells a large and scattered population, who cultivate the great plain that extends to the foot of the hill on which the city is built. From a military point of view Pyng-yang is of great importance. Standing on the Great Mandarin road, along which tribute was borne to Pekin, it commands the approach to Seoul, which is one hundred and seventy-six miles distant, to Gensan, an open port on the north-east coast, and to Chinampo, twenty miles from the mouth of the Tai-tong, the natural base of supplies where the Japanese landed their stores during the Chinese War in 1894. Had the Russians realised the importance that the Japanese attached to the immediate and unopposed occupation of Pyng-yang they would surely have made some effort to delay the advance of this small force. They knew, of course, that it would give their enemy a strategic position and would provide them with a base at Chinampo--a few days march from the Yalu. But they did not forsee what use the Japanese would make of the coast North of the Tai-tong River, and what a disastrous effect this would have in their first encounter.