It was of vital importance that the enemy should not discover the point at which the Twelfth Division, which was to make the flanking movement, would cross the Yalu. Suikochin, to the North-east of Wiju, was the place selected, and was bridged with the greatest secrecy and in the shortest possible time. Material was collected higher up the river and floated down stream in the darkness. As the road from Wiju to Suikochin was visible to the enemy the utmost care and vigilance had to be exercised, and the bridges had to be put together under cover of the hills. Before the battle began ten bridges were constructed. Their united length was 2,126 mètres; half of them were made from material found in the neighbourhood; the other half were the regular pontoons of the army. The positions of the bridges are shown on the accompanying map. These elaborate preparations were made with remarkable speed and secrecy. The terrain was on the whole favourable. The low hills about Wiju concealed the movement of troops and the work of engineers. Every part of the road under the enemy’s observation was screened by artificial avenues of firs and arches of maize straw which, from a distance, looked like natural growth, so that neither battalions nor batteries could be seen and counted as they descended the higher ground towards Wiju. It must not be imagined, however, that these plans altogether escaped the vigilance of the Russians or were effected without opposition. Chapter X PREPARING FOR BATTLE. To associate violence and death with the valley of the Yalu seemed a sacrilege, so tranquil it looked and so beautiful. The sun lighted up the dark ridges and gilded the tawny sand through which flowed rivers that separated the broad plain into islands. Away to the East lay a wild forest country given over to hunters. Westward, as the estuary opened its arms to the embrace of the sea, rose the smoke of a city in the shadow of receding hills. Between city and forest were scattered hamlets and homesteads that sheltered a race of white-robed peasants. A strange stillness brooded over the valley: the air was charged with mystery: and mountain and river were heavy with portent. The great heart of nature had ceased to beat and life in the delta was suspended. With furled sails the junks rested in the yellow creeks: no oxen wandered in the fields or bemoaned their burden of rice straw: no husbandman made ready for seed time. The whole scene looked and felt like painted canvas. [Illustration: JAPANESE PONTOONS BATTLE OF YALU DRAWN BY A JAPANESE OFFICER]