The First Army Corps advanced toward the northern frontier of Korea. The Chinese forces offered no determined resistance this side of the Yalu, for they had decided, as did the Russians ten years after, to abandon the indefensible Wiju but to defend Chiulien-cheng on the Chinese side of the river. For about ten miles to the right and left of this position, or from An-tung along the stream up to Hu-shan, over a hundred redoubts and trenches had been built, behind which forts had been constructed on eminences. General Sung-ching, commanding about 23,000 troops, stationed a powerful detachment upon Hu-shan, an important outpost across the Ai River, which flows into the Yalu. During the night of October 24, however, the Japanese army succeeded, undiscovered by the enemy, in throwing a pontoon bridge across the Yalu in front of Hu-shan. A severe storming of the outpost, replied to by an able firing, began at 5 P. M., on the 25th, continuing until it was deserted by the Chinese at 10.30. This strategic point having been captured, the main quarters at Chiulien-cheng were vacated without further resistance during the night. An-tung was also easily occupied by the Japanese, while Feng-hwang-cheng was set on fire and deserted by the retreating forces. Thus the Japanese crossed the Korean boundary and gained an entry into the Chinese territory with the comparatively small loss of 4 killed and 140 wounded. They organized a provisional civil administration at An-tung to govern the Chinese population in the seized territory. Mr. Komura (now Baron Komura, minister of foreign affairs) was appointed the temporary director of the administration, to be later succeeded by Lieutenant Colonel Fukushima. After the capture of Chiulien-cheng, the First Army Corps divided itself into two bodies, one under the command of Lieutenant General Katsura following the Chinese troops that had fled toward Ta-ku-shan on the coast, and the other pointing toward Mukden. Katsura's army took Ta-tung-kau and Ta-ku-shan in succession, the latter on November 5, and then turned northward and defeated the Chinese at Siu-yen on the 17th. Tomu-cheng was captured on December 12, and Hai-cheng on the next day, while Kang-wa-seh, where 10,000 Chinese had entrenched themselves, was carried on the 18th. Meanwhile, the second division of the First Army Corps had swept the enemy from Sai-ma-tsi and other points, and marched toward Mukden in the depth of a severe Manchurian winter. [Illustration: CAMPAIGNS IN KOREA AND MANCHURIA CHINO-JAPANESE WAR]