The First Japanese Disaster--The "Hatsuse" Strikes a Mine--Admiral Togo Undaunted--Rammed in the Fog--Renewed Russian Hopes--The Vladivostock Squadron--A Thrill Through the Civilized Globe--Skrydloff the Raider--Kamimura on the Track--Approaching Port Arthur--The Importance of Nanshan--Japanese Dispositions--General Oku's Attack--Terrific Carnage--A General Bombardment--Chances of Defeat--Rushing the Trenches--The Russians in Flight--Tremendous Moral Effect--Terrific Casualties--Alarm in St. Petersburg--Fatal Russian Strategy--Old Tactics versus New--The Veil over the Tragedy. [Sidenote: The First Japanese Disaster] The Japanese fleet, as we have seen in the last chapter, had once again done its work thoroughly. The Russian fleet, crippled in the early days of the war and harried incessantly ever since, was now for weeks to come securely shut up in the harbor of Port Arthur, and could do nothing seriously to affect the course of events. Admiral Togo, with his six powerful battleships and his splendid cruisers, had absolute command of the Gulf of Pechili, and the transports from Japan were able to pour troops with perfect safety upon the shores of the Liao-tung Peninsula. It was at this moment of conspicuous success that the first serious calamity of the war overtook the Japanese Navy, and two terrible accidents occurred which filled the Russians with hope, as appearing to betoken a turn at last in the tide of fortune and to threaten the forces of the Mikado with something like the cloud of misfortune that had so far hung over their opponents. There was, however, this notable difference between the two cases. The losses suffered by the Russians at sea were almost all due to their own lack of forethought or of skill; they seemed to court defeat, and defeat came to them in full measure. But the blow which now befell the Japanese fleet was of a kind which the utmost ability and precaution could hardly have prevented, and, moreover, serious as it was, it did not materially affect the main course of the campaign, although undoubtedly it compelled the Commander-in-Chief in some degree to modify his plan of operations. The disaster was a double one. On one and the same day, the 15th of May, the magnificent battleship, the _Hatsuse_, was blown up by mines and sunk with fully 500 men; and the protected cruiser, _Yoshino_, colliding with the _Kasuga_ in a dense fog, was totally lost, only 90 of her crew being saved. [Illustration: OUTSIDE PORT ARTHUR.] [Sidenote: The "Hatsuse" Strikes a Mine]