This series of disasters caused the greatest alarm in St. Petersburg. The seriousness of the danger that threatened Port Arthur was realized in all its fulness at last, and the lofty assurance which had hitherto reigned supreme among the Imperial _entourage_ gave place to feelings of panic. The result was that desperate measures were embarked upon which only led to fresh misfortunes. General Kuropatkin himself had seen from the first the impossibility of relieving Port Arthur from the north until he had a larger force at his disposal than he was likely to secure for months to come. His plan had always been to concentrate his main army at Liao-yang, or, if necessary, at Mukden, and wait till the arrival of large reinforcements enabled him to advance against the Japanese with some hope of success. If the Commander-in-Chief had been left to himself it is possible that this plan would have been pursued consistently and a great _debacle_ might have been avoided. Port Arthur, indeed, would have been almost certain to fall, but in the opinion of nearly every strategist who had studied the problem, nothing short of a miracle could now save the so-called Gibraltar of the East. The only sound policy for the Russians was one of retirement and concentration until a more favorable opportunity presented itself. But now the Evil Genius of Russia interposed with his fatal counsels. To Admiral Alexeieff it was unthinkable that Port Arthur, at which for so long he had held his haughty Viceregal state, should be abandoned without a mighty effort. Ever since the arrival of General Kuropatkin in Manchuria had reduced him to a position of comparative inferiority, he had been intriguing against that commander with varying success, but on this occasion he received powerful backing amongst the Czar's advisers in St. Petersburg. The heaviest pressure was brought to bear upon General Kuropatkin to induce him to dispatch a strong force southwards to the relief of Port Arthur, and in an evil hour for his country and his own reputation the Commander-in-Chief weakly consented to be overruled. Lieut.-General Baron Stackelberg, the commander of the 1st Army Corps, with an army 35,000 strong was ordered to advance by forced marches into the Liao-tung Peninsula and lead a forlorn hope to save the doomed fortress. [Illustration: RUSSIAN PRIEST IN THE TRENCHES, WITH GENERAL STAKELBERG'S ARMY.] [Sidenote: Fatal Russian Strategy]