morning of the 27th, the Japanese outflanked their enemy and drove them back in full retreat down the road to Simucheng, leaving ninety dead upon the field and losing eighty-eight prisoners, including six officers. On the same day a force of three battalions with sixteen guns made a desperate effort to recapture the position, but they were hurled back with heavy loss, and the pass remained irrevocably in the hands of the Japanese. [Sidenote: Rain Stops the Carnage] At this stage in the advance further progress was delayed for a few days by an agency which at frequent intervals during the campaign rose superior to the fiercest energy on the part of either combatant. The weather, which renders war in Manchuria practically impossible in winter, succeeds in giving it an intermittent character even in summer, and now heavy rains brought the operations to a temporary standstill. The Japanese who were on the high ground overlooking the valleys did not suffer so much from the torrential downpour, but the Russians in the plains had to bear its full force, and all movements by any arm of the service were rendered impossible by a sea of mud. By the 4th of July, however, the rains had stopped, and on that day a sharp fight took place at Motien-ling. During a dense fog at dawn, two battalions of the Russians attacked the Japanese outposts and endeavored to force the position. But Kuroki's soldiers were not to be surprised, and reinforcements were hurried up with all speed. Severe hand-to-hand fighting took place; but, finally, after three onslaughts by the Russians, the Japanese hurled them back in rout and pursued them for a distance of four miles to the westward. [Illustration: AFTER FIVE MONTHS. Following the railway northwards Oku came into touch with the retreating Russians on June 15, and inflicted upon them a crushing defeat at the battle of Telissu. His advance was not again opposed until he reached Kaiping, which he captured after some fighting on July 9. Meanwhile the armies under Kuroki and Nodzu had been advancing steadily, and the Mo-tien and Fen-shui Passes, commanding the roads to Liaoyang and Haicheng, were captured simultaneously. During this month the siege of Port Arthur began on land. The shaded portion shows the Japanese advance.] [Sidenote: Oku Rolls up Russians]