On the very day which Oku began his advance on Kaiping there occurred an event which brought strikingly before the world the fact that these movements by the three Japanese generals were only part of one great concerted plan, the vastness of which was not yet realized. This was the departure from Tokio for the seat of war of Field-Marshal Marquis Oyama, the master-mind selected by the Mikado for the supreme command of all his armies in the field. A brief description of the career of this great general, whose renown in Japan is second only to that of the veteran Yamagata, will not be out of place here. Like so many of the Japanese leaders who have distinguished themselves in the present war, Oyama's first experience of fighting was gained in the old days of the Sumatsu rebellion, in which he took part on the revolutionary side, achieving considerable distinction for his gallantry. After peace had placed the Mikado securely upon the throne of Japan, Oyama was sent to Prussia as military attaché, and was present at Moltke's headquarters at all the most important operations of the Franco-German War. There he, no doubt, gained many of the valuable lessons which have since been put in force both in the Chinese War ten years ago and in the present campaign. After the Peace of Versailles he devoted himself to a close study of the military organizations of France and Switzerland, and returning to his own country in 1875 received an appointment on the General Staff in Tokio. He was selected for the command of the First Army on the outbreak of the war with China in 1894, and directed the operations around Port Arthur, which culminated in the storming of that powerful fortress. On the retirement of Marshal Yamagata from ill-health, General Oyama was appointed to the chief command of all the Japanese forces in the field, and carried the campaign to a successful conclusion. After the signature of the Treaty of Peace the Mikado recognized his great services by conferring upon him the baton of Field-Marshal and appointing him Chief of the Staff. In the meanwhile, General Oku was preparing for his further advance northwards, where the next obstacle in his path was the Russian position at Tashichao. This town had been converted into a place of great strength and was garrisoned by at least 60,000 men with 105 guns. But before the opposing forces could meet here a fresh attack of a much more determined character than the last was made upon the Japanese army at Motienling, the Russians, under the command of Kuropatkin's most trusted lieutenant, General Count Keller, making a desperate attempt to regain possession of that important defile. This was the first occasion on which Kuropatkin's troops seriously assumed the offensive in the course of the war, and the result was a conspicuous success once more for the Japanese. [Sidenote: Keller's Failure]