Consequently, Kuropatkin never had his hand free. He could never review the situation with a single eye to its supreme strategical necessities; he must always qualify his dispositions and plans by regard for the plight of Port Arthur. It was this vitiating influence that brought about the initial reverses of the Russian armies; and that prevented any bold and effective plan for meeting the Japanese advance. Finally, it was this consideration that induced Kuropatkin to give battle at Liao-yang, and to expose his entire army to a disaster from which he only escaped by the skin of his teeth. Allusion to that tremendous conflict, between forces larger than any that have ever before been opposed in modern war, has already been made in the last chapter. But the event was so memorable, and has such bearing on the future course of the campaign, that it is permissible to return to the subject, especially as further light has been thrown on it by the detailed narratives of correspondents. Of this great battle, by the way, the world has received fuller descriptions than of any other feature of the campaign by land or sea; for it so happened that the sufferance of the war correspondents under the restriction of the Japanese military authorities broke down here, and several of the most distinguished representatives of the English press threw up their connection with the Japanese army after Liao-yang, and hurried back to neutral territory to cable home the full dispatches which the censor would not have permitted. [Sidenote: Kuroki Improves his Reputation]