On February 7th, 1904, Japan formally broke off the negotiations and withdrew her Minister from St. Petersburg. The war cloud had burst. [Illustration: BATTLE OF THE YALU--SINKING OF THE CHIH-YUEN.] CHAPTER II. Russia Bluffing--Japan's Navy--"Nisshin" and "Kasaga"--New and Efficient--Japan's Dockyards--Opposing Figures--Russian Navy--Belated Help--Japan's Superiority--Russian Harbor--Japan on Land--Russia's Army--East of Baikal--Weak Communications--Port Arthur--Korea as Base--Command of the Sea--The First Blow--World-Wide Interest--A Graphic Account--Russian Losses--The Fight of February 9th--Russian Bravery--Japanese Modesty--Damage Understated--Only One Repairing Dock--Alexeieff's Reason for Casualties--The Fight at Chemulpo--The First Shot--Japanese Disembarkation--A Brave Russian Captain--A Target for Japanese Gunners--The Plucky "Korietz"--Wounding and Burning--Japan's Handicap. [Sidenote: Russia Bluffing] The growing menace of the situation in the Far East had been for months attracting the anxious attention of the whole world, and at the beginning of 1904 it became evident that war was inevitable, unless one or other of the disputants was prepared to make a complete surrender of its essential claims. The unlikelihood of this remote possibility being fulfilled was confirmed by the steady and, on the Russian side at least, the feverish preparations for hostilities which were carried on as an accompaniment to the repeated protestations of pacific intentions by the Czar's Government and its diplomatic agents abroad. Those who still believed in peace were sustained by the conviction that one of the parties to the dispute was bluffing. Sympathizers with Russia pointed to the tremendous power and inexhaustible resources of the Northern Empire, and asked whether it were possible that a young and small country like Japan should dare to try conclusions with so gigantic an antagonist. On the other hand, the friends of Japan emphasized the weakness of the Russian position in the Far East and the well-known financial embarrassments beneath which her Exchequer was laboring. It is, therefore, apropos to survey at this point the military and strategic position in the Far East which revealed itself immediately before the final rupture of diplomatic negotiations and the beginning of active hostilities. [Sidenote: Japan's Navy]