On August 25 the enemy again advanced, and on the 26th attacked us on the eastern front, but their onslaught on the 3rd Siberians at Lang-tzu-shan and the attempt made to turn our right flank failed. Ivanoff (who was in command of the corps) handled his artillery most skilfully, and all units of this corps behaved well. The reserves sent up by Bilderling arrived in good time, but the enemy obtained a position on the left of the 10th Corps which enabled them to menace the retirement of this corps along the Tang Ho. In the hot fight on the 26th again several units of the 10th Corps did splendidly. At this time a strong turning movement was discovered being developed against the left flank of our An-shan-chan position; but by delaying and inflicting heavy loss on the enemy on the Lang-tzu-shan and An-ping positions, all the corps were able to fall back on the advanced positions at Liao-yang, where the army was concentrated on August 29. At the beginning of the action there the army was short of its prescribed strength by 350 officers and 14,800 men. Excluding the men detailed for extra duty (on the communications, etc.), the average strength of our companies was only 140 to 150 rifles, and those companies that lost most heavily in the previous fights could muster less than 100. The detailed account of the battle of Liao-yang has long ago been submitted to Headquarters. The following is a general description of it: On August 30 and 31 the enemy attacked our advanced positions with great determination, especially that of the 1st and 3rd Siberians, but were repulsed everywhere with heavy loss. In this fight the regiments of the 1st, 9th, 3rd, 6th, and 5th East Siberian Rifle Divisions rivalled each other in steadiness and gallantry, while the dispositions made by Shtakelberg and Ivanoff were good. Our success, however, was by no means lightly gained. Our artillery expended as much as 100,000 rounds of ammunition, leaving us with only 10,000 rounds in the army reserve. Moreover, excluding eight battalions furnishing guards and holding the works of the main Liao-yang position, on September 1 only sixteen battalions were left in the general reserve. During the 31st we observed that large bodies of Kuroki’s army were crossing on to the right bank of the Tai-tzu Ho. And, as the position held by the 10th Corps (against which Kuroki should have been operating in full strength) had not for two days been subjected to any such determined attacks as that held by the 1st and 3rd Siberians, there was every reason to suppose that Kuroki’s main body was moving round to operate against our communications. Accordingly a decision had to be made of one of two alternatives: either— 1. To contain Kuroki with a small force and advance to the south against Oku and Nodzu; or—