The advance began on January 25, as ordered, the 1st Siberians first seizing the village of Huan-lo-to-tzu, and later, after a hot fight lasting all day, the village of Hei-kou-tai;[85] Kossagovski’s column gained possession of Chi-tai-tzu and Ma-ma-kai without much difficulty. San-de-pu was not attacked that day. Of the 14th Division, which was intended for this attack, three regiments were sent on the 22nd to join Mischenko’s force, in order to strike a separate blow at a small Japanese force of all arms, which, according to spies, was in occupation of A-shih-niu. Mischenko moved against this place with his infantry, but found no enemy there, and so the 14th Division was marched forty miles on a fool’s errand, and only arrived at Chang-tan on the morning of the 26th, thoroughly exhausted. The action of the 25th for the village of Hei-kou-tai, which we only seized with great difficulty and after heavy loss, in spite of our overwhelming superiority, indicated that such strongly fortified points as San-de-pu and Lita-jen-tun could not be attacked without proper previous preparation, for we could not afford to waste men. I particularly underlined the necessity for this in my directions—“For the operations of the 2nd Army in capturing the enemy’s fortified line San-de-pu–Lita-jen-tun–Ta-tai,” dated January 15, and also in my instructions with regard to the 2nd Army’s operations against the Lita-jen-tun portion, dated January 16. Notwithstanding this, in the orders for the dispositions of the 2nd Army on January 26, it was to operate on the line from Hou-leng-tai to the Hun—over a distance of ten miles against a fortified position—and to capture the two strongly defended points, San-de-pu and Lita-jen-tun. Grippenberg, moreover, came to no understanding with Kaulbars as to co-operation, and it was only upon a request made by the commander of the 10th Corps that the commander of the 3rd Army arranged to co-operate with his artillery, and so prepare the assault of the 5th Siberians. Being by chance in Hsui-tun just at the time when the 10th Corps was making ready to carry out its allotted task, I was able to avert a dispersed attack (over a stretch of thirteen miles), and to prevent the employment of troops in an unprepared assault on strongly fortified positions. The attack to be made by the left flank of the 2nd Army on the morning of January 26 was countermanded by Grippenberg himself, but the order was delayed in transmission, and if I had not been in Hsui-tun it would have taken place.