“The army occupied the Hsi-ping-kai position, shattered and disorganized by the battle of Mukden; but it has recovered with extraordinary rapidity. With the arrival of the young soldiers and reservists, all the units have been brought up to full war strength, and it is only in the officers that there is still a great deficiency. The mounted units have been reinforced by fresh squadrons and by horses from the artillery reserve; the guns and waggons which were lost or had become unserviceable have been replaced. Every division has been strengthened by mounted and dismounted machine-gun sections, and howitzer batteries have been formed; a light railway for horse-draught has been laid along the whole length of the position and in rear of it; and, profiting by recent experience, the troops are now thoroughly proficient in all exercises and manœuvres. Thus the army, by reason of its numbers, material composition, and training, has become really better prepared for hostilities at the close of the war than it was at the beginning, and again constitutes a menace to the enemy.”
The 3rd Manchurian Army, which, under the command of General Batianoff, formed a reserve for the 1st and 2nd Armies, and contained corps which had arrived latest and had not been in action, was also a large and reliable body of men.
Of course, there is a skeleton in every cupboard, and naturally in such a large force as the three armies constituted there were weak spots. Thus, there were to be found amongst the men, and even the officers, a certain number of poor-spirited creatures who disbelieved in the possibility of victory. But even such characters would have plucked up their spirits and done good service at the first success.
From the moment I joined the army in Manchuria, I invariably told every unit that I met or reviewed that the war could only end after we had been victorious; that till then none of us would be allowed to return home; and that victory was certain when sufficient reinforcements reached us. And belief in these facts sank into the hearts of officers and private soldiers. Both before and after Mukden, I more than once heard the men themselves—particularly those in hospital—say that they could not return home till the enemy had been defeated. “The women will laugh at us,” were their words. Another important factor, and one which the Russian especially values, is constant and affectionate care for his bodily needs and his health. For anyone who has not been on active service it is difficult to appreciate how troops who have been disorganized and badly shaken by hard fighting can regain heart if they suddenly find hot food ready for them. A night’s rest, a full stomach, ammunition replenished, a quiet calling of the roll, and the calm demeanour of their officers—all assisted to make our splendid soldiers once more ready for the fray. As regards the army’s _moral_ generally, I should mention that the nearer our men were to the enemy, the better were their spirits and the fewer the carping comments and criticisms which always do so much harm; there was no time to read the papers. When I visited the advanced units of the 1st Army (those of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Siberians, and of the 1st Army Corps commanded by Colonels Prince Trubetski, Tikhomiroff, Redkin, and General Kashtalinski), I found universal keenness to advance. The men were well looked after, discipline was strict, and the attitude of both men and officers was one of quiet and steady determination. But in proportion as the distance from the advanced lines increased, and direct touch with the enemy was lost, there was time for talk and gossip. It was on the lines of communication (particularly at Harbin) that drunkenness and gambling took place, besides other forms of dissipation that disgraced the army. It was here that the white-livered brigade collected, leaving the front under any excuse even when fighting was in progress, and, indeed, what else could be expected of them? It is much to be regretted that some of our pressmen judged the army by what they saw at Harbin, and that we were judged by this standard even in Russia. Many officers and others in authority who had failed to pass the “ordeal by fire” lived on in Russia, and from them a correct opinion as to the self-sacrifice and devotion of the army and its readiness to continue the war could hardly have been expected. Unfortunately for us, also there happened to be on the Committee of Imperial Defence two general officers who had been at the front. One had left it; the other had been deprived of his command of an army corps. Clearly, such men as these could not have much assisted this new and important body to insist on the necessity of continuing the struggle.