CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
UNEXPECTED PROMOTION.
Among other naval customs which the Japanese had copied from theBritish, was that of trying by court martial all officers who were sounfortunate as to lose their ships; and on the day when I first receivedpermission from the doctors to take a short turn in the open air, I alsoreceived an intimation that my trial for the loss of the _Kasanumi_would be held, a week from that date, on board the flagship _Mikasa_,which would then be in harbour.
Of course I was still very much of an invalid, for although the ghastlywound in my chest had so far healed that it no longer needed dressing, Iwas warned that even very trifling exertion might cause it to burst openagain, while I had by no means recovered my former strength.Nevertheless, on the day appointed, I made shift to walk down to thebeach, supported by the arm of an orderly, and, with the sameassistance, to climb the flagship's side ladder when I arrived alongsideher in the steam launch which had been sent ashore to fetch me.
There is no need for me to describe at length the proceedings of a navalcourt martial; it has been admirably done by Captain Marryat; and as itwas in his day, so it is to-day, in all essentials. Of course the trialwas the merest formality, for there could not be the slightest shadow ofdoubt that the craft had been lost through collision with a mine, whileunder way in a dense fog, and that it was one of those incidents of warfor which nobody but the enemy can be held responsible; and accordinglyI was honourably acquitted, and my sword was returned to me amid thecongratulations of the Admiral and the officers who had constituted thecourt.
Five days later I received a visit from Togo himself, who seemed to haveconceived rather a liking for me. After making most friendly inquiriesas to my health and the progress which I was making towardconvalescence, he repeated his congratulations upon my acquittal by thecourt martial, and then asked me how much longer I thought it would bebefore I should again be fit for active service. I was happily able toassure him that, unless anything quite unforeseen happened, I hoped tobe quite ready for duty in a fortnight, or even less if my services wereurgently required, and I remember that I gave the answer withconsiderable eagerness, for there was a certain subtle something in thetone of the Admiral's question which somehow suggested that events ofimportance were in the air.
"Good!" ejaculated Togo. "That is excellent news, my friend, for ifwhat I hear be true, it would appear that the time is drawing near whenI shall be in urgent need of all the assistance which my officers cangive me. I will say no more at present--except that I hope you willtake the utmost care of yourself, and get quite well again as quickly aspossible--for at present my information is too vague to permit me tomake a definite statement. Meanwhile,"--putting his hand into hisbreast pocket and producing a long, official-looking document--"itaffords me the utmost pleasure to hand you this, which is yourappointment to the command of the _Yakumo_. It has been my pleasantduty to mention your name in my dispatches, in connection with manyservices meritoriously rendered, the latest having reference to the veryvaluable assistance rendered by you prior to and during the battle ofNanshan; and this appointment is the outward token of the authorities'appreciation of those services. I am looking forward with much interestto the moment when you will take up this new command, for, as you know,the _Yakumo_ is a very fine ship, and under a smart and enterprisingcaptain I shall expect great things of her."
"And by Jove! sir, you shall not be disappointed if I can help it," Iexclaimed, springing to my feet in a paroxysm of delight and graspingthe hand which the Admiral kindly extended to me. "I don't know how tofind words in which to express my profound gratitude to you, sir, forall your kindness to me, from the moment when I presented myself beforeyou, an utter stranger," I continued huskily; but Togo interrupted me,reaching up and patting my shoulder in a very kind, fatherly way.
"There, there," he murmured, soothingly, "say no more about it, my dearboy; say no more about it. I want no wordy expressions of gratitude;you should know that by this time. And if you really feel grateful tome for anything I have done for you, you shall show your gratitude indeeds, rather than words, when the strenuous times arrive which Ialready see looming in the distance."
And therewith, affording me no opportunity to reply, the fine littlefellow, well named "the Nelson of Japan," hastily shook me by the handand effected his escape, while I sank into a chair, almost overwhelmedat the extent of my good fortune.
Captain of the _Yakumo_! I could scarcely credit it. As the Admiralhad said, the _Yakumo_ was a very fine ship; she was indeed one of thefinest armoured cruisers which Japan at that time possessed. Herwaterline was protected by a belt of Krupp steel seven inches thickamidships, tapering off to five inches thickness at bow and stern; shemounted four 8-inch quick-fire guns in her two turrets, and fourteen6-inch guns on her broadsides; she could steam twenty-one knots, whenclean; and she carried a crew of five hundred officers and men! Arather different craft from the little _Kasanumi_, with her single12-pounder and five 6-pounders, eh? I felt that, in command of such aship as that, I could dare and do almost anything. My delight must haveproved an important factor in aiding my recovery, for from the momentwhen I received my appointment, my strength came back to me so rapidlythat, instead of the fortnight which I had allowed myself in myconversation with the Admiral, I took only nine days to qualify for mydischarge from the hospital, and to report for duty.
It was a proud moment for me when I stood on the spacious quarter-deckof my new command and, in the presence of all hands, mustered for theoccasion, read my commission appointing me to the command of the ship.The vacancy had occurred in consequence of the death of her previouscaptain, and when I boarded the craft, I did so fully prepared for acertain coldness of reception on the part of the officers, fornaturally, in the ordinary course of events, the command ought to havegone to the senior officer, one Commander Arisaka. But not so; on thecontrary, as I finished reading my commission, folded it up, and put itin my pocket, the Commander approached, shook hands in the most friendlyway, expressed the extreme gratification felt by himself and the rest ofthe officers of the ship at finding themselves under the leadership ofone who--as they were kind enough to put it--"had so brilliantlydistinguished himself"; and then proceeded to present to me the rest ofthe officers in rotation, in strict accordance with their rank, all ofwhom found something pleasant and complimentary to say. By way ofresponse, I made a little speech to all hands, crew as well as officers,in which I expressed my gratification at finding myself in command of sofine a ship, manned by so fine a crew, and voiced the hope that, notonly should we be able to all work comfortably and harmoniouslytogether, but also that the Admiral would speedily afford us anopportunity to add fresh laurels to the _Yakumo's_ fame; a speech whichelicited a quite enthusiastic storm of "Banzais."
Agreeable relations with my officers and crew being thus satisfactorilyestablished, I took up my quarters onboard, and forthwith proceeded to"learn" the ship--that is to say, I made myself intimately acquaintedwith the localities and purposes of the numerous engines and pieces ofmachinery with which she was fitted, the number and positions of hermagazines, and their contents, the number and situations of her torpedotubes, the uses of the many fitments to be found in her conning tower,and in fact everything connected with her working, so that in the hourof action I might have every detail firmly fixed in my memory, ready foruse at a moment's notice. And wherever I found anything capable ofimprovement, I unhesitatingly had that improvement carried out, althoughI feel bound to say that I found very little anywhere needingmodification. In this way, and by continually exercising the crew atsuch evolutions as could be carried out with the ship at anchor, I verysoon became perfectly familiar with my new command and, as my strengthsteadily returned, began to long for the opportunity to test myself aswell as my ship and crew. For during the whole of this time the_Yakumo_, with several other cruisers, and our four battleships, hadbeen lying at anchor at our rendezvous at the Elliot Islands, not idleby any means, but, like
the _Yakumo_, "tuning up" for a certaineventuality, the approach of which we all seemed to sense in somemysterious way.
And yet, after all, I do not know that there was very much mystery aboutit, for our Secret Service agents--of whom there were several in PortArthur--informed us that, from the moment when, on that memorableSunday, 7th August, one of the first twenty shells fired at thestronghold by the investing Japanese, fell aboard the battleship_Retvisan_, lying at anchor in the harbour, and seriously damaged her,there had been a general outcry that the Russian fleet ought to go tosea and fight, rather than remain in harbour and be ignominiouslydestroyed without striking a blow in self-defence.
It was known that Admiral Vitgeft, and Prince Ukhtomsky, his second incommand, were utterly opposed to such a course, their freely expressedopinion being that the Russian ships, already more or less seriouslydamaged by the attacks to which they had been subjected from time totime during the progress of the war, were totally unfit to meet andengage the Japanese fleet, which, they had every reason to believe, wasin first-class fighting trim. There were certain officers, however,whose mortification at their enforced inactivity blinded them to thesoundness of this judgment. "If the ships must be destroyed, let thembe destroyed at sea in the act of inflicting as much injury as possibleupon the enemy," was their contention; and it was certainly a reasonableone. It was broadly hinted that the leader of this faction found meansto convey his contention to the ear of Admiral Alexieff; for, strange tosay, the following day brought a wireless message from theCommander-in-Chief to Vitgeft, ordering the latter to take his wholefleet to sea and proceed to Vladivostock, fighting his way thither, ifnecessary. Every effort was of course made by Vitgeft to keep thisorder a profound secret; but it was necessary to communicate it to thecaptains of the several ships and other officers whose duties requiredthat they should possess such knowledge, and the delight of some of themat learning that their long-cherished desire was about to be granted wasnot conducive to secrecy. Moreover, the sudden, feverish hurry andbustle of preparation was a sufficient advertisement of what wasimpending; and that very night the news was signalled to the blockadingsquadron in the offing, from which it was as promptly transmitted bywireless to Togo, among the Elliots. The news was confirmed on thefollowing morning by our patrol vessels off the port, from which camethe information that a tremendous state of activity was discernibleamong the Russian ships, and that all indications pointed toward analmost immediate sortie.
The news arrived by wireless, about an hour after sunrise; andimmediately upon receiving it the signal was made for all captains to atonce proceed on board the flagship. Some such signal had confidentlybeen expected, after the news of the preceding day; we were in fact allwaiting for it, and its display was equivalent to the starting signalfor a race, for no sooner did the flags break abroad than they wereread, and the next instant the shrill piping of many boatswain'swhistles was heard in the calm morning air, the crews of the captain'sgigs were seen rushing along the booms and dropping recklessly down intothe boats, and in less than a minute the mirror-like waters of theharbour were being churned into foam as the flotilla of gigs darted awayfrom the ships' gangway ladders, each striving to be the first to arrivealongside the _Mikasa_. I was not the first to reach the goal, for thebattleships were all lying together, with the cruisers some distanceoutside them, but my boat was the fourth alongside, beating the_Asama's_ gig by half a length, to the intense disgust of CaptainYamada, who occupied her stern-sheets.
"Never mind, Yamada, old chap," I exclaimed, as we shook hands andascended the _Mikasa's_ side ladder together; "perhaps you will get thepull of me later on. But I'll bet you a case of champagne that the_Yakumo_ scores a hit before the _Asama_, to-day."
The bet was eagerly accepted, and, chatting gaily, we passed along theflagship's deck and entered the Admiral's state cabin, where we foundTogo and the captains of the four battleships already assembled andconversing eagerly. The Admiral shook hands with both of us,complimented me upon my rapid recovery, and then turned to welcome theother captains who were fast arriving, while we joined the little butquickly swelling group of officers who had already arrived; for ofcourse Togo would say nothing until everybody was present.
We were not kept waiting very long, however, perhaps a matter of tenminutes after my arrival, and then Captain Ijichi, of the _Mikasa_, whoas each captain arrived, had been ticking his name off a list, announcedthat all were present, and rapped sharply on the table with hissword-hilt for silence. The next moment, to use a common expression,one might have heard a pin drop. Then Admiral Togo stepped forward,unrolled a chart and spread it open upon the table, and stood for amoment looking round the crowded cabin with a curiously intent and eagergaze.
"Gentlemen," he said, "the wireless message which has this morningarrived from the blockading squadron off Port Arthur, entirely confirmsthe news of yesterday, to the effect that the Russian fleet is about toput to sea, probably with the intention of making for Vladivostock. Iimagine Vladivostock to be its destination for the simple reason thatthere is no other port open to it; moreover, as we are fully aware,there is a dry dock at Vladivostock large enough to receive abattleship; and I conjecture the intention of the enemy to be to takehis damaged ships there for the purpose of repairing them, so that theymay be in condition to reinforce and assist the Baltic fleet upon itsarrival in these waters.
"Gentlemen, if that be the enemy's intention, it must never be carriedout; we must prevent it at all costs--short of the loss of our ownbattleships, which we _must_ preserve in order that we may be able tomeet the Baltic fleet upon something like equal terms, when it arrives.Now, the question of how best to meet the Port Arthur fleet withoutunduly risking our own battleships is one that has greatly exercised mymind ever since the moment when it first became apparent that theRussians were meditating a sortie, and I have formed a plan which I willnow lay before you, and upon which I shall be very grateful to receiveyour frankly expressed criticism and opinion.
"Taking it for granted that the purpose of the Russian Admiral is tomake for Vladivostock, I propose to proceed to Encounter Rock, which, asyou are all aware, lies directly in the track of ships bound from PortArthur southward past the Shan-tung promontory,"--the Admiral pointedout upon the chart the positions of the three places mentioned as hespoke--"and there await the arrival of the Russians, who will by thattime be so far from Port Arthur that I trust the measures which Ipropose to take to prevent them from returning may be effective.
"I need not remind you that my instructions are, and have beenthroughout the war, to risk our battleships as little as possible, sinceupon them depends the safety of Japan--a fact which I believe we allfully realise; I therefore intend to fight the forthcoming battle atlong-range, trusting to our superior gunnery to enable us to inflict themaximum amount of injury upon the enemy with the minimum amount ofinjury to ourselves.
"I purpose to proceed in the following manner. The _Yakumo_ will leadthe fleet to sea, followed by the _Kasagi, Takasago, Chitose_,_Takachiho_, _Naniwa_, and _Chiyoda_, in the order named. These will befollowed, at a distance of three miles, by our six armoured cruisers, inthe wake of which will follow the four battleships, with the remainingcruisers and the destroyers bringing up the rear. Further orders Icannot give at present, since my plans are necessarily subject tomodification according to the reports which will no doubt come to mefrom time to time from the blockading squadron, a portion of which willfollow the Russian fleet, reporting upon its formation, the course itsteers, its speed, and so on. The only thing further which I have nowto say is, that the duty of the destroyer flotilla will be to keep theRussian destroyers so fully occupied that the latter will have noopportunity to approach our big ships, while every opportunity must beseized to attack the Russians, especially their battleships. That isall I have to say, gentlemen, except that the fleet which we shall havethe honour to meet to-day _must be destroyed_, and I look to each ofyou, individually, to give me your best assistance in the accomplishme
ntof this purpose. Now, has any officer any suggestion to offer? I shallbe most grateful for any helpful hint."
Nobody spoke, but all eyes wandered round the cabin, searching for apossible speaker. The Admiral's eye met mine, and I thought thereseemed to be a question in it. As nobody else seemed inclined to speak,I decided to answer that questioning glance.
"There is just one remark which I should like to make, sir, if I may bepermitted," I said. "I had not the good fortune to be present when theJapanese last met the Port Arthur fleet, less than two months ago; butfrom all that I have heard with regard to that meeting, I gather thatthere would have been no Port Arthur fleet to-day, had not you, sir,been too eager to meet them, revealing your presence to them at such anearly moment that retirement to Port Arthur was still possible for them.If that be the case, the obvious lesson to be learnt seems to be thatwe should on no account show ourselves until the Russians have run toofar off-shore to get back again before we can intercept them; and Iwould also suggest the desirability of taking steps to effectually cutoff their retreat."
Togo nodded and smiled.
"Gentlemen," he said, "you have all heard Captain Swinburne's remarks.Have any of you anything to add to them, or any comment to make uponthem?"
For a moment there was silence. Then Captain Matsumoto, commanding the_Fuji_, stepped forward.
"I should like to say, sir," he said, "that I entirely concur in whatCaptain Swinburne has said. Unlike that gentleman, I had the honour tobe present on the occasion to which he refers, and I believe allpresent--including yourself, sir--will be inclined to agree that thehonourable captain has put his finger upon the two causes which thencombined to render the escape of the Russian fleet possible."
A low murmur of assent followed; and when it died away, Togo spoke.
"I thank you all, gentlemen," he said, "for the expression of opinion towhich I have just listened. I agree that a mistake was made upon thatoccasion, and it was I who made it. But that mistake will not berepeated, you may rest assured. I recognised my mistake when it was toolate to amend it, and I have now made my plans accordingly. Has any oneelse any suggestion to offer?"
There was no response.
"Very well, then, gentlemen," resumed Togo. "Our conference is at anend. Return to your ships, and get your anchors at once. We willproceed to sea forthwith; and may Hachiman Sama," (the Japanese god ofWar) "be with us to-day and crown our arms with victory!"
A moment's silence followed, and then the cabin rang with the exultantshout of "Banzai! Banzai Nippon!" instantly taken up by the crew out ondeck, who heard it, and as instantly repeated by the crews of the otherships, as the sound of the cheering reached them. Then, one afteranother, we filed past the Admiral, who shook hands with each of us aswe passed out of the cabin; and ten minutes later the harbour wasresounding with the clank of chain cables being hove in through afleet's hawse-pipes and stowed away below.