CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
REINSTATED.
It was not until nearly a fortnight later that the full results of thebattle of Tsushima became known; then, tabulating the intelligence thatcame to hand from various points, we were at last in a position torealise the surprising character of the Japanese Navy's achievement.
Briefly and baldly summarised, it amounted to this: Of the elevenRussian battleships which went into action on that memorable 27th May,four were captured, while the remaining seven were sunk. Of ninecruisers, five were sunk. Of nine auxiliary cruisers, four were sunkand one was captured; while, of nine destroyers, one, the _Biedovy_, wascaptured with Admiral Rojdestvensky, seriously wounded, on board, andfour were sunk. Twenty-six of the thirty-eight craft which composed themuch-vaunted Baltic Fleet were thus accounted for. Of the remainingtwelve, three--the small cruiser _Almaz_ and the _Grosny_ and _Bravy_,destroyers, succeeded in making their way to Vladivostock, while theremainder escaped to Manilla, Shanghai, and Madagascar, where--with theexception of the auxiliary cruiser _Anadyr_, at Madagascar--they wereduly disarmed and interned.
I had fully made up my mind that with the destruction of the RussianBaltic Fleet the war must of necessity come to an end. But I wasmistaken; no overtures of peace were made by Russia, and it was not tobe expected that, after her signal triumphs on land and sea, Japan wouldjeopardise her prospects of securing a satisfactory settlement by beingthe first to open negotiations; therefore, in pursuance of their landcampaign, it was decided to attack the Russians from the north by way ofthe great river Amur, which the Japanese had ascertained was navigableby light-draught vessels for at least a thousand miles during the latespring, when the thaw and the spring rains caused the river to run full.But in order to utilise the Amur it was imperatively necessary thatJapan should have control of the island of Sakhalin; accordingly, on24th June a fleet of warships, under Admirals Kataoka and Dewa,assembled at Yokohama, from whence a few days later they sailed,convoying a fleet of transports, aboard which were one of the newlyraised army divisions, under the command of General Haraguchi.
My ship, the _Yakumo_, was one of the warships detailed for thisexpedition, and naturally I went with her. Space does not permit of mygiving the details of this expedition, which was not at all of aneventful character; suffice it to say that it attained its object,Sakhalin becoming ours on 31st July 1905.
Meanwhile, however, after the result of the battle of Tsushima becameknown, President Roosevelt decided that the time had arrived when thefriendly intervention of a perfectly disinterested Power, such as theUnited States of America, might be welcome to both belligerents;accordingly, on 8th June, he opened negotiations by dispatching anidentical Note to the Emperor of Japan and the Tsar of Russia, offeringhis services as mediator. His offer was accepted by both; and on 9thAugust the plenipotentiaries of the two nations met at Portsmouth, inNew Hampshire, U.S.A. The negotiations were of a protracted nature, andwere several times in danger of falling through in consequence of theuncompromising attitude of Russia's representatives. Ultimately,however, thanks to President Roosevelt's masterly diplomacy and theconciliatory spirit of the Japanese, an agreement was arrived at, andthe Treaty of Peace between Japan and Russia was signed on 5th September1905.
Of the terms of the treaty it is not necessary for me to speak here,since they in nowise affect the fortunes of the present historian. Theconclusion of the treaty, however, of course put a stop to allhostilities on both sides; and the end of September found me and my shipback in Sasebo, where the latter, among other ships, was paid off.Previous to the paying-off, however, Togo had sent for me, and at theinterview which followed, inquired most solicitously what were my plansfor the future, at the same time assuring me that if I cared to remainin the service of Japan I might absolutely rely upon continuousemployment and further promotion. I had, however, long before thisquite made up my mind as to the course of action I would pursue upon theconclusion of the war; namely, to return to England and endeavour tosecure my rehabilitation in the British naval service, and I explainedthis to him at length. When he had heard all that I had to say, headmitted that what I had decided upon was undoubtedly the right thing todo. Then, learning that I proposed to return home by way of SanFrancisco and New York, he dismissed me for the time being, only toinform me, two days later, that, learning I was about to resign mycommission as Captain in the Japanese Navy, the Emperor had expressed adesire to see me prior to my departure from his dominions, in order thathe might personally thank me for the services I had rendered to Japan.
The interview took place four days later, in the Imperial Palace atTokio, with most satisfactory results, so far as I was concerned; forHis Majesty, after making the most flattering references to myservices--full particulars of which he seemed to have at his fingers'ends--was graciously pleased to decorate me with the Star of the GrandOrder of the Rising Sun, and to present me with a magnificent navalsword, the hilt of which and the mountings of the sheath being of solidgold, exquisitely worked.
The afternoon of the first Sunday in December witnessed my arrival inthe Mersey; and somewhat late the same night I found myself once more inLondon.
I was, of course, anxious to see Uncle Bob and Aunt Betsy again withoutdelay; but, being in London, I could not deny myself the pleasure ofcalling upon my friends the Gordons. In the first place I paid myrespects to Sir Robert at his office. As it chanced, he was sooverwhelmingly busy that he could only spare me a bare ten minutes ofhis time, just to welcome me home again and insist upon my dining withhim and his wife that evening. I did so, and received such a welcome aswent far to compensate me for many a lonely hour among the storms andfogs and bitter cold of the Japan and Yellow Seas. To my amazement, Ithen learned that my name had become tolerably familiar to such Britonsas had been taking more than a merely superficial interest in theprogress of the Russo-Japanese War, some kindly-disposed newspapercorrespondent having kept the British public pretty well posted as to mydoings. The result of this, I was informed, was that, in the event ofmy choosing to make application for restoration to my former position inthe British Navy, the authorities would undoubtedly be willing to regardsuch application with considerable favour.
This I soon afterwards found to be true; for although there were severalformalities to go through, while the onus of proving my innocence of thecharge which brought about my dismissal rested entirely upon me, I hadno sooner done this than I received the intimation that the LordsCommissioners of the Admiralty, having given due consideration to myrepresentations, had been pleased to reinstate me as Midshipman in theBritish Navy!
It was not long, however, before I received my commission asSub-Lieutenant; and now I am a full-blown Commander aboard asuper-Dreadnought, eagerly looking forward to the dawn of a certain Daywhich, unless appearances are curiously deceptive, cannot be very fardistant.
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends