Under the Ensign of the Rising Sun Part 17

And therewith the little fellow and his staff turned away and proceeded to overhaul the rest of the patients.

The nurse whom I had at first seen upon recovering consciousness appeared to have been specially told off to look after me, for upon the departure of the staff she came and knelt by my bedside, as is their fas.h.i.+on, instead of sitting.

She was just within the range of my vision, as I lay, and I suppose I must have stared at her pretty intently for some time, for presently I saw her colour rising, which at once brought me to my bearings.

Thinking to put her at her ease, I said to her:

"Nurse, what is your name?"

She coloured still more, and after regarding me steadfastly for a moment, answered:

"My contemptible and insignificant name, ill.u.s.trious Captain, is Peach-blossom."

"Peach-blossom!" I repeated. "And a very appropriate name, too, by Jove! See here, Peach-blossom. The Chief Surgeon seems to have forgotten that I said I was thirsty. Do you think you could find me something to drink? Two or three tumblers of cold water, now, eh? I have an idea that they would taste particularly good."

"I will speak to the Chief, n.o.ble Captain, and if he consents I will honourably let you have it," she replied.

The Chief evidently consented, and a few minutes later I was quenching my thirst with the most delicious draught I had ever tasted. It was only pure, cold water, but as I slowly imbibed it I told myself that at last I really understood the full meaning of the term, "nectar."

Well, there is no need for me to dwell at length upon my sojourn in the hospital. I was given to understand that I was making a splendid recovery, yet although I was brought back to the Elliot Islands and admitted to the hospital on the morning of 20th June, it was not until nearly three weeks had pa.s.sed that I was permitted to receive visitors, the first of whom was that fine fellow Ito, to whom I owed my life.

I shall not readily forget the little chap's delight when, upon entering the ward, he discovered me sitting up in bed, reading, propped up by cus.h.i.+ons and a bed-rest. He sprang forward, his eyes fairly snapping with pleasure and excitement, and seizing my welcoming hand, shook it with such energy that good little Peach-Blossom felt constrained to spring hastily to her feet and rescue me from his too strenuous demonstrations of joy. At her vigorous remonstrances, however, he dropped my hand as though it had burnt him and, sinking into a chair by my bedside, proceeded to apologise with almost abject contrition, and would not be comforted until I had a.s.sured him, not quite truthfully, I am afraid, that he had not hurt me. Then, in answer to my questions, he proceeded to tell me what he knew of the matter.

It appeared that at the moment when the explosion occurred, the _Akatsuki_ was so close to the _Kasanumi_ that the two craft were all but touching each other, although, from the _Kasanumi's_ bridge, where I was then standing, I could not see the other destroyer. It also appeared that at the moment when I ordered the course of the _Kasanumi_ to be altered, the _Akatsuki_ was close astern of us, and broad on our port quarter, the consequence being that the s.h.i.+fting of our helm carried us so close athwart her bows that she all but touched us when crossing our stern. It was at this moment that the explosion occurred; and Ito, instantly divining what had happened, at once manoeuvred his craft in such a fas.h.i.+on as to lay her alongside the fast-sinking _Kasanumi_, so that the crew of the latter were able to transfer themselves directly from one s.h.i.+p to the other without using boats.

Meanwhile, the helmsman and signalmen on the _Kasanumi's_ bridge had seen me tossed over the rail by the force of the explosion, and, although themselves severely shaken, had instantly flung themselves down upon the turtle-back, where they found me lying bleeding and insensible.

To pick me up and carry me aft was the next thing to be done, for they realised at once that their own s.h.i.+p was sinking, and they did it, transferring my senseless body to the _Akatsuki_ the moment that she got alongside. I was at once taken below and temporarily patched-up, while the crew of the _Kasanumi_ were being transferred, together with such of their belongings as they were able to save, my cabin steward with the utmost devotion concentrating all his efforts upon saving the most valuable of my belongings, regardless of the loss of his own.

It was at first thought that possibly the _Kasanumi_ might be saved, and Ito did his utmost in that direction, working for more than half an hour upon the stricken craft. But the damage was too serious, and despite collision mats and pumps the craft continued to settle until at length, recognising that all efforts were useless, he ordered all hands aboard his own s.h.i.+p, and cast off, the _Kasanumi_ foundering almost before the _Akatsuki_ could back off clear of her.

Ito made no attempt to attack the s.h.i.+ps in Port Arthur roads single-handed, but at once shaped a course for the Elliot Islands, running clear of the fog half an hour later. Arrived at our base, he lost no time in having me conveyed ash.o.r.e to the hospital, where, as already recorded, I lay for a week in a state of alternating delirium and coma before I recovered my senses.

The doctors a.s.sured me that I was making a splendid recovery; yet to myself my progress appeared to be horribly slow, and it was certainly not accelerated by the knowledge that while I was lying there helpless, big events were happening which had all the appearance of leading up to still bigger events in the near future. For instance, there was the second sortie of the Russian squadron from Vladivostock, in the middle of June, lasting over a fortnight, during which it inflicted great loss and damage upon the j.a.panese. It was a most risky thing to do, and must certainly have resulted in disaster had not poor, unhappy Admiral Kamimura been morally chained down, and prevented from taking effective measures against the raiders, by a stringent order that he was to hold the Strait of Korea at all costs. Yet, such is human inconsistency, notwithstanding the above stringent order, which bound the unfortunate admiral hand and foot, and effectually precluded his pursuit of the raiding s.h.i.+ps, he was so severely blamed by "the man in the street" for the damage done that a mob actually attacked and wrecked his house!

This, of course, was most unjust and cruel treatment of a thoroughly capable and zealous man who, hampered though he was, did all he could to bring the raiders to book, and indeed, but for a sudden change of weather at a critical moment, would probably have brought them to action and given them a severe punis.h.i.+ng.

Then, there was the abortive sortie of the Port Arthur fleet, three days after the destruction of the _Kasanumi_. True, the s.h.i.+ps were only at sea for about twenty-four hours, and did nothing, narrowly escaping capture only by Togo's over-eagerness to engage them, thus discovering himself to the Russians in time to allow the latter to make good their retreat back to Port Arthur; but, all the same, I felt that I was losing much in not being present. To me it seemed that our plucky little Admiral had missed a splendid chance over this last event; for we did the enemy no perceptible damage, and only succeeded in driving him back to his lair. As a matter of fact the only injury sustained by the Russians was that which happened to the battles.h.i.+p _Sevastopol_, which struck one of our mines as she was returning to Port Arthur anchorage, and was only got into the harbour with the utmost difficulty.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

UNEXPECTED PROMOTION.

Among other naval customs which the j.a.panese had copied from the British, was that of trying by court martial all officers who were so unfortunate as to lose their s.h.i.+ps; and on the day when I first received permission from the doctors to take a short turn in the open air, I also received an intimation that my trial for the loss of the _Kasanumi_ would be held, a week from that date, on board the flags.h.i.+p _Mikasa_, which would then be in harbour.

Of course I was still very much of an invalid, for although the ghastly wound in my chest had so far healed that it no longer needed dressing, I was warned that even very trifling exertion might cause it to burst open again, while I had by no means recovered my former strength.

Nevertheless, on the day appointed, I made s.h.i.+ft to walk down to the beach, supported by the arm of an orderly, and, with the same a.s.sistance, to climb the flags.h.i.+p's side ladder when I arrived alongside her in the steam launch which had been sent ash.o.r.e to fetch me.

There is no need for me to describe at length the proceedings of a naval court martial; it has been admirably done by Captain Marryat; and as it was in his day, so it is to-day, in all essentials. Of course the trial was the merest formality, for there could not be the slightest shadow of doubt that the craft had been lost through collision with a mine, while under way in a dense fog, and that it was one of those incidents of war for which n.o.body but the enemy can be held responsible; and accordingly I was honourably acquitted, and my sword was returned to me amid the congratulations of the Admiral and the officers who had const.i.tuted the court.

Five days later I received a visit from Togo himself, who seemed to have conceived rather a liking for me. After making most friendly inquiries as to my health and the progress which I was making toward convalescence, he repeated his congratulations upon my acquittal by the court martial, and then asked me how much longer I thought it would be before I should again be fit for active service. I was happily able to a.s.sure him that, unless anything quite unforeseen happened, I hoped to be quite ready for duty in a fortnight, or even less if my services were urgently required, and I remember that I gave the answer with considerable eagerness, for there was a certain subtle something in the tone of the Admiral's question which somehow suggested that events of importance were in the air.

"Good!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Togo. "That is excellent news, my friend, for if what I hear be true, it would appear that the time is drawing near when I shall be in urgent need of all the a.s.sistance which my officers can give me. I will say no more at present--except that I hope you will take the utmost care of yourself, and get quite well again as quickly as possible--for at present my information is too vague to permit me to make a definite statement. Meanwhile,"--putting his hand into his breast pocket and producing a long, official-looking doc.u.ment--"it affords me the utmost pleasure to hand you this, which is your appointment to the command of the _Yak.u.mo_. It has been my pleasant duty to mention your name in my dispatches, in connection with many services meritoriously rendered, the latest having reference to the very valuable a.s.sistance rendered by you prior to and during the battle of Nanshan; and this appointment is the outward token of the authorities'

appreciation of those services. I am looking forward with much interest to the moment when you will take up this new command, for, as you know, the _Yak.u.mo_ is a very fine s.h.i.+p, and under a smart and enterprising captain I shall expect great things of her."

"And by Jove! sir, you shall not be disappointed if I can help it," I exclaimed, springing to my feet in a paroxysm of delight and grasping the hand which the Admiral kindly extended to me. "I don't know how to find words in which to express my profound grat.i.tude to you, sir, for all your kindness to me, from the moment when I presented myself before you, 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 dear boy; say no more about it. I want no wordy expressions of grat.i.tude; you should know that by this time. And if you really feel grateful to me for anything I have done for you, you shall show your grat.i.tude in deeds, rather than words, when the strenuous times arrive which I already see looming in the distance."

And therewith, affording me no opportunity to reply, the fine little fellow, well named "the Nelson of j.a.pan," hastily shook me by the hand and effected his escape, while I sank into a chair, almost overwhelmed at the extent of my good fortune.

Captain of the _Yak.u.mo_! I could scarcely credit it. As the Admiral had said, the _Yak.u.mo_ was a very fine s.h.i.+p; she was indeed one of the finest armoured cruisers which j.a.pan at that time possessed. Her waterline was protected by a belt of Krupp steel seven inches thick amids.h.i.+ps, tapering off to five inches thickness at bow and stern; she mounted four 8-inch quick-fire guns in her two turrets, and fourteen 6-inch guns on her broadsides; she could steam twenty-one knots, when clean; and she carried a crew of five hundred officers and men! A rather different craft from the little _Kasanumi_, with her single 12-pounder and five 6-pounders, eh? I felt that, in command of such a s.h.i.+p as that, I could dare and do almost anything. My delight must have proved an important factor in aiding my recovery, for from the moment when I received my appointment, my strength came back to me so rapidly that, instead of the fortnight which I had allowed myself in my conversation with the Admiral, I took only nine days to qualify for my discharge from the hospital, and to report for duty.

It was a proud moment for me when I stood on the s.p.a.cious quarter-deck of my new command and, in the presence of all hands, mustered for the occasion, read my commission appointing me to the command of the s.h.i.+p.

The vacancy had occurred in consequence of the death of her previous captain, and when I boarded the craft, I did so fully prepared for a certain coldness of reception on the part of the officers, for naturally, in the ordinary course of events, the command ought to have gone to the senior officer, one Commander Arisaka. But not so; on the contrary, as I finished reading my commission, folded it up, and put it in my pocket, the Commander approached, shook hands in the most friendly way, expressed the extreme gratification felt by himself and the rest of the officers of the s.h.i.+p at finding themselves under the leaders.h.i.+p of one who--as they were kind enough to put it--"had so brilliantly distinguished himself"; and then proceeded to present to me the rest of the officers in rotation, in strict accordance with their rank, all of whom found something pleasant and complimentary to say. By way of response, 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 so fine a s.h.i.+p, manned by so fine a crew, and voiced the hope that, not only should we be able to all work comfortably and harmoniously together, but also that the Admiral would speedily afford us an opportunity to add fresh laurels to the _Yak.u.mo's_ fame; a speech which elicited a quite enthusiastic storm of "Banzais."

Agreeable relations with my officers and crew being thus satisfactorily established, I took up my quarters...o...b..ard, and forthwith proceeded to "learn" the s.h.i.+p--that is to say, I made myself intimately acquainted with the localities and purposes of the numerous engines and pieces of machinery with which she was fitted, the number and positions of her magazines, and their contents, the number and situations of her torpedo tubes, 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 hour of action I might have every detail firmly fixed in my memory, ready for use at a moment's notice. And wherever I found anything capable of improvement, I unhesitatingly had that improvement carried out, although I feel bound to say that I found very little anywhere needing modification. In this way, and by continually exercising the crew at such evolutions as could be carried out with the s.h.i.+p at anchor, I very soon became perfectly familiar with my new command and, as my strength steadily returned, began to long for the opportunity to test myself as well as my s.h.i.+p and crew. For during the whole of this time the _Yak.u.mo_, with several other cruisers, and our four battles.h.i.+ps, had been lying at anchor at our rendezvous at the Elliot Islands, not idle by any means, but, like the _Yak.u.mo_, "tuning up" for a certain eventuality, the approach of which we all seemed to sense in some mysterious way.

And yet, after all, I do not know that there was very much mystery about it, for our Secret Service agents--of whom there were several in Port Arthur--informed us that, from the moment when, on that memorable Sunday, 7th August, one of the first twenty sh.e.l.ls fired at the stronghold by the investing j.a.panese, fell aboard the battles.h.i.+p _Retvisan_, lying at anchor in the harbour, and seriously damaged her, there had been a general outcry that the Russian fleet ought to go to sea and fight, rather than remain in harbour and be ignominiously destroyed without striking a blow in self-defence.

It was known that Admiral Vitgeft, and Prince Ukhtomsky, his second in command, were utterly opposed to such a course, their freely expressed opinion being that the Russian s.h.i.+ps, already more or less seriously damaged by the attacks to which they had been subjected from time to time during the progress of the war, were totally unfit to meet and engage the j.a.panese fleet, which, they had every reason to believe, was in first-cla.s.s fighting trim. There were certain officers, however, whose mortification at their enforced inactivity blinded them to the soundness of this judgment. "If the s.h.i.+ps must be destroyed, let them be destroyed at sea in the act of inflicting as much injury as possible upon the enemy," was their contention; and it was certainly a reasonable one. It was broadly hinted that the leader of this faction found means to convey his contention to the ear of Admiral Alexieff; for, strange to say, the following day brought a wireless message from the Commander-in-Chief to Vitgeft, ordering the latter to take his whole fleet to sea and proceed to Vladivostock, fighting his way thither, if necessary. Every effort was of course made by Vitgeft to keep this order a profound secret; but it was necessary to communicate it to the captains of the several s.h.i.+ps and other officers whose duties required that they should possess such knowledge, and the delight of some of them at learning that their long-cherished desire was about to be granted was not conducive to secrecy. Moreover, the sudden, feverish hurry and bustle of preparation was a sufficient advertis.e.m.e.nt of what was impending; and that very night the news was signalled to the blockading squadron in the offing, from which it was as promptly transmitted by wireless to Togo, among the Elliots. The news was confirmed on the following morning by our patrol vessels off the port, from which came the information that a tremendous state of activity was discernible among the Russian s.h.i.+ps, and that all indications pointed toward an almost immediate sortie.

The news arrived by wireless, about an hour after sunrise; and immediately upon receiving it the signal was made for all captains to at once proceed on board the flags.h.i.+p. Some such signal had confidently been expected, after the news of the preceding day; we were in fact all waiting for it, and its display was equivalent to the starting signal for a race, for no sooner did the flags break abroad than they were read, and the next instant the shrill piping of many boatswain's whistles was heard in the calm morning air, the crews of the captain's gigs were seen rus.h.i.+ng along the booms and dropping recklessly down into the boats, and in less than a minute the mirror-like waters of the harbour were being churned into foam as the flotilla of gigs darted away from the s.h.i.+ps' gangway ladders, each striving to be the first to arrive alongside the _Mikasa_. I was not the first to reach the goal, for the battles.h.i.+ps were all lying together, with the cruisers some distance outside them, but my boat was the fourth alongside, beating the _Asama's_ gig by half a length, to the intense disgust of Captain Yamada, who occupied her stern-sheets.

"Never mind, Yamada, old chap," I exclaimed, as we shook hands and ascended the _Mikasa's_ side ladder together; "perhaps you will get the pull of me later on. But I'll bet you a case of champagne that the _Yak.u.mo_ scores a hit before the _Asama_, to-day."

The bet was eagerly accepted, and, chatting gaily, we pa.s.sed along the flags.h.i.+p's deck and entered the Admiral's state cabin, where we found Togo and the captains of the four battles.h.i.+ps already a.s.sembled and conversing eagerly. The Admiral shook hands with both of us, complimented me upon my rapid recovery, and then turned to welcome the other captains who were fast arriving, while we joined the little but quickly swelling group of officers who had already arrived; for of course Togo would say nothing until everybody was present.

We were not kept waiting very long, however, perhaps a matter of ten minutes after my arrival, and then Captain Ijichi, of the _Mikasa_, who as each captain arrived, had been ticking his name off a list, announced that all were present, and rapped sharply on the table with his sword-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 a moment looking round the crowded cabin with a curiously intent and eager gaze.

"Gentlemen," he said, "the wireless message which has this morning arrived from the blockading squadron off Port Arthur, entirely confirms the news of yesterday, to the effect that the Russian fleet is about to put to sea, probably with the intention of making for Vladivostock. I imagine Vladivostock to be its destination for the simple reason that there is no other port open to it; moreover, as we are fully aware, there is a dry dock at Vladivostock large enough to receive a battles.h.i.+p; and I conjecture the intention of the enemy to be to take his damaged s.h.i.+ps there for the purpose of repairing them, so that they may be in condition to reinforce and a.s.sist the Baltic fleet upon its arrival in these waters.

"Gentlemen, if that be the enemy's intention, it must never be carried out; we must prevent it at all costs--short of the loss of our own battles.h.i.+ps, which we _must_ preserve in order that we may be able to meet the Baltic fleet upon something like equal terms, when it arrives.

Now, the question of how best to meet the Port Arthur fleet without unduly risking our own battles.h.i.+ps is one that has greatly exercised my mind ever since the moment when it first became apparent that the Russians were meditating a sortie, and I have formed a plan which I will now lay before you, and upon which I shall be very grateful to receive your frankly expressed criticism and opinion.

"Taking it for granted that the purpose of the Russian Admiral is to make for Vladivostock, I propose to proceed to Encounter Rock, which, as you are all aware, lies directly in the track of s.h.i.+ps bound from Port Arthur southward past the Shan-tung promontory,"--the Admiral pointed out upon the chart the positions of the three places mentioned as he spoke--"and there await the arrival of the Russians, who will by that time be so far from Port Arthur that I trust the measures which I propose to take to prevent them from returning may be effective.

"I need not remind you that my instructions are, and have been throughout the war, to risk our battles.h.i.+ps as little as possible, since upon them depends the safety of j.a.pan--a fact which I believe we all fully realise; I therefore intend to fight the forthcoming battle at long-range, trusting to our superior gunnery to enable us to inflict the maximum amount of injury upon the enemy with the minimum amount of injury to ourselves.

"I purpose to proceed in the following manner. The _Yak.u.mo_ will lead the fleet to sea, followed by the _Kasagi, Takasago, Chitose_, _Takachiho_, _Naniwa_, and _Chiyoda_, in the order named. These will be followed, at a distance of three miles, by our six armoured cruisers, in the wake of which will follow the four battles.h.i.+ps, with the remaining cruisers and the destroyers bringing up the rear. Further orders I cannot give at present, since my plans are necessarily subject to modification according to the reports which will no doubt come to me from time to time from the blockading squadron, a portion of which will follow the Russian fleet, reporting upon its formation, the course it steers, its speed, and so on. The only thing further which I have now to say is, that the duty of the destroyer flotilla will be to keep the Russian destroyers so fully occupied that the latter will have no opportunity to approach our big s.h.i.+ps, while every opportunity must be seized to attack the Russians, especially their battles.h.i.+ps. That is all I have to say, gentlemen, except that the fleet which we shall have the honour to meet to-day _must be destroyed_, and I look to each of you, individually, to give me your best a.s.sistance in the accomplishment of this purpose. Now, has any officer any suggestion to offer? I shall be most grateful for any helpful hint."

n.o.body spoke, but all eyes wandered round the cabin, searching for a possible speaker. The Admiral's eye met mine, and I thought there seemed to be a question in it. As n.o.body 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 be permitted," I said. "I had not the good fortune to be present when the j.a.panese last met the Port Arthur fleet, less than two months ago; but from all that I have heard with regard to that meeting, I gather that there 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 an early 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 that we should on no account show ourselves until the Russians have run too far off-sh.o.r.e to get back again before we can intercept them; and I would also suggest the desirability of taking steps to effectually cut off 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 upon them?"