The Russo-Japanese Fighting At the time of writing it is
difficult to say whether Japanese or Russian troops hold the Changkufeng ridge ; both sides claiming that their men are in possession and have bloodily repulsed their opponents. Operations have clearly been on a considerable scale. The ridge, lying in the region where the confines of Korea, Manchukuo and the Russian Maritime Province adjoin each other, is of great strategical importance. From it the Russians could command the railway running inland from Rashin, which the Japanese have developed as the chief line of communication for their northern forces on the mainland ; while vice versa, if the Japanese held it, they would obtain observation over a very important stretch of the Russian coast. Until the Russians established a military post there about three weeks ago, it had been unoccupied. The frontier is vague at this point, but if, as appears to be the British official view, the hill lies in Russian territory, there can be no suggestion that the Russians were deliberately launching an offensive when Japan was preoccupied in China. Declarations of war are out of fashion in the Far East ; even China and Japan are not technically belligerents. But if Russia really entangled herself in a major conflict on that front, the fact might appreciably encourage Germany to attack in Europe.
