THE JAPAN-RUSSIA WAR.
himself, with his main fleet, lay in hiding thirty miles away to the southeast, waiting for an opportunity to dash in and cut off Makaroff's retreat. The day was not unsuitable for such an enterprise. Rain was falling, and a mist hung heavy over the sea, disguising the smoke of his great warships.
By eight o'clock on the morning of the 13th, the Japanese cruiser squadron appeared on the offing and engaged in a long-range fire   "with the Bayan, which had
Makaroff Lured Out    not returned to  the   harbor.    Admiral
Makaroff, seeing the smallness  of the
force opposed to him, gave the order to his fleet to steam out in column formation and attack the venturesome enemy. Hoisting his flag on the Petropavlovsk, the Russian Cammander-in-Chief led the way himself, followed by the battleships Poltava and Pob~ ieda, the cruisers Diana, Askold, and Novik, and the destroyer flotilla. In the roadstead the fleet was joined by the Bayan, and the whole force then set forth majestically to engage the Japanese.
But the orders of Admiral Togo were well observed by Admiral Dewa, commander of the cruiser squadron.    Gradually the
Japanese began to retire before the su-
Cutting Off the Unwary    perior  force opposed to them, drawing
Makaroff onwards, further and further
out to sea. The Russian fleet began a hot fire at long range, to which the Japanese ships replied at intervals, just sufficiently to keep their opponents occupied and to lure them on to greater efforts by the display of a manifest disparity of strength. By this skillful manoeuvring they succeeded in enticing Makaroff out a distance of fifteen miles to the southeast of Port Arthur. Now was the time to communicate with Admiral Togo. Wireless telegraphy flashed the news of the success of the ruse to the Commander-in-
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