CHAPTER III1
RUSSIAN TROOPS, REINFORCEMENTS AND COMMUNICATIONS
The reports received from several correspondents of The Times who .are in a position to supply accurate information, enable us to advance a step towards penetration of the customary veil of mystery which enshrouds the proceedings of Russian armies in the field.
Until evidence is given to disprove the very complete and remarkable summary of the Russian forces east of Lake Baikal sent by the Peking correspondent of The Times on January 21,2 the estimate of numbers therein given   holds   the   field.     Reckoning up   the
1 Prom The Times of February 2, 1904.
Peking, January 21.
J The following corrected list of the Russian military forces in the Far East to date comprises all the troops east of Lake Baikal in Siberia and Manchuria, including those guarding the whole of the Manchurian railways and the railways between Vladivostok and Khabarovka, and those guarding the Amur River, and the troops on shore at Vladivostok, Possiet Bay, Dalny, and Port Arthur.
The total strength at the present moment in this vast region consists, inclusive of the frontier or railway guard, of 3,115 officers, 147,479 men, and 266 guns.
The infantry, numbering 2,100 officers and 105,829 men, consists in the first place of 32 regiments of East Siberian Rifles, each with 39 officers and 1,906 men. Each regiment has one company of mounted infantry. There are also four regiments of regular army infantry from Russia, Nos. 123, 124, 139, and 140, consisting of 16 battalions with 312 officers and 15,248 men ; also 16 battalions of infantry field reserve with 252 officers and 15,300 men ; also one battalion and one company of fortress infantry from Nikolaievsk with 20 officers and 1,186 men. The two battalions of Port Arthur fortress infantry recently became the 29th Regiment, and the six battalions of Vladivostok fortress infantry became the 30th, 31st, and 32nd Regiments
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