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290 THE SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR
children there, but later investigations have proved
that nothing of the kind had been done, so
General Stoessel had this large civilian population
on his hands, and no means of properly caring
for them. This consideration undoubtedly con-
tributed to strengthen his resolution.
I think it must be admitted that General
Stoessel had several strong reasons for sur-
rendering ;
but, of course, the weight of these
reasons must be considered in the light of what
he would have gained if he had kept up the
defence to the bitter end, as long as he had men
and food and ammunition enough,—that is, in
this case, for another five or six weeks. Were
the results he could hope to obtain worth the
sacrifices ?
There was no hope that the fortress could be
relieved in time ; from that point of view he cannot
be blamed for his decision. On the other side of
the question, the surrender would set free General
Nogi’s army of nearly 100,000 men, and this large
reinforcement of troops in the north was, of course,
of the greatest importance for the situation on
the main theatre of operations. It was General
Stoessel’s duty to keep this army tied down at
Port Arthur as long as possible, and the only
excuse for his not doing so is that he, like so
many others, may have supposed that no opera-
tions could be carried out in Manchuria during
the intense cold which generally reigns there until
the end of March, and that long before this the
fortress was bound to fall. As matters turned
out, with the exceptionally mild winter of 1904-5
the surrender of Port Arthur precipitated, if it did
not cause, the ddbdcle at Mukden.
I think the verdict will come to be that the
capitulation of Port Arthur on January ist was
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