triapitsyn decided to terrorize and kill any civilians he felt were a danger to his forces. the other way to execute those who he only injured was to stab them with a bayonet and throw them into a hole in the amur river. using this method, triapitsyn and his army killed thousands of people in nikolayevsk-on-amur. in late may, as other japanese people were coming to help, triapitsyn killed everyone living in nikolayevsk-on-amur–japanese or russian–and burned the town to the ground.