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CHAPTER VI
CANCAN*
WHEN I arrived on the top of our hill the
following morning (August 21st), the
artillery still had the leading word.
The thundering of the guns continued as furiously
as ever ;
only this morning, instead of ordinary
shells, the Japanese were firing shrapnel. I knew
at once what that meant. The first, the intro-
ductory act of the drama had been played to an
end, and the curtain had risen for the next act,
in which would develop the powerful plot with
its striking effects. The burden of the main
role had been shifted on to the shoulders of the
infantry, though the artillery were still well to
the fore.
The object of the previous days’ shelling had
been to demolish as far as possible the breast-
works and to smash up everything within the forts
and make them like a living hell for the troops
who had to stay there. The garrison would be
compelled to keep to the bomb-proofs, and the in-
cessant bursting of the shells amongst them, the
enervating noise, the ravages, the killing, the
horrible wounds which the shell-splinters inflict,
and the impossibility of lifting a hand to retaliate
on their invisible, merciless foe, would discourage
and demoralize them, and unfit them to withstand
a determined assault. This work had been done.
* Anglid, “ a lively dance.
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