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72 THE SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR
more difficult than in the dim shadowland of
earliest morning, and neither the battalion first
sent forward nor the one sent in support were
able to make any headway. So soon as they
emerged from the donga a furious fire was poured
into them, and after sustaining tremendous losses
they had to scurry back to shelter again. General
Ichinobe, deeming it hopeless for the time being
to proceed with the attacks, proposed to the
divisional commander to postpone the operations
until after dark, but General Oshima, after
personally reviewing the situation, ordered the
attacks to be continued, promising that a battalion
from the right wing brigade and a strong detach-
ment of the 4th independent brigade should
immediately reinforce General Ichinobe’s troops.
On receiving these orders. General Ichinobe at
once despatched the whole 35th regiment to
renew the assault ;
the battalion from the right
wing brigade, which just then arrived, was ordered
to form the left wing of the attackers’ force.
Again company after company was sent forward
against the position ;
into the bullet-swept zone
the men plunged unhesitatingly, running at the
top of their speed ;
but they met the same fate as
their comrades ;
scores upon scores of shells were
hurled against them, each flinging a hail of bullets
into their ranks, and innumerable bullets from rifle
and machine gun swept the fields, mowing down
the men by hundreds. Only a few got as far as
the wire entanglements, but under the murderous
cross-fire nothing could live there. The assault
was again broken and shattered, the survivors
seeking refuge in the friendly donga, some few
finding a precarious shelter behind boulders or in
a slight declivity in the ground, but most lying dead
or severely wounded on the blood-soaked fields.
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