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88 THE SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR
of the three searchlights the Japanese stood out
against the darkness like lantern pictures on a
screen. Instantly a tremendous fire opened on
them from rifles and, especially, from machine guns,
which at this range played sad havoc amongst
them on the coverless plain. They could see
nothing, they could do nothing ;
death was every-
where, and they knew not how to evade it ;
they
were blind and helpless. Even the bravest recog-
nized that there was but one thing to do—to get
away, away from the slaughter, away from the
cruel light, back to their own camps, back to the
night and the darkness. The Japanese tried to
bring their machine guns into action from positions
outside of the range of the searchlights, but no
sooner did the rattle of one commence—it is easy
to distinguish between the sounds of the Japanese
and Russian machine guns—than star-shells went
up and instantly detected it, a searchlight was
turned on it, and the Russian quick-firers com-
menced their pom-pom-pom, quickly putting it
out of action. It was no use ;
the attack w’as
helplessly broken, and though the fire flashed up
again at intervals, no really serious attempt was
made afterwards to carry the Russian trenches.
The left brigade of the iith Division, which
made a demonstration against the south-eastern
forts, was met in the same way with the same
result—heavy losses and no progress.
It had been a disastrous night for the Japanese.
Although the Russians had not succeeded in re-
taking the Panlung forts which they had lost on
the previous day, they had swept the Japanese
troops from the positions beyond the Chinese
wall, and they had inflicted very heavy losses on
them. The Japanese that night lost over 5,000
men killed and wounded. They were beaten back
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