Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XIII. September
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
SEPTEMBER 161
in a direction from north to south, leads past the
redoubt at a distance of some 500 yards, and in
which they were perfectly sheltered. Making
this natural parallel their base of operations,
they had advanced through ordinary saps up
to about fifty yards from the fort, where a last
parallel had been constructed, and in this the
attacking force was drawn up, awaiting orders to
advance.
The task of capturing the redoubt had been
entrusted to the right brigade of the central
division. The brigadier-general decided to make
his main attack against the north-east angle of
the fort with two battalions, while the connecting
trenches should simultaneously be attacked by
one battalion from east and one from west, so
that the garrison of the fort would be cut off from
retreat. Two battalions were kept in reserve.
The first attack was made at about 5 p.m. on
September 19th. The battalion which attacked
the western connecting trench had to advance
over an open space of some 150 yards, while the
two other forces had only to rush a distance of
some forty or fifty yards to reach the moat. The
western column advanced with the greatest cir-
cumspection. The country around Port Arthur
is so broken, or at least so undulating, that almost
everywhere there is dead ground, where an ad-
vancing force can find some shelter and rally for
a last run. The Japanese knew from experience
what it would mean to advance against a Russian
firing-line at close range, and they did not want
to take more risks than necessary, so here as
elsewhere they sent scouts to explore the ground.
Two men were sent ahead, one after the other-
Creeping on their stomachs, they pushed a kind
of shield in front of them, made of two pieces of
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
