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176 THE SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR
positions ;
bomb-proofs for the squads had to be
built, and so on. Altogether it was a long and
difficult task, and It was only at the beginning of
October that the first of these howitzers was
mounted, and not until early in November that
the last two were In position and ready for work.
It was very fortunate for the Japanese that the
Russians had no balloon in Port Arthur. If they
had been able to discover and locate the big
howitzers during their transport or whilst being
mounted, the big fortress guns would have made
It impossible for the Japanese to bring them into
position. We can only wonder that a fortress of
such importance, and so well equipped in most
other respects, should have been lacking in so
essential a part of modern defences. It seems
inexplicable also that, when the big howitzers
began to open up, the Russians did not try to im-
provise a balloon, so that they could observe the
effect of their own fire against them. It should
not have been a very difficult matter, and it might
have changed the history of the whole siege, and
perhaps of the whole war, if the big howitzers
could have been put out of action, as a balloon
probably would have enabled the Russians to do ;
for it was by means of these howitzers that later
on the Russian fleet in the harbour of Port Arthur
was destroyed.
As I have mentioned previously, sapping
operations had already been commenced against
203 Metre Hill and North Kikuan fort about the
middle of August. After the capture of the
fortifications in Shuishi valley, saps were opened
against Erhlung and Sungshuh forts, and, as
General Nogi’s new plans consisted in taking the
whole northern front of the eastern fort-ridge,
sapping was commenced towards three fortified
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