Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XV. October
<< 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.
186 THE SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR
firing, could not tell when they had the exact
range, so the effect of the large number of shells
fired at the Japanese howitzers was but slight.
Most of the time the Japanese gunners could
stand to their guns in perfect safety.
The infantry attacks on the trenches at the foot
of the glacis of Erhlung and Sungshuh forts com-
menced about five o’clock in the afternoon. On
this occasion the Japanese did not, as usual, pre-
cede their attack by a rain of shrapnel over the
enemy’s positions. This part of the work was
now taken over by the big howitzers, from wTich
shells by the hundred were hurled over the forts,
enveloping them in a cloud of dust and smoke,
almost hiding them from our view. Then followed
a charge up from the last parallel to the trenches,
a distance of some thirty or forty yards.
At Erhlung two parties went up with a short
interval between each. The men now wore the
dark winter uniforms, making them easy to see and
follow. For a few moments they stood outlined
on the top of the breastwork against the smoke of
the bursting shells. Then they disappeared into
the trenches. What had happened to them we
did not know, but the small blueish puffs of smoke
which leapt forth told us that the Russians had
engaged the attacking force in a hand-to-hand
fight and were using the hand grenades against
them. Suddenly there was a loud report, and at
the western part of the trench a big column of
earth and smoke was flung heavenwards ;
a mine
(yfougasse) had been exploded, killing—as we
learnt later—four Japanese soldiers; but whether
the Japanese had succeeded in driving out the
Russians or whether they had all been slaughtered
we could not tell. The latter conjecture seemed
more likely, for after a lapse of about ten minutes
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
