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NOVEMBER 217
edge of the attack, and damped the ardour and
shaken the confidence of the men.
They had also seen that to attack moat de-
fences in the same way as at North Kikuan fort
was too slow and too precarious a proceeding,
and that other means must be devised to bring
the operations against the moats to a speedy and
successful end.
They had further found out that whatever re-
liance was placed in the reports of their many
spies as to the condition and the actual strength
of the garrison (now estimated to be about
io,coo men), it was evident that Port Arthur was
strong enough to withstand even a determined
attack, if it was restricted to only one section of
the fortifications at a time. Therefore, if a new
attack were to have any prospect of success, it
must be made on a bigger scale, and comprise
also the western section of defences, so that the
Russians would be unable to concentrate a very
strong force at any of the attacked points.
Finally, they saw that they had very much
over-estimated the effect on the forts and trenches
of their own bombardment, and they realized that
it would be better to expend their ammunition in
trying to sink the ships in the harbour, and in
destroying the town with its stores, arsenals, and
magazines, rather than to go on wasting it against
the earth walls and the concrete masses of the
forts.
During the month of November the saps were
therefore widely extended. Not only were they
carried more forward, but the approaches between
the parallels were in many places doubled, to
facilitate the bringing up of supports and of
ammunition, provisions, &c. Especially in front
of Erhlung fort, a veritable network of saps was
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