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252 THE SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR
against the eastern forts prevented the Russians
from drawing reinforcements from this section, so
practically the same troops had been under fire
the whole time at 203. Their losses had been
very serious—over 4000 killed and wounded—and
the long, bitter fighting had at last tired them out
and made them break down under the fearful
strain.
To describe in detail all the different assaults
and rushes, and all the Russian counter-attacks,
would be of little interest. They nearly all pro-
ceeded in the same manner. The brunt of the
fighting was borne by the ist, the 15th, and the
38th regiments of the second reserve. After
the first twenty-four hours troops of the newly-
arrived 7th Division were sent forward in steadily-
increasing numbers until the whole division was
engaged. It must have been a terrible experi-
ence for these young men, who had never seen
fighting before, to be sent against these formidable
positions on steep, wire-defended hillsides, where
their comrades lay in hundreds and thousands,
cruelly mangled and mutilated, where the ground
was slippery with blood, and where the most
ghastly and revolting sights met them at every
step. For at 203 Metre Hill and Akasaka-yama
the struggle was more terrible, on account of the
extensive use of high explosive shells and bombs,
than at any other place in front of Port Arthur,
and the men fought more desperately and with
more ferocious savagery, not only because both
sides fully comprehended the importance of
capturing or retaining the position, but also
because the horrible, inhuman means of destruc-
tion which were employed by both sides reacted
on the minds of the men, making them wild and
brutal, like savage beasts.
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