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260 THE SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR
and others opened up a tremendous bombaMment
of the position; but the Japanese, fearing new
counter attacks, not only stuck to the observation
post which they had established up there, but
they even tried, under the furious fire, to build up
breastworks on top of the hill to enable them to
beat off Russian assaults. This, however, did
not become necessary. The Russians, dead tired
after the prolonged terrible fighting, and demoral-
ized by the unabated fury and the unquenchable
persistence of the attacks, gave up all further hope
of retrieving the position, and after a short time
even their bombardment ceased. Their ammuni-
tion was beginning to run short, so they had to
economize and keep what was left for the defence
of the other forts and positions, and though
occasionally they still sent a few shells against
the hill, the Japanese were henceforth allowed to
remain in uncontested possession of 203 to the
end of the siege.
Already, at eleven o’clock in the morning of
December 6th, the Japanese commenced bom-
barding the ships in the harbour with their ii-in.
howitzers, and as the fire now could be observed
and directed by telephone from the observation
post to the batteries, it did not take long before
the whole fleet were destroyed. The bombard-
ment lasted for three days, during which all the
bigger vessels, battleships and cruisers, were sent
to the bottom of the shallow sea close under the
land under Paijushan hill. The Russians tried to
protect the decks of the ships by layers of bags
filled with earth or ashes ;
but, as I have men-
tioned before, the fuses of the ii -in. shells did
not take effect till they met with great resistance,
so the projectiles went right through the sand-
bags, through the upper, unprotected deck, and
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