SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR

Otago Witness, Volume 14, Issue 2648, 14 December 1904, Page 31

SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR

INCIDENTS OF THE ASSAULTS

Many incidents in connection with the desperate assaults upon Port Arthur are mentioned by English papers received by the mail." - Amongst the warships, the

Sevastopol -Peresviet, Poltava, Pobieda, and Retvizan nave bsen repeatedly hit during

the siege. The 203-Metre Hill, mentioned in recent cobles as the scene of desperate fighting, and now in possession of the Japanese, is otherwise known as Pai-yin-shan. It is one of two powerful advanced forts on the line of bills stretching from Port Arthur Westward towards Louisa Bay, aud there • are three more strong .advanced works upon lower peaks' of the^ same range, all, covered by the main north-western forts. One of these" three w-e assume. -to be Red

Hill. The' Japanese sappers reached the casemates of both Er-lung-shan and East. Kee-kwan-shan in the end of October, and both the fronts were. blown in by dynamite

explosions. A letter from Port Arthur „- states that- General Smornpff is jealous of General Stoessel, and would have surrendered the fortress had • he not been over-

ruled. It is stated" that on the last occasion of the fleet attempting to break through the Japanese naval blockade, the garrison, was to have made a desperate

eorfcie, with the object of doing as much damage as possible, and then, if necessary, capitulate. Thf» failure of the fleet to escape frustrated this plan. Over half the original garrison was. then either dead, wounded, or sick. "In the great attack in August the Japanese were able to unmask battery after battery, which the Russians wero unable to locate. The Japanese call Er-lung-shan Roju-shan, and Kee-kwan Han-

ju-shan. On October 22 the centre Japanese division made its j,hird attempt to capture East Hanju-sharT fort. General Nogi summoned tho generals of" the left and centre divisions to a consultation. During _ their absence, at 11 in the morning, without special orders, several companies belonging to a 'regiment of the centre division emerged from the dongas at the foot of East Hanjuehan in tens and twenties, and charged up the slope 'to. a broken trench wall' around the crest of the fort hill, taking cover from the splendid •shrapnel practice of the field batteries in the valley. On the third attempt a score of Japanesereached the broken wall, but an 1 awful firefrom the enemy k started a retirement. An officer, regardless of the danger,- stood, and called out an order, and planted the regi-. mental flag.- He "was instantly riddled with bullets. The effect of this self-sacrifice wa3 instantaneous. / The retreating" men stopped in " their tracks, hesitated a moment, and then charged back. Fighting like demons, they jumped the wall, and charged the Russians with their bayonets, forcing- many of them up the glacis over the ramparts into the fort. The Russians made a strong counterattack. The Japanese advance lines were driven from the forts, and furiously attacked, and this forced the Japanese plans for the general assault. The left division from the trenches in front of Keekwan forts charged the foothills. Part of the advance bad already gained' the crests, and were shouting " Banzai !" when their triumph •was out short. Suddenly two powerful searchlights from tile east forts lighted up the Japanese lines, and rifles an« machine guns poured in a deadly fire into the clearly-visible ranks of the assaulters. Despite the awful character of the progress made and the terrible losses involved, re-

suiting in the annihilation of large sections, the Japanese stubbornly held toe positions they had gained, though -their machine guns ■were quickly located and silenced by the Russian quick-firers. Finally, the Japanese were slowly forced down the slopes of the bill. The Russians along the whole line fought in the blackest darkness, but the Japanese with the most dazzling light in their faces, flashed from the searchlights of the flanking forts. What might have been a successful general assault had the fort ridge east of Port Arthur been captured was converted by the Russian tactics into a repulse, which was redeemed in part by the wonderful fighting qualities of the Japanese, and by their refusal to accept what seemed to be the inevitable. They fought with splendid earnestness and tenacity, though hundreds fell through the terrible effectiveness of tne »earchlights. The Japanese casualties from the 19th to 4h» 24ih were 14>000 killed ggd wouaded.

The centre division alone lost 6000. Of on© regiment of 2500, only six officers and 200 men were left after the fight. The perfect co-operation of the Russian forts has proved the chief barrier to Japanese progress. It is illustrated in to-day's cables, where in assatilting Red Hill the Japanese had to run the gauntlet of a terrible cross-fire from flanking forts. Fojj this reason it was assumed that nothing short of a general assault, in which every fort would be obliged to look after itself, would serve the Japanese object.

In a message to the Daily Telegraph, published on November 3, Mr Bennet Burleigh, who had steamed across tlje front of Port Arthur, states that the immense Russian defence works had been greatly strengthened since he saw them in December. The steamer was stopped by a Japanese torpedoer, two of whose four funnels were canvas dummies. The Japanese have had resource to naval artifice while their ships were being refitted,- as reported in today's messages. Starlight shells are largely used by the Russians, in addition to searchlights to expose the Japanese night attacks. j A report recently reached Chi-fu that while a meal of stewed horse meat was luxury to the soldiers, the garrison had not then drawn upon its stock of tinned provisions. But for the criminal corruption that formerly existed, there would have been supplies sufficient to stand a two years' eiege. The approaches to the earthworks in front of the fort* which contain the machine guns <are bare, and the moment the Russians are driven from their machine-gun positions into the main forts the flanking batteries pour in their .deadly cross-fire. 203-Metre Hill was once before in possession of the Japanese. On the 20th of September a company of stormers secured a footing on the summit. The Russians, reinforced, attacked them, but, without food or water, this gallant band clung to the position, fighting until the night of the 22nd, when they retreated. Promises of medals and rewards were being offered Russian volunteers who took part in sorties.