Chapter XXXV

THE LAST STRUGGLE.

The end was drawing near. Under cover of darkness attacks were made on Bastion Hill and the heights to the South-east. They began at one in the morning and were attended with some loss, the enemy using hand grenades charged with tiny sharp-edged lozenges of steel that inflicted cruel wounds. At five o’clock a general advance was ordered, and we occupied the heights on the other side of the stream North of Bastion Hill. Progress, however, was very slow, the Russians remaining in strong position to the North whence they maintained a heavy cannonade. The army on our left continued to harass the railway North of Yentai, and strove to drive the enemy into the mountainous region on the East. The operations of the 12th were not very effective, though preparations had been made to envelope the Russians in three loops--one on the East, another on the South, a third on the West.

The 13th witnessed events of supreme importance, and was made memorable by one of the most desperate and daring encounters that history records. North of Temple Hill rises a cluster of mountains united by broad ridges, and from the centre of which springs a lofty peak. Here the Russians were entrenched in force, and it was necessary to expel them before any further advance could be made. These heights lay directly in the path of the Okasaki brigade, which has distinguished itself for reckless courage and stubborn tenacity. Covered by the fire of six batteries at the foot of Bastion Hill and on the plain to the North-east, this brigade advanced to the assault. As they crossed the valley they came under heavy artillery fire from guns posted on the Northern heights. The movement began at dawn, and the sun was still low in the heavens when at the base of the mountains appeared lines of khaki and blue. Here progress was arrested. Stormed at by shot and shell the Japanese clung close to the side of the hill. Overhead screamed the shrapnel of their batteries searching the crest and reverse slope. From summit and ridge a brigade of the enemy swept their front with a blizzard of lead. Over the heads of the Russians, too, came the shells of their own batteries. It was a strange artillery duel, and raged with unabated fury the live-long day, making that cluster of brown hills a real inferno.

To advance looked impossible; to remain seemed certain death. Yet the Japanese held fast with amazing courage. As the sun drew near to the West we saw them creeping slowly up the hill. Russians came out of the trenches over the crest and poured into the prostrate ranks volley after volley. Guns drove them back to cover and the Japanese struggled upward a few paces. Again the rifles appeared above and again they vanished under the showers of shrapnel. So the conflict went on hour after hour, and with every hour we saw that our thinned lines were advancing.

It was nearly six o’clock in the evening when a company struggled to the summit. Then was witnessed a terrible combat that held us breathless. Every movement was distinctly visible from the plain. Thirty or forty men of that gallant company had resolved to capture the hill or die. Springing to their feet they dashed toward the enemy, who rose to meet them. The onset was fierce, but the advantage was altogether in favour of the defenders. Against that terrible fusilade no man could stand however brave and reckless. The survivors of the little band turned and fled. One man did not stop till he reached the bottom of the hill. Undismayed, another section ran forward and was rolled back, leaving several dark figures prone on the slope.

Out of this carnage rose a handful of desperate men. Without pause or hesitation they charged right to the crest. Fronting them stood a line of stalwart Russians, and again we saw as in a troubled dream the bloody work of bayonet. In a minute or two the end came. Another company ran forward to the edge of the slope, and over the summit tumbled the fragments of the heroic defence.

When I passed over the hill it was strewn with dead--many of whom had fallen under shrapnel fire. To the onlooker it is often a surprise that any survive these fierce assaults, but experience has shown that rifles at two hundred yards are less dangerous than at one thousand yards. The aim is less steady; the firing is nearly always wild, and most of the shots fly overhead. The slaughter begins a few moments after flight.

In this attack the Okasaki Brigade received indirect aid from a brigade of Guards who engaged the enemy on the East. A battalion advanced toward the high ground, two companies extended three paces apart, a second company at a distance of six hundred yards, and a third in column. They crossed the open, the leading company at the double, the other companies at a walk. The second line suffered, but the advance was not checked, and in time the troops came to the village of Karikilon at the foot of the hill. Here the second line took cover, while the first continued its rapid progress. The hill was steep; the grass was slippery, and there was no room for an extended front. The casualties were many, and two more companies were sent to reinforce. Ammunition ran short, but the attack was pressed until many of the Japanese came within twelve paces of the enemy’s first line of trenches. Realising that the loss of this hill would bring disaster upon their entire force, the Russians fought with stubborn courage. Fresh troops poured into the trenches and prepared to deliver a counter attack, but at the critical moment the artillery of the Guards opened with so much vigour and accuracy that the counter attack had to be abandoned.

Still the Japanese were unable to advance, and in order to retain their ground were obliged to entrench. Two more companies, under Colonel Ota, went forward to aid their sorely-pressed comrades, and throwing aside everything except rifle and bayonet, rushed into the heart of the battle.

“It is life or death!” shouted their commander as they swept into the firing line, and carrying the other companies with them, charged the trenches.

Nothing could withstand so fierce an onset. The first position was won, but the enemy clung gallantly to the second line of trenches, and their artillery devastated the front. Colonel Ota essayed an assault from a valley to the right, but was slain with a hundred of his men. Lieutenant Nakamura, sword in one hand and the flag of the Rising Sun in the other, fell within a few paces from the Russian trench, and the narrow valley was heaped up with dead and dying. The assault had failed, but the enemy withdrew in the night.

The way was now open for further advance, and after sunset two brigades marched North, and drove the enemy from the heights on which their guns were posted. These guns inflicted severe losses on the infantry, and delayed so long that they ought to have been captured. But the advance was not quick enough, and only ammunition wagons fell into our hands. Next day--the 14th--the enemy was retreating hurriedly on all sides, and strenuous efforts were made to close in the three loops. While the army of the West pressed hard upon the railway and fought with the object of turning the enemy’s right flank, the army of the Centre drove them back upon the Sandy river. Here the Russians did not escape without enormous losses. Across a broad cultivated valley North of the heights stormed on the previous day runs a low range of hills. Upon two of these eminences the enemy were entrenched, and had a strong rearguard of infantry to cover the retreat. Against this position the Japanese advanced in the afternoon. I watched them from a neighbouring hill as they approached from a flank and moved steadily forward in extended order under heavy rifle fire. But it was soon manifest that the _morale_ of the enemy had been shaken by the disasters of the preceding days, for the resistance was not great. The hill on the South-west was carried with a rush, while that toward the East was still defended. Pressing slowly onward, the infantry drove the enemy across the low saddle, over which two or three thousand Russians were retiring. Then began the slaughter. The retreating force was caught between two rapidly converging fires. From the summit of the Western hill the Japanese swept the saddle and the plain beyond with rifle fire, while from the East came advancing lines. Through this deadly pass streamed the enemy. It was a spectacle terrible to behold. Over a thousand dead bodies marked the path of the Russians, yet never a white flag was raised. Even on the plain they did not escape. Shrapnel pursued them beyond the banks of the river. On our right flank the pursuit was not so vigorous though the enemy suffered very severely, leaving many dead and wounded on the field. Our men were too exhausted to continue the carnage. They had fought without rest for seven days and the units had become mixed. On the night of the 14th hostilities were practically suspended. We were in possession of the South bank of the Sha-ho, and the Russians were entrenching on the North bank.

Thus ended General Kuropatkin’s offensive movement. Fifty guns fell into our hands. We buried ten thousand dead Russians--funeral pyres blazed in every direction; and everywhere we came upon new and ghastly evidences of the disaster that had overtaken the enemy.