The 18th was a lovely day—bright, sunny, and calm. Silence reigned all along the front, save for the usual intermittent rifle fire, and on the forts the sentries alone were to be seen. Fort Chi-kuan-shan was still in a very critical state. The Japanese held the counter-scarp, and the explosion of their mines was momentarily expected. The garrison had been greatly decreased, and were tired out. It was impossible to find reliefs for the ordinary duties even; much less could this exhausted, weakened body of men be asked to make any special effort that might be done by fresh troops. The feeling among them at the appointment of Fock, who had for long been nicknamed 'The General of Retreats,' was apathetic. He didn't consider it necessary to go to the fort himself to encourage his sorely-tried men; they only knew him by his prophesies of their death and the awful pictures he had painted of the destruction of the forts by the enemy's shells.
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NORTH FORT, CHI-KUAN-SHAN, SHOWING GREEN HILLS IN THE DISTANCE.
It was the day upon which the Japanese had decided to make an end of the fort, and for which they had made all preparations. At 11 a.m.—a time when the trench-guards were usually relieved and there was always noise and movement—their troops told off for the storm[Pg 285]ing were quietly moved up and collected in the last approaches, where they awaited the explosion of the mines. The men told off for this 'forlorn hope' were divided into two parties. One party, who had red bands on their arms, was moved towards the caponiers; on the explosion it was to storm the interior of the fort. On their shoulders the second party from the last approach were to climb. If these did not manage to drive out our men, they were to be reinforced by all their available troops, who were to overcome the garrison by sheer weight of numbers.
Just about a quarter-past one a volcano seemed to burst from the parapet, and with a roar and the shock of an earthquake a huge black cloud of dust and smoke shot up to the sky. This was followed by a second eruption. For a moment there was comparative calm; then the sky commenced to rain beams, boulders, stones, masses of concrete, sacks, bodies, while on the rear of the fort (to catch our reinforcements) fell a hail of shells. Our men, shaken for a moment by the suddenness of all this, and expecting a third explosion, dashed for safety; but they quickly rallied behind the parapet of the prepared retrenchment, from whence they opened a heavy fire on those madly gallant stormers with red bands, who showed themselves on the fort. So impatient were they, and so quick was their advance, that our men could see them being buried under the falling stones and masses of masonry hurled into the air by the explosions.
The nearest batteries—Tumulus, Laperoff's, Zaredoubt, and B—opened a murderous fire on all the approaches, thus paralysing further assaults and preventing the enemy from crowning the craters of their mines. Consequently, this face of the fort, with its destroyed revetment, became neutral ground. Our gunners, shooting splendidly, glued the enemy to the spot, and did not allow them to advance[Pg 286] a yard; but their skill was wasted, for General Fock took no advantage of it. He did not reinforce the garrison, as he should have done, and thus enable them to crown the craters, and so again establish themselves on the outer parapet. Meanwhile the enemy were holding on, preparing themselves for another assault, and our men behind the thin parapet of the retrenchment were suffering heavily.
It was the psychological moment, the crisis. Had reinforcements been sent up, they would have turned the scale, and Chi-kuan-shan would have been saved, but General Fock seems to have made up his mind at the first explosion that the fort must be abandoned. To be exact, a reinforcement of a company of sailors from the Pobieda and Peresvet was sent up by Smirnoff; but coming under a heavy fire on their way, few reached the fort, and they were not sufficiently numerous to render much assistance.
So it continued till night. When darkness came on the enemy again dashed to the attack, at the same time turning all their guns on to the ground in our rear to prevent the approach of supports. A hand-to-hand fight ensued. Both sides fought like lions, or rather devils; but the more of the enemy that we killed the more seemed to appear. They even dragged two mountain guns up on to the parapet, and got to work with them at close range, and then the scene, lit up by the cold beams of the searchlights and the dazzling glare of star-shell and rockets, indeed seemed like hell let loose. The fort's hours were numbered, for without reinforcements it could not last for ever—and no reinforcements came.
While it was in its death agony, the higher authorities were engaged in correspondence.
[Pg 287]
Telephone Message from General Fock to General Gorbatovsky. 7.40 p.m., December 18, 1904.
'General St?ssel has given orders that the casemates of Chi-kuan-shan Fort are to be at once mined, and then, if the Japanese do not withdraw from the fort—i.e., from the parapet—the garrison is to retire and the casemates are to be blown up. The enemy are not to be allowed to establish themselves on the parapet, which must be fired on by the guns and the torpedo tube. In view of Captain Stepanoff's report, to the effect that before sunset he and Colonel Mekhmandaroff could see from Big Eagle's Nest only one Jap officer and three men on the parapet laying sand-bags, I leave it to you to hold on to the fort so long as you think necessary. In giving this order, based on my report, General St?ssel came to this decision only because he thought that under present circumstances no other course was possible. At sunset a sailor came to me and reported that by the explosion of a bomb thrown by the enemy we had had 15 casualties.'
Telephone Message from General Gorbatovsky to the Staff of the General Officer Commanding Land Front (Fock). 9.35 p.m., December 18, 1904.
'From Chi-kuan-shan it is reported that heavy casualties are occurring from grenades thrown by the enemy. We have not been able to reoccupy the parapet. I therefore propose to avail myself of your permission to blow up the casemates, and I have ordered the garrison to hold on till our sappers have got the mines ready. As a precautionary measure and to cover the garrison during the retirement, please move one company temporarily from the main reserve to the Ice-house. I am just going to Colonel Glagoleff to give the necessary instructions on the spot.'
Telephone Message from Colonel Dmitrevsky (Chief Staff Officer to General Fock) to General Gorbatovsky. 9.40 p.m., D............