By half-past nine, the day had grown unpleasantly hot, and the men of the British contingent contrived to snatch a few minutes’ rest under the shadow of the mud wall, which proved to be an efficient sunshade, as well as a valuable shield. The furious musketry and artillery duel continued without cessation, and it seemed likely that the Japanese and Americans, devoid of all cover as they were, might be compelled to retire. Certain it is, that any further advance seemed fraught with such dangers that it was improbable the city would fall during the daytime. One may, therefore, judge of the surprise caused by a message to General Fukushima, that some Japanese troops had already gained a footing inside the walls. At the time it struck every one as being too improbable to be correct, but immediate action was necessary to support any body of men who might have won their way in, and on the earnest desire of the Naval Brigade’s commander to be given the post, the order was given that two companies of marines, and a company of bluejackets, should advance down the central road straight to the gate, and that another company of bluejackets should be sent to the aid of the Americans, who appeared to have suffered a serious check in their advance on the S.E. corner of the wall, and on the suburbs in their immediate front. With the first-named detachments went a half company of the Chinese regiment, who seemed every whit as keen on the chance of some desperate street-fighting as the sailors. The whole body marched through the captured arsenal and found, on the other side, a Japanese field battery, pounding away for all it was worth, at the south gate, receiving in return a heavy shell fire, and an equally heavy, but ill-directed rifle fire. This of course dashed the story, that the gate had fallen, to the ground, and on leaving the friendly cover of the houses, it became apparent that the party to be reinforced would not be reached without an advance, in which the elements of excitement and danger were not lacking, and in which the latter largely predominated. There were some 1200 yards to be covered, the ground to be crossed consisting of a straight, flat road about 15 yards wide, with canals on each side of it; at the other end, at a range of about 1900 yards, were 3000 riflemen with several guns, the whole in comparative safety; and the only opportunity for a spell of rest offered itself in the shape of two small huts about half-way. The marines led in single file at the double, and the other companies taking the movement up, there was soon a long Khaki and blue snake on the road, to serve as a target for the Chinamen. Scarcely had the rear of the line left cover, when the comparatively peaceful road became dotted with bullets, which, with the splashes in the adjacent canals, went to make the onlooker hold his breath with anxiety to see how long the fire would be in taking effect. It was not long, first one, and then two others, falling forward; but on the whole the casualties were surprisingly light during the first half of the journey. The looked-for rest at the half-way hut, which had held forth such an alluring prospect, turned out to be most uncomfortable, as the spot was semi-enfiladed from a walled prison on the left, and two more casualties took place. About three minutes saw the men again advancing, and as they emerged from the little stopping place, a withering fire came from the suburbs, the prison, and innumerable loopholes in the top of the city wall.
The Chinese must have been considerably upset at the general trend of events, for they missed an opportunity such as but seldom falls to the lot of any number of snugly entrenched troops. Every man should have been hit, so great was the expenditure of ammunition; but although the casualties were rather more numerous—three men being killed, and an officer and a dozen or so others wounded,—on the whole the force again escaped lightly. It was during the second advance that Midshipman Guy of the “Barfleur” gained his V.C. for bandaging a wounded man under this heavy fire, and eventually carrying him back to shelter, where unfortunately his wounds proved fatal. Everything comes to an end, and at last the houses were reached. These proved to be big enough to shelter the whole force, as well as the mixed detachments already there; the total number would be about 300, comprising Japanese, French, Austrians, marines, bluejackets, and some of the Chinese regiment. So crowded were the men at first, that those who were not energetic enough to explore for themselves, had to lie out in the rear of the centre house, a position which was open to fire from two sides; and it was not until a Frenchman and one of the Chinese regiment had been killed, that some of them began to look about them, and to make the most of the ample cover that there was. In order to eliminate the objectionably long term “the Author,” and to facilitate the flow of incident, I, who happened to be one of the midshipmen with the party, propose to take up the thread of the narrative:—
The wounded with us suffered frightfully, being without bandages and also without water, this latter being so near and yet so very far, for two men who crawled down to the muddy canals to fill water-bottles were both shot in the head; and in addition to our other troubles, a field gun made our position its objective, before we had been there an hour. Unlike the majority of gunners who served the Chinese artillery, the No. 1 of this gun made the most execrable shooting, and the first ten shells flew all more or less wide of the mark. The eleventh, however, entered the roof of one of the houses and burst in the little central courtyard, which luckily was untenanted. I have still in my possession the base and fuze of this shell, which so nearly levied toll on the crowded men just on the other side of the four enclosing walls. Half a minute passed, and we were still waiting for the twelfth, when our 12-pr., a mile and a quarter away, woke up, and caused the retirement of the tormentor. But for this relief at the eleventh hour, there can be no doubt that our position would have shortly become untenable. For the next few hours we laboured to put the position in a state of defence, but the fire became so hot, if even as much as an arm were shown, that it was impracticable to get much done. A Frenchman and a marine who were, contrary to orders, sniping from an improvised loophole, both got hit, the former fatally.
A very plucky exhibition of despatch-carrying was shown by three Japanese mounted orderlies, who were trying to reach the officer in command of the small Japanese detachment who shared our quarters, or to be more accurate, whose quarters we shared. They had come from the arsenal, and had reached the half-way hut safely. Here they dismounted, and one remounting, galloped towards us lying low in his saddle. He had barely got 50 yards when horse and man were rolled over lifeless. The second also rode to his death, but without a moment’s hesitation the third took his horse by the bridle, and leading it, managed to reach us safely amidst great excitement, only to lose his horse, which took fright at some bullet graze and galloped back whence they had come, pursued by a shower of bullets.
About the same time as this, another incident occurred with even more fatal results to the parties concerned. Lieutenant Oliphant, with two of the Chinese regiment and two mules, had already twice taken ammunition to the hard-pressed Americans, and he once more essayed the same task. In less than half-a-minute from the time of his leaving cover, men, mules, and ammunition lay in a heap on the ground, inert and lifeless. There is an adage which has it that “The third time does it.” It did!
The Americans for their part had suffered heavily, and for some reason, perhaps the comparative laxity of discipline which obtains in their service, they were beginning to show loss of morale, an adjunct of vital importance to troops in adverse circumstances. One man was heard to say “Guess I don’t mind scrapping of a kind, but may I go back and scrap in the Philippines for the rest of my mortal life, rather than any more of this.” He was so evidently in earnest that it was rather laughable, and one of the petty officers belonging to the company of bluejackets who had been sent to their support, took occasion to assure him that he would get used to it like himself, who had had that sort of amusement nearly every meal-time for four weeks! Undoubtedly their share of the fight had been an arduous one. They had to advance over difficult open ground, they had lost five officers, and though it appeared that they might have cleared the villages in their front with a little dash, it would perhaps have been a hazardous operation to undertake, considering their loss in men and morale. Failing an advance, there was nothing for them to do but hang on to their position until darkness, in order to prevent our centre from being enveloped by troops from the enemy’s left; to retire by daylight was, besides being bad strategy, demoralising and extremely dangerous. Thus this weary day dragged on, until at four o’clock in the afternoon, there seemed to be even less chance of getting into the city than had been the case at ten o’clock in the morning. At four o’clock, as no communication or further orders had been received either from General Dorward or Captain Burke, I was sent back with a note to each of them, asking for instructions in the one, and for a doctor—whom I met on the way—and food, water, stretchers, etc., in the other. My appearance was of course the signal for a furious but badly aimed fusilade, which continued until I had reached the arsenal, which I did after a most exciting run. I had only left our position about five yards when a bullet grazed my hand and took the skin off two of my knuckles, and I’ll bet I beat all records for the 100 yards. On my way, after this, a Frenchman passed me, bent on a similar errand in the opposite direction. He, poor fellow, when within 5 yards of me, fell with a splash into one of the canals. There was just time to glance at him before hurrying onwards, the result of the investigation being more flattering to Chinese marksmanship than one would have imagined, his wounds numbering two, either of which would have been sufficient to kill him. I had reason to feel sorry for the poor chap, because perhaps one had been meant for me! In the arsenal, preparations were being made for the night, and it was not without some seeking that the General was found, returning from personally placing the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in an excellent position for repulsing any attack on the left flank. In the rear were three thousand of the enemy’s infantry, and some cavalry and guns; with these the Japanese cavalry were in touch, but their presence in the vicinity necessitated very careful dispositions being made. Two companies of sailors were sent to occupy some few houses, in reality a tiny village, commanding the road, the only possible line of approach for cavalry, and their absence from the arsenal, which was to all intents our base, created a great scarcity of men there. This was however remedied by the return, under cover of darkness, of the Americans and the company of our sailors. Our wounded were also sent back to safety, and a cartful of water and food, which returned with me to our position on the road, served the double purpose of conveying provender in the outward trip, and being a comfortable conveyance for them on the homeward one.
The Allies’ arrangements were, that the main force of Japanese should press their attack right home on to the suburbs underneath the walls, and should occupy them, until plans had been completed to blow open the south gate, which it was proposed to do at four in the morning; also that our mixed force should maintain its position until the explosion was heard, when we were to immediately rush forward straight for the gate, which, together with the south wall, we had to occupy. We, in turn, were going to be relieved by the Americans and the other troops, who were all going to hurry up at the given signal. The utmost confidence prevailed, and after every one had partaken of some food and drink, it was felt on all hands that a great success awaited us on the morrow. Sentries were posted, positions assigned to the various contingents in case of a sortie, and the men lay down to get as much rest as possible. According to custom, a heavy fire was maintained by the Chinese all night long, but, with two exceptions, the night passed quietly. One was the wounding of a marine by a chance bullet, the other was caused by a party of Frenchmen who, on it commencing to rain, tried to crowd into a hut which was being used by some of our officers. On being cleared out they were most indignant, seeming to think that six feet, by ten feet, by six feet was ample accommodation for about thirty human beings, and they assured us that they were “bons camarades!” Perhaps they were, but, with the exception of a couple, they had to find shelter elsewhere.
At 4 a.m. the explosion took place as arranged, as we knew it must, for the Japanese, gallant little souls! broke their engagements to none, and showed their backs to nothing. We immediately stood to arms, and in five minutes’ time were running through the burning gateway to fulfil our share in the general plan. The Japanese were seen to be engaged in some half-hearted street-fighting, which was becoming rapidly less; and organised resistance soon ceased. Next in, were our marines, and the Chinese regiment; after them the French. The manner in which these excitable men behaved was almost contemptible. They planted their little tricolors all along the south wall, they shook each other by the hand, six buglers mounted the wall and blew a fanfare of trumpets, and finally, to their shame be it said, they fired volleys into masses of fugitives pouring out of the west gate, among whom were many women. By their behaviour, an outsider would have judged that to them, and to them alone, belonged the credit of the city’s fall. For some hours the various troops were engaged in clearing the city, and the villages on the north side of it, which were full of snipers who kept up a brisk fire until turned out of it by the Japs, who pushed right on and helped the Russians take the city fort, which was the last point of resistance. The Russians and Germans on the other side of the river, had experienced the same serious opposition on the 13th, and had but partially succeeded, like ourselves; but in a similar manner the morning of the 14th brought better luck, and by noon on that day the city with all its surroundings was undisputedly in the hands of the Allies.