“Sounds as if both sides had every battery into play,” went on Gilbert.
Soon after this they were ordered to move forward on the double-quick. Away went the soldiers, each carrying his heavy baggage and his gun as if they weighed nothing at all.
The battalion had been discovered by a Russian battery, and soon came some shells which did considerable damage. They could not reply to this, but kept on, until a grove of trees gave them temporary relief. Their course was now almost directly for Tiger Hill.
The shock of battle to follow was probably the heaviest that the young Americans had ever experienced. At first they had the Russian batteries to overcome, and then they found themselves face to face with several Russian regiments well-known for their heroism and soldierly qualities. It was a fight “to the finish,” as Ben afterward expressed it, and every foot of the ground was contested.
“Phew! but this is fighting,” declared Gilbert, after they had been at it for hours. “Talk about getting into close quarters. If we are beaten, we’ll be caught like rats in a trap.”
“But we are not going to be beaten, Gilbert,” answered his chum. “Just listen to that.”
Close at hand a Japanese regiment was fighting desperately. The flags were to the front, and each soldier was yelling “Banzai!” at the top of his lungs. They had often shouted that word themselves, for Banzai is the Japanese for hurrah.
They were now going up Tiger Hill proper. On all sides the shells were dropping, and the hillside was thick with smoke and with the bodies of the dead and the wounded. The sight was enough to sicken them, but they did not dare to give it a second thought. They must do or die, that was all there was to it.
“Forward—for the honor of Japan!” was the Japanese cry. “Forward for the Mikado!” And forward they did go, up one rocky slope after another. And while this advance was being made, a Japanese flotilla of gunboats steamed up the Yalu as far as Antung, shelling that town and also several other Russian strongholds.
Pressed from in front and on both sides, the Russian commander at Tiger Hill knew not what to do, and was gradually forced to retreat, which he did by crossing the Ai River not far above where that stream flows into the Yalu. Here were some hills, and he lost no time in fortifying them as best he could. It is said that he wished to retreat still further, but his superiors would not allow him to do so.