“Yah, I look after him,” answered the German sharpshooter “Poor Tan! and he vos vonts to fight so pad, too.”
“Fortunes of war,” returned Gilbert laconically; and then he ran off at top speed, in the direction Major Okopa’s command had taken.
He found the battalion fighting desperately. They were moving up a long hill, at the top of which was planted a Russian battery. To the left was a long line of intrenchments, filled with Russian soldiers, and bullets and shells were whistling and screaming through the air as thickly as ever.
Had the infantry been compelled to face what was before them unaided, the Japanese victory might not have been so complete. But the Japanese batteries had now located the Russian intrenchments, and shells and shrapnel were poured into them, turning them into veritable slaughter pens. But from these same intrenchments the enemy fired steadily on the advancing sons of Nippon, and many a red banner went down in the dust and smoke.
At last Gilbert and Ben found themselves close together once more. The companies were climbing from rock to rock up the long slope, utilizing every shelter as best they could. All around them the battle continued, up and down and across the river.
“Hurrah, the Russians are retreating!” was the cry of the Japanese, about ten o’clock. The news proved true, some of the batteries and infantry were moving back to Hon-mu-tang, on the road to Feng-wang-cheng.
The fact that the enemy was falling back was hailed with savage delight by the Japanese, and forward they went with vigor, charging over the wide plain behind the hill. Here occurred some bloody hand-to-hand conflicts, and one Russian regiment, the Eleventh Siberian, was almost surrounded and captured. But a priest who chanced to be along ordered a bayonet charge, and led the way to safety by running ahead holding aloft a crucifix.
Antung had been abandoned, the Russians setting fire to the town before leaving, and now Kiu-lien-cheng was likewise evacuated. Re-enforcements were expected by the soldiers of the Czar, but they did not come up in time to be of use in stemming the sweeping advance of the Japanese.
It was now that Gilbert and Ben fully realized what the Japanese soldiers could do when put to it. They fought like very demons and never seemed to grow weary of charging and of using either gun or bayonet. Many were without ammunition, but to this they gave scant attention. Those who were wounded but slightly still kept at the struggle, with blood pouring from their faces and bodies. They were fighting for their beloved Mikado and fair Nippon, and to die would be glory. Never once, even under the heaviest fire, did they think of retreating.
“We haven’t learned the meaning of that word,” said Major Okopa grimly, to Gilbert, as he wiped the sweat of battle from his brow. “Were some to retreat without orders, I imagine they would be court-martialed and beheaded.”