At 5 p.m. I mounted my horse and rode to 203 Metre Hill. Father Vasili gave me a small silver crucifix as a charm, which I put on.
I reached the foot of the hill. In the ravine near the dressing station was a countless crowd of wounded and unwounded men. The rear slopes of the hill were covered with men lying in different postures, wounded men who had died on their way back. The reserve company was standing under arms, the men flattening themselves close up against the cliff, while shells were exploding all around. The top of the hill was wreathed in smoke from the bursting of every kind of projectile.
Having left my horse near the dressing station, and called up all the unwounded men who were taking shelter under the hill, I started to climb up, and reached the top of the road without a scratch.
Here a truly awful scene of ruin met my eyes. The light plank bomb-proofs, which were built out from the steep side of the cutting along which the road ran, were almost all destroyed and were choked with mangled bodies and torn fragments of human limbs. The whole road was simply blocked with broken beams and dead bodies.
Stepping over all this, and slipping about on the planks, which were saturated with blood, I reached the telephone bomb-proof, which had by some marvel been left untouched. Here I found the commandant and several officers, all apparently at a loss as to what action to take.
BLINDAGES ON 203 METRE HILL WRECKED BY SHELL FIRE. THE MEN ARE SITTING AMONGST THE RUINS OF A BLINDAGE COMPLETELY DESTROYED BY A 11-INCH SHELL.
p. 236]
In a few words the commandant explained the situation to me. It was even worse than I had anticipated, and something had to be done instantly.
All the reserves had been used up, so we formed one out of the men I had brought with me. Although both breastworks were in the hands of the Japanese, our men were holding on like grim death to the ground in rear of them, the blindages, narrow passages, and communication trenches. The whole of the space between the two breastworks was still in our possession. The lower, circular trench was almost completely wrecked, but our men were still firmly lodged in the few untouched parts of it. It thus seemed to me that we must drive out the Japanese by one well-directed blow, and that, moreover, this would not be a difficult matter.