The following is the account of the final struggle for 203 Metre Hill as I heard it from Captain Sirotko.
About 1 p.m. on December 5 the 9th Company[122] was moved from the staff headquarters to 203 Metre Hill. Thirty-six men of the Medical Corps had just been added to it, so that it now consisted of one company officer, two acting ensigns, and 102 rank and file. General Kondratenko in person gave the company an order to reach the hill as quickly as possible.
Under a heavy rifle fire, which caused several casualties, the company reached the foot of 203 Metre Hill about 2 p.m. Just as it reached the hill, the Japanese captured the whole of the crest-line and began sweeping the road in rear with rifle fire and throwing down stones and hand grenades. Our 6th Company, posted on the reverse slopes, suffered heavily from these missiles.
The trench above the road was full of riflemen of various companies and units, but they could not be induced to leave their cover.
Therefore, Lieutenant-Colonel Saifoolin ordered the 9th Company to advance across the open to the left of the trench. Under a hail of bullets, stones, and grenades, the company charged up with the bayonet and drove the enemy out of the ruined trench on the crest-line. Then the remainder of the men, encouraged by their comrades’ success, made a rush for the summit.
The company, with Captain Sirotko, Acting Ensigns Lesenkov and Grouzdev, and the squad and section commanders at its head, then rushed out of the position it had just taken, and charged over the crest, supported on its right flank by the 6th Company under Captain Sazonov and Second-Lieutenant Goudkov. They were, however, met by such a storm of bullets, shrapnel, and grenades, that in a few moments they lost half their men, Second-Lieutenant Goudkov being very severely wounded.
Captain Sirotko was badly wounded in the head and arm, and, losing consciousness, fell backwards down the hill. When he came to himself, all the men had again retreated into the trench, which was wreathed in flames on its left flank where the telephone bomb-proof stood. All the officers were now hors de combat, except on the right flank, where Lieutenant-Colonel Pokrovski, who had replaced Lieutenant-Colonel Saifoolin, badly wounded while commandant of the hill, was still unhurt. Two more attacks—one led by Lieutenant-Colonel Pokrovski, the other by Colonel Irman—were equally unsuccessful, and cost us dear. Nevertheless, our men still clung to the rear slopes of the hill.
About midnight, when Captain Sirotko had been attended to and had somewhat recovered, General Kondratenko, who was at the staff headquarters, sent him four midshipmen and an acting ensign of the 27th Regiment, under whom another attack on the Japanese above might be made. By this time, however, the enemy had succeeded in dragging some machine guns to the top of the hill, which was now strongly held. Realizing this, and that enormous losses would be incurred in any further attacks, Colonel Irman decided to evacuate the hill, and gave the order for a general retreat.
It is a pity that we did not adopt the Japanese tactics, of overwhelming the enemy with gun fire and then seizing the hill without loss.