Besides fortifying the position, I had to build shelters for the reserves and stores for small-arm ammunition in the fortress itself.
I detailed two companies of the 7th Division for this work, utilizing all the material we could find in the town. Having no sapper officer with me, I had personally to supervise everywhere—on the advanced positions as well as in the town. It was a great help that the officers of the 5th Regiment were, thanks to constant practice, excellent sappers.
We could only obtain tools with great difficulty and from various sources. Most of them we got from Colonel Grigorenko, commanding the Engineers in the fortress, and from the railway authorities.
The number of men given me to carry out the work which I had been ordered to do was insufficient, so I asked if I could employ the whole of my regiment. I received permission early in June, and moved the regimental staff to Division Hill, where we made ourselves very snug, pitching a huge marquee and getting our field kitchen into working order.
Generals Kondratenko, Smirnov, and Stessel came out to us fairly frequently. Our work progressed rapidly, as we had got over the tool difficulty, but we had very few barrows, etc., for transporting the earth.
A stubborn defence having been determined upon, it was necessary to construct a great number of splinter-proofs as well as shelters for ourselves and our kitchens; and for this we needed an abundant supply of beams and planks.
Besides this activity we had constantly to send detachments to the advanced positions held by the regiments of the 4th Division.
Other regiments continually borrowed the tools I had collected, but did not return them.
I frequently went on long personal reconnoitring tours, during which I made myself acquainted with the advanced positions and their fortifications.
It seems that General Fock expected that the Japanese would most probably attack our position across the flat stretch of country between the hills and the sea. In any case, he paid most attention to fortifying this particular part of the position. To me, however, it was very clear how difficult it would be to attack a fortified position across the open under effective gun and rifle fire. Not even taking into account the Japanese love of hill-fighting, it was obvious that the hills were by far the best point of attack, and these General Fock wished to have defended only by the scout detachments.