Of guns, there were the following: two 6-inch, two heavy battery, and two quick-firing guns on the col between 203 Metre Hill and Akasaka Yama, also two 37-mm. guns, four machine guns, and one mortar for throwing pyroxylin bombs.
About 5 p.m. on the 19th the mortar was dismounted by a shell, and one 6-inch, one heavy, and two machine guns were disabled.
On the arrival of the companies the commandant disposed them as follows: the 1st Company of the 28th Regiment, and half the 11th Company of the 27th Regiment in the trenches on the right flank, the remainder in the reserve.
At 8.30 p.m., as the enemy was seen advancing on the left flank, the commandant sent half the 11th Company, 27th Regiment to occupy the stone-hewn trenches on the very top of the hill, so that it could pick off the Japanese as they climbed up on to the roofs of the bomb-proofs along the main trenches.
At that time there were no redoubts on the top of 203 Metre Hill.
The 7th Company, 27th Regiment was placed in reserve behind the 11th half-company.
The enemy did not for a second cease his rifle and machine-gun fire from Saddle Hill. He commenced his attacks at 10 p.m., advancing always in dense columns. Though our riflemen and gunners from the neighbouring batteries and trenches caused fearful havoc among the attackers, the Japanese nevertheless reached the wire entanglement and cut it in two places; however, they could not get any farther, as our volleys swept them away by the hundred. Our 8th Company, which was occupying False Hill, and was thus acting on the enemy’s flank, rendered great service in destroying the enemy. A few Japanese, however, succeeded in reaching our trenches, but, when there, were killed by hand grenades. Throughout the night the enemy’s infantry continued their attack, supported by fire from every kind of gun, but at about 9 a.m. they retired into the ravines and valleys behind Connecting Ridge. In these attacks the Japanese lost more than 1,500 men in killed alone.
At 7 a.m. on the 20th the enemy’s artillery swept the hill with fire, but about 10 a.m. changed its objective to Namako Yama, which was finally captured at 2 p.m., as already described. At 4 p.m. fire was again directed on 203 Metre Hill, and the enemy’s infantry began to concentrate behind Connecting Ridge.
The troops in question were collected in order to relieve those that had attacked the hill on the 7th. That night they made several attacks, one after the other, but each time were beaten back with heavy losses. We were greatly indebted to our star-rockets for the repulse of all these night attacks. However, a section of Japanese fought its way into our trenches, and occupied one large bomb-proof and one small one where we had a Maxim.[85]
The news of this reached me at daybreak on the 21st, on Akasaka Yama, where work was proceeding on the trenches, and whence I watched the fighting[86] on 203 Metre Hill. This intelligence was so alarming that I returned to the staff headquarters, where I found Colonel Irman, who, at Major Stempnevski’s request, sent up one company from the reserve (our 6th Company).