The Russian Fleet between Two Fires
Meanwhile, leaving the sappers to their insidious task on the east, the Japanese artillerists were swift to take advantage of the new position won for them on the west. From the summit of 203 Metre Hill, the whole town and harbor of Port Arthur lay revealed, and the remnant of the Russian fleet which lay sheltered there could no longer escape the searching attentions of the Japanese shells. The great howitzers, firing their 500 lb. projectiles, and the big naval guns were quickly moved into position, and, directed from the observation station on 203 Metre Hill, they began to drop shot after shot on the helpless men-of-war. So perfect was the command, that it was possible for the besiegers to count every day the hits they made, and to specify the particular ships against which they had been recorded. One after another these mighty vessels succumbed to the incessant pounding that they received, and in a few days the four battleships Retvisan, Peresviet, Pobieda and Poltava, and the armored cruiser Bayan were reported sunk or damaged so as to be unseaworthy. Only the Sevastopol remained, and she temporarily escaped to the outer roadstead, with consequences that will be related presently. These ships were the real objective of the siege. Their disablement preserved Japan from her most serious menace; but next to that consummation, their capture was a point of primary importance. The Japanese naturally desired not only to render these powerful vessels useless to their adversaries, but to make them useful to themselves. Accordingly, having made sure that the ships were injured beyond the power of the Port Arthur docks to repair them, the besiegers were careful to inflict no further damage on them. By the 12th the Japanese gunners had attained their object, and the Sevastopol was the only seaworthy survivor of the Russian squadron; and attention was forthwith turned to her from another direction. Admiral Togo, whose fleet had been cruising outside Port Arthur to shut off the natural avenue of escape for the wretched Russian fleet, now directed his torpedo-boats to attack the battleship Sevastopol as she lay at her moorings in the outer roadstead. Her position was exactly that which the whole Pacific squadron had occupied on the fateful night of February 6th, when the first stroke of war was delivered, and Russia's best two battleships were put out of action. But this time the advantage of a surprise attack was out of the question. The commander of the Sevastopol well knew what to expect, and had taken his precautions accordingly. An enormous boom had been constructed round the hull of the warship, and an elaborate system of netting had been hung from it to defy the approach of any torpedo. On the other hand, however, the fire of the shore batteries was no longer a substantial auxiliary in repelling torpedo attack; and the whole organization of the port defences was more or less impaired, if not destroyed. On the night of the 12th of December, and thrice again on the night of the 13th, the intrepid torpedo-craft of the Japanese fleet steamed into the roadstead and fired their terrible engines of destruction at the ill-fated battleship. But the boom proved on these occasions an impenetrable defence; so the attack was again renewed—this time in a blinding snowstorm. Two flotillas were engaged. The one lost its direction owing to the snow and the glare of the enemy's searchlights; but the second flotilla reached its mark, and discharged torpedoes at the Sevastopol, on which at least two took effect. The boats became separated in the storm, and one never returned to the main fleet—being either sunk by a shot or swamped by the very high seas that were running. To add to the difficulty of the enterprise, the weather was bitterly cold, and the decks of the vessels were coated with ice from the freezing of the spray that broke over them. When morning broke, those who had been engaged in this desperate enterprise were rewarded by the sight of the Sevastopol perceptibly down at the stern. A few days later the vessel was so disabled that she had to be run aground. The spirit in which this daring attack was carried out may be gathered from the following extracts from Admiral Togo's official dispatches:—
"While retreating, one torpedo boat was struck several times. Her commander, Lieutenant Nakahara, and five other men were killed. The boat lost her freedom of motion, and Lieutenant Nakahara's boat went to the rescue. Notwithstanding a heavy fire, she continued her effort to save the disabled vessel. When she had her in tow, the hawser was severed by the enemy's shells, and Lieutenant Nakahara's boat was also hit, and one man killed. Subsequently several shells hit and almost disabled Lieutenant Nakahara's boat, and forced him to abandon his sister ship, which was in a sinking condition. Lieutenant Nakahara, however, steamed back and rescued the crew, who were abandoning the boat. Commander Kawase's boat, of the same flotilla, was struck by a shell, which killed one man and wounded Lieutenant Takahashi and two sailors. Lieutenant Shoro's boat was also hit, one man being killed and five wounded. The boat was temporarily disabled, but the ships commanded by Lieutenants Wataehe and Mori stood by her and rescued all the men. The other vessels, bravely facing the enemy's fire, succeeded in delivering their attacks without sustaining damage.... It is a source of satisfaction that our torpedo attacks were delivered without the least confusion; each boat rendered material assistance to her comrades. The skill in manœuvring and the bravery displayed by our officers and men inspire me with a deep feeling of satisfaction and confidence."
A Japanese Hero
Commander Yezoe's flotilla was under repairs when the attack was planned. He succeeded in putting one of his torpedo-boats into fighting condition, and steamed to the rendezvous, where he found that the other flotillas had already left. His entreaty that he should be permitted to join in the attack was granted, and steaming alone through the blinding snow, he succeeded in locating the Sevastopol. Approaching close enough to hear the Russians talking, he fired a torpedo, and then, going in still closer, he discharged another torpedo at the battleship. A shell from the Sevastopol struck Commander Yezoe in the abdomen, and cut his body in two. His remains were saved and brought back to the fleet.
Tunnels and Hand Grenades
The complete destruction or disablement of the remnant of the Russian fleet seems to have had a dispiriting effect, as well it might have, on the defenders of Port Arthur, for from this moment the vigor of their resistance to assault perceptibly waned. In proportion the confidence and resolution of the Japanese increased, and before long their unremitting exertions were rewarded with another substantial success. Hitherto their assaults on the eastern defences of Port Arthur had met with but little success. In spite of all their sacrifices the great permanent forts stood firm; but by the middle of December their new methods of sapping and mining achieved the long-desired breach in the iron ring, and East Keekwanshan fort was captured. A mine had been tunnelled right up to the parapet of the fort, and in the afternoon of December 18th the mine was exploded, bringing down an avalanche of earth and masonry that filled up the ditch in its fall, and made a rude but practicable staircase up the deep counter-scarp into the interior of the fort. The Japanese troops, lying ready in their trenches, sprang forward to the breach before the garrison could recover from the discomfiture of the explosion, and poured into the inner works, flinging their terrible hand-grenades at all who opposed their impetuous charge. But after the first surprise, the Russians recovered and stood their ground, and by turning machine guns on the assailants, held them for a time at bay. While the issue still hung in the balance, however, General Samejuna, at the head of the Japanese reserves, flung himself into the fighting line, and a last great charge swept the fort clear of its dogged defenders. The fight lasted for no less than ten hours, and immediately it was won the Japanese entrenched themselves to make their hold secure. The attack, in this case, was entrusted to two bodies of volunteers, who, in calm anticipation of their probable fate, had fastened to their clothing badges of identification, so that the corpses should be recognizable in spite of the disfiguring effects of the explosion of hand-grenades. One-half of these devoted men charged from their trenches too eagerly after the mine had been fired, with the result that most of them were buried beneath the falling debris. The nature and extent of the mining operations which made the capture of East Keekwanshan practicable may be gathered from the fact that two tunnels 40 feet long had been dug out, and that both tunnels terminated in four branches, in each of which a separate mine was laid. Four quick-firers, five field guns, and four machine guns, and a large quantity of rifles and ammunition, were among the spoils that fell to the victors in this assault. Only twenty men of the garrison escaped down a covered way, which they blocked behind them by the explosion of mines. The fort captured, though not one of the strongest of those on the eastern ridge, was yet of great importance to the besiegers, because it opened the way to the greater forts beyond, and this success was speedily followed by others on the other side of Port Arthur. Operating between Pigeon Bay and the Metre range, the Japanese captured several minor heights on which the Russians had mounted guns. Thus they continued to advance steadily to the isolation of the western defences; and the only comfort which the anxious authorities in St. Petersburg could enjoy was that to be derived from a dispatch of General Kuropatkin, in which the Commander-in-Chief in Manchuria announced that, according to Chinese reports, the garrison of Port Arthur had recaptured 203 Metre Hill, "with the guns placed there by the enemy." The Chinese do nothing by halves, not even lying.
JAPANESE ELEVEN-INCH MORTAR BEFORE PORT ARTHUR.
The Japanese Capture Urlungshan