we now come to the culmination of the tragedy, and perhaps the bloodiest scene of carnage of the whole war—the fight for, and capture of, 203 metre hill. for now the enemy, foiled in their desperate attempts to precipitate matters in the north-east, confined themselves on that side to the slow but sure progress afforded by mine warfare, and turned the whole fury of their attack on to our western front, of which 203 metre hill was the key. it was of this hill—the scene of eight days of the most desperate fighting—that st?ssel had said in may:
'why are heavy guns being mounted here? they are quite unnecessary. when necessary, i will send a field battery up, and the devil himself will not be able to come near it: all the approaches to it can be distinctly seen.'
but the japs knew its value, and knew that if they could take it they would be able to destroy the fleet, which would practically mean the end of the war. nogi, under pressure from head-quarters, decided to take the hill at all costs, and to take it quickly. he was not afraid of losses; he only wanted 203 metre hill.
in november, at the beginning of the attack, the place, though covered with fire and communicating trenches, was, as regards fortification and armament, very weak. everything possible had been done by colonel tretiakoff to protect the 6-inch guns mounted on its highest point by[pg 244] means of improvised protection of rails, beams, sheet-iron, stones, and earth. on the 27th the attack commenced and followed the usual course. for some hours the top of the hill was enveloped in the smoke of the shells bursting over it; then the japanese quickly, and in lines, crept up the steep slopes, and the assault began. they fought and fought like fiends—fought till exhausted, till they lost consciousness, one of their battalions being literally swept from the face of the earth. it was dark before the last of them was driven off and the fighting ceased; but there was no rest, for all dug throughout the night—in many cases dug their own graves. at dawn a single shot echoed forth from the besieging lines, and in a few seconds the hill was again a smoking crater—the focus of the concentrated fire of many guns, whose shells were bursting in clusters. then the assault commenced and continued the whole day. the commandant, keenly observant of what was happening all along the front, was always ready with reserves to forestall the enemy in strength wherever the latter chose to deliver his blow. with a defensive line of eighteen miles the initiative was, of course, with the besiegers, but the commandant was able to counter. the messages from the hill became more and more urgent. kondratenko asked and begged for reinforcements, but the local reserves had already all been absorbed into the firing line: only one thing was left—to combine forces; and smirnoff sent échelons from the main reserve to tea valley.
and what were st?ssel's staff doing all this time? some were reading copies of telephone messages sent to the commandant, and st?ssel was breakfasting, writing orders, eating, sleeping, eating again, and again sleeping. what happened at the front he only heard at fourth-hand. he had no telephone to his house—he hated telephones—and having nothing to do, he now took an interest in the town guard, and decided to send them up to the trenches[pg 245] on the hill. general smirnoff protested. he fully appreciated their worth, but he could not allow them to go into the advanced positions, for though very keen and brave, they were ill-disciplined and had little training, so that they could not be expected to take the place of regulars. the commandant always regarded them as his last military reserve. having, through the mediation of kondratenko, persuaded st?ssel of this, he insisted on their being appointed to the hospitals as attendants, to replace the regulars, who were sent to the front. st?ssel hated these civilian soldiers: why, i do not know.
on the night of the 28th, 203 metre hill was still ours, and from dawn next morning it was again the object of the same artillery fire. the whole of the defensive line anxiously watched to see what would take place on its top. for two days now it had withstood the fiercest and most insistent attacks of our gallant foe. its garrison, already reinforced from the reserve, in spite of bravery which equalled the enemy's, began to melt away. assaults were delivered first from the left and then from the right. at last the enemy seized the left peak (it is a two-humped hill), and the flag of the rising sun fluttered in the smoky air—a few more efforts on their part and the hill must be lost. from the officer commanding the western flank—colonel irman—the commandant received a message that the japanese had captured the hill. before taking action, smirnoff wished to corroborate this, for colonel tretiakoff (who was actually on the hill and really conducting the operations there, as irman, though a most gallant field artilleryman, was ignorant of fortress warfare, and moreover had not that precious gift of a military leader—the gift of quietly and sensibly weighing the surrounding circumstances) reported that a hot fight was being waged on the top, but that he hoped, with the assistance of the reserves, to keep possession of the[pg 246] right and disputed peak. he said the local reserves were exhausted, and asked earnestly for help from the main reserve. smirnoff, after confirmation, at once sent up a fresh body of men. i must mention that a spectator got a different impression of the progress of the fight, according to his point of view. one onlooker reported that the enemy had seized the hill and our men were in full flight. another, watching from a different place, reported at the same time that the enemy were falling back. a third said the fighting was over and the hill was ours. anyone watching from the direction of pigeon bay would have said the japanese had taken it, as the western slope hid the whole field from view. moreover, the attackers and defenders themselves could not see everything going on—they were too busy in hand-to-hand fighting to observe more than a few yards around. smirnoff had to sift out the various messages coming in in order to arrive at the truth, and it was not till he had done this, and was sure that we could still hold on to the hill if reinforced, that he threw more men into the fight.
suddenly an officer arrived in a tremendous hurry, and said that he was instructed by general st?ssel to summon general smirnoff at once to the district offices for an 'extraordinary' conference. the district staff had also received irman's message, and it had made a great impression on all those assembled at the office.
'irman reports that the japs have seized 203 metre hill,' commenced st?ssel at once.
general fock chimed in:
'it's absurd to try and hold out there longer: we must think of the men. it's all the same: sooner or later we shall have to abandon it. we must not waste men; we shall want them later.'
to fock smirnoff replied:
'it is premature to think of abandoning the hill at[pg 247] present. i am pouring in reinforcements, and it is still ours.'
pic
reserves waiting under 203 metre hill.
'but irman—irman reports—and he knows what he is saying—he reports that the hill is in the enemy's hands, and it is essential for us to take steps to get the men away, to save our reserve, to, to——'
'i repeat, there is no particular danger; i have already taken the necessary steps,' said smirnoff.
'but irman, who commands that front, reports steps must be taken. the enemy will break through; he'll force the line, and there'll be a street massacre,' said st?ssel and fock together.
'they cannot break through the line of forts and intermediate works,' answered smirnoff.
'oh yes, they can. you must retrench—cut off tea valley—and thus prevent a possible dash through.'
'i have already said that to you,' said fock to st?ssel, 'and i urge it being done. it is absolutely necessary to retrench, to cut off into compartments.'
'i quite agree—i quite agree,' echoed nickitin.
fock turned to st?ssel.
'sir, won't you order tretiakoff to remain on the summit of the hill all the time? let him sit there. let him see for himself how the men are faring.'
the latter turned to reuss and told him to telephone to colonel tretiakoff on no account to leave the top of the hill.
smirnoff looked helplessly at those around, his glance now angry, now contemptuous.
'but tretiakoff is always there! he is himself in immediate command of the fighting.'
this reply changed the current of st?ssel's thoughts, for he replied:
'and so with the loss of this hill the days of this place are as good as——'
[pg 248]
'gentlemen, i guarantee that 203 metre hill will be ours as long as it can be reinforced without risk to the north-east front. you may feel at ease; i promise you that by morning-tea to-morrow i will give you the hill,' interrupted smirnoff, his voice trembling.
'but it is all the same necessary that tea valley be partitioned off, or they will be able to break through,' was the reply.
'i have not enough men; if i do that i can't hold on to 203 metre.'
'take the town guard—make use of them,' said st?ssel.
smirnoff, seeing that the only way of getting away was to agree, said:
'all right; but i promise you by morning-tea to-morrow the hill shall be yours. good-bye,' and departed.
meanwhile, on the place itself the fight was desperate. one moment success was ours, the next it passed to the foe. at times it seemed as if all were lost. but no! not yet. gathering themselves together, inspired by their officers, reinforced from the reserve, our men made a final effort and hurled the enemy down. the hill was again ours. what took place there cannot be written of with an ordinary pen—it could only be described in blood. the hopes and fears, the gallantry, the——words fail me. some of the details are perhaps known to general tretiakoff, the hero of that spot, and those under him. it was just now, when it seemed to be touch-and-go with the hill, that a rumour was spread to the effect that kinchou had been recaptured by russians—by trans-baikal cossacks. it was nonsense, of course, but the men were so worn out and so hungry for good news from the north that the hope of relief by general kuropatkin, cherished deep down in their hearts, made them believe. the third day's fighting came to an end; darkness set in, and the[pg 249] position was not yet lost. at tea-time on the morning of the 30th it was still ours—smirnoff had kept his promise.
the fourth day was but a repetition of the preceding three. shells of all sizes, from 11-inch to small quick-firers, rained upon the place. all cover, or anything that looked as if it might afford shelter, had long ago been turned into heaps of stones, iron, beams, rubbish, and mangled bodies. during the night shelters of sorts had been scraped up, only to be swept away by the first breath of iron which accompanied the morning light. the fury of the assault reached its zenith at 4 p.m. fortunate it was that the enemy's demonstrations on the east were weak, and so enabled us to withdraw troops from that front to assist here. bayonet fighting again took place for some hours, but at four the japanese were compelled to fall back. the hill was still ours, but its slopes were thickly strewed with more dead, more dying. in four days we had, excluding dead, lost 37 officers and 4,000 men wounded. among the dangerously wounded was the gallant colonel (now major-general) tretiakoff, of the 5th regiment, wounded in head and chest. when those near him implored him to go to the rear to get his wounds dressed, he refused, muttering, 'i will die where my regiment dies.'
on the morning of december 2, colonel irman, on receipt of a message from the top of 203 metre hill, telephoned to smirnoff:
'all the assaults have been repulsed, and the hill is completely in our hands.'
this glad news was soon known, and the town rejoiced, for the enormous importance of this spot to arthur was recognized by all, and smirnoff's intention to hold on to it, even though thousands of lives were[pg 250] sacrificed, was appreciated. the north, south, and east fronts had, however, been considerably weakened, every available man that could be moved from them being taken—this hill had greedily swallowed up all, even the reserves of the reserve. the commandant went to fort no. 5 to make a detailed reconnaissance of the position, and after a thorough inspection of the enemy's approaches and distribution, he became more than ever convinced that things were in a most critical state. the enemy had got possession of almost all the slopes, and apparently had no idea of withdrawing. they were merely resting—bracing up for a last and final blow. the slope towards the western front, as well as the road joining it to the hill, were in our hands; all the rest was theirs. there was not the slightest doubt that the assault would be renewed with greater force and fury. four hours smirnoff spent in the fort, and returned in anything but a happy frame of mind, for the attack might be renewed at any moment. exactly at midday, after an anxious respite, the bombardment again broke out.
that evening the garrison read the following order (no. 865, of december 2, 1904) by st?ssel:
'i have just returned from seeing colonel irman. [st?ssel had gone to tea valley, and made a speech to the men, not apparently realizing that it was no time for words.] 203 metre hill is all ours! let us thank god for it. you—heroes that you are—have done what was impossible, what was only possible to brave men like yourselves. from november 20 to december 2—i.e., for twelve long days—the enemy has repeatedly launched his columns to the attack on a battery, on b battery, kuropatkin lunette, erh-lung-shan, chinese wall, chi-kuan-shan, fortification no. 3, tumulus battery, pan-lun-shan, ending with 203 metre hill and the position at pigeon bay—i.e., from sea to sea. day and night they have come on, not sparing themselves; they have fallen under your heavy blows, but you have not yielded to them a rood of ground. what was ours on november 20 is[pg 251] ours to-day. in the tsar's name, as his aide-de-camp, i thank you. you have delighted him. may god preserve him! hurrah!'
a white flag was raised on the north-east front this day, and the japanese asked for a truce to bury their dead. the commandant at once gave permission, fire ceased, and friend and foe mingled amicably. all at once shots rang out from erh-lung-shan fort—it was an awkward moment for us. it turned out that st?ssel, annoyed that his permission had not been asked for the dead to be buried, had therefore ordered the firing to recommence. smirnoff was quite within his rights in not referring the matter, but st?ssel's dignity had been hurt. he was now formally asked for permission, and granted one hour's armistice.
on the north-east front a white flag was again raised by the enemy in front of kuropatkin lunette. the fire gradually ceased, and we put one up in reply. from both sides officers and men moved out to meet each other, and they met like old friends.
