The Western news., 1904-12-28
JAPS FOUGHT LIKE DEMONS
TUNNELED UNDER RUSSIAN FORT
AND BLEW 1T UP,

Forts on kekwan Mountain Had Lonq
Resisted the Assaults Of the Little
Brown Men-They Made Charge Al
ter charee-captured Field and Ma
chine Guns-An Important Position
Headquarters of the Japanese Third
Army, Before Port Arthur-Since the
general assault of Nov 1927 against
the forts Rihlung and Kekwan noun
tains, resulting in furious fighting and
great loss OF life and described al
length by the Associated Press CORE
spondent in a dispatch filed Novem
ber 2S), the Japanese have been en-.
gagged in tunneling under the north
fort of Kekwan mountain. Two main
tunnels ran under the north wall of
the fort from the moat for distance
Of 40 feet and there were four short
branch tunnels. On the morning of
December Is seven dynamite mines
were laid, the object of which was to
destroy the north wall and so give the
Japanese access to the fort. The fort
had so long resisted the assaults of
the Japs that it was considered that
the explosion of the mines and the
subsequent attacks should be carefully
, planned.
General Samejima commanding the
left division, asked for volunteers who
would be prepared to capture the fort
or to die in the attempt Two entire
battalions answered the generals call,
one from the left division and the
other from the general reserves. The
first battalion remained in the capon-
iere galleries during the explosion of
the mines, while the second battalion
was in parallel close to the wall Of
the counterscarp.
In order that the dark blue uniforms
OF the men might not show against
the brown of the soil, which would
be turned by the explosion, all the at.
tackers wore brown wooden under
drawers over their trousers and brown
sweaters over their tunics. Instead
of cap each man wore a brown WOOL
en- headpiece which extended to the
shoulders, leaving only the face visi-
BILE.
Carried Rifles and Dynamite.
Every man carried a rife in his
right hand and dynamite grenades in
his left, while lighted slow match
was attached to his cartridge belt
with which to ignite the fuses of the
grenades. In this peculiar garb with
the lighted matches at their waists,
the troops presented a strange appear
ance. The soldiers from the battalion
in the caponiere galleries, who were
distinguished by white badges on their
arms, were ordered to attack i'm.
mediately after the explosion of the
mines, and those of the second bat
talon in the parallel, who were dis
tinguished by red badges on their
arms, were to make the second as.
sault
Part Of Fort Rises Into Air.
HCASid dl personally con"
Quoted these assaults at o'clock on
the afternoon Of December 19 after the
explosions had taken place. The first
mine exploded without warning and
the explosion was not entirely sue
cessful, owing to the heavy concrete
about the mine. The explosion of the
second mine followed Immediately and
this was succeeded by five smaller ex-
plosions. The sight was wonderful in
the extreme. Huge clouds of brown
earth and debris were thrown 200 feet
in the air and it looked as if the whole
fort had been thrown heavenward.
When the clouds of earth had set
tied down the snow for some 500 yards
around the fort was covered with
brown earth, pieces of timber and
blocks of concrete
Japs Swarm Through.
The explosions made two large
breaches in the north wall of the fort,
through which the Japanese in the
moat, swarmed. They charged so
quickly that SO of them were either
Killed or wounded by the falling de-
bris. The Japanese succeeded in gain
ing the ramparts and charged the in.
terror of the fort, but they were re-
pulsed by a portion of the garrison
from behind wall at the rear of the
fort which had not been touched by
the force of the explosion. Behind this
wall there were four field guns and
three machine guns In the meantime,
the Russians had rushed reinforce
ments of some 300 to the fort through
the covered wall at the rear. The Sec
ond battalion of attackers were not
able to advance Immediately, as the
sapping trenches from the parallel to
the most were filled with debris. When
this debris was removed the battalion
reached the ramparts through the
breaches that had been made by the
explosions.