The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-12-10

The general assault on Port Arthur
which began at noon Nov. rs is still
in progress. In the first series of as
saults an attempt was made TO cap
ture the forts on Rihlung and Keekwan
mountains by penetrating the principal
line of fortificatiOns surrounding them,
and to envelOp the city from the east
At the same time a strong force pushed
up the gorge of the Shish1 valley be-
tween two fortified ridges and attacked
the supporting fort in the rear of West
Rihlung mountain, officially called
Sungshu mountain. with the intention
of enveloping the city from the west.
The attempt failed after the most flu
riouS fighting that has been witnessed
since Port Arthur was invested. The
fighting lasted from noon Of Nov. %
until after dawn the following day,
without cessation
Began Early in the Morning.
The assault began early in the morn
Ing with d tremendous bonbardment of
the forts on the western half of the
eastern fortified ridge by a battery
which had been placed in position ON
the crest of a ridge to the rear. For
hours the whole western half of the
fortified ridge Was deluged with heavy
shells.
AT noon the principal line of forti-
a
shrapnel. and the spectacle was more
wonderful than anything previously
seen.
Simultaneous Attack.
The front lines of infantry. having
been strongly reinforced, began an at
tack simultaneously along the entire
line from East Keekwan mountain to
West Rihlung mountain. Through the
haze caused by the smoke of the burst
ing shells the assaulters could he, seen
emerging from the cover of the par
allels, as we'll as swarming up the for
tilted ridge at half a dozen different
points.
Rifles. rapid fire guns and machine
guns blazed from the Russian posi-
tons. where advances We're made in
the open. The men went down by hum
dreds. The forts were belching smoke
and bursting shells. and the rampant
walls were black with assaulters who,
on reaching the crests met with an
awful fire from within the forts which
swept down line after line Of Jap
snese
AS fast the the assaults were re-
pulsed more Japanese swarmed up,
only to be moved down in turn
The determination and fury Of the
japanese assaults were eoualed by the
stubbornness of the resistance of the
Russians
On the eastern extremity of the line
the japanese made an assault i'm an
attempt to capture the Russian trench
IS situated midway of the slope OF East
Kekwan mountain. The Japanese par
alleled some thirty-five yards of the
Russian trench line. and an entire reg
iment charged across, the men fall
ing by hundreds before the awful fire
of the Russians. But still more men
came on over the bodies Of those who
had fallen. and by sheer weight of
numbers they reached the trenches.
which they captured at the point Of
the bayonet.
He'll in Miniature.
The Russian shrapnel fire made the
captured portion of the trenches
perfect he'll. while the japanese shrap-
mel fire assisted the captors to push
east and west along the trench line
The azsaulters succeeded in holding
some eighty yards of the trench in
front OF the parallels but their efforts
10 rush the trench line east and west
were failures, owing TO impossible burn
ing pits which filled the whole space of
the trench on the northern side, as well
az 10 the fact that their progress was
barred by the fire OF the Russian ma
chine guns.
The japanese built traverse walls
across the trench under the protection
of their machine guns. and tried to
cross the pits. but they were unable
TO do so.
Driven Back With Great Loss.
At 6 o'clock in the evening a furi-
Gus Russian counter attack drove the
Japanese back 10 the parallels with
great loss.
At O'Clock the Japanese again cap
tured the same portion of the trench
and made desperate but unsuccessful
efforts TO cross the pits.
The awful struggle continued until
O'Clock in the morning. when the
Russians again counter-attacked and
recaptured the trench. which was piled
with dead bodies. For over thirty
yards between the trenches there was
a veritable shambles. The last attacks
and counter attacks were made over
the bodies of the slain.
Awful Russian Fire.
The first attempt to rush the fort
on the northern part of Keekwan noun |
tain was made at 1o'clock in the after
noon, when the assaulters swamed up
the rampant wall from the mOat and
met with an awful fire from within
and from the Chinese wall i'm the rear
Of the fort When the Russians saw
tlNL II was the dllElAlAJI VI the Jap
anese to rush the fort they moved
considerable force from the Chinese
wall into a gorge to the east and to
the rear Of the fort During the four
or five furious assaults which the Jap
anese made upon the fort some of the
garrison attempted TO evacuate the
fort over the rear rampsrts. but they
We're fired upon by the Russian force
in the gorge.
Great Heaps of Slain.
AS the result Of the first assault the
rampant walls were black with bodies.
In the second assault the Japanese
succeeded in gaining a foothold in the
interior. where the defenses were bonn
proof. with raised lines OF protected
trenches in the rear OF the fort where
The machine guns swept the front Of
the fort and the walls.
The assaulters attacked this bomb
proof maze. where the fighting was
hand-to-hand With bayonets and gre
nades.
The japanese mounted six mountain |
guns on entrenched hill called Up" !
fort. Immediately 10 the west, in an
endeavor to silence the fire Of the |
Maxim guns, but they We're unsuccess-
ful.
AT o'clock in the morning the Jap |
anese succeeded in establishing |
trench line inside the ramparts, which /
they still hold.
The first sections Of the maze Of