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

Win the oOoleS OF the dead OF Dotn
sides.
Attempt to Rush Failed.
The attempt to rush the interior Of
the fort proved a failure. but portions
of the fort were temporarily occupied.
The defenders were annihilated or
were unable or unwilling to retire, and
fought to the last breach.
In the meantime a strong force of
japanese attempted to pierce the line
OF works east of the fort. but they We're
unable to make progress.
It was marvellous how the Russians
were able 10 strengthen their lines Of
defense at the points of attack.
Japs Annihilated.
Another attempt was made TO pierce
the principal line of fortifications sur
rounding the ear Of the eastern part OF
Panlung mountain, where after four
furious attempts a small body of Jap
anese succeeded in getting through the
wall and in establishing themselves on
the lower slopes of Wsntai hill The
Russians rushed the supports with ma
chine guns from the upper slopes of the
( Wantai hill forts and the small party
OF japanese was practically annihilat-
ed. The most desperate fighting took
place at this point.
Both Sides Used Dynamite
The last effort OF the assauIters was
made at midnight. assisted by artillery
which covered the slopes of Wantai
hill with an avalanche of shells. Inc
Russians fought with tremendous cour-
age, engaging the Japanese with bay
onets and genades when they came 10
close quarters. The japanese finally
established a trench line five yards in
front of the line of Qualifications. which
they now occupy. The forces are en-
gagged in throwing dynamite genades
at each other
Cauldron of Bursting Shells.
In the first assault against the fort
on the eastern part of Rihlung noun
tain the Japanese were unable to gain
foothold. though their artillery made
the interior forts a seething cauldron
of bursting shells A strong force OF
Japanese worked up from the parallels
IN the gorge between the Fort Hill and
Hacbimakijma and entrenched on the
hill in an effort to assist the assault
ers of the fort. who were attacking it
from the rear. and met with a terrible
fire from the outer works and with
shrapnel from ridge IN the rear. A
way leading to the rear of the fort, but
was forced TO retire
Ended in Failure.
The attempts which were first made
TO rush the western pert of Rihlung
mountain. officially called Sungshu
mountain. also ended in failure The
Japanese reached the parapets from the
moat but fed as fast as they came
from the fire within the fort. The walls
were black with the assaulters who
were deluged with shells from the fort
on Antse mountain across the gorge
OF the Shuishl valley between the two
fortified ridges and from fort imme-
diateiy in the rear called the support
ing fort OF Suugshu mountain.
Hand Fight.
At O'Clock at night a force of 1000
volunteers from the right division led
by a general started from a point
southwest of Shuishi village pushed up
the gorge between the two fortified
ridges, and attacked the supporting fort
of Sunshu mountain, which is a short
distance outside the western confines
of Port Arthur. with the intention of
enveloping the city from the west, and
also for the purpose Of assisting the
assaulters Of the two Rihlung mountain
forts. This force reached the Fort hill
and engaged a strong force Of Russians
upon its slopes in q hand-to-hand en-
counter, which lasted for two hours.
At the same time the japanese as
saulting the east and west Rihlung
forts made desperate attempts to rush
the interior of the forts. They gained
the ramparts inside which they estab-
lished trench lines.
Struggle in the Darkness.
The interior defenses Of both forts
are the same as those on North Keek-
wan mountain. but the east Rihlung
fort is the largest and strongest of the
three forts II has upper and lower
levels. The lower levels were the scene
OF the most awful struggle which lasted
from 10 o'clock until midnight. Under
cover of darkness the japanese poured
over the ramparts and furiously at
tackled the first section of bomb-proofs.
The defenders received them with bay
onets and dynamite Venades while the
poured a deadly hail into the ranks Of
the Japanese.
The struggle was absolutely hand-to-
hand. The defenders of the greater part
Of the bomb-proofs on the lower levels
of the fort were annihilated and the
sections and cross-sections of the
bOmb-proofs were piled with eorpses.
Murderous Machine Guns.
The Japanese gained practically the
whole Of the lower section of the fort,
but were moved doYn by machine
guns and rifles when they attempted 70
assault the higher levels.
For an hour before midnight the
japanese artillery snelled the higher
levels while the Russian guns shelled
the lower levels.
A similar struggle was going on all
the time in the west RihlunE fort,
where the arrangement of defenses was
the same.
At II o'clock q desperate effort was
made by the Japanese to push force
up the gorge between the east RIhlung
fort and Hachimakijma TO assist the
assaulters against the supporting fort
of Sungshu mountain, but again and
again the force was repulsed by the
Russians behind the works and by the
guns on the ridge behind the fort
Lost Half Their Force.
At midnight the column attacking
the supporting fort Of Shungshu noun
tain was compelled to retire, having
lost half the force.
The struggle in the two forts was
continued until dawn when the assault
ers We're compelled to retire TO the
trenches established INSIDE the parapet
walls which they now occupy.
The fighting all the afternoon and
night was the most desperate and san
culinary since the siege began. The OPP
posing forces were so close together
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