The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-01-08

At each corner of the moat, at each
turn that il made as it worked its way
under the parapet of the Tedoubt, was
q masonry projection, called, by the
cunning men who devise such traps, a
caponiere. These caponieres rose out
of the bed Of the moat several feet, and
each was large enough to shield three
or four men with rifles and machine
gun. Thus, under perfect protection
and with their foes trapped like wood
Chucks in a hole, unable TO escape, the
Russians dealt out whistling steel at
! their leisure.
Surprising and overpowering as this
was, the japanese did not falter. on
that third grand assault they made
their stand, and We're able, by sacrifices
not large in numbers (for the total lost
in that moat was less than 1000, but
| beyond computation from the stand
point of individual heroism, TO capture
| and to hold ever since, the two north
ern caDonieres.
Under the parapet of this fort, dom
mated by all the artillery Of the two
armies, has occurred some of the grim
est fighting that history records or i'm
aginatlon can compass
Where Men Meet and Fight as Beasts
The second night of the occupation a
Japanese lieutenant. by name Oda,
; asked for a volunteer party. called
keissheitai,' an expression which in
English would mean certain DEATH
Thirty keissheitai men came forward
Odo put himself at their head and VEN
tured along the bed of the moat toward
the rearmOst capOnieTe, with the idea
of capturing IT.
The moat is very long Cabout one and
q half times the length of an ocean
liner). so there was room and time for
adventure in the blackness. for there
was no moon, and the searchlights
, were playing on other parts of the
| field, this being too close under the
noses Of the Russians for them to op-
| crate their lights TO advantage.
Half way down the moat Oda met a
Russian lieutenant and a party, bent
on a similar errand. There the two
had IL out. not with bullets in the pre-
scribed way but bayonet to bayOnet
fist To fist, and even teeth and claw.
The two lieutenants grappled, neither
| having time to draw sword.
Odo and the Russian, locked in en-
brace, reeled back and forth, falling ris-
ing, clawing, first o enon top and then
/ the other, each losing sight and control
Of his men, all of whom were engaged
| in similar individual cOmbats.
The two leaders. era sping for an OPP
cOrtunity that each sought, bObbing
against the walls Of the moat fighting
in this arena, tight for combat, soon to
be a metropolis. reached without know
ing il, an embrasur6 which led to the
rear Of the fort and into the gorge.
Tripping over this, not knowing
where they We're going, the two
plunged headiong down the slope
above which frowned two Russian bat
teries and beyond which rose the great
red-capped skyline of the Cockscomb
More than 500 feet, scratched by the
stones. smashed by the snale, they
slipped and Writhed until they struck
frrr LOT
mountain. On this they lodged.
In che fail Oda had been able 10 get
his right arm free He reached over,
across his enemy's back, and grasped
the hilt of his keen, straight samurai
sword Pulling it half way out of the
scabbard, which was tightly dashed to
his waist. he sawed and pulled until the
slender tapeung steel had gashed
through the Russians clothes through
thigh and bone, fun to his vertebrae,
and his vitals gushed cut.
Late the following night. after the
sun had gone Oda crawled into his own
trenches at the base OF the mountain.
His men had beer repUlsed by a second
party Of Russians who had SORTED cut
10 relieve the first. Still, the Japanese
held their two caponieres at front and
the Russians the TWO in the rear.
Vast Struggles to Gain Inches of
Ground.
The japanese during the two nights
( had hastily tossed up approaches and
had "A partially covered way from the
base of the mountain to the mOat. This
gave them Their vital hold on the north
/ battery OF the COckscomb
Yet. so determined was the Russian
defense, so resolute nave they been in
holding every inch Of ground. that 1t
has been full month and a half since
then before the vaIient Japanese could
/ take the complete fortinCation: and
when the complete fertilization is taken
remember that il is but one of three
great batteries which form the series,
called East Keekwan, and this itseis
/ is but a portion Of the eastern line of
permanent land defense.
The method OF the final taking OF
this northeast Keekwan battery fur
| Their illustrates the intricacy and dill
Guilty Of the operations Inside the fort,
beyond the parapet, so well protected
by its moat and caponieres, is shelly
ing earth work, called the catascarp.
Crossing this. troops that might be en-
tireiy successful up to that point, meet
close and unerring fire from men con-
cealed I'm traverses formed of time
balks and sand bags which lie a few
yards beyond.
Then below these traverses are gal
leries where the garrison lives; and
below the galleries are the bomb