Lüshun (China) -- History -- Siege, 1904-1905; Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905
The brown is khaki-covered men, the blue those with overcoats. Far
down at the lower left is a gray-haired figure standing apart--the
colonel. He makes no effort to shield himself. The artillery of two
armies have concentrated their fire above his head. That is their
business, no concern of his, so he hazily observes the unfurling of
day beyond the Tiger’s Tail as he would dwell upon the empurpling
of a convolvulus. At Nanshan he led the victorious charge. Three
bullets went through his coat and two through his hat. He wears
Shinto emblems and believes he was not born to be killed in battle.
He has been in forty-seven engagements without a wound. His name is
Tereda, and he commands the first regiment of the first division;
in rank but a lieutenant-colonel, his colonel slain May 26th.
Shrapnel begins bursting above. The Russians are far from sleep,
farther from death. It being high time for business, the white
flag with the red sun in the center waves once to the left, once
to the right, and twice to the front. It is the artillery signal.
Again the ridge falls under the terrific fire of the day before.
But this time the infantry is 150 yards nearer, and this 150 yards
is in a direction similar to that pursued by a telephone lineman
when he follows his calling. The men crouch low, their own shells
bursting less than fifty yards above them.
The introduction is long. The Russians are saucy hosts. They parley
and talk back with their big guns, and that bluster of the day
before is repeated. All day long Tereda and his men emulate the
furze, for when they take the fort they want night handy to help
them intrench, to give them a bit of cover despite the searchlights
and star bombs. Besides, one climb of that sort is enough for
twenty-four hours. They must have the cumulation of another
twenty-four for the final charge. Yet it is costly recuperation.
Blood spurts frequently. Wounded wilt under the sun, the dead lie
untouched.
At half-past four in the afternoon Tereda orders the final charge.
Three cheers go up--Banzai! Banzai! Banzai! With bayonets fixed the
squads deploying as before, the khaki-covered spots begin to move.
In advance the men crawl hand over hand, helped by blessed waraji.
Twenty feet from the parapet they pause and fling something that
leaps through the air like balls from catcher to second base.
These hand grenades of gun-cotton explode on and in the parapet,
introduction more intimate. The brilliant bursts play off the fast
settling evening as the khaki-covered ones go in, Tereda pausing
and peering with his glass. The entire battalion tumbles over the
parapet. Then the reserves begin climbing from the base.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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