Smirnoff's brilliant and lucid statement carried the council, which, by a majority of votes (including Stössel's), decided that Fock's Division should be sent back to occupy the best of the outer positions still in our possession. It is interesting to note that as the country had not even up till now been thoroughly reconnoitred by the District Staff, they were unable to say at the meeting which were the best remaining positions! Of the splendid positions on the heights at Nangalin no one had given a thought. According to the reports of our scouts and reliable Chinese, these were already occupied by the Japanese. Next day some of General Stössel's staff rode out to choose positions. They stopped on the chain of hills named Upilazy, which border on Inchenzy Bay and Green Hills, stretching along the Lunwantun Valley to the little bay of the same name. The hills on the line of these positions, stretching for more than seventeen miles, were commanded by Kuen-san Hill. The positions on the Upilazy chain of hills (ten miles) were held by mixed companies of the four reserve battalions and the 7th Division with two companies of the Frontier Guards. To these were added eight field batteries and one howitzer battery. Fock took up his quarters at the seventh mile (the railway now only ran for twelve miles), and kept on repeating what he had said at the council--that it was only wasting men and ammunition to hold these positions--and was apparently quite ready to retire. Smirnoff, however, insisted on their being held. Engineers were sent to the flanks (there was only one sapper company of 800 men in the Fortress), and the fortification of the seventeen-mile-long positions was commenced. Fock would not hold the right, because he said the enemy would attack his left, and, as the position was too big for one division, Smirnoff sent the mixed companies above mentioned from the Fortress troops to hold the right. Owing to this the left was strongly fortified, but the right hardly at all. The enemy having now taken complete possession of Dalny, at once used it as their base. There, quietly and comfortably, without any interference from us, they carried out the landing of troops for the investment. Ten transports would arrive daily, bringing everything necessary for the concentrating army. The railway from Dalny and all the rolling-stock was in perfect order, and by it troops, guns, ammunition, provisions, etc., were transported to the front. Everything smiled on them: our fleet did not hinder them in any way; they had command of both sea and the land. During all this time our intelligence services were very badly run, our only source of information being the Chinese, who, working both for us and the enemy, naturally favoured the latter, as the District Staff paid a starvation wage. CHAPTER XVII THE LOSS OF KUEN-SAN HILL