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268 THE SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR
the first moments of awe and consternation it
would be an easy matter to overpower the panic-
stricken garrison. The rush would be made by
volunteers of the 22nd regiment, which had fought
its way up towards the fort from the beginning,
while the 38th regiment of the second reserve,
which had fought so bravely at 203 and Akasaka-
yama—veterans therefore in years and experience
—were kept in readiness to support the assault.
The soldiers who had volunteered for the first
rush were divided into two batches. One, con-
sisting of sixty men, each with a red ribbon tied
round his arm, was drawn up in the caponiers, and
the moment the explosion took place they were to
charge into the interior of the fort and hurl them-
selves against the defenders, immediately followed
by the second batch, which was kept ready in the
last parallel ;
this latter force was distinguished
by a white badge. If the volunteers did not
succeed, during the first moments of confusion
and consternation, in driving out the garrison,
the bulk of the regiments should follow and crush
the defenders by the overwhelming forces of
numbers.
Although the men felt sure of victory, they
realized with what grim stubbornness the Russians
stood their ground ;
the men who had taken part
in the fighting at 203 especially had a full under-
standing of the dangers that faced them and the
fate which most likely would overtake them.
They had, therefore, written their full names on
their caps, their tunics, their leggings, and other
articles of clothing, so that, even if only an arm
or leg, or part of a body were found after the
hand-grenades and the high-explosive shells had
done their work amongst them, it would be
possible to ascertain their fate and to give a
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