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240 THE SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR
Russians were driven out from the lower level of
the fort. At midnight the Japanese made a
desperate attempt to storm the upper battery ;
but the assailants were mown down by machine
guns so soon as they appeared on the parapet,
and hand grenades and shells tore cruel gaps in
their ranks. Supports after supports were sent
up, only to be mown down in their turn, and
when at last the fighting slackened in the small
hours of the morning, the Japanese had been
forced back to their improvised trenches in the
front part of the works, leaving the whole terre-
plein between the upper and lower battery strewn
with dead bodies, in some places piled six or
eight high. At Erhlung, as at Sungshuh, the
Japanese on the following night retired to the
moat again. During the latter portion of the night
the artillery on both sides took an active part in
the fighting, the Japanese batteries bombarding
the upper, the Russian the lower part of the fort.
Here, as along their whole line of attack, the
Japanese guided the fire from their batteries by
small white lights, showing how far up against the
different positions they had gained. Special
signals were made by lighting red Bengal fires.
Most of the Russian signalling was made with
their searchlights.
Besides the attacks against the Chinese wall
to the rear of Hachimaki-yama which I have
already mentioned, the Japanese tried at two
other places to break through this line of defence,
namely, behind “P” fort and behind East Pan-
lung. At the former place two assaults were
made ;
but both broke down under the terrible
fire at close range. At East Panlung no less
than four rushes were made, three of them were
crushed under the withering fire ;
at the fourth
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