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46 THE SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR
the northern front of the fort-ridge was compara-
tively weakly fortified. Sungshuh and, still more,
Erhlung on the western flank and the elevated
East Kikuan fort on the eastern flank looked very
strong and imposing, but the intermediate forts
and positions looked less formidable, and from the
information General Nogi had to hand he knew
that the two Panlung forts, right in front of
Wantai, were only semi-permanent structures, and
not particularly strongly built. It was therefore
natural to make the attempt of breaking through
at this point.
The natural formation of the ground in front of
the Panlung forts lent itself very well to this pur-
pose. From Takushan a long low ridge runs out
in a westerly direction along the centre of the
Shuishi valley ;
to the south it soon merges into
the lower gentle slopes of the Wantai spurs, but
on the north side it falls abruptly, forming a dip in
the country where large forces could be drawn up
and where guns and mortars could be placed in
perfect shelter, thus forming an excellent base for
offensive operations. This low ridge extends west-
wards towards Lungyen redoubt ;
parts of the dip
can be raked by fire from here ;
but many portions
were perfectly sheltered by traverse-like projec-
tions from the ridge itself. For these reasons it
was natural, once a direct assault was decided
upon, to make it by way of the Panlung forts and
Wantai, and this was the plan General Nogi
adopted.
The General had at his disposal three complete
army divisions, the ist, the 9th, and the i ith, each
consisting of four infantry regiments, six field or
mountain batteries, three squadrons of cavalry,
three pioneer companies, one ambulance com-
pany, and field and standing hospitals, besides
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