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RETROSPECT 93
tried to prove, the Japanese did not do, with the
result that their attempts ended in failure.
It is useless to ponder over what might have
been. Let us rather consider the other question
What was it that caused the Japanese reverse ?
As I see it, the reasons were of two distinctly
different descriptions ;
those furnished by the
strength of the fortress, the excellent tactics of
the Russian commander, and the fortitude of his
brave army ;
and those which were founded on
the Japanese mistakes, not only their failure to
appreciate the difficulties they had to surmount,
but also in their tactics, the ways they adopted
to overcome these difficulties. The subject of
the latter I have already touched upon in this and
previous chapters, but the Russian side of the
question may be well worth considering.
In the first place, the fortress was a good deal
stronger than the Japanese had imagined. Espe-
cially did they find it a great disadvantage that
the different forts had been so placed and con-
structed that they mutually assisted and protected
each other. They directed their main attack
against what they knew to be the weakest point
of the enemy’s lines, the semi-permanently for-
tified Panlung redoubt, but events proved that
it was impossible to restrict the fighting to this
position. They had, as events proved, to fight
another half-dozen forts at the same time, all of
which could take active part in the defence.
After sustaining enormous losses, they succeeded
in capturing the Panlung forts ;
but the fire from
the neighbouring forts and battery positions made
it impossible to make any use of their conquest
for offensive purposes, and for weeks the daily
butcher’s bill which they had to pay for the
retention of these positions was a very heavy one.
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