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96 THE SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR
firmly rammed into the ground, but not set in
concrete, as is generally the case in Europe.
The wire, which was strung between the poles
lengthwise and crosswise in every direction, was
very hard and strong, and in most places the
Japanese shears (they had brought out about
50,000 with them) proved absolutely useless.
Under these circumstances the Japanese tried
many other devices for cutting an opening through
the entanglements. As the wires proved too
strong, they first endeavoured to bring down the
whole arrangement by cutting the poles, and in
one case (at the taking of 174 Metre Hill) they
succeeded in doing so. But the experiment was,
as far as I know, not again repeated. The men
were fully exposed to the bullets of the enemy,
and,—w’ell, they decided to find some cheaper
means.
For a short time another expedient had better
luck. A man would crawl up during the night
and fix ropes to the tops of some of the poles,
and then with the ends of the ropes steal back
again to the nearest trenches. His comrades
here would then haul and pull, with an ichi, ni,
san, bringing part of the obstruction down bodily.
The Russians soon found out what was happen-
ing, and next time the Japanese tried the same
game they found that the poles had been wire
braced, and all their tugging was of no avail.
Another mode of proceeding was this : long
bamboo poles, filled with black, strong smoke-
giving powder, were placed under the entangle-
ment, a fuse was lit, and so blasted part of the
wire. These poles, by the way, were sometimes
used at attacks on bomb-proofs and caponiers in
the forts, being pushed through the loopholes or
the entrances and burst, the heavy black smoke
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