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SEPTEMBER 149
low walls showing above the sea of green mealie-
fields around them, but the black zigzag lines of
Japanese trenches, and the smoke and dust of
bursting shells, showed us clearly enough where
we must look in order to see and follow the
impending struggle.
Meanwhile the Japanese batteries commenced
to open up in full earnest. Right under us, deep
down in a flat stretch of country, behind a nearly
imperceptible wave in the undulating ground, were
four field batteries. Further back, not far away
from us, in positions so well chosen that not even
we could locate them—let alone the Russians
though we heard the zish of their shells as they
sped past us, were other batteries with guns of
larger calibre. And further to the north and
east, along the Fenghoangshan range and foot-
hills, siege guns, mortars, and howitzers of all
descriptions and sizes were sending out their
messages of death and devastation, and hour
after hour we watched the small clouds of dust
and smoke leaping forth in and around the de-
fences, and noted how the breastworks in many
places slowly crumbled under the incessant heavy
blows, until the infantry began to move and the
artillery changed shell fire for shrapnel.
The attacks against the four positions took
place simultaneously, but quite independently, so,
to give an idea of the different operations, it will
be necessary to treat each separately.
The Lungyen (Dragon’s Eye) Redoubt, also
called the Red Redoubt, is situated on a low
hill, some four or five hundred yards to the east
of Shuishi village. It is a small but strong semi-
permanent work, surrounded by a moat. The
breastworks were built of earth and sandbags,
and the infantry trenches were made bomb-proof
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