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156 THE SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR
did not put up much of a fight, but gave up the
position and fled. The two other lunettes also
were evacuated by the Russians without serious
resistance, and by ten o’clock in the morning the
whole position was in the hands of the Japanese.
Of the two hills on the Metre Range which the
Japanese intended to attack, the 203 Metre Hill
was infinitely the stronger, as well from nature’s
hand as from the defence works which had been
built to enhance its natural advantages. The
180 Metre Hill, which the Japanese call Namaoka-
yama, is a large flat-topped ridge with rather
steep, bulging sides, which in many places form
dead ground. Its large, level plateau was sur-
rounded by a double row of trenches, with no
inner forts or entrenchments to support them, but
a battery position for two heavy guns and a
couple of machine-guns. The trenches were only
partly made bomb-proof, and it was, on the whole,
evident that the Russians did not attach any very
great importance to this position, which was
completely dominated by the neighbouring hill,
and therefore could not be of much use to the
Japanese so long as 203 Metre Hill remained in
the possession of the Russians.
The sketch will give an idea of how the positions
looked from the hill where we were seated. The
nearest, Takasaki Hill, had been captured by the
Japanese about the middle of August, the central
is 180 Metre Hill, and the further, double-peaked
hill, is 203 Metre Hill. As will be seen, there are on
the north-western (nearest) slopes of 180 Metre
Hill two shallow ravines which lead from the foot
of the hill nearly up to the lower Russian trench
line. As the ground round Namaoka-yama is
very hard and the advance for the greater part of
the way could be made under perfect shelter, the
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