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OCTOBER 177
hills here, called by the Japanese Hachimaki-yama,
“ P ” fort and Kobu fort, as well as towards the
lofty and powerful East Kikuan fort, which com-
pletely dominated the other forts on the ridge,
and therefore had to be taken simultaneously
with them. This fort on the east side, and Sung-
shuh fort on the west side, then became the
boundaries of the Japanese field of sapping
operations during the two following months,
October and November. Later on, about the
end of October saps were opened against the
Chinese wall from the captured Panlung and
“ P ” forts. Though the soil in parts, especially
to the east, was alluvial, the pioneers had mostly
to cut through shale rock, and in places through
very hard limestone.
The Japanese had set themselves to do a
gigantic task. More than thirteen miles of these
passages were dug out, and during the following
five or six weeks we saw the whole country in
front of the eastern fort-ridge covered with a
complete network of zigzag trenches. It was
slow and dangerous work. Only one or two men
could toll at the head of the saps, digging
sufficiently deep to secure protection from the
enemy’s bullets. Other larger parties followed,
widening and deepening the sap, and shovelling
the evacuated earth into bags with which to build
up the breastworks. Over 1,200,000 bags were
utilized for this purpose, exclusive of the large
number of empty rice-bags which in most places
were called into service. As the price per bag
was about Zd., the sum spent by the Japanese in
sandbags alone must have amounted to nearly
;^40,ooo sterling. This will perhaps give a better
idea of the magnitude of the scheme than the
most detailed descriptions.
N
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