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NOVEMBER 223
At Erhlung fort the rock was still more difficult
to work than at Sungshuh, consisting largely as it
did of a very hard conglomerate of limestone,
quartz, and flint. The Japanese found out that
the moat was only provided with caponiers in the
corners, so they decided that it would be sufficient
to sink three manholes as deep as the bottom of
the moat, two on the east side and one on the
west side. Even this was slow, though the men
worked like niggers, being relieved every hour.
Diamond boring was tried, but it did not work
well, and the whole of the 35 ft. deep shafts
had to be chiselled out. The Russians, of course,
did all in their power to impede the progress of
the works. Not a night but they came out and
made savage charges upon the sap-heads. In the
beginning they succeeded in throwing some of
their hand grenades into the manholes, doing
much damage to the works and killing every man
in the shafts. Later on the Japanese erected
solid breastworks around these places, enabling
them to generally keep the Russians off, though
the casualty list remained heavy. I was told at
headquarters that during this period the Japanese
spent an average of ten thousand cartridges a
night on these parties, and, sure enough, whatever
hour of the night I woke, there was ever the
sound of sniping and musketry fire to be heard,
now single shots ringing out, now a rattling like
rain on a roof. The sonorous booming of the
guns, sometimes at many minutes’ interval, some-
times many in the minute, was with us ever and
always, day and night.
On November 17th the dynamite charges were
placed in the back wall of the Sungshuh caponier
and blasted. The explosions were only partially
successful. The mines in the eastern part blew
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