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THE TURN OF THE TIDE 269
name to the remnants which would be buried or
cremated after the fight. These quiet prepara-
tions speak more highly of the admirable courage
and devotion of the Japanese soldiers than the
most gallant deeds, and the most desperate daring,
during the actual fighting. It is easy to be brave
in the heat of the battle, when one’s blood is up
and one " sees red.” To volunteer to go against
the enemy with such a terrible fate staring one in
the face, and to quietly make all preparations for
one’s own funeral, demands a higher class of
courage ;
one which deserves our full and un-
reserved admiration.
December 19th was a beautiful winter’s day.
There was not a breath of wind, and from a
deep blue, cloudless sky the sun shone, bright
and warm, over a scene of perfect beauty. A
heavy fall of snow had shrouded the bleak, grey
hill-sides in raiment of silver gauze, strewn with
glittering diamonds, accentuating the picturesque
forms of the hills and mountains and making their
rugged outlines stand out sharp and clear, with
beautiful blue shadows in the folds of the clinging
drapery. Through the light golden haze the
lofty peaks of far-off Laotiehshan with its salient
spurs and deep-furrowed sides looked like a fairy
palace, light and airy, an artist’s dream in shining
white and azure blue.
I found an excellent observation post not too
far away from the scene of events, and was sitting
there for hours before the attack commenced.
There was nothing to indicate that anything out
of the common was about to happen. In “ P ”
fort the Japanese had mounted two 6-in. howitzers,
with w’hich they could fire directly into the interior
of North Kikuan fort, and they were now trying to
destroy the bomb-proofs under the banquette here.
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