Part 19 (2/2)

The a.s.sault was ordered for the evening of 27th November. Supported by a heavy bombardment from the howitzers and batteries in their rear, the troops chosen for the a.s.sault broke cover and rushed the first line of Russian trenches, bayoneting the occupants almost before the latter had time to open fire upon them. Then followed hand-to-hand fighting of the most ferocious and sanguinary character, which lasted all night.

Morning found the a.s.sailants still in possession of the trench which had been won; and now, strongly reinforced, the j.a.panese proceeded to push forward to attack the summit and Akasakayama battery. Immediately, the Russian guns in the neighbouring forts opened fire upon the stormers with shrapnel and heavy sh.e.l.l, and in a very few minutes the entire scene was so completely veiled in powder smoke that it was impossible for anyone to tell exactly how the fight was going. Four times the j.a.panese stormed the crest and were beaten back; and it was not until three o'clock in the afternoon, when they delivered their fifth a.s.sault, that they at last burst through the wire entanglements and reached the crest. For a time they held it; but the Russian fire was too hot for them, and at length they were not only driven off the crest but also out of the trench which they had won on the previous night.

The attack was resumed the next day, and again resulted in failure.

Then the j.a.panese Staff put its foot down and declared that both hills _must_ be taken, at all costs! The cruisers _Sai-yen_ and _Akagi_ were ordered round to Pigeon Bay to co-operate with the troops by covering the a.s.sault with their fire; but, unfortunately, as the _Sai-yen_ was getting into position on the 30th, she struck a mine and sank, not far from where the old _Hei-yen_ disappeared some two months earlier. This put an end to the plan for naval a.s.sistance, and the land forces were obliged to rely entirely upon themselves. Fighting of the most desperate and sanguinary character proceeded all through the afternoon and night of 30th November, but it was not until the next day that the indomitable courage and persistence of the j.a.panese were rewarded with success; the western summit of 203 Metre Hill being taken by them and held all day, despite the most desperate efforts on the part of the Russians to retake it.

This was the beginning of the end, so far as Port Arthur was concerned.

On 5th December the eastern summit of the hill also fell into the hands of the j.a.panese, and next day they secured possession of Akasakayama, thus obtaining command of the entire Metre range.

These important positions in their possession, the tide of war at once turned in favour of the j.a.panese, for the heights commanded not only the town but the harbour of Port Arthur; and the big 11-inch howitzers, as well as a battery of naval 6-inch and 47-inch guns, were at once brought up, and the bombardment of the Russian wars.h.i.+ps was begun. On 6th December the _Poltava_ was sunk by the Russians to save her from destruction by the j.a.panese fire. Next day the _Retvisan_ met a like fate, while a fire broke out aboard the _Peresviet_, and on the 8th she and the _Pobieda_ were at the bottom of the harbour, while the _Pallada_ was obviously following them. On the following day the _Bayan_ was. .h.i.t no less than twenty-two times, bursting into flame shortly before noon and burning until shortly after four o'clock in the afternoon, while the _Sevastopol_ was seriously damaged. The mine-laying s.h.i.+p _Amur_ was also hit and sunk. The dockyard sustained serious damage, yet, strangely enough, all through this bombardment the Russians did little by way of reply; they seemed overwhelmed and paralysed at the misfortunes which were now befalling them--or else, as some of us began to shrewdly suspect, their ammunition was at last exhausted. On the 9th of the month the _Sevastopol_--the only Russian battles.h.i.+p still remaining afloat in the harbour--moved from her moorings and sought refuge behind a big boom under the guns of Mantushan fort, on the Tiger peninsula, where, a few nights later, she was energetically attacked by our destroyers. These attacks were repeated nightly, with considerable loss to our side, until the night of 15th-16th, when the s.h.i.+p was successfully torpedoed. Her end was so evidently near now that we ceased our attacks; but nothing could save her, and on the 20th of the month her captain took her out into deep water, opened her Kingston valves, and sank her, so that she might not fall into the hands of the j.a.panese.

Meanwhile, North Kikwan fort was captured by our troops on the night of the 18th, after a fight which cost us close upon a thousand men. Two days later, we took a battery close to it; and on the 28th, the formidable Erhlung became ours after a tremendous fight. Success after success on our part now followed each other rapidly, each additional capture firing our troops with renewed courage and determination. The last day of the year saw Sungshushan fort fall to us, and the first day of 1905 saw the New Panlung and H batteries in our hands, the Chinese Wall breached, and the j.a.panese flag planted well within the Russian defences. w.a.n.gtai fort was stormed and taken on the afternoon of the same day, and as twilight was closing down upon the scene a Cossack, bearing a large white flag, was seen riding out of the Swis.h.i.+ying valley, followed by a Russian officer.

The officer was the bearer of a letter from General Stoessel to General Nogi, inviting the latter to open negotiations with the writer ”to determine the conditions of surrender” of Port Arthur. Needless to say, the j.a.panese general gladly, yet without undue haste, acceded to Stoessel's proposal; and at noon of 2nd January 1905, Major-General Ijichi met Major-General Reiss at Plum Tree Cottage, a miserable little hovel situated in the village of Swis.h.i.+ying, and the negotiations were opened which resulted in Port Arthur pa.s.sing into the possession of the j.a.panese on the evening of that day, although the Russian evacuation did not take place until the 5th of January.

CHAPTER TWENTY.

THE BATTLE OF TSUs.h.i.+MA.

Meanwhile, what had become of the j.a.panese navy, after the battle of the Yellow Sea?

So far as the _Yak.u.mo_ was concerned, we were in the very thick of the fight when it was at its hottest, and when at length the battle came to an end with the flight of the _Retvisan_ and _Pobieda_, we were one of the s.h.i.+ps which had been so severely mauled that extensive repairs were necessary before we could undertake further service. Accordingly, we were ordered to proceed forthwith to Sasebo to refit; and since we were by no means alone in our plight, we had to await our turn. Hence it was the middle of January 1905 before the _Yak.u.mo_ was again ready for sea; and in the meantime I had ample opportunity to cement my friends.h.i.+p with the members of the Boyd family, who had acted the part of Good Samaritan to me when I first made acquaintance with Sasebo.

The day before the _Yak.u.mo_ left Sasebo for our rendezvous at the Elliot Islands, news arrived that the long talked-of Baltic Fleet had reached Madagascar and was at anchor in Pa.s.sandava Bay, refitting, provisioning, and generally enjoying the hospitality of the French nation. This, of course, was not the first news that we had received of it; we had been duly apprised of its departure from Libau on 15th October and had also heard--with surprise on the part of the j.a.panese, and with bitter mortification and shame on my own part--of its subsequent unprovoked and unpunished attack upon the Gamec.o.c.k fleet of British trawlers; but n.o.body was in the least disturbed by the news that this formidable fleet was at last actually at sea, for as a matter of fact we in j.a.pan regarded its departure as nothing more than a move on the part of the Russian Government intended to encourage the garrison of Port Arthur to continue its resistance. For, to speak the plain truth, n.o.body seriously believed that the voyage would ever be continued far beyond the western extremity of the English Channel, for we could not see how it was going to be done. But _now_, when it was apparent that France was openly ignoring and outraging all the laws governing neutral nations, in favour of Russia, it behoved j.a.pan to take serious notice of what was happening, and she not only protested vigorously against France's violation of neutrality, but set to work in earnest to prepare for the new menace which was gradually creeping closer to her sh.o.r.es.

For a month after the arrival of the _Yak.u.mo_ at the Elliots, I and half of my crew formed a portion of that busy mult.i.tude who toiled in Port Arthur harbour to raise the sunken s.h.i.+ps which c.u.mbered it, and to clear the entrance channel; but on the 10th of February the naval contingent rejoined its s.h.i.+ps, and on the 14th the j.a.panese battle fleet disappeared from human ken, and for three whole months was no more seen, save by a few who were made clearly to understand the vital necessity to remain absolutely silent.

Not so, however, the j.a.panese cruisers. It was our mission to generate a feeling of uneasiness and anxiety in the mind of Admiral Rojdestvensky and those of his officers and men; and with that object squadrons and single s.h.i.+ps were directed to show themselves suddenly and mysteriously, and as suddenly to disappear again, in those waters through which the Russian fleet would have to pa.s.s on its voyage to Vladivostock. And we did this so effectually and with such excellent judgment that very soon the various telegraph cables grew hot with the number of messages transmitted through them, telling the most marvellous stories of enormous j.a.panese fleets seen in various parts of the world at the same moment, and of huge and incredibly strong fortifications erected on the Formosan coast and elsewhere.

”Bluffing” was not confined to our side, however; French newspapers were permitted to fall into our hands, in which the news was circ.u.mstantially set forth that, in consequence of the fall of Port Arthur, Admiral Rojdestvensky had been recalled, and that he was taking his entire fleet back to Europe by way of the Suez Ca.n.a.l--with the exception of four of his best battles.h.i.+ps, which, it was hinted, had foundered at sea. On 20th March, however, reliable information reached j.a.pan that the 1st and 2nd Divisions of Rojdestvensky's fleet had left Madagascar on the 16th of the month, steering north-east. Two days later, news reached us that the Russian fleet had been sighted in the Indian Ocean, still steering north-east; and a week later the first of our scouts--a smart and fast steam yacht, flying German colours--apparently bound westward, pa.s.sed within four miles of the armada, took careful count of it, and reported by wireless its exact position and the fact that it consisted of forty-three s.h.i.+ps, seven of which were battles.h.i.+ps, while of the rest, ten were cruisers and seven were destroyers.

From that moment our scouts, under every conceivable guise except that of wars.h.i.+ps, never for a moment lost touch with the Russians. We knew that they pa.s.sed Singapore on 8th April; we knew that they touched at the Anamba Islands and coaled there before the Dutch wars.h.i.+ps could arrive to prevent them; and we knew that on 14th April the fleet arrived in Kamranh harbour, in French Indo-China, where, while awaiting the arrival of Admiral Nebogatoff's squadron,--which was coming out via the Suez Ca.n.a.l,--the Russians proceeded to make good defects and generally prepare for the fight which they knew awaited them.

Of course the j.a.panese Government vigorously protested against this flagrant violation of the law regulating the conduct of neutrals, and France replied with polite a.s.surances that such violation should not be repeated. This was followed by an order to the Russians to leave Kamranh harbour, which they obeyed at their leisure, moving on first to Port Dayot and then--when ordered from there in response to fresh j.a.panese protests--to Hon-koe Bay. Thus, with the connivance of the French authorities, a very pretty game of hide-and-seek was played by Rojdestvensky, until 8th May, when Nebogatoff joined with his nine craft, and the now completed fleet entered Hon-koe Bay and calmly proceeded to complete the task of refitting, coaling, and provisioning prior to its great attempt to force its way through to Vladivostock. As for the j.a.panese Government, it speedily recognised that France had quite made up its mind to ignore the laws of neutrality in favour of Russia, and accordingly ceased to lodge any further useless protests.

A week later--on 14th May, to be exact--the entire Russian fleet left Hon-koe Bay, steering northward; and although the French authorities suppressed the news of the departure for two whole days, Togo, who was now with his fleet in Chin-hai Bay, on the southern coast of Korea, received the news by wireless the same night. Thenceforward its progress was carefully watched and reported daily, so that at any moment Togo could put his finger upon the chart and indicate the position of the enemy, within a few miles.

Meanwhile, Togo was busily engaged in the preparation of his plans for the great battle toward which we had all been looking forward for so long. In this work he was of course hampered by his lack of knowledge as to the intentions of the Russians. There were two routes by which they could reach Vladivostock: one--much the shorter of the two--by way of Korea Strait and up through the Sea of j.a.pan; and the other, via the east coast of j.a.pan and La Perouse Strait. Also, should Rojdestvensky choose the shorter route, he could pa.s.s either to the east or to the west of Tsus.h.i.+ma Island. Togo solved the problem by preparing a plan of battle for each of the three alternative routes.

On 26th May the Russian fleet was reported as being south-west of Quelpart Island, off the entrance of Korea Strait, and its position rendered it practically certain that it was Rojdestvensky's intention to take the shorter route up through the Sea of j.a.pan.

It was shortly before sunset, on 26th May, that the fateful wireless message--”Enemy in sight, fifty miles west of Toris.h.i.+ma,”--came in from one of our scouting cruisers; and two minutes later a signal was flying from the _Mikasa_, summoning the j.a.panese admirals to a council of war.

The council was a brief one, lasting barely a quarter of an hour; then the admirals returned to their respective flags.h.i.+ps, and the latter at once signalled the captains of the several squadrons to meet in the cabin of the admiral of that squadron. The _Yak.u.mo_ formed part of the armoured cruiser division, under the command of Admiral Kamimura, and accordingly it was in the cabin of the _Idzumo_ that the six captains of that division presently a.s.sembled to receive our instructions.

These were concise enough, and of such a character as to indicate that Togo had given this long-expected battle a tremendous amount of consideration, and had finally settled all the details with almost mathematical precision. In the first place, for good and sufficient reasons, the battle was to be fought in the eastern strait, and, as nearly as possible, off the northern extremity of the island of Tsus.h.i.+ma. To ensure this, the old _Chin-yen_, the _Itsukus.h.i.+ma, Matsus.h.i.+ma_, and _Has.h.i.+date_, of the protected cruiser squadron, accompanied by one division of destroyers, were to act the part of lures, approaching the Russian fleet on the following morning, as it neared the Straits, alternately attacking and retiring in the direction of the eastern strait, thus inveigling Rojdestvensky into a pursuit in that direction. The s.h.i.+ps told off for this duty were to proceed to sea at once, as the _Chin-yen_--the slowest craft of the quartette--was only good for thirteen knots at best, and it was not desired that any s.h.i.+p should be pushed to the limit of her powers until the engagement should become general. The remainder of the protected cruiser division-- fourteen in number--were to proceed to sea with the main fleet on the following morning, parting company when all were fairly at sea, and then find the enemy's rear, closing in upon it and hara.s.sing it as much as possible, acting according to circ.u.mstances, quite independently of the main fleet, and each captain using his own initiative. As for us of the armoured cruiser division, we were to have the honour of forming part of the battle-line. This was sufficiently gratifying intelligence, but that which followed was even more so: the former tactics of engaging the enemy at extreme range, in order to preserve our precious battles.h.i.+ps from injury, were to be abandoned; this was the battle for which they had been so carefully h.o.a.rded, and in it they must be made the fullest use of, their utmost value must be exacted; in a word, they were to be fought for all that they were worth, closing with the enemy to within effective range, and firing slowly and deliberately, so that every shot should tell.

There was also a general order issued, in the highest degree ill.u.s.trative of j.a.panese thoroughness. It was that every man throughout the fleet was to wash himself from head to foot most carefully and thoroughly, and to put on clean clothing, in order to reduce to a minimum the risk of septic poisoning of wounds, also to don woollen outer garments, so that their clothing might not be set on fire by bursting sh.e.l.ls.

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