THE NIGHT ATTACK. 587 forts would have been silenced and their plateau on the right front and the long ridge of the." Two Dragons" and the "Cock's Comb" to the left. Word was sent to Yamaji to begin the bombardment.

> garrisons very much demoralised by tlae Japanese shell fire. The forts would then be attacked by Yamaji's two brigades, Nishi moving against the flank and Nogi against the front of the plateau, the artillery meanwhile concentrating its fire on theridge,especially on Sung-shia-shan and the Erh-lung forts. As soon as theI-tzu forts were taken, Yamaji's and Hasegawa's columns would make a converging attack on the western forts of the ridge, and, after clearing Sung-shu-shan and Erh-lung of the Chinese, rush down into the town. Once theland defences were captured,it wasexpected that the rest of tlae forts wouldsurrenderrather than face the combined attack of the army and the fleet.

The first gun was fired from one of Yamaji's field batteries. It was thesignalforall theothers toopen fire, and1a rainof shells was soon falling on the plateau forts. The Chinese'replied in a veryleisurely way, and their aim was.wild'and s-ide of the mark. The Japanese fleet lay off the harbour mouth about six miles out to sea. It had been arranged that it should not fire upon Port Arthur during the first stage of the attack, lest shells flying over the hills should reach tlae Japanese lines on the other side. Ito's fine cruiser squadron had now with it a flotilla of ten torpedo boats, but it was not necessary for it to take any serious part in the attack. The troops began to fall in for the march at one a.m. It was very dark ;the moon was in the first quarter, a horned crescent, high over the Port Arthur hills, and giving very little light. In the bivouacs coolies stood holding aloft blazingtorches, and here and there in the ranks of the regiments, and beside the gun teams,a soldier heldalighted lanternof painted paper, giving to the scene of preparation for battle rather the airof a holiday/?/* than of the stern business of war. At last allwas ready,and the long columns tramped off in the darkness, their movement still marked by hundreds of paper lanterns, for surprise was no part of their plan.

The cannonade continued for more than an hour. Byhalf-past seven theforts on the I-tzu tablelandwereall but silent, and the order was sent to Nishi's infantry to advance to the attack. There were very few correspondents with tlae army, but amongst them was one of tlae most experienced English war correspondents, Mr. Frederic Villiers. His letters give a vivid impression of the scenes during the advance of Yamaji's division against the key of the Chinese defences. "It was not until half-past seven,"he writes, "as far asIcan remember, that the skirmishing lines moved up. Then they swept up towards the three forts whichsurmounted TableMountain. From our guns on the knoll in Suishi (i.e. Shui-shih-ying) Valley a hail of shrapnel crowned the heights of Table Mountain with wreaths of smoke. Shell after shell burst in these works. The great mountain, seemingly asleep,slowly awakened from its heavy slumber and began toreply in a ponderous, sleepy sortof way. Then on our right, where Yamaji stood, amountain battery beganshelling;and this was answered by two or three shells in our vicinity, which weretoo far off their mark to be pleasant for the sight-seersonthe left ofYamaji>s position. Nishi's columns moved up on the right to the first earthwork on Table Mountain, which was the western attack. Nogi moved up from the left, which was the eastern attack, very slowly; so for the moment the battle formation was at an angle of about thirty-live degrees from the ridge of the fort. Nishiin about fifteen minutes carried his objective, and a few minutes after Nogi had swept up under a very galling sire, Even with the help of these lights Nogi's brigade on the left of Yamaji's divisionbegan to bear too much towards the sea, and had to be put right by one of Oyama's staff officers, who rode up to the general and told him to incline to theright, as he was getting on to the ground assigned to Hasegawa and the centre column. The incident is worth noting as anindication of the difficulties that attend all night marches, even with the best trained troops. By five o'clock all the troops were in position, the guns had unlimbered,and the men were lying down waiting for the dawn,many of them snatching a short sleep, after the wearying muster at midnight and the march in the darkness over the broken -ground.. " , . .

Oyama and his staff were in the centre, with the reserve battalions just in rear of the long line of guns formed of Yamaji's batteries.and the siege train. About half-past six the sky began to whiten with the dawn over the sea,and soon thesharp outlines of the Chinese forts could be made out,crowning the dark masses of the I-tzu