To-day, the bombardment wi even more spectacular and more relentless. As soon as the top of Prince Heinrich was reached, it was plain that the Japanese were directing their main efforts at the German redoubts and entanglements. It is essential, of course, that they should be thoroughly well pounded before a general advance of the infantry is ordered. And "pounded" describes exactly the treatment they received. For hour after hour one watched shells pitcbing on top of them with accuracy. "You couldn't for bette~ shooting," said a British who was with me, "il One hopes, when Tsingtao has fallen, to be given a detailed account of the actual damage done each day. For the moment one can only surmise that the second day's bombardment resulted in Taitungchen and Middle Fort 50. Lad places of defence were reduced by ly mauled that their potent
least fifty per cent. During the first half of the day the Germans kept very quiet, replying pretty vigorously, however, during the afternoon.
A Grim Scene, It was during the afternoon that I saw enacted, with the jerky clearness of a cinematograph picture, (I was watching through very powerful glasses that could not be held absolutely still) " small scene full of the horror of war.
A German shell fell so1 ards in front of a Japanese battery plunb into " small gully where I knew there were a number of men. For the space of half a minute nothing was to be seen but a thick cloud of black smoke. When that had thinned out and cleared away, one saw bent backs apparently digging. They straightened up every now and then and the digging action stopped. Then some bent again and into the gully hurried three or four men with red crosses on their arms.
Presently, a grub moved slowly upwards towards the gully's month carrying a body between them, followed, & couple of minutes later, by another. Then, from a bivouac some four or five hundred yards away, four men emerged with a stretcher and doubled along the narrow road. Almost simultaneously three men struggled out of the gully, one helped by the other two.
Ho was able to support himself with his round their necks and to hobble quickly enough to keep up with their trot, Down the road they came, tiny but clear specks growing larger as they fell more directly under one's gaze. The two groups met, paused a few seconds and passed, the men with the stretcher hurrying towards the battery. The limping man approached the bivouac whence the stretcher had emerged, and, just as he got up to it, swayed forward, was tilted back and cerrisd inside. It was all just as clear and jerky as that—one of many grim episodes which must have taken place during the day.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.