Mole-Warfare.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1366, 17 February 1912, Page 16

Mole-Warfare.

A Tale of the Mtsadrarlan War, j ® ~—: : : ®.

At last, after days of work, the excavation has been done. The actual tunnel—tire mine-gallery—is bnt a replica, life-size, of tho mine-chart .kept with such precautions and jealous care by the Lioutenant-Colonol of Engineers, jn his little straw shanty down ill' tho lodgement whence tho gallery started. This chart is plotted out on a largc-soalo parchment map of the fort in front, dog'seared and dirty because it was made by u Japanese engineer officor when working, before the war, as a coolie on. this very defence work. Degree-for degree, foot. for • foot, with the help of theodolite, lord and plumbbob, has tho gallery followed its miniature prototypo on the greasy parchment. If chimb-bob and- measure, .level and theodolite, • havo not lied, tho desired point underneath the main parapet of Port—-shan-hiis now been readied. The chambers excavated at right ancles, to contain the explosive, v."ore cut a? soon iu) the main gallery was estimated to havo crossed below tho deep ditch and to bo well beneath the great parapet ■of tho fort,' the object to be blown up. Into theso chambers tons and tons of dynamite have been carefully carried and closely packed. Tho ineu who stood for hours along the gallery passing tho cases from one to the other like water-buckets at a fire havo now trooped out. Tho lueans of firing the charge have been put . into position and connected. The charge is sealed up by the mass of rock, shale and earth which has been placed for some fifty yards back in tho gallery as "tamping." ' The ceaseless scurry to and fro 'of tho mining trucks—tho'so little 1 trucks which havo run forwards empty •■and back again full, their badly greased wheels often shrieking a horror-struck protest at their task—has ended and tho. mole-liko miners have como up from underground. As usual, no chances have been taken. 'As far as possible, the means of firiiiL' tho charge have in every case been duplicated. First, there is electricity. "For this there arc entirely separate circuits, ■ each connected to its own set of detonators in the cliargo and, to prevent pos- , fible damage from clumsy loot or fall--1 ing stone, tho wires havo been carried in split bamboos along the gallery. The circuits have been tested several times , and each time the little kick of the. galv ; vaao-inoter-needlo has shown that there was no break in tho line. Besides the j electricity there is tho ordinary fuze, also in duplicate. Each is mado up of three different links in tho chain of ignition; the detonators in the charge, the length of instantaneous fuze from them to a point, some yards outside tho tamping, and, lastly, the short piece of slowburning safety-fuzo joined on in order to allow time for escape to tho'person igniting the charge. Far'away, ■ at varying distances, .are tho guns, every one already laid on tho doomed fort.. Somo will fire direct, others from behind -hills, whence " the target cannot be. seen; but as soon as the smoke of the"explosion shoots up and spreads mushroom-liko into the.sky,;all will conccntrato their file on this work. Under cover-'of this squall of bursting steel and shrapnel bullets will'tho assaulting col-umns-storm the breach. The stormers are' now crouching under '■ cover in the lodgements and parallels closest. to tho work. All is' ready,' but-not a moment too .won, for have not the listeners, lying prone in-their branch listening-galleries, heard coming from somGwhero in the womb of Mother Earth the strokes of the Russians countermining? lias not tho pebble placed on the many-coloured captured Russian drum danced to the same vibrations? Hard it is to locate, harder still to estimate their distance; but without donbt tho tho Russians are working, working near at hand too. Down tho hillside is the lodgement, that hole which looks like a distorted volcanic crater. Such, in fact, it is, being the result of exploding a few small mines, so spaced that their resulting craters intersect and by overlapping form ono elongated pit, _ a broad and very deep trench. Tho soil vomited up by tho explosions has formed a parapet "all round as it fell back. -It was when the attackers found that they conld atlvanco no closer over tho open that this pit was made. A tunnel had been made up'to its position— j this was the commencement of tho mole's , work—and the mines exploded. At once, even while the sky was still raining rocks and clods of earth, tho tappers and infantry advanced with a cat-like rush from tho parallel behind and seized this point of vantage. Without delay they started with pick and shovel to improve on the work of the explosives. Cat-like, too, with tooth and nail have they hung on to their newly won position against all counter-attacks. In vain have tho desperate Russians surpassed themselves in their nightly attempts to try and turn ■ them out with bayonet, bomb, or bullet. ; A foothold onco established, tho ■ men:of Nippon havo hung on to tho spot, (steadily strengthening it tho while. From this lodgement was started tho gallery for the gTeat mino that is just about to be exploded to give them a road into tlio fortress, and it is hero that all interest is now centred. ' Down at tho bottom of tho hollow Is a small group intently waiting. At the telephone in the straw shanty kneels the operator. Over the top of the parapet, above which bullets and shells sing their way, ,peers tho Lieutenant-Colonel. C'loso by, in charge of a heavily-built sergeant, lies a curious innocent-looking box with a handle; it is the dynamo-exploder. Near it two men aro standing, each holding ono end of an electric wire, in either hand. Tho' ends of these wires, where the metal protrudes from its black insulation, aro scraped bright. The telephone orderly speaks. -The Colonel; gives an order. Quickly and silently the two ends of wiro held by. one man are placed in the clamps of tho dynamo, which ,aro screwed down to grip thefri. Tho moment is fateful and dead mlenco reigns among the little group, . whose drawn anu dirty faces wear if possiblo a more anxious expression than usual. Tho orderlv speaks again. Tho Colonel turns to the sergeant—"FiciJ" Tho latter throws-bin whole weight on the handle, forcing it down with a purring rattle, while all cower down, holding their breath. . '. . Nothing happens. _ Again—once more is the handle jerked up, and forced down. Nothing happens! Tlie TiKm holding the second circuit steps forward and the exploder is quickly connected to it. Oncc, twice, three' times foes tho handle rattle as it is forecd i down, by two mon now. Again—nothing !• "Who connccted this charge?" Captain Yamatogo of tho Imperial Japanese Engineers steps forward and sa- ; lutes—a.small, thin man, so coated with : dried sweat and earth that ho might again be well taken for a coolie. Ho is responsible; he was- in charge; but he happened to be the ono chosen among many volunteers to go .down and light the fnse, if necessary, and to go down and relight it should it not act tho first time. _ The matter of tho failure of the electricity can wait fill later. A word, and; ho turns round, picks up a small portable electric lamp, which he straps round his forehead, and slings a thick coil of safety-fuzo over his Bhouldor. A salute, and he has gone down the gallery, ; picking his way carefully. As'ho strides along, his thoughts ran over tho possible causes of failure. Be ponders over a dull Imom which he funded lie Kail heard proceed from the dil'ectiou of tho tunnel some five minutes ago, just'before they connected with the dynamo. ■' No ono'else had noticed it, apparently, ainid the storm of noise. Ho had decided that his ears must Ire playing him trick.-;, for he had done umch underground'listening recently; but r.ow hi- iiwr.jrht.s again revert to this eound. After waiking for KOme two minutes, he almost stumbles into an obstruction; the left side of the gallery and tho top iiuve apparently fallen in. It is in » soft portion of tho tnuncl lined with timbers, which are splintered and lying about. Fie hastily searches the side walls for a gauge mark showin" tho distance from the mouth. He finds one; he is twenty yards short of tho tamping, and therefore the, pile of soil and rock is in?t over the ends of the safety-fuze. Whilst standing there he hoars strokes and voices—voices close to, him. Ho half draws his srord. This explains the failure. His oars were right. The enemy hayo drrran for-

wards a tube and exploded a small coun-ter-mine, smashing in the side of tho gallery. Well, they seem to have succeeded in spoiling the attackors' plan, for the present at anyr&te. It will bo impossible to dig theso tons of earth off tho fuzos under some hours; the gallery is completely blocked. But stay—is it? Ho sees a small patch of darkness 011 tho right-hand top corner of tho mound. Scrambling up, ho digs with his hands and finds a mere orust of earth. Behind this the opening is just large enough to crawl through. He wriggles along on his belly between the earth and the roof for some ten yards, then the mound slopes away and lie stumbles down on to tho floor again in tho small space between tho obstruction and tho tamping at tho end of the tunnel. He darts to tho sido of the tunnel and picks up two red ropes. They aro the instantaneous fuzes..

Captain Yamatogo knows nil that is to bo known abont fusses. Ho knows well that to light the instantaneous means death,, as tho flame would flash straight down to the charge beforo he could move. Not wanting to dio uselessly, ho heaves at tho fuzes to try and pull them. on<l the pieces of eafety-fiizo joined to their ends from under the load of earth. Ho pulls, but they do not yield; dropping them, lie whip 3 out his knife. He will cut the instantaneous and splice on to it a longish piece of safety,' long enough to allow him to get back over tho obstruction after lighting. Two minutes will do it.

At that moment ho again hoars a voice, still closer than before, 'i'hero is no time to lose, not oven two minutes; the words are Russian. Quickly ho makes up hi? mind, but, his resolve taken, lie proceeds calmly. Taking.out a.littlo'Japanese fie?, he sticks it into t.ho earth beside him, squats down on his heels, peels the end of the cut, fuze and takes out a cigarette. As ho does this, hc'cannot help recalling with a grim smile that it must l>c just iftove where he now squats that lie vns kicked when working as a coolie, by a Russian officer. Then he thinks of his wife at homo near Osaka, aaid of . his two merry-eyed little bovs. lie lights the cigarette and takes a lon-; pull. Expelling; the smoke with a hoarse err nf Banzai, ho presses the end of the fuze hard on to the glowing cigarette end. There is a hiss and a jet of sparks.

To those watching, great Fnsiyaroa itself. seems to erupt skywards from tho Fort of shan. Within two minutes the men of his company arc running and stumbling high above what was once Captain Yamatogo of the. Imperial Engineers.—Olo Luke-Oio in "Tho Green Curve."