Orlovets, stammering, told about the first meeting with the pale-faced “Chinese” who speak Russian fluently.
– You said so: the roof of the ancestors is the sky? Well done, – praised the staff captain. – But another time, look, do not let go of reasoning.
The commander of the hunting team, having examined the Chinese translator, said:
– A rare figure… Senior, come here!
The crowd of villagers grew. Day sloped in the evening. The cries of women and the crying of children were heard.
– Under the reinforced escort take to the headquarters of the Chinese, caught gunners. Tell me there that he speaks Russian well and that my report about him will be in an hour. And that convict to keep under protection until tomorrow, until the new order.
Chapter eleven
one
On the second of May evening, Podkovin realized that preparations were being made for the first skirmish with the Japanese on the Liaodong Peninsula. After the trip with the general, he was very excited. The second battery is located at the bottom of Mount Samson, but the third battery and the battery of Second Lieutenant Sadykov, composed of piston guns and moving on the bulls – “bull battery”, as its soldiers called, moved closer to the enemy.
Early in the morning of the third of May, Fock, driving around the locations of the units, met with General Nadein.
“The Japanese are being cheeky, Your Excellency,” said Fock, “and they should be taught a lesson.” Move by day and open.
– We have a weak position center…
– Do you think they will go along the Bitszyvock road? Oh, this is the height of self-confidence.
“So far we have not resisted them, and even when landing in a storm,” Nadein said, pursing his lips.
Fock turned away and looked at Samson’s bare top.
– Lieutenant! He shouted. – Write. Lieutenant Colonel Prince Machebeli. Immediately come out of the bivouac with the three battalions of the 13th Regiment and the batteries attached to them and follow, without stopping, along the Bitsevos road to the Tunzalizon bridge.
Meanwhile, the Japanese are more and more deployed. Before them was one goal – Mount Samson, from which one can see so well around. Their numerous spies extremely accurately informed about each step of the Russian troops. They knew all the weak points of our position.
In 1894, when disembarking, the Japanese army did not encounter opposition from the Chinese. The same thing happened in 1904. The Russians in the eyes of the Japanese soldiers were not smarter and not braver.
General Fock has not yet had a definite plan. What to do on this day and the next – he did not know. He was disturbed by Kuropatkin’s telegrams. Of all the messages, she realized that she should not wait for help.
– But this is wild! Where are we going far away? – Fock polled himself a thousand times. “There are so few, so few soldiers, that the landing will be further south of the isthmus.”
At ten o’clock in the morning on the heights about which the general was a few days ago, battalions of Japanese soldiers appeared. Gunfire and salvos of one company drove them into the hollows.
Having received a report on the movement of the enemy in an open area, Fock exclaimed:
– This is undoubtedly a demonstration. General Oku is teasing me to crawl onto the shore somewhere near Suantsaygou. Mischievous! It’s not easy to fool me. I will be able to properly arrange and these little strength. Quantum is not bare…
Hearing a gunfight on the right flank, Fock, in a hurry, ordered that the first battalion of the 13th regiment stopped at Nanguin station and did not move to the north.
The adjutant wrote the order and filed it for signature. A written sheet of paper annoyed Fock, he winced and waved his hand:
– Is it really impossible without these formalities? How they interfere with me in responsible moments. In a field setting, catch orders on the fly, and then accurately and quickly transfer them to the destination.
– Yes, sir, Your Excellency.
After repeating the order twice, the orderly galloped off.
The fight flared up. It took about an hour. From the village of Hondyaden, the enemy’s heavy chains moved again, and behind them, just a few miles away, four columns from our position, a thick column of two regiments appeared, with mountain guns on packs.
– Where is our field artillery? – the commander of the sixth company of the fifth regiment, Captain Gomzyakov, was perplexed. – When I, General Fok ordered that they should come here. After all, this is a brilliant order. See which chain.
“There has certainly been some kind of confusion,” said Lieutenant Pushkov, “Our old man has become unrecognizable in recent days.” He has a big drawback – to give oral orders, not written. We stand at a certain tip. You see, nobody still knows what we will do around Kinzhou. So today. A fight ensues. Was there a disposition? The enemy is visible, but there is no field and mountain artillery. We – the army of a great power – have a battery on the bulls from old piston Chinese guns. Laugh! We have nothing to do with the upcoming Japanese. We have no machine guns! You notice at every step – a misunderstanding.
– The position has a battery Romanovsky. Eight quick-fire guns. Can shoot at an invisible target.
– And they are arranged so that the first two shrapnels will sweep away all the servants and knock down thin instruments for firing at an invisible target. I, passing with my team, was surprised. Again, some kind, forgive, in my opinion, just rotozeystvo. My heart hurts today, and I’m afraid for that day.
Shooting on the line continued. The sun was shining brightly; clouds of dust spoke of advancing the enemy. General Fok traveled near the right flank and waited for Prince Machebeli and the batteries. The Japanese, without meeting artillery fire, were pressing.
“But where the hell are they?!” – asked Fok adjutant. – How did you send the order to the prince?
– Orally, Your Excellency.
– I ordered, do you want to say? But you could send a written order, even if it was not signed by me. Equip a second orderly!
Ten minutes after the newly sent orderly left, the first one returned. Fock pounced on him.
– Where is the battery? Where are the battalions?
“They are at your command at Kinzhou Station, Excellency.”
– Moron! Nit! Scarecrow! Under arrest!
The shooter held his hand under the visor and blinked his eyes. On the enemy side gunfire boomed. Japanese mountain batteries, sitting in the bushes near the village of Chenboloso, opened fire on the battery of Colonel Romanovsky. Inadvertently, the guns of this battery were installed in an open area. The first shells of two Japanese cannons fell not far away. But as soon as the distance was determined, the core of twenty-four enemy guns fell on the unfortunate battery. Although the cruel fire and mowed the gunners of the third battery, but their guns were not silent. Shells brought arrows infantry cover. The wounded commander and officers did not leave their post, awaiting revenue and support.
– Where did Laperov go? – worried Romanovsky, seeing the wounded captain Benoit. “The General assured me that he had called two more batteries on the front line.
“The guns should be removed from this position with the help of shooters,” said Lieutenant Ouspensky.
– Not! Now only answer, and this is our salvation. Until they distract the attention of the enemy, we cannot move. If all of our batteries were here, then the battle would have been twenty-four to twenty-four… Oh, then they wouldn’t have time for it!
In the midst of a duel, when almost the entire cannon servant was out of action, the lieutenant Sadykov entered the artillery battle with his bull battery. And immediately the picture changed. The hits from piston guns were exceptionally successful, and, in addition, they beat the enemy’s flank. The Japanese were silent and began to rebuild, waiting for the strengthening of our artillery fire.
– On the front! – commanded Romanovsky.
Horses, wound up in a continuous roar and the crackling of shrapnel, with a whirlwind of dust, took out one weapon after another. The teams were released on the right, then on the left. Distracted by the shots of the “bullish” battery, the Japanese did not immediately understand the Romanovsky maneuver. The battery has been saved. Launched after the shells fell far behind.
The first and second batteries never arrived at the height of the battle. The enemy attacked in thick columns: he understood our artillery impotence. On the left flank they wounded General Nadein, and on the right flank General Fock went out of himself. Lieutenant Sadykov stopped two field guns of the retreating third battery and took command of them.
“Let them go now,” he grunted to himself. – We will beat for sure and wait for support.
2
The fight subsided. Enemy guns were silent, not visible, and the chains of infantry. At this time, the battalions of the 13th regiment and the platoon of the first battery approached the railway bridge. Long before sunset, we moved away from our original positions. The departure deeply stirred the soldiers. Especially struck by all the careless attitude to the artillery. The third battery lost almost half its entire staff of officers and gun maids.
In the evening, wounded officers, soldiers, and gunners gathered at the Tafashin station waiting for the train.
“I don’t understand why we have a bad connection,” said Lieutenant Pushkov. – One battery is shot, and the rest somewhere far in reserve. They say that in the morning they were given the order to move to the bridge, but then some kind of confusion happened, and all because of an oral, rather than a written order. And now they do not know who messed up: the orderly, the adjutant of the general or the general himself.
– The command of the battery is also not at the height of his vocation. They installed the guns in the open, so much so that there is no place to remove them, said Second Lieutenant Bordyug.
“But they fought perfectly,” continued Pushkov. “Imagine shrapnel from twenty-four cannons that shot with quick fire fell on them. Let’s calculate how many bullets are per second. A modern field gun can launch about ten shells per minute without warming up the body. In each projectile two hundred sixty bullets. Within half an hour about two million lead bullets on the heads of forty people! Despite the huge decrease in people from the lead rain, our gunners responded with almost four shells per minute from each of their guns… Resistance showed extraordinary. For some reason I think that the Japanese would not have sustained such a murderous fire and would immediately abandon their guns.
“We don’t know our soldiers well,” Captain Benoit responded to the officers’ conversation. – In peacetime, we are far from them. Daleks, I would say, with their drinking and smartness. It would seem that they should boil malice towards us. It would seem that they should have left us in a difficult moment. But we see the opposite. Why? Soldiers consider us to be idlers, an inevitable evil, and their work sacred. When the danger of the country – not the time to settle personal scores. This formula must be firmly seated in their being. For them, the honor of the country, the nation is dear… Our soldiers are an amazing people. They are in the excitement. In my eyes, the gunners worked after being injured. If only arms and legs were intact.
– What did we pursue by engaging in battle today? – asked Pushkov.
“It was necessary to find out the strength of the enemy and his intentions,” said Staff Captain Steding. – As far as I know, we assumed to go on the offensive in the morning, but the Japanese warned us, so we had to stop on defense. But still the Japanese and the third of May did not count on resistance. Only this can explain the movement of significant Japanese columns in the field of our artillery fire. They did not advance their artillery sufficiently, apparently, concealing it for more active operations at Kinzhou. If we had three batteries near the front line, we would have done a lot of damage. It is clear, with patient waiting and from closed positions!
– We have poor intelligence set. Horse hunting teams are poorly organized. The enemy groped, but did not study his movements, clusters, kind of weapons. Each team acts at its own risk.
– In the group of our commanders. noticeable confusion. Some extraneous thought oppresses General Fok. Apparently, there is some disappointing information from the north. In fact, why not hit the Japanese directly from Bitszyo from there? And we would support.
“Philosophy,” said Studing. – One battery enters the battle. The enemy shoots her…
“We have already spoken about this,” said Lieutenant Ouspensky.
– They said… Look at the morale of the gunners and gunners now. They the devil knows that they will weave… And already weave… The orderlies carried me on a stretcher. Under what circumstances I fell on a stretcher – I do not remember. On the way I woke up. Medics stand and smoke. I hear their conversation:
“Sold out,” one says hoarsely. – By all means. Look, you put the battery on. Bay, Japanese! And the rest of the guns sent away.
– Really?
– Is it possible to let the whole battalion through an open area without a reservation? Where have you seen it? The Japs with the ceremonial march were allowed to enter, but they did not beat them. There were no cannons, they were held in Nangualine, the orderly wheezed.
– They are what! They only have money for their pleasures and clothes.”
– I could not stand it and turned. A terrible pain pierced my bullet punched hand, and I again fell into oblivion… We should find this youngster. I recognize him by a hoarse voice.
– Do not try! – exclaimed Pushkov. – There are thousands, tens of thousands! This morning I laughed at the reasoning of the soldier… He see, he would have done things quite differently than his superiors. “I would, he says, attack the Japanese at night. Each company would give a plot: study it during the day before the arrival of the enemy, consider what everyone should do during the battle. All the grooves, all the pits would know my arrows. Then he would lure the Japanese to this position and strike on them. So much so that none of our people dare to go beyond their limits, so that, therefore, they cannot touch their darkness. And in advance to take artillery a sight. And as soon as the enemy trembled – a signal to her, she would have showered them with shrapnel.”
“Here common sense is heavily seasoned with fantasy,” the staff captain chuckled.
– But, they say, the gunner of the second battery a few days ago puzzled his response to our divisional general. Fock, in his habit of making fun, asked the gunner what he would do in this position. And he is calm: first go to the spurs of Samson. The Japanese will press on the right flank – they need a mountain to observe and lead the battle at Kinzhou. Six guns should be set to shoot at an invisible target, and two from each battery to push, but not for long. They will attract the attention of the enemy, he will reveal his batteries, and then shoot the rest. Dexterously! Imagine how much savvy the people!
– And what?
– He was very pleased with the answer. And, apparently, this advice wanted to use today. Fock ordered the “bullish” battery to become exactly in a place from which she could demonstrate. But there was confusion. Some speak about the guilt of the orderly, others – the adjutant… There are voices also because the general himself hastily mixed up the names of the stations… They say that Fok is very afraid of the landing south of Kinchzhou and therefore keeps impressive reserves there.
So it really was. The critical situation in which the third battery was located during the skirmish on May 3 sowed bewilderment among the soldiers. Over the past few days, gunners have often discussed senseless battery losses. The Russian troops of the Kvantunsky fortified area for the first time began to worry about the integrity of the fortress, with which, after the break of the path and the landing of the enemy landing, they were firmly connected. The enemy persistently attacked, but they did not detain him, he was given to quietly land on the shore, without using stormy weather, and even at night.
In the evening of the twelfth of May a strong wind blew. The second field battery received orders to leave the village of Nanguin and settle down on the Tafashi Heights. Move slowly. Either one or the other of the front end of the cannon run up to the high edges of the grooved roads. The gunners jumped from their seats, supported the gun or charging box.Chinese country roads always brought trouble to the gunners. Riding on antediluvian carriages, wind and rainwater turned them, once lying on the same level with the surrounding fields, into deep ditches with sheer walls. Try here to roll or disperse with the counter! Roads-ditches go into a wide path only on passes through elevations. At the entrance to the ditch-like section of the path, the drivers click their whips and scream, suggesting wait on extensions. But it is not always possible. Those who are confronted first have long disputes about who to return back to, and then one of the sides harnesses the horses and wraps the shaft.
The sky was dark, without stars, a thunderstorm was expected. About eleven o’clock in the morning, not reaching the village of Mondzy, the battery stopped on the Mandarin road. On the left was clearly heard the surf of the sea. Ahead rumbled guns. Lightning flashed – and the searchlight rays hurried along the mountain slopes and the ridges.
On this day, the enemy strenuously bombarded the city of Jinzhou and the batteries of our fortified position. Even during the daytime, two enemy gunboats with six destroyers entered the Jinzhou (or Kinzhou) Bay and became outside shots. From the bay of Ker moved Japanese infantry. The location of the Japanese batteries could not be precisely groped, although they let in a kite. But the enemy could perfectly target our batteries, crowded at the same height.
After examining the side roads, the second battery’s guns moved left to the sea to a selected position on a low hill protecting it from enemy shelling from the sea, and charging boxes and a spare carriage were put on arable land in a hollow behind one of the Tafashi heights.
Arrows of lightning fell menacingly from the sky. Thunder rumbled. Rare raindrops hit the charging boxes. The command was given to settle down for the night, but without setting up tents. Hit a shower. Gunners and riders sat down at the front, some climbed under the charging boxes, trying to escape from the rain. But it did not succeed. Jets of water flowed from the caps by the collar. The ground has become slippery and viscous.
Tired of the day’s work, Podkovin escaped from the rain at the reserve gun carriage. After removing his overcoat, he hung it on the right seat and sat down under a kind of umbrella. His knees were wet, but his head, back and chest were well protected from rain.
Half an hour later the rain stopped. The shooting subsided. Anxiety subsided. The gunners got crackers and, chewing on them, they chose places where they could lie down more comfortably.
For a long time, Podkovin could not find a dry piece of land for himself even under the charging boxes. There was sticky and fluid dirt all around. Having trampled at the spare carriage, he lay down at the wheel, right on the damp ground.
Clouds flew low. Stars glittered here and there. Mount Samson in the dark seemed lonely. Rays of searchlights constantly glided over the hills. To the right there gleamed the Hunuez Bay; he seemed like a big quiet lake. The sea rustled to the left. Terrible and inaccessible Nanshan clouded by fog. For a few minutes, guns and rifle volleys fell silent. There was silence, ominous and painfully heavy.
3
Everyone, not only the soldiers, but also junior officers, considered the Kinjaw position as impregnable, reliable and believed in its invincibility. What did this position represent?
Sixty-two versts north of Arthur, the Liaodong Peninsula has a width of about three versts with a group of heights (Nanshan), which, strengthened by the Russians, became known as the Kinzhou position. To the north of the heights lies a plain, surrounded by inclusive heights, and from the east – the Samson mountain range. The southern slopes of the position merge with the Tafashinsky hills.
The Nanshan fortifications consisted of fourteen batteries located at the top of the position, with three strong points and a common trench around. The belts of the fields of the fortifications were pushed seven hundred steps forward and connected to a common trench. For the message of the center position with the lower tier, the message moves were made and numerous deep ravines were adapted for the same purpose. Between the individual batteries and the fortifications was a telephone. Telephone communication was available with the bay of Ker, Dalny, Jinzhou, Taleenwan and Arthur.
On the advice of Admiral Makarov, two batteries were prepared on the left flank for long-range serf guns with shelling of Jinzhou Bay, but the six-inch Cana cannon could not be installed until the thirteenth of May.Chapter twelve
one
The old Chinese city of Jinzhou, located off the coast, out of the blue, represented an excellent target for enemy batteries, but still its walls were a safe haven from both rifle bullets and field battery shells.
Captain Eremeev knew all the positive and negative properties of his site. The town as a fort or redoubt could not play a big role. Life in it stopped. The Chinese left their homes during the first Russian failures.
After the clash of the third of May, the Japanese advanced heavy chains to the spurs of Samson for a long time did not show any active actions. At the headquarters of General Fock, there was talk of intensified reconnaissance in the direction of the village of Palizon and further to the southern spurs of the mountain, Samson.
Captain Yeremeyev had a spy Chinese Lee Yang-tzu. The commandant was always pleased with him. His information was confirmed by forays, observations of hunters and subsequent actions of the enemy.
Lee Yang-tzu remembered well the invasions of the Japanese and their rule. Living and working was hard. And only with the arrival of the Russians, the revival began in the region. Russian soldiers and officers were cheerful and good-natured people. They didn’t scare like the Japanese. Lee Yang-tzu met Captain Yeremeyev through the supply of food and fodder. The captain liked the Chinese for being respectful of the graves of their ancestors and lovingly asking about the past of the Liaodong Peninsula, about the greatness of the Chinese empire, about the works of Chinese art. He often quoted the words of famous Chinese poets Li Yang-tzu. Captain Eremeyev studied the life of Eastern peoples and was known as a connoisseur of China among his comrades.
On May 8, Li Yang-tzu returned with hunters excited:
– It’s bad, captain. There are many, many Japanese soldiers. A lot of big guns. Russian is one old cannon, and Japanese is four new cannons. I put it all around. He set up Tyndyl, put Palizon near, put it here near Liudiagou. Their general walked around, everything looked.
“Yes, we are late,” thought Yeremeyev. – Probably, all their army is already concentrated around Kinzhou, but now I will send a report. This is an important message: “Russian is one old cannon, Japanese is four new cannon.” The captain grinned bitterly and spat out loudly, exclaimed:
– I am ashamed!
On the morning of the tenth of May, a small enemy infantry squad appeared in front of the northern walls of the city. The arrows opened fire and drove the enemy away. But the captain saw that the activity of the Japanese was increasing. On the same day, they tried to occupy the old Chinese port, located near the village of Chudyatun. The next evening, the Japanese infantry began shelling the city. I had to use the guns and ask for help from a fortified position.
At night a strong wind blew. Our hunters brought disturbing information. On the twelfth of May, long before dawn, shells of Japanese field guns fell on the city. Siege guns began shelling fortified Kinzhou. But the shells put to blow, not all torn. The sound of the shots, as well as the marks on the remote tubes could be concluded: Japanese guns are far away and shoot from a distance.
– But where are the batteries? – Captain Yeremeyev asked himself the question and sent for Lee Yang-tzu.
Despite a thorough search, the Chinese were not found. Apparently, he left the city in the evening.
– So, the danger is not far off. If not today, then tomorrow there will be a general attack.
The wind was still raging. The bay was noisy with breaking fine waves. Throughout the shallows in the pre-dawn haze glowing boils broke, from the walls of the town were visible outbreaks of guns, which are no no no and light the foothills of Samson. On the breastwork of our batteries, clubs of earth and gases rose. An hour later, the siege batteries fell silent, but shells of small-caliber cannons continued to fall into the city.
“We are on the road, We need to be destroyed,” said the defenders of the city. “But the enemy has been bombing for five hours now, and only four of our people have been wounded.”
– And the Chinese?
– Maybe five people, and even less. All left, like a cow licked. Their intelligence works better than ours.
During the day the wind did not subside, but in the evening it even increased.
At dusk, Captain Yeremeyev received reinforcements. Now he had a company and a half, one foot team, two guns and two machine guns at his disposal.
The Japanese acted on this site assertively. They tried to bypass the city from the west. Having been repulsed, they launched an offensive from the north. At midnight, surrounding the city, they dragged a mine to the gate. The sentinels noticed the enemy, one of them ran up to Captain Yeremeyev.
– Your honor, at the gates of the Japanese with a bomb.
“What kind of talk,” the captain laughed. “They would have blown it up a long time ago.”
– By golly! – exclaimed the shooter. “And don’t worry about the explosion,” they know what they are doing. Reinforcements are waiting to be flocked to the city.
– But you’re right, Schetkin.
Captain Eremeev chose five hunters and, heading them, went to the gate. The case was very responsible.
“If they didn’t get me wrong,” thought the captain.
The Japanese with a bomb, lay along the wall at the gate. They were already in a dead space, where gun bullets did not reach. Captain Eremeev through the embrasure slot saw their legs. There was some scuffling. Obviously, they moved landmine. By order of the captain, the soldiers gathered two buckets of ash from the outbreaks. Spread out the shooters, Yeremeyev bared his sword and quietly commanded:
– Pour the ashes on the wall! Open the gate!
While the Japanese were rubbing their eyes, the captain cut the wire, and at the same time the bayonets plunged into the Japanese miners. Ours from the city wall opened fire. The Japanese responded with machine gun fire. The landmine was dragged into the fortress and the gate was closed.
Rainfall interfered with the monitoring of the Japanese, located around the city.
– Eh, if regiment two is now right here. And during the night you could destroy all the plans of the enemy on his right flank. All batteries placed so carelessly would be ours… Do we really know the terrain badly? – reasoned Captain Yeremeyev.
Fires began in the city. The ranks of his defenders melted, but held tight. The arrows were waiting for reinforcements and strikes against the enemy along the seashore in addition to the city walls. All the language spun phrases:
– Lure and flatten.
– Fock is an old fox. He knows what to do…
At four o’clock in the morning, Captain Yeremeyev received orders from Colonel Tretyakov to clear the city and retreat to the position.
Chapter Thirteen
one
The highest point of the Nanshan Fortifications was Redoubt No. 13, located on the edge of a steep southern slope. The main approaches to Kinzhou were well visible from it. On the redoubt was the commander of the fifth regiment and the head of the position of Colonel Tretyakov.
At the first glimpses of dawn near the height of seventy-fifth, they found an enemy column. Our gunners hit it with shrapnel. This first morning shot served as a signal for the Japanese. All the siege light and heavy guns of the enemy suddenly opened fire, concentrating fire on the lonely mountain Nanyian.
The daily battery of the second, on hearing the first distant volleys, shuddered and whispered:
– It’s them…
Behind the mountain was buzzing, the earth shuddered. In our positions exploded enemy shells. Measured group shots lasted about ten minutes. Then the sounds of gunfire and explosions merged. Our batteries responded vigorously. He stopped shaking, he was numb. Riding rifles and gunners rose all around and anxiously examined the sky in the north. Suddenly, on the left, a deafening and dense click, as if here – twenty to thirty paces – struck thunder. The horses crouched, began to tear, shaking the guard post. Litter ran to Podkovin, who was getting tired and relaxed.
– I heard! What are these things?
– The enemy ships fire their long-range cannons.
– How are they allowed? – confusedly said the daily.
– In the morning they will disassemble and drive off.
Podkovin scraped dirt from his overcoat, rolled up and tied his overcoat to the front end of the carriage.
– I’ll go look at the hill. – He may hit the hill.
– It is clear, maybe, but later, and after our battery starts to shoot.
Riders harnessed horses, and Podkovin ran to the top of the mountain. Samson Peak hung its teeth over the low-lying Russian fortifications. Numerous spurs of sinister tentacles moved into the hollow. Across the entire isthmus, the fires of enemy volleys flickered continuously. From a distance they seemed to be a trembling grid of illuminated advertising, on which intricate fiery signs ran from right to left and vice versa. In the dark expanse of the sea, long flames of crimson flames flashed in pairs: the gunboats fired. On the Nanshan hill was visible the dancing of lights from the bursting enemy shells and shots of serf guns. Looking closely, Podkovin realized that the enemy half-ring of fire was narrowing, threateningly approaching a lonely position.