midnight
The attempt resulted in failure , with a loss of some three hundred slain , to say nothing of wounded . This was followed , on the 26th , by an attack upon Q Fort , North Kikwan , Erhlung , and Sungshushan . This too resulted in failure for the Japanese , with awful slaughter ; the failure in this case , however , being tempered by the capture of the trench on East Kikwan Hill . This capture was of very great importance to the Japanese , from the fact that it commanded the approach to the fort on the summit of the hill ; and the Russians , recognising this fact , fought madly to regain possession of the trench , finally succeeding toward midnight . The fighting on this occasion was most disastrous for the Japanese , their wounded alone totalling over 6000 , while it was estimated that in dead their losses must have exceeded 10,000 ! The result of all this sanguinary fighting was to convince the Japanese Staff , at last , that the defences on the eastern slope were impregnable to assault , and must be captured by other means . They accordingly next turned their attention to 203 Metre Hill , which was the key to the eastern defences of Port Arthur , and determined to take it by assault .