y well to decide upon this, after looking
at the heavy doors from a distance through field-glasses, but it was an
entirely different matter to put the explosive in place and set it off.

[Illustration: TOKUYI BLOWING UP THE GATES OF KIN-CHOW.]

Nevertheless, as soon as it was announced that it had been determined by
the commander to blow open the gates, Onoguchi Tokuyi, a private soldier
of the corps of engineers, volunteered to take the cartridge and place
it under the doors. He rushed from among his companions and ran straight
for the wall, from the top of which the Chinese poured a perfect hail of
bullets at him. But the Chinese soldiery never aim, and usually fire
with their eyes closed, so that Tokuyi reached the gate unharmed. He
placed the bomb under one of the hinges, lit the fuse, and only had time
to retreat a few steps when with a roar and a crash the great oaken
doors were torn to pieces and fell inward. The soldier was knocked down
by the force of the explosion, but he quickly picked himself up, and,
leaping through the dust and smoke, placed a second cartridge under the
inner gate and blew that open in the same way. By this time a perfect
avalanche of Japanese infantry was pouring through the opened doorway,
and in a very few minutes the Chinese were in full rout. Tokuyi was
found unconscious after the fight, lying near the second door. He had
been hit in the shoulder by a bullet as he entered the outer gate. He
was treated by the army surgeons, and sent home to Japan to get well,
and then he was decorated for his bravery by the Mikado.

[Illustration: MIMURA CLIMBING THE WALLS OF PING-YANG.]

A similar exhibition of courage was given by an infantryman at the
storming of the Gemmun Gate at Ping-Yang. There, too, the thick stone
walls proved impervious to Japanese shot and shell, and after two
fruitless assaults it was decided to try some other method. Lieutenant
Mimura volunteered to open the gate single-handed, but Private Harada
stepped out and said he would follow along and help. Both men then ran
for a corner of the gateway, while their comrades diverted the attention
of the Chinese defenders by keeping up a hot fusillade. Mimura and
Harada clambered quickly up the face of the wall by placing their hands
and feet in the chinks between the stones. They succeeded in reaching
the top without being seen by the Chinese, who were busy blazing away at
the main body of the enemy, and then jumped down and rus