He ordered an assault with infantry, but it was met with such a heavy fire of small-arms that the Russians were driven back before they reached the foot of the earthworks. It was afterwards learned that the Turks had ceased firing because they were short of ammunition, and wished to utilize as much as possible the scanty stock that remained to them. On the 10th their batteries were nearly all silenced, but any movement on the part of the Russian infantry showed that the Turks were fully alive to the situation, and when the occasion demanded, their works swarmed with men.
After repulsing the infantry attack on the Grivitza redoubt, the Turks made an assault upon Skobeleff, at the Green Hills, but were driven back in disorder by the infantry commanded by that dashing officer. On the morning of the 10th, Skobeleff determined to occupy the second knoll in front of the Krishin redoubt, the place he had taken and briefly held on the first day of the attack. His men made a rush, and then rapidly threw up an earthwork behind which they could bid defiance to the Turkish riflemen. As soon as the earthwork was completed Skobeleff brought his guns forward and made ready for the work of the next day—the grand assault.
The plan was to open the day with a heavy bombardment, which was to be continued until three in the afternoon, the time set for the infantry assault. But all through the afternoon and night of the 10th it rained heavily, and the ground became a mass of mud in which it was difficult to move. In the morning of the 11th there was a heavy fog which hung over the entire valley; the Turks took advantage of it by pushing out a column of infantry to drive Skobeleff from the position he had taken the previous day, but they were unsuccessful. The fighting was not severe, as the Turks retired on finding their opponents were ready for them, and the Russians did not pursue through fear of falling into a trap. Both
