broken by the firing of a dynamite mine. At 11.20 the assault took place, and during the action the mine on the east front was exploded. It was laid with 125 cwt. of gunpowder, and in its explosion completely buried hundreds of Tekkes. The firing of this mine was the signal for the columns of Kuropatkin and Koselkoff to advance. The interval between the two explosions was ten minutes. A furious hand-to-hand fight followed, which lasted one hour, and only with great difficulty could the Tekkes be pushed down the walls. Samur's battalion scaled the walls between the breaches. All defenders on the walls were cut down.
About 1.30 p.m. Gaidaroff carried the southwestern part of the walls, and a battle raged in the interior. Half an hour later the Russians were in possession of Denghil-Tepe, the hill redoubt commanding the fortress of Geok Tepe. The Tekkes then seemed to be panic-stricken, and took to flight, leaving their families and all their goods behind. One division of dragoons, 4 sotnias of Cossacks, 6 companies of infantry, and 4 long-range field guns went in pursuit, and the fleeing Tekkes were followed for about 15 versts. The ditches to Geok Tepe were filled with corpses, and there were 4,000 dead in the interior of the fortress. The loss of the enemy was enormous. In the pursuit the Russians are said to have cut down no less than 8,000 fugitives. The total loss of the Tekkes during the siege, capture, and pursuit was estimated at 40,000.
During the siege the artillery fired from 100 to 500 shots daily, and the infantry used from 10,000 to 70,000 rounds of ammunition in the same time. During the assault and pursuit the infantry fired 273,804 rounds, the cavalry 12,510, and the artillery 5,864; 224 military rockets were also used.[1]
The Turcoman leaders, Tekme Sardar and Makdum Kali, escaped and fled to Merv. Skobeleff pushed on in pursuit as far as Askabad, the capital of the Akhal Tekkes,
