CAPTURING THE TAKU FORTS
One afternoon Rex went to see his friend the midshipman at the
barricade.
“I wish you would tell me,” Rex said, “all about the capture of the
Taku Forts. Beyond the fact that they were captured I have heard next
to nothing.”
“Well, it is rather a long story,” the middy said, “but as everything
is quiet, I donʼt mind telling you about it if you like.”
“I should be very much obliged if you would,” Rex said.
“Well, then, here goes. You have not seen the place, I suppose?”
“No.”
“Well, the mouth of the river is strongly fortified, especially on
the north side, where there is a big casemated fort with earthworks,
mounting altogether some fifty guns of different sizes. A third of a
mile farther up the river is the inner fort, which is very strong, but
smaller than the other, and mounts about thirty guns. An earthwork
covered–way connects the two forts, and the parapet is pierced for
many small guns. On the south side, extending a mile along the shore,
are a number of casemated batteries, mounting about one hundred and
twenty guns. These are good guns, and for the most part modern. There
is also an inner fort a mile inland, built for the defence of the main
magazines.
“All these fortifications consist of earthworks with cement and
concrete galleries. They are wonderfully well built; certainly as good
as any I have ever seen. You see, mud is the usual substance with
which they build houses in China, and they are wonderfully clever
with it. At many points of the fortification there are high and very
powerful redoubts, which carry at their angles very big modern guns,
mostly Krupp quick–firers. All these forts seem to have been designed
by foreigners; I donʼt think the Chinese would ever have been up to
such work if they hadnʼt had foreign instructors. Apparently, however,
they sacked these fellows when they had finished the batteries, and
themselves carried out the rest of the work. There hasnʼt been any
regular garrison in these forts for some years, but officials and
hangers–on have resided there. When the row began, however, troops came
marching in, and we calculated that at the time of the bombardment
they were occupied by some eight thousand men. I fancy they were good
soldiers, for they came from Hunan, which province is considered to
turn out the best soldiers in China. Their general, Liu, came from the
same place.
“Unfortunately the water near the forts is very shoal, and war–vessels
that drew twenty feet of water were obliged to heave–to five miles off
the bar; that is to say, ten miles off the forts. By the fifteenth
there were twenty–five foreign men–of–war here—British, French,
German, Austrian, Russian, Italian, and Japanese. An American ship came
up a day or two before the battle. It was difficult getting news so far
out, so the admiralʼs light–draught yacht anchored close outside the
bar, and they ran a wire into the destroyer Fame, which was anchored
just outside the fort. By this means despatches were wired out to the
yacht, and either flashed or semaphored to the fleet. A mile above the
fort was the Imperial naval yard and docks, and lying moored to the
wharves were four very fine thirty–two–knot German–built destroyers,
with full Chinese crews on board.
“During the day before the battle everyone was on the qui vive, for
it was known that a summons to surrender next day had been sent in
to the forts. Only two trains were despatched for Tientsin, and both
these had to be worked by engineers from the fleet, for all the Chinese
had disappeared. A large Japanese force was landed from their ship,
and encamped by the side of the railway at Tongku, two miles from the
forts. Later in the day they shifted camp to the other side of the
railway, to make room for a large Russian infantry force that had just
come in from Port Arthur. Two hundred blue–jackets from our ships
encamped near them in the evening, at the head of the road to the
forts. A train came down from Tientsin in the afternoon containing a
number of foreigners, principally women and children, who at once took
shelter on some merchant steamers lying off the wharves.
“During the day the _Fame_ dropped her end of the wire, and, steaming
up the river, took up her station by the four Chinese destroyers in the
middle yard. The _Algerine_, which had been lying between the north
and south forts, also moved up the river to a berth about a third of a
mile off the inner north fort. A quarter of a mile higher three Russian
gun–boats were moored in line; higher still lay the German gun–boats,
moored to one of the wharves; and a little lower down was the French
_Lion_. At another wharf higher up lay the Japanese _Atago_, and higher
up the United States paddle–wheel steamer _Monocacy_. I hope I am not
boring you with too many particulars?”
“Not at all, I am much obliged to you for giving me such a good
account; I seem to be able to see the whole thing.”
“Well, I must tell you that the _Monocacy_ had been ordered to take
no share in the business, but she did useful work in giving shelter
to a number of women and children. Although we knew that an ultimatum
had been sent in, nobody dreamed that the rumpus was going to begin
so soon. We thought that, as usual, messages would be exchanged, and
that the thing would drag on a little before anything serious came of
it. The _Algerine_ had her ventilators up, masts all standing, and
yards crossed. The Germans on the _Iltis_ had landed their boats and
ventilators some days before; the _Lion_ had housed her ventilators but
still had her yards crossed. At nine oʼclock a long searchlight train
went out under the command of Lieutenants Kirkpatrick and Riley, with
the twelve–pounder Hotchkiss, two Maxims, and a hundred men—German,
British, and French. It was stoked by British blue–jackets, and was
driven by a German engineer from the _Iltis_.
“All watched the glare of the searchlight for about three hours, till
it disappeared across the plain in the direction of Tientsin. Then all
who were on the port watch turned in. We had scarcely got into our
hammocks when there was the boom of a heavy gun, and you can imagine
how quickly we all jumped into our clothes again and ran on deck. We
could see that the inner north fort was firing, and guessed that the
_Algerine_, which was lying nearest to her, was the target. No return
shot came from her, and it was evident that she was taken as much by
surprise as we were. Bom, bom, bom went the big guns. It was about five
minutes before the _Algerine_ replied, and shortly afterwards the three
Russian gun–boats returned the fire, and the _Iltis_ and the _Lion_
also joined in.
“Of course, all this part of the business I am telling you from
hearsay, for we were necessarily only spectators of the affray; and you
can imagine, Bateman, that we were hopping mad with being altogether
out of it. It was enough to make one tear oneʼs hair. However, the
great part of the blue–jackets and marines were ashore, and would soon
be having a look–in; but there were we, as much out of it as if we were
off Spithead. Well, of course, now that I have had my turn ashore here
I am satisfied, but at the time it was maddening.
“Nevertheless it was a splendid sight, I can tell you. All the forts
had now joined in, and the flashes that burst from them and from the
gun–boats were almost incessant. In a few minutes the _Iltis_ steamed
down at full speed from her wharf and joined the three Russians and the
_Algerine_, the crews of which cheered her enthusiastically as she went
into action. Shortly afterwards the French _Lion_ also came down. She
had been lying with her head up the river, and so had taken longer than
the _Iltis_. She, too, was warmly welcomed. The whole of the forts were
now pouring in a heavy cannonade, and every gun that could be brought
to bear from the six gun–boats replied at a range of hardly a mile. The
_Iltis_, with her eight 3.4 quick–firers, and the _Algerine_, with her
4–inch guns, engaged the north fort. The _Lion_, with her two 5.5–inch
guns, joined them, while the three Russians directed their fire on the
south forts. They were all heavily armed, the _Bobr_ had a 9–inch gun
in her bows, and a 6–inch in her stern. The _Corkoretch_ had two 8–inch
guns and one 6–inch, and the _Gilyak_ had one 4–inch gun in her bows,
two 2.6–inch guns and four 1.8–inch guns in her military top.
“All the ships kept up a heavy and methodical fire from the
machine–guns in their tops, and so searched out the bastions; while the
heavy guns made it impossible for the gunners to stick to their work.
It was, however, difficult to keep up an accurate fire against a gun
in the shade of the forts. Many of the Chinese soldiers left the fort,
and, taking cover among the mud–houses, maintained a heavy fire on the
men on deck and in the tops, and the _Gilyak_, which was closest to the
village, suffered heavily.
“Meanwhile the _Fame_ and the _Whiting_ had been ordered to attack the
four Chinese destroyers lying in dock. As they approached, however,
the Chinese crews jumped ashore and bolted. The _Fame_ grappled one,
and towed it down the river to Tongku, two tow–boats belonging to a
mercantile company took the two others in charge, and the _Whiting_
brought out the fourth. These four splendid destroyers, if they had
been manned with resolute crews, could have sunk six gun–boats without
difficulty.
“The battle raged till morning. The gun–boats were doing their utmost
to keep down the fire of the forts; but although the practice was
excellent, they quite failed to do so owing to the fact that it was
impossible to get the exact range. Fortunately the fire of the Chinese
was extremely inaccurate. The gunners were evidently unaccustomed
to work heavy guns, such as they were now handling, and although
they stuck gallantly to their work in spite of the large number of
casualties, they did little damage. Sometimes the powder charges were
altogether too heavy, sometimes so light that the shot never reached
the ships. Their shells almost all failed to burst. Sometimes a shot
would fall close alongside, and the next would go clean overhead.
“As daylight approached, the boats got up anchor, with the exception of
the _Gilyak_, which had received a heavy projectile on her water–line.
She made water fast, but still maintained a heavy fire, and remained at
her moorings while the damage was being temporarily repaired, though
she suffered severely in consequence. You may imagine what a state of
mind we were all in on board the larger ships. There were those six
little boats fighting against a whole chain of huge forts that ought to
have sunk them at the first round.
“Meanwhile, of course, our fellows, the Russians, and Japs, who had
landed the day before, were not idle. Naturally they got under arms as
soon as the first gun was fired, but they could really do nothing until
daylight, for they were ignorant of the country, which was all cut up
with dykes and ditches.
“If the force had tried to cross there in the dark they would speedily
have been broken up and half of them would have been mired. They chafed
very much, however, at the delay, though they recognized the necessity
of it, and they set out eagerly at the first gleam of daylight.
“When they got up anchor, the gun–boats moved backwards and forwards,
engaging a fort here, plumping shell into another somewhere else, and
seeming to care nothing at all for the rain of shot and shell to which
they were exposed. It was difficult for us to keep count of them,
moving about as they did, and more than once a good many of us thought
that one of them was gone.
“Presently we were all in the boats and making for the shore. Day began
to break just as we approached the forts. At this moment the Chinese
gunners doubled their fire, and now we thought the gun–boats could
never live under such a storm of shot and shell. But their fire was as
regular as ever, and the fact that they were all in motion seemed to
bother the Chinese gunners as much as the darkness had done. A 10–inch
gun isnʼt easily managed by men who have never used such a toy before,
so that although the fire from the smaller guns was more accurate than
it had been, it seemed to us that the big ones fired less frequently.
The _Iltis_ was hit by a heavy shot, and at the same moment a magazine
at the northern end of the south fort blew up. The Chinese fire
slackened a little, but in a short time the action was as hot as ever.
“We and the Japs were making for the north forts, and the Russians
for the other side. I tell you, Bateman, things looked nasty. By six
oʼclock the storming parties were near the north forts, and a heavy
fire was already opened upon them; but they pushed steadily forward
until at eighteen minutes past six the main magazine of the south forts
blew up. The concussion was terrible, and a dense black column of smoke
and fragments of all sorts rose a thousand feet in the air.
“Firing stopped instantly, and for half a minute a dead silence
reigned. Then a tremendous cheer rose from the gun–boats and storming
parties, and the latter raced forward to the assault. Firing was
renewed more briskly than ever on both sides, but at half–past six
the resistance had almost ceased, and the British flag was hoisted on
the north fort, followed a minute later by that of the Japanese. The
garrison of the southern fort, appalled by the destruction that had
been made by the explosion, were already in full flight across the
plain, and now those on the north side were endeavouring to follow
their example.
“The number of casualties among the storming party had not been large,
that of the British and Japanese amounting to only twenty–six killed
and wounded. The casualties in the gun–boats were remarkably few,
almost miraculously so considering the fire to which they had been
exposed. The Russians had suffered most, having sixteen men killed and
three officers and fifty–two men wounded; the Germans had six killed
and fifteen wounded; the French one officer killed and one man wounded;
and the British three men killed and one officer wounded. The Chinese
actually in the forts consisted of three thousand men. The rest were in
support behind and near the line of railway, and took no part in the
affair. Nearly one thousand killed were found in the forts, and the
prisoners, who were nearly as many, were set to throw the bodies into
the river.
“All communications ceased with Tientsin from the time of the capture
of the forts, and it was not till some days afterwards that we learned
from a man who rode through the Chinese lines that the place was
besieged and that the garrison were hardly able to hold their own.
“There is no doubt that it was a fine action, and we, who had been
left on board the ship, were very sore at being out of it; but, of
course, even if we had been ashore, we should only have been with the
assaulting column, and their share in the business was a very small
one. The gun–boats had all the fighting and all the glory. I dare say,
however, that we shall get our share presently. I donʼt think the
Chinese are much good in the open, but I fancy they can stick to their
walls, and in the narrow streets we may have very sharp work.”
“It must have been a grand affair,” Rex said. “Fancy six little
gun–boats fighting for so many hours against forts mounting nearly
three hundred guns! Of course some of these couldnʼt be brought to bear
upon them, but there must have been enough to blow them out of the
water in a quarter of an hour.”
“One would certainly think so, but we must remember that the guns had
to be very much depressed, and the gunners could not very well make out
the boats in the dark. Of course the flashes of their guns showed their
position, but I expect the Chinese, who were new hands at the work,
did not understand how to sling those heavy pieces about or give them
the right elevation. There is no doubt that they stick to their guns
manfully. I was talking to some of the _Algerine_ fellows and they told
me that several times when they had managed to send shell after shell
close to a gun that had been annoying them, it was silent for a half
a minute or so and then, when they thought that they had finished with
it, the beggars began to fire again as regularly as before, though it
is probable that three–fourths of the detachment before working it had
been blown into smithereens.”
“Listen! Do you hear the shouting? The relief party must be coming in.”
“Oh, bother!” the middy said; “I canʼt be there to see it.”
“Well, I can,” Rex said, “I will come back and tell you all about it;
but I donʼt suppose I shall hear much till evening. You will be off
duty then, wonʼt you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, then, come and dine at our place. I shall get hold of two or
three of the men I went up with if I can.”
He went off at a run and soon joined a number of residents and men
off duty who were awaiting the arrival of the force. The head of the
column was just coming in. A portion of the relief force led, and then
Admiral Seymourʼs men, many of them carrying the sick and wounded on
stretchers, doors, and other make–shifts. The rest of the force brought
up the rear. Seeing Major Johnston coming along with his marines, Rex
pressed forward to shake hands with him.
“Ah, you got through then, Bateman! I am glad to see you; I have
wondered many times whether you got safely into Pekin. I certainly did
not expect to see you here, though I thought we might meet when we
marched into Pekin.”
“Yes, I got in all right. I stopped there till about a week ago, and
then came back here. If you have nothing better to do, will you dine
with us this evening, and bring Trimmer and Lawson with you?”
“With pleasure. We shall scarcely have time to make any mess
arrangements for ourselves.”
“Have you had heavy fighting?”
“We have, indeed, and we have lost a good many men. I began to think
at one time that we should not get back, and I believe if we had not
taken the arsenal very few of us would have survived to tell the tale.
However, I will tell you about that this evening.”
“Thank you! I will run home at once and tell my people that you are
coming.”
Rex hurried home and told his mother that four officers were coming to
dinner.
“I did not say anything about sleeping here, Mother, but if you can
manage it I am sure it would be a blessing to them, for they have only
just got in, and will certainly not be able to make other arrangements.”
“They will have to be content with very simple fare,” Mrs. Bateman
said. “Of course, no fresh meat can be had, so we shall have to manage
on tinned meat and vegetables, of which, fortunately, we have an
abundant and varied supply.”
“You may be sure that they will not be particular, Mother, for I expect
they have been on very short rations for some time. You give us a
capital dinner every day, and I am sure you can turn out as good a one
for them.”
Mrs. Bateman smiled.
“Well, I dare say we shall manage something that will be good enough
for hungry men.”
Rex then went down to his friend the middy.
“I have nothing to tell you, Robinson,” he said, “but Johnston and two
of his chums are going to dine with us, so you will hear it all then,
and my mother says she can give you a bed for the night.”
“Thanks! that is a luxury indeed, Bateman, only it will be awful
getting up so as to be here on duty again at six in the morning.”
“Oh, nonsense! no one wants to sleep after five in this weather. I am
generally up soon after four.”
“Yes, but you must remember that I have had no sleep to speak of for
the past three days, and the chances are that we shanʼt turn in until
midnight, as we shall have to hear all about the expedition. However, I
will put in as much sleep as I can between that hour and five. I had a
good four hours this morning.”
At half–past seven the three marines and the middy arrived at Mr.
Batemanʼs. Rex had, an hour before, gone to Major Johnston, and told
him that it had been arranged that he and his friends were to sleep in
the house.
“That will be a great comfort, Bateman,” he said; “we have not had
our clothes off for three weeks, and it will be delicious to lie down
between sheets and to have a bath in the morning. I warn you, though,
that we shall want a bath before dinner, for we canʼt sit down to a
table as we are.”
“All right, Major! if you come round in half an hour you will find one
ready for you.”
Accordingly, on their arrival they were shown at once to their rooms.
“I cannot tell you, Bateman,” the major said as they came downstairs
again, “how much we are obliged to you. A good dinner is not a thing
to be despised, but a bath is even a greater luxury. I am sure I could
not have enjoyed dinner unless I had had the bath, for we have had few
opportunities for washing since we left here.”
An excellent dinner was served, and was greatly enjoyed by the four
guests.
“I can assure you, Mr. Bateman,” the major said, “that while eating
your good fare it is difficult to believe that the past three weeks
have not been a very uncomfortable dream.”
“How have you been getting on, Mr. Robinson, since you came here?” Mr.
Bateman asked.
“Nothing to grumble at, sir. We had pretty hard work the first two
days, but, thanks to your son, we now have a quiet day of it.”
Rex uttered a sharp warning ejaculation as Robinson spoke, but he had
not thought of telling him that he and his companions wished nothing to
be said about the adventure.
“Thanks to my son!” Mr. Bateman repeated in surprise; “what can Rex
have had to do with it?”
The midshipman, who had too late heard Rexʼs ejaculation, hesitated.
“I did not know that he had not told you, sir,” he said, “or else you
may be sure I should have said nothing about it.”
“Well, but what was it?” he asked.
The midshipman looked appealingly at Rex, and the latter said: “Well,
Father, it was a little enterprise that Watson and Laurence and I
carried out on our own account; nothing worth talking about.”
“Well, but what was it, Rex?” his father persisted. “Mr. Robinson says
that it has given him better times.”
“Well, Father, the fact is, we three and Ah Lo went out and silenced
those two guns that were so annoying for some days.”
“Well, but how did you do it, Rex? Now we know so much, of course we
want to know the rest. What do you know about it, Mr. Robinson?”
“Well, sir, all I really know about it is that your son came to me and
asked me to allow a lantern to stand on the barricade. Of course I said
that there was no objection to that. Then we went back fifty or sixty
yards and placed another lantern on a window, so that the two lanterns
together were in the exact line with those guns. At midnight Rex and
his two friends, with the Chinaman, went out, and that is practically
all I know about the matter. I certainly had no idea that Rex had kept
the affair a secret. It is certainly a thing of which he had a right to
feel very proud, for it was a plucky business, and one which I was very
much tempted to take part in.”
“Now then, Bateman,” Major Johnston said, “you see your light cannot
be hid under a bushel, so you had better make a clean breast of the
affair.”
Rex saw that it was of no use making any further mystery of it, so he
briefly explained how the idea had come into his mind, and how Watson
and Laurence had agreed to join him, the steps they had taken for
placing the lantern to enable them to find the guns in the dark, how
Robinson had explained the working of the various parts of the guns to
them, and how they had carried their plan into successful execution.
“You ought not have done it,” his father said, when he had finished.
“But,” Major Johnston said, “I donʼt think, Mr. Bateman, that your son
is to be blamed. It was a splendidly plucky action for which everyone
in the settlement should thank him, for it appears that these guns were
doing an immense amount of damage. It was an act which I or any other
officer in Her Majestyʼs service would have been proud to perform.”
“I admit all that,” Mr. Bateman said, “but Rex is always running into
danger. I grant that so far he has got through safely, but you know the
result of taking a pitcher to a well too often.”
“I donʼt think he is likely to come to harm,” the major said, “for it
is not as if he undertook these things without thoroughly working his
plans out, so that failure is almost an impossibility. On our way up
he gave me a brief account of how he had got his cousins out of that
rascally governorʼs yamen. I could not get the full details out of him,
but judging from what he told me it was certainly an admirably–managed
affair. I think, Mr. Bateman, that you have a right to be very proud of
him. If he had been in the army he would certainly have earned a V. C.
for the way in which he silenced those guns.”
“Yes, I admit all that,” Mr. Bateman said, “and wonʼt scold, but all
this keeps his mother and myself in a state of great anxiety.”
“I donʼt think, Father,” Rex said, “that in an affair of this sort
the risk is anything compared with that which one runs in a regular
fight. These little excursions I have made have had very little risk
in them—practically none. When you come to think of it, I can pass
anywhere as a Chinaman, and as I have always travelled at night I have
been exposed to practically no danger whatever.”
“And so you had sharp fighting here, Mr. Bateman?” the major said,
changing the subject.
“Not actually severe fighting; that is, the Chinese have never got up
really close to us, although they have made a good many rushes, but the
bombardment has been very heavy. The French settlement is practically
destroyed, and a large number of our houses will have to be rebuilt.
But worse than the artillery fire has been the sniping, which has been
continuous all round, but more especially on the other side of the
river, where it has been absolutely incessant, and where it has been
dangerous in the extreme to show oneʼs nose outside oneʼs door. We
have done our best to keep it down, but I cannot say that success has
attended our efforts, for the Chinese have lain hid among the houses
and ruins, and never show themselves except to fire.”
“Have the casualties been heavy?”
“No; very slight indeed, which,” he added with a smile, “speaks well
either for our prudence or for the bad marksmanship of the enemy. We
have brought cannon to bear upon them, but they stick there with great
tenacity, and I fancy we shall find it very hard work to drive them
out from Tientsin. There is the fort, and the yamen, and several other
strong buildings; the wall, too, and its defences are strong, and if
they stick there as stubbornly as they have done across the river, the
city will certainly not be taken without considerable loss of life.”
“Do you know when we are going to begin, Mr. Bateman?”
“I believe the Russians are going to turn out to–morrow morning;
they have only been waiting for your return. Now, I fancy, they will
consider that we have strength enough for anything.”
“I should think we have,” the major said. “I am sorry to say that
you must not put Seymourʼs force above half the strength at which
it started. There has been a lot of illness, we have suffered much
from hunger and privation, we lost a good many men in the attack on
the forts, and many of those still in the ranks will not be fit for
service until they have had a few daysʼ rest. If we put a thousand in
line to–morrow it would be as much as could be fairly calculated upon.
Still, many of those who would not be fit to take part in the attack
would be useful for the defence of the town if the Chinese should make
a counter attack while the best part of the force is away.”
“Now, Major, we are all burning with curiosity to know what has
happened to you while you have been away. We have heard a score of
rumours, but not one authentic fact. We heard that you had entered
Pekin, that you had been massacred, that you had disappeared as
effectually off the face of the earth as if it had opened and swallowed
you up. The very first news we got of your existence was from my
son, who reported that on his way down from Pekin he heard heavy and
continuous firing in the arsenal of Hsi–Ku, and he concluded that your
force must be engaged. Some thought that you must be attacking the
place, others that you had taken it and were now besieged. The latter
certainly seemed the most reasonable, unless indeed, it was fight
between the Boxers and the regular Chinese troops; for if you had not
got possession of the arsenal, it was impossible to imagine how you had
obtained sufficient provisions to keep you alive so long.”
“Yes, that supposition was the correct one, and we were quite on our
last legs before we took the place.”
“Well, will you please tell us the whole story; it is not nine oʼclock
yet, so that, unless you are so dead tired that you cannot go through
with it, you will get it done in reasonable time.”
“I shall be very happy to do so,” the major said. “If you had asked me
this afternoon when we came in, I should have said frankly that I did
not feel equal to it; but the bath and the excellent dinner you have
given us, have quite set me on my legs again.
“You will already have heard from your son what happened on our way up
from Lang Fang, and of the little fight we had on the 14th of June.
Well, the next day the outposts ran in and reported that the Boxers
were at hand in great numbers. The enemy arrived close on their heels
and made a determined rush at the fore part of the leading train, which
was drawn up beside a well, where the men were engaged in watering.
They were met by a withering fire, but pushed on with extreme bravery
and did not fall back until some of them actually reached the train.
Then they could do no more, and retreated, leaving about a hundred
dead. This certainly gave us a better idea of their courage, and the
difficulties we should be likely to encounter, than anything that had
yet happened.
“At half–past five in the afternoon a messenger arrived on a trolley
from the rear, to say that Lofa station was attacked by a very strong
force of the enemy. Number two train had steam up, and the admiral at
once took a strong force down in it. On their arrival at the station
they found that the fight was over, and the enemy having fallen back
discomfited, the reinforcements started in pursuit, and harried their
retreat for some distance, accounting for about a hundred of them and
capturing a few small cannon.
“The next day we remained at Lang Fang, a strong body being employed in
repairing the line. Under the protection of a guard a train went back
to Lofa, and on its return we learned that the repairs we had affected
on the line beyond that place had been a good deal broken up. Later,
the officer of the guard at Lofa came in, and reported that three
large bodies of Boxers were moving about in the distance, and that he
expected an attack would be made on the station. However, they moved
off quietly. They were probably on their way to destroy the line, for
a train that left at four the next morning for Tientsin came back in
the afternoon, with the news that the line was so completely broken up
round Lofa that it could not be repaired with the materials and men on
board.
“The admiral left an hour later to see for himself the state of the
line. He pushed on for some distance, his men repairing the line as
they went, till he reached Yangstun, but only to find that beyond
that point the line was entirely destroyed. It was now evident to the
admiral, and to all of us, that if we continued to stop at Lang Fang
we should ere long have to stop there permanently, for our provisions
were almost entirely exhausted. The admiral had seen this some days
before, and had sent off several messengers to Tientsin to ask that
junks should be sent up the river, and ammunition and provisions
forwarded by train to Yangtsun, his intention being to establish a base
there. But we never heard any more of these messengers, and the fact
stared us in the face that we were absolutely cut off from Tientsin.”