RELIEF IN SIGHT
On the afternoon of the 4th of August the British and American troops
marched out from Tientsin to Hsi–Ku. The route led through the almost
deserted and ruined city, and through villages which straggled away for
miles on the northern road. The weather was threatening when the start
was made, and heavy rain began to fall when they were half–way out.
The roads soon became soft and slippery, and all felt that they would
have a bad time of it if the weather continued to be wet. The rain
ceased, however, when they reached their destination. They halted at a
village near the fort. Here General Gaselee took up his head–quarters,
while the British troops bivouacked to the left and the Americans to
the right of the road. Orders were issued for an early start, and the
troops lay down on the wet and miry ground to get what sleep they could.
The enemy were known to be entrenched in a position extending across
the river and railway, their right resting on an embankment running
from Hsi–Ku in a westerly direction, their left being five miles away
on the other side of the river, at a camp near a railway bridge. Beyond
this the country was inundated. The main body of their force was in the
centre, where the line crossed the river. Here the position was covered
by a series of rifle–pits and trenches, which, being partly concealed
by the high crops, would have been very difficult to capture from the
hand of a determined enemy. A grove of trees on the left bank of the
river, and within the loop made by a double bend, marked the centre of
the position. A battery of artillery was posted on the embankment, and
a line of entrenchments across the plain. On the left bank of the river
the position was protected by a canal running along its whole length.
It had been arranged that the Japanese, British, and Americans were to
advance against the enemyʼs position on the right bank of the river;
that the Japanese were to lead the attack, with the British in support
and the Americans in reserve; while the Russians and French, assisted
by the guns of the British Naval Brigade, were to operate on the left
bank.
The British and American troops had not a very long period of rest, for
before the night had passed, the Japs arrived, having started after
dark. They marched straight through the village, and the troops there,
by no means sorry to leave their uncomfortable quarters, at once got
under arms and followed them. All moved forward to the westward under
cover of the embankment upon which the Chinese battery stood. It was
necessary to capture this before advancing against the main position.
When the orders were issued for the Japs to leave at eight oʼclock, Rex
had been rather disposed to sleep comfortably at home, and join them in
the morning, for he knew that his services would not be required, and
as a thunderstorm was coming on just as they formed up, that feeling
increased. Finally, however, he made up his mind to march with the
troops, and when he found that they were not to halt, but were going
straight forward to the attack, he rejoiced that he had not given way
to his first impulse. He had brought with him a waterproof sheet and
carried his rifle. Ah Lo, who of course accompanied him, had a large
bag of provisions slung over his shoulders. His waterproof, which he
wrapped round him, kept him dry during the thunder showers, and the
brisk march which the Japanese kept up prevented him from feeling the
cold.
“You are not going forward to the attack, are you, master?” Ah Lo
asked, as they approached the scene of action.
“No; my father only allowed me to come with the force on condition that
I would not take part in the fighting unless the position became so
critical that I could not help myself, and really I have no desire to
fight. I want to be able to see what is going on all round, and if I
were to go forward I should only see the little that happened near me.”
Presently bright flashes broke out ahead on the embankment, and these
speedily grew into a storm of musketry. As it was still dark the
Japanese did not suffer heavily, the majority of the bullets going
overhead. Rex climbed up on the embankment, and from there he could
see, by their fire, that the Japanese advanced steadily till they were
close to the guns. Then they suddenly stopped firing, but two or three
minutes later a volley flashed out, evidently but a few yards from the
Chinese line. For a moment the two lines became mixed; then, even above
the roar of musketry, Rex could hear the cheers of the Japs, and he
knew that the guns were won. For some distance the fire drifted away
along the embankment, showing that a hot pursuit was being kept up.
It was now three in the morning and there was a cessation of
hostilities for an hour and a half. Then, when the Chinese position
could be made out, the Japanese and British guns opened fire upon it
from behind the embankment. The Chinese replied energetically, but in
half an hour their fire began to relax, and soon ceased altogether; it
was evident that they were already withdrawing their guns.
Meanwhile the Japanese had been advancing. Supported by a mountain
battery on their right, and taking cover in the high maize, they worked
up close to the position held by the enemy on the river bank. A little
after five oʼclock they burst out from their cover with a cheer, and
dashed at the outlying trenches. As they crossed the open they suffered
heavily from a flanking fire poured in upon them from the grove of
trees on the other side of the river. The Chinese in front also stood
sufficiently long to inflict severe loss upon them, for they had
left the maize in too close formation. Without a halt, however, they
held on, sweeping the Chinese before them, and carrying entrenchment
after entrenchment. Their cavalry cut up the flying Chinese whenever
opportunity offered.
The British and Americans had now come up, and with the Japanese on the
right, and the Americans on the left, the combined force worked their
way along the river bank.
Occasionally the Chinese offered some slight resistance at long range,
and it was expected that they would make a stand at Peitsang, where
they had a number of strong positions. But, as at Tientsin, the panic
of the first fugitives speedily communicated itself to those behind,
and position after position was evacuated, without an effort to retain
them, before the steady advance of the allies. The troops moved along
the river, clearing out the villages and quickening the pace of the
fugitives. At nine oʼclock they occupied Nangsung, and as all firing
ceased pushed on to Peitsang, which they found deserted, and halted
there.
On the left bank of the river the Russians and French had failed to
turn the Chinese right in the early morning, as they found that the
whole country was flooded there, but the defeat of the Chinese left
involved, of course, the retirement of their right, and at nine
oʼclock the Russians were able to occupy the position on the railway.
Almost the whole of the casualties involved in the battle were
among the Japanese, who lost sixty killed and two hundred and forty
wounded. The British had four killed and twenty–one wounded, while the
Americans, being in reserve, had not suffered at all. The loss of the
Chinese was very small. At one point they had lost fifty killed, but
very few had fallen in the rest of the entrenchments, owing to their
hurried flight. They had been defeated simply because they had lost
heart, a fact which promised well for the success of the expedition,
for in their flight they had probably communicated their fears to the
troops behind them. That in an army of twenty–five thousand men there
should have been only a hundred killed was a proof that the courage
that had evaporated after their first dayʼs sturdy defence of Tientsin
had been by no means restored during the interval that had since
elapsed.
The Russians and French joined the rest of the force at ten oʼclock,
and that day the baggage came up. It was of the most miscellaneous
description. There were pack animals of all sorts—horses, mules,
ponies, and donkeys; there were carts of all shapes and sizes, from
the great American wagons, each drawn by four mules, down to little
vehicles like costersʼ barrows, drawn by little Japanese ponies. Even
the Japanese, whose arrangements were far better than those of the
rest of the allies, were but poorly provided. They had only intended
originally to take a brigade to Pekin, and had brought transport
sufficient for that; but when so large a portion of the British
force was detained for work in the south, they were obliged to take
a division, and consequently a double strain was thrown upon their
transport.
[Illustration: THEIR CAVALRY CUT UP THE FLYING CHINESE.]
On the following morning the main body of the Japanese advanced along
the right bank of the river, repairing the breaches that had been
made in it. The British and Americans, with two battalions of Japs
and a battery of field–artillery, were to advance upon Yangtsun; the
Russians and French were also to march upon that bank. An early start
was made, the Russians and French going on ahead of the British. They
followed the line of the river. General Gaselee marched by more direct
roads, and, getting ahead of them, came into touch with the enemy at
half–past nine. Their position was a strong one, their right resting
on a bridge close to the river, in an angle made between it and the
railway embankment. Near this bridge were the ruins of Nangsung
railway–station, which formed the centre of their position. Their left
extended far to the eastward, where the town of Nangsung lay hidden
behind a number of villages. Generals Gaselee and Chaffee took up their
position on a high sand–hill two miles away from the railway–station,
from which they were able to direct the operations.
The enemyʼs fire was first drawn by a company of Cossacks, who had been
sent on ahead of the Russian force to reconnoitre. The main body of the
Russians had not arrived, nor had the Japanese detached to co–operate
with the British and Americans. Nevertheless, the general decided to
attack at once. The 12th Field Battery was brought up on the left, and
opened fire on the villages near the railway–station. Under cover of
this the infantry attack developed, the British advancing in extended
order through the high maize, and the Americans on the left of the
railway embankment, covered by the fire of Rallyʼs battery.
While the preparations were being made, General Linivitch came up and
explained to General Gaselee that the Russians were advancing on the
enemyʼs right, along the road running parallel with the river. The
Japanese detachment also came up. The advance now became general,
the British in the centre, the Americans on the right, and the
Russians on the left. The British led the direct assault upon the
enemyʼs entrenchments. The 1st Sikhs, who were at the head of the
line, moved steadily forward in the face of a very heavy rifle fire,
which was maintained until they arrived at a short distance from the
railway–station. As usual, however, the Chinese lost heart when they
saw that they were about to be charged with the bayonet, and retreated
to the top of the railway embankment, from which for a short time they
kept up a fire upon the American regiment next to the Sikhs. The front
entrenchment was carried just about eleven oʼclock, and a quarter of an
hour later the fire ceased, the enemy retiring towards Yangtsun.
The Russians passed out to the rear of the captured villages, seized
the railway–station, erected a battery, and bombarded the villages
round Yangtsun and the town itself. Meanwhile the force on the right
were engaged in clearing out the villages in that direction, the Bengal
Lancers scattering the demoralized enemy in every direction. Yangtsun
was occupied without resistance during the afternoon. The losses had
been comparatively slight. The British casualties were under fifty, of
which twenty–four were among the Sikhs. The Americans lost seventy–four
and the Russians twenty–seven, but these proportionately large numbers
were accounted for by the fact that both these detachments advanced in
somewhat closer order than the British, who, keeping their line well
extended, suffered comparatively little loss, though they were exposed
to a heavier fire than the others. The Japanese had taken no part in
the engagement, as they had been on the other bank of the river.
The troops were very much exhausted after their two daysʼ marching
and fighting in the great heat, and the next day they remained at
Yangtsun, partly for rest and partly to give time to the junks to come
up. A council of war was held, and it was decided that the road should
now be left, and that the whole force should proceed on the right bank
of the river. The Japs were to lead the advance, the Russians were to
follow, the Americans to come next, and the British to bring up the
rear.
During the day Rex went out to look at some of the captured villages,
but he was so horrified by the number of peasants whom he found lying
dead that he soon returned to Yangtsun. The Russians appeared to have
killed everyone they met, whether soldiers or quiet peasants. The
Americans, in the villages they had taken, had acted very differently.
In these places he found that the peasants had not been molested. He
had himself been with the detachment of the Japanese that joined the
British, and had therefore been a witness of the fighting.
“I cannot say much for your countrymen, Ah Lo,” he said. “If they are
not going to fight better than they have done, they had much better
have cleared off the road altogether and left it open for us to go
quietly to Pekin.”
“Chinaman no good to fight,” Ah Lo said contemptuously. “Fight well
enough at distance, but no good when they see that Europeans always
come on in spite of their firing. Very good to kill missionaries, no
good to fight soldiers.”
“Do you think we shall find the Legations safe, Ah Lo?”
“I hope so, master; but if they go on fighting all the time, instead
of same as when we were there, Chinese must have taken nearly all
the Legations. I expect all the people are crowded up into British
Legation; they make great fight there.”
“That is so, Ah Lo; the less space they have to defend, the stronger
they become, but they will have a terrible experience if they are
all crowded into the British Legation. The place was full enough when
we left. Still, I can hardly hope that, if the Chinese have gone on
attacking all the time, we could hold more than our own Legation. The
French Legation was almost destroyed before we came away, the Russian
Legation could only be held with difficulty, and more than half the
Fu had already been captured. I try to think that it is all right,
but I am horribly anxious. All the time that was wasted after we had
taken Tientsin I was regretting that we had not stopped at Pekin. Our
two rifles might not have been of much good, but we should certainly
have been of some use, and above all, I wanted to be there in case the
Legations were captured. My cousins have their Chinese dresses ready,
and I cannot help thinking that there must have been some points that
were not attacked where I could have lowered them down from the wall
and so escaped into the city. Once away from the fighting, we ought to
have been able to find some place of concealment among so many ruined
and deserted houses.”
“Perhaps they stand out all right,” said Ah Lo.
“I hope so, Ah Lo, I hope so with all my heart, but I am terribly
anxious, and I grudge even this dayʼs halt, knowing that every hour
is of importance, and that even while we are staying here to–day, the
massacre may be going on.”
Ah Lo had no consolation to offer. He felt that what his master said
was true, and that at any moment the catastrophe might occur.
The Japanese started early on the following day. They were already
in advance, and for this reason they had been chosen to lead. A halt
was made at Tung–Chow, ten miles distant, no resistance having been
encountered on the way. The Japanese arrived long before the rest of
the allies. They were very fast marchers, and their transport was light
and handy, and able to keep up with the infantry column. The Russians,
on the other hand, were very slow marchers. They slouched along as if
half–asleep, made very frequent halts, and their average pace rarely
exceeded a mile an hour. Consequently the Americans, who followed
them, were frequently blocked. The Russians, too, always stopped at a
village, thus compelling the Americans to halt on the hot and sandy
road. This accounted for the great number of casualties from sun–stroke
among the American troops, for the very slow progress made by the
Americans and British, and for the great amount of marching which they
had to do during the hottest hours of the day, instead of completing
their journey before the sun had attained its full strength.
The Japanese generally completed their marches before the sun was high.
The Americans seemed to suffer most from the sun, but they marched fast
in the early morning and when the heat of the day was over. The British
marching was good, and the Indian troops carried themselves well and
marched in good order even in the hottest part of the day, though many
fell out. As regards uniforms, the British were better off than the
others. The Japs wore white, and consequently they were visible for
miles, while the British khaki could scarcely be seen at a hundred
yards. The Russians were also in white, but their uniforms being always
extremely dirty the disadvantage was not so apparent. The Americans,
like the British, had khaki, but they seldom wore their coats, and
their blue shirts rendered them visible for considerable distances.
On the following day a mixed body of Lancers, Cossacks, and Japanese
cavalry scouted the country ahead and came in contact with the enemy
half–way to Ho–hsi–Wu, where it was expected that the Chinese would
make another stand. The main body halted and encamped, and the Japs
threw out outposts. During the day two squadrons of Bengal Lancers
came upon a force of four hundred Chinese cavalry, whom they charged,
killing forty or fifty and capturing their standards.
The British always came in a long time after the rest of the force.
They followed the winding of the river to protect the junks which were
carrying up the heavy guns intended for the siege of Pekin. It was
fortunate that forage was plentiful for the cavalry and the animals
of the artillery and transport. The millet was standing high, and as
frequently a large extent of this grain had to be cut down to make a
clearance for a camping–ground, there was abundant fodder to supply
all the demands. The junks came up very slowly, towed by lines of
coolies on the bank, and their late arrival frequently excited great
exasperation among the troops, who were dependent upon them for their
supplies.
Ho–hsi–Wu was a small village, near which was situated an arsenal
stored with an enormous quantity of gunpowder as well as a supply of
guns of the latest pattern. The Chinese had made an attempt to divert
the course of the river by digging an enormous trench in the direction
of some lowlying ground. Fortunately they had not had time to complete
the work, for not only would it have still further lowered the river,
but it would have rendered an attack on the village difficult, as the
trench was twenty feet deep, and from twenty to thirty feet wide. As
it was left it was still above the level of the water, and could be
crossed easily. The village was therefore captured after only a slight
resistance.
The scene on board the long lines of junks was interesting, and, to a
looker–on, amusing. Two or three times Rex handed his horse to Ah Lo
and took passage in one of the junks. These, of course, were guarded by
soldiers of the various nationalities whose supplies were on board.
All did their best to urge on their coolies, and as collisions were
frequent, and boats every now and again ran ashore, the hubbub of
shouting in five or six languages was appalling. Rudders were smashed,
bulwarks crashed in, and damage done in every way, but the crowd of
lubberly craft pushed on in spite of the confusion that everywhere
reigned.
The Japanese had unquestionably the best of it. They were comfortably
settled down with their hospital erected before the Russians lumbered
up. Everything they did was as well arranged as if they had been at
home, and Rex could not but admit that these little soldiers were
far ahead of those of any European country in point of organization,
discipline, and the quickness and cheeriness of their movements. No
looting was allowed among them, and very few outrages indeed were
committed by them on the unfortunate peasantry. In this respect they
compared very favourably with the troops of all other nationalities,
even including our own, although General Gaselee set himself strongly
against such acts, severely punishing such offenders as could be
brought to justice.
On the tenth the Japanese again pressed on, their outposts getting to
within a mile of the retreating enemy. General Fukushima, the moving
spirit of the pursuit, was asked in the evening if his troops were not
very tired.
“Yes,” he said grimly, “and so are the enemy.”
This was the spirit in which he carried on the movement. The enemy were
to be kept on the run, no time was to be given them to recover their
spirits. They were even worse off than their pursuing enemy, for they
had no commissariat, carried no provisions with them, and had to feed
upon what they could gather at their halting–places, which was seldom
more than melons and millet from the fields.
The Japanese cavalry and infantry halted about three miles in advance
of the main body. When the rest of the infantry came up, they were
extended and searched all the villages near the line of march. This
done, the cavalry again went on ahead for some distance, and the
process was then repeated.
In this way the army marched down to Matou. It was a long march, and
the troops all suffered terribly from the heat, with the exception of
the British, who were wisely kept at their last halting–place until
late in the afternoon, and came on in the cool of the evening. The main
body of the force bivouacked at Matou, the Japanese camp being three
miles farther ahead.
The next morning the Japanese arrived at Chan–Chia–Wan. The day was
cooler than the preceding one, and some rain fell, affording great
relief from the heat. The Japanese reached the place at eleven oʼclock,
and sent on a strong detachment of cavalry, infantry, and artillery to
reconnoitre. They discovered the enemy in a position south of Chungtaw.
At about two oʼclock the Japanese brought up some more artillery and
shelled the place, whereupon the enemy retired into Tung–Chow, a large
and very wealthy city only thirteen miles from Pekin. The next morning
the Japanese entered Tung–Chow without meeting with any resistance
and took possession of half of the city. The rest of the allied army
arrived somewhat later, and at once began to loot their portion of the
town.
All the river trade down to Tientsin passes through Tung–Chow, which
contains even richer pawn–shops than Pekin itself. These are very
important institutions in China, not only because of the richness of
the securities on which money is advanced, but because they are used as
storing–places for valuables by the general public, and contain immense
quantities of jewellery, costly furs, jade, and works of art of all
sorts and descriptions.
The greater part of the lower class of the population had remained in
the city, and they joined in the general looting, which was carried on
everywhere whenever they saw a chance. Officers in vain tried to keep
their men in control in the narrow streets, but in the Russian section
the soldiers were allowed to do just as they pleased, and they gave
themselves entirely to looting, rapine, and crime of every kind. The
reports of the flying Chinese soldiers had aroused in the people an
intense fear of the foreign devils, and so when the troops arrived at
a town or village many of the inhabitants made away with themselves to
avoid the outrages of a licensed soldiery. Women threw themselves out
of windows or drowned themselves in wells, indeed whole families often
committed suicide in order to avoid a worse fate. Thus, although very
many terrible outrages were committed, these accounted for but a small
proportion of the deaths among the Chinese people.
The British camp was at the edge of the river, and the soldiers were
not allowed inside the town, and stringent orders had been given
against looting. Had the other generals taken the same view of the
matter, the campaign would not have been disgraced by the plundering
and murder of innocent people. The British general was proud of his
troops, and justly so.
Rex had secured a room in the quarter held by the Japanese and enjoyed
a good sleep. He was greatly grieved at the awful destruction that went
on in the town, and he could not but wonder at the cowardice of the
Chinese in evacuating, without striking a blow, a place whose walls
were at least as strong as those at Tientsin, and leaving its enormous
wealth to the enemy. He got up early in the morning and rode out. The
sun had not yet risen, but the narrow streets were filled with the
scum of the town, who, invisible the day before, had now returned in
numbers, bent on looting the houses of their more wealthy countrymen
who had forsaken them. Filthy beggars and coolies staggered along under
the weight of furs and rolls of silk. The front of nearly every house
was broken in and its contents turned topsy–turvy. The allies had taken
the pick of the goods, but vast quantities remained for any who chose
to carry them away.
The changes of fortune that twenty–four hours had wrought were
extraordinary. Rich men had become beggars, beggars had acquired that
which made them wealthy.
Rex let his horse help himself at the grain shop; the day was likely to
be a heavy one, and the rations served out were but scanty.
“Now, Ah Lo,” he said, as he joined the Japanese troops, who as usual
started before daylight, “this is the last day of the march. By
to–night our suspense will be over and we shall know what has happened.”
The Japanese had reason to be proud of themselves. General Yamaguchi,
on entering the town, issued a proclamation promising protection to
non–combatants, and telling the people to remain in their houses. It
was unfortunate indeed that the Japanese had not occupied the whole of
the city. If they had, the scenes that have disgraced the nations would
have been avoided.
The Japanese advanced by an old stone causeway leading to the eastern
gate of the Tartar City, the Russians by a road more to the south, but
north of the canal, and leading to the northern gate of the Chinese
city. South of the canal were the Americans, and still farther to
the south the British. It had been arranged on the previous evening,
at the meeting of the generals, that the column should halt a short
distance from the city. This arrangement, however, was broken by the
Russians, who marched close up to the city walls, and, meeting with no
opposition and thinking that a surprise might be effected, advanced
up to the gate. Here, however, they were met by a heavy rifle fire,
which killed and wounded many men. They could not well retire, and
their message begging for reinforcements was the first intimation of
what had occurred. A subsequent rumour stated that they had succeeded
in entering the city, and the other generals, annoyed at the trick
by which the Russians hoped to have the glory of being the first to
get into the city, at once marched forward with all haste and without
consultation.
The Japs had, as agreed, halted at a village three miles from the
eastern gate, and in one of the dwellings attached to a joss–house,
or temple, Rex and a few Japanese took shelter. As night came on, a
drizzling rain began to fall. At nine oʼclock desultory firing was
heard to the east, and half an hour after, a few shots somewhat nearer
came from the direction of the eastern gate. Later, the fire increased,
and the Japs got under arms. As the night was very dark it was
impossible to tell what was going on, and, mindful of the arrangement
that had been made, they could not attempt to advance. Just before
daylight they started again, and then Rex learned of the trick the
Russians had played, and that a messenger had arrived begging Fukushima
to send reinforcements. The officer who brought the message said that
if the Japanese joined the Russians the combined force could succeed in
making an entrance through the wall into the city.
Fukushima replied: “What about the Americans and the British?”
The Russian officer shrugged his shoulders and said: “Why should we
trouble about them when we can do without them?”
Fukushima replied angrily that he had undertaken to attack at a certain
time, and that he should stick to his undertaking.
“This is a pretty bad beginning to the dayʼs work,” Rex said to the
Japanese officer who was marching alongside.
“I wish we had come without the Russians at all,” the officer replied;
“they have brought disgrace upon us all by their infamous doings. They
have worked on their own account since they started. They are surly
brutes, and I would infinitely rather fight against them, as I have no
doubt we shall have to do some day, than against these poor beggars of
Chinese. It is perfectly scandalous that, after making an agreement
only last night that we were to hold a council this morning and arrange
for an attack in unison, they should sneak forward and try to get all
the glory themselves.”