THE BOMBARDMENT AND STORMING OF THE TAKU FORTS
The Taku Forts are four in number, two being situated on each side
of the mouth of the Pei-Ho river. To seaward of them stretch large
expanses of treacherous mud, just covered by the sea at high water;
stakes have been driven into the slime for several hundred yards from
the bottom of the embankments, and landing is quite impracticable at
any state of the tide. On the landward side stretches a large plain,
intersected with small canals and irrigation works, and immediately
to the rear of the forts are the villages of Tong-Ku and Ta-Ku
respectively. The only other things to attract attention are the
small naval yard at Taku, and the pilot village at the mouth of the
river, which has been built on the right bank.
Tong-Ku is about 3 miles up the river, and here are the railway
station, coal stores, and the necessary landing stages for lading
or unlading the merchant steamers which in some cases ply as far
as Tientsin. The forts are protected against men-of-war, of a size
larger than gunboats, by the bar, which is eleven and a half miles
to seaward, and on which the depth of water varies from two feet to
seventeen feet, at different states of the wind and tide. The trade
of the place, which is important, has to be taken from Tong-Ku out to
the ships lying about fourteen miles away, and this is done by the
fleet of tugs and lighters belonging to the ‘Taku Tug and Lighter
Company,’ which at present enjoys the monopoly.
This company and the railway are both British concerns, and before
the outbreak, were both in a flourishing condition.
The forts themselves, the N., N.W., S., and New forts—the first two
on the right bank and the others on the left bank,—were immensely
powerful. Strong as they were in 1860, modern ordnance had made them
practically impregnable; and to the ordinary observer it seemed that
any attempt to forcibly occupy them would involve enormous losses of
ships and men, and might end in disaster.
Had the defence of these positions been entrusted to any but Chinese,
the lives and property of Europeans in the whole of Northern China
would at this date have been of no account. The walls and parapets
were constructed of mud mixed with chopped straw, a mixture which
seems impervious to shell fire; they were constructed by a German
syndicate, and a covered road connected the N.W. and N. forts. The
armament was composed of guns of all sorts, sizes, and dates, but
with heavy, modern, quick-firing guns the Chinese were extremely well
supplied, and although the ancient armament did but little damage, it
interfered in no way with the general impregnability of the positions.
At the naval yard were four new German-built destroyers with an
estimated speed of thirty-five knots; they mounted six 3-pr. Q.F.
guns each, and were capable of doing great damage if handled by
officers with any self-reliance or ability; there was also a gunboat
in dock, but she was probably denuded of her crew, and took no part
in the subsequent proceedings.
From this it will be seen that the forts and the destroyers together
comprised a formidable force against which the Allies could only pit
the following:—
H.M.S. “Algerine,” a three-masted sloop, mounting six 4-in. Q.F.
guns and several smaller Q.F. and machine guns, totally unprotected
against gun fire, except her guns, which were fitted with shields.
She has a speed of about thirteen and a half knots.
H.M.S. “Fame” and “Whiting,” two destroyers, each mounting one 12-pr.
Q.F. and five 6-pr. Q.F., with a thirty knot speed.
The “Iltis” (German), with six 4.1-in. Q.F. guns, several pom-poms
and other smaller Q.F. guns; also unarmoured, and very similar to the
“Algerine,” but with a higher freeboard and slightly higher speed.
H.I.R.M.S. “Gilyak” (Russian), a new gunboat: one 4.7-in. Q.F., and
six 12-pr. Q.F.—a pretty little ship which impressed the observer
with a power she was far from possessing.
H.I.R.M.S. “Bobre” (Russian), an old steel gunboat, heavily built
and clumsy to look at, mounting one 9-in. B.L., one 6-in. B.L., and
several machine guns.
H.I.R.M.S. “Koreetz” (Russian) a similar vessel to the last, but with
the heavier armament of two 8-in. B.L., one 6-in. B.L., and one or
two other guns of no importance. This ship had the heaviest, though
probably the least efficient armament of any of the allied squadron
yet mentioned.
“Lion” (French), an ancient old gunboat mounting two 5.5-in. B.L. and
a few very old-pattern machine guns.
[Illustration: H.M.S. “CENTURION”—MARINES GETTING READY TO LAND.
[_page 31._]
H.I.J.M.S. “Atago” (Japanese), an old iron gunboat mounting one 8.2
M.L. and one 4.7, with a few obsolete machine guns.
U.S.S. “Monocacy” (American), an entirely obsolete wooden
paddle-wheel steamer, with only M.L. smooth-bore guns for her main
armament, and but three or four “Colt” machine guns. From this force
must be deducted the useless “Monocacy” for the above very good
reasons, and the “Atago,” which was full of explosives, and landed
the majority of her crew for the storming party.
Thus the Allies had only five _unprotected_ gunboats, mounting a
fairly heavy armament, it is true, but of necessity so disposed that,
as a rule, not half the guns would bear on the enemy at once. Another
and more serious handicap was the extreme narrowness of the river,
about two hundred yards, and the impossibility of escape should the
attack fail.
Immediately the decision of the Admirals had been made known, all
became bustle and activity on the ships outside the bar. Officers and
men vied with one another in the work of getting everything ready to
equip the storming party, and every one was strapping up blankets,
filling water-bottles, buckling on bandoliers, cutlasses, revolvers,
and all the other man-killing paraphernalia which sailor and soldier
alike carry. All hands were happy, except the unfortunate few who,
for various reasons, were unable to go, and not even the ceremony of
being presented with a field-service dressing by the doctor, brought
a thoughtful face to the eager men.
Of rough, rude jests there were plenty. A brawny bluejacket looked
at the small package containing gauze, lint, and bandage, and asked,
“’Ere, Bill, what’s this for?” “Why, to tie up the Chinamen, of
course.” “Well, this won’t be big enough when I’ve finished with
’em; give me another dozen.” And so it went on until the “fall
in” sounded, and the various ships’ detachments fell in on the
“Barfleur’s” quarterdeck to receive the good wishes of the unlucky
minority, and a few words of sound advice from the Rear-Admiral. At
precisely 3.25 p.m. the tug “Fa-Wan” left the “Barfleur,” flying
the white ensign, with three hundred and twenty officers and men on
board, or in the boats towing astern. On the way ashore the men were
told off into separate companies; the Commander formed his staff; and
then, for the first time, men began to realise what was in front of
them; and so, when the forts came into view, they came in for a good
deal of attention.
Whatever the men thought, only one sentiment was expressed “The
Admiral is in danger, our shipmates are in danger, and as a small
beginning to relieve them we’re going to take those forts.” No doubt
it was generally felt that the force was comparatively puny; but, for
cogent and self-evident reasons, the Indian army was yet thousands of
miles away, and after all it was right that the Commander-in-Chief
should be relieved by the Navy; beside which there was a chance of
avenging the repulse of some forty years back for the second time.
As soon as details on the forts became distinguishable to the naked
eye, the Chinese gunners were seen to be standing to their guns, and
a range-finder, which had been placed in position since noon that
day, was manned by a crowd of laughing Chinese, whose sole cause for
merriment appears to have been, as they thought, the entrance of the
“foreign devils” into their well-laid trap. Their folly cost them
dear!
The tug ran alongside the “Algerine,” and the work of trans-shipment
was quickly over. Ammunition boxes were opened up, bandoliers and
pouches filled, food was served out, and then men were billeted to
sleep in different parts of the upper deck. By the time this work
had been finished, the night had fallen, and half an hour afterwards
the pipe went “Hands up anchor.” The “Algerine” weighed, and moved
a few hundred yards up the river to take her preconcerted position.
This simple move no doubt had a great effect on the issue of the
engagement, as far as the “Algerine” was concerned, for the Chinese
had doubtless trained their guns on her when she was in her former
position, and they must have known her range to a few yards. She was
the van ship in the line, with the “Iltis,” “Gilyak,” “Koreetz,”
“Bobre,” and “Lion” astern of her, in the order named. At this time,
however, the “Iltis” and “Lion” had not taken up their positions;
and as there was some chance of them being torpedoed by the four
Chinese destroyers as they moved down the river, the captain of the
“Algerine” directed the captains of our two destroyers to move up the
river and seize them at 1.30 a.m.
As the pre-arranged hour for starting the bombardment was 2 a.m., and
as there were few who felt sleepily inclined, the spare hours were
given up to discussing whether the Chinese would accept the ultimatum
and run, or whether the allies would find themselves engaged in a few
hours’ time. This was decided in a most abrupt manner, for at 12.50,
or one hour and ten minutes before the allies were going to start,
a shell shrieked over the “Algerine” in unpleasant proximity to her
topmasts. This was followed by an almost simultaneous fire from every
gun that would bear on the little squadron. In the midst of this
storm the most perfect discipline prevailed on board the British
ship. Quickly and quietly the storming party were got down into the
boats ready alongside, the guns’ crews closed up to their guns, and
the “Algerine” fired the first shot of retaliation in an incredibly
short space of time.
An incident worthy of mention occurred during the first hail of
shell. A man on the “Algerine’s” poop saw a figure climbing leisurely
aloft; he hailed it with “Where are yer goin’? are yer goin’ to do a
bloomin’ sleep in the cross-trees?”
“No, I ain’t exac’ly tired just now; I’m doin’ the correc’ thing,
though; I’m just goin’ to nail the bloomin’ colours where they can
see ’em!”
This very naturally created a laugh. Other jokes were cracked, and
half deaf, men worked their guns for six hours with a fixed grin on
their countenances, born half of amusement, half of the indefinable
something which steals over men on coming face to face with death for
the first time.
For the first hour of the bombardment the storming party were lying
alongside the “Algerine” in boats, and immediately before landing,
which took place without mishap at 2.30 a.m., a ration of hot cocoa
was served out to each man.
Much happened in this first hour; at one o’clock, or ten minutes
after the commencement of the engagement, the “Gilyak” turned on
her searchlight, and very naturally she became the object of the
undivided attention of the enemy’s gunners. Three shells struck her
almost immediately; a steam pipe was severed, a magazine exploded,
and the third projectile entered her bows on the waterline. Her fore
compartment filled, and if the depth of water had been greater there
is good reason to suppose that she would have foundered; as it was,
her searchlight was extinguished, and she became nearly incapable of
further action.
[Illustration: H.M.S. “BARFLEUR”—BLUEJACKETS LANDING.
[_page 36._]
A neat piece of work, encompassing the capture of the hostile
destroyers, had also taken place. As soon as the forts commenced
firing, the “Whiting” and “Fame” weighed, and proceeded up river at
a distance apart of three hundred yards, this being the distance
between the second and fourth destroyers. Each towed a whaler manned
by a boarding party of twelve men and one officer. The idea was
to pass well out in the stream, to give the enemy the idea that our
boats were only intent on proceeding up river, and when the “Fame’s”
bow should be abreast of number four, and the “Whiting’s” of number
two, to sheer in and board them, each whaler boarding number three
and number one respectively. This was effected most successfully.
After a trifling resistance and the exchange of a few shots the crews
were driven overboard or below hatches, with the loss of a few killed
and wounded. Our casualties were nil, and beyond a slight twist to
the “Fame’s” bow, neither the prizes nor our destroyers suffered
any injury. The enemy were ready, and yet displayed an entire lack
of resource and pluck. Their ammunition was on deck, and torpedoes,
minus their warheads, in the tubes; and it is difficult to estimate
the damage that they might have inflicted had they been in the hands
of men of action instead of nerveless cowards.
Immediately after their capture the “Iltis” and “Lion” moved down
river and took up their positions in the line of gunboats, and as
there was a good deal of sniping at the prize crews from the naval
yard, the four little ships slipped their cables and were towed
up beyond Tong-Ku. On their way they had to pass a mud battery,
which fired at them without fear of a reply, as it lay between our
destroyers and the Russian gunboats. It was here that the “Whiting”
was struck, and it was at first supposed that the little battery had
been the cause of the trouble, but it was afterwards found that the
projectile which tore through her side, and lodged in one of her
water-tube boilers, was a 5-in. shell, which makes it practically
certain that it was fired from one of the forts. Luckily it did not
burst, and beyond damaging several tubes and putting the boiler
out of action, it caused no damage. By 5 a.m. the four prizes were
berthed securely at Tong-Ku, and the “Fame” and “Whiting’s” share
in the action ceased when they convoyed a tug, with despatches and
stores for Tientsin, past a fort twelve miles up the river, the
garrison of which looked threatening.
It had been arranged that the storming party were not to make any
forward movement until the heavy guns in the N.W. fort had been
effectively silenced by the fire from the gunboats; so the whole
force lay down somewhat in the order in which they were going to
commence the advance, and watched the duel with breathless interest.
The actual land force engaged was 904 officers and men, and as it
was proposed by the German and Japanese Commanders that the British
senior officer should direct the operations, the honour fell to
Commander (now Captain) Cradock of H.M.S. “Alacrity.” The composition
of the force was as follows:—
British—23 officers, 298 men; Japanese—4 officers, 240 men; German—3
officers, 130 men; Russian—2 officers, 157 men; Italian—1 officer, 24
men; Austrian—2 officers, 20 men; together making the above total.
The first advance commenced at about three o’clock in the morning;
the distance being 1300 yards. The British, Japanese, and Italians
(the latter having brigaded themselves with our men), were in the
fighting line, with the Germans, Austrians, and Russians for supports
and reserves. The plan of attack was to advance in extended order to
within fifty yards of the moat on the north front, then swing to the
right, charge along the military road between the river and moat on
the west face, and endeavour to force an entrance at the west gate.
Once into the outer fort, it was expected that the enemy would
either flee or surrender. If not, an entry into the inner fort was
to be forced as opportunity offered. The advance continued until the
fighting line reached a point about a thousand yards from the fort,
when it became evident that the fort had suffered but slightly from
gun fire, and that the majority of its guns were still intact. An
attack under these conditions would have entailed serious losses,
and it was decided to wait until daylight, more especially as the
intervening ground was not well known. Dawn broke about 4 a.m., and
was heralded by a tremendous explosion in the South fort; a lucky
shot had pierced a magazine, which blew up and wrought immense
damage. As soon as it was light too, the firing from the “Algerine”
became superb, and the firing from the other vessels gained
considerably in accuracy. Shot after shot fell right on top of the
guns in the N.W. fort; and although the Chinese gunners returned
again and again to their work, and fought their guns most pluckily,
it was impossible to stand before such a well-directed fire; and by
4.30 this fort was silenced. A moment to reflect on the probable
effects of a naval engagement, and the line of stormers advanced.
Immediately the gunboats ceased their fire, and almost as immediately
two Chinese field guns commenced shelling the advancing lines. But
our chaps were tired of waiting, and had the fire been ten times as
hot, nothing would have stopped them. Drill-book tactics fell to the
ground. The force started at a steady double, halted at 800 yards,
and fired two volleys; the same at 500 yards; once more at 300
yards; then ‘the charge’ was sounded! The order “supports into the
fighting line”; “fix bayonets”; and away we all dashed, gradually
converging on the N.W. corner of the fort. The area over which
the attack passed was hard mud, quite flat and without a vestige
of cover. At about 200 yards from the moat, however, there was an
extensive stretch of impassable ground, and this necessitated a
certain amount of crowding in order to reach the road which ran along
the river bank. It was here that most of the casualties occurred,
but without a check the British and Japanese fixed bayonets, gave
several cheers, and went at them baldheaded, rushing the west gate,
and soon finding themselves in possession of the outer fort. Some
little delay, just sufficient to allow the majority of the enemy to
escape pell-mell in the direction of Peh-tang, took place here; and
it was some minutes before the inner fort was gained. As we went in
they went out, and nearly all opposition ceased. There was a race for
the two flag-staffs: the Chinese yellow Dragons were torn down, and
amidst an outburst of cheering the White Ensign was hoisted, closely
followed by the red Sun of Japan. I used my pistol for the first time
here. My lieutenant and myself were standing in the square cheering
our flag going up, with our men taking cover in a passage, when two
Chinese nipped out of a gateway about twenty yards away, and came for
us with fixed bayonets, firing their magazines as they marched, from
the hip. My lieutenant had emptied his revolver and was drawing his
sword to defend himself when I chipped in and “bagged the brace.”
No sooner did the enemy in the South and North forts recognise the
fall of the inner fort, than they turned several guns on to the
occupants, but the gunboats were by this time moving down the river,
except the damaged “Gilyak”; and the British and Japanese sailors
retaliated with two captured guns, gradually causing the Chinese fire
to diminish.
There was no time to be wasted, and in a quarter of an hour the force
was on the move again, marching along the covered way between the
N.W. and N. forts.
While still a quarter of a mile from the N. fort a deafening
explosion, followed by an immense column of dust and smoke, was heard
and felt in the direction of the “Iltis.” So great was the shock,
that it was distinctly heard, and the effects clearly visible to the
fleet fourteen miles away. A shell from the “Algerine” had exploded
a 6-inch gun magazine, and for some time the air was so thick with
dust that the men belonging to the landing party could scarcely see.
They, however, jumped on to the mud parapet, and commenced to cheer
the gunboats, but were driven down again by a shell which landed
just below them. The moral effect of a disaster like this must be
tremendous, but the gunners redoubled their fire, and two minutes
later the “Iltis” got badly ‘hulled’ several times, and lost heavily.
The “Algerine,” owing to her by this time almost point-blank range,
only got struck in her cowls and upper works, and her loss in men was
comparatively small.
From that moment the Chinese in the North fort lost heart, and no
resistance was offered; so that in ten minutes’ time the Germans
entered by one gate, the British by the landward gun ports; and the
allied flags were hoisted over the last fort on the left bank of the
river.
An unexpected amount of opposition was offered by a single 6-inch
Q.F. Armstrong in the South fort, but the captured guns in the last
position, in conjunction with the gunboats, succeeded in silencing
it after a desperate duel. The gun shield was found to have been
struck seven times, and the cement emplacement was literally torn to
pieces by shell fire. If the other guns had been served with the
same devotion as this one, and those of the first fort to fall, the
allies’ losses must have been doubled at least.
Boats were procured without delay, immediately the shell fire ceased,
and the British force crossed the river to attack the largest and
most powerful of all the enemy’s strongholds. Not a shot was fired!
The two explosions referred to had caused terrific damage to the
fort itself, and these, together with the heavy bombardment, had
entirely unnerved the Chinamen, who fled precipitately as soon as the
bluejackets effected a landing. The heavy guns mounted in the New
fort luckily would not ‘bear’ during any part of the engagement, and
these too surrendered without firing a shot.
By seven o’clock the storming party were back on board their
respective ships to get some breakfast, before landing again to make
good the terms of the ultimatum.
The engagement had lasted for six hours, and the Chinese had lost at
least 650 men. The official despatch gives the Chinese loss in the
N.W. and N. forts at 100, and quite 150 more must have perished in
the explosions, and under the heavy shell fire to which the South
fort was subjected. The allies’ loss was altogether 172 officers
and men, most of them being wounded. An hotel in the little pilot
village, at the mouth of the river, was turned into a hospital, and
here the British wounded received every attention possible under
fairly favourable circumstances. The next thing to be done was the
forming of garrisons for the forts, and the making of dispositions
whereby the European force might follow up this, their first
brilliant success.