Part 20 (2/2)
All danger was now past. Several efforts had been made to communicate with Tientsin, only five miles distant, but none of the native runners had got through, till the 24th, when a force at once set out under the Russian Colonel Shrinsky, who led a force of 1000 Russians; 600 British, under Captain Bayly, and 300 of other nationalities then arrived at daylight on the 25th. The a.r.s.enal, said to contain three million pounds worth of military stores, was set on fire, and the united forces returned to Tientsin the next day without further incident.
So ended the first expedition to relieve the legations in Pekin. The failure was owing to the destruction of the railway and the fact that the Imperial Chinese army, so far from a.s.sisting or even standing neutral, took the side of the Boxers and opposed the expedition. That it was not a disaster was owing to the wonderful manner in which officers of no less than eight nationalities worked together, and the courage and endurance of their men. The thought of the Chinese habit of torturing their captives must have added to the natural anxiety of depression on board the junks and to the terrible strain upon the commander.
THE CAPTURE OF THE TAKU FORTS.
Soon after the admiral's departure it became clear to the commanders of the s.h.i.+ps off Taku that the Chinese Government were preparing to bring down an army upon Tongku, the terminus of the railway, and that the communication with Tientsin was threatened, and that the Taku forts were being provisioned and manned. It was therefore decided to occupy the forts, and notice was given to the Chinese of the intention to do so at two a.m. of 17th June.
Taku is situate at the mouth of the Peiho river, which was until the railway was built, and, if this were interrupted, would become again the princ.i.p.al approach from the sea to Pekin, about 80 miles by river, and to Tientsin 44 miles. The entrance, which runs east and west, is strongly guarded by a series of forts on the north and south sides, the princ.i.p.al fort being the north, which is very strong and mounts some 50 guns of all sizes, and connected with this by a covered way is another on the same side but farther up the river with 30 guns. On the south side there is a series of strong forts and batteries for about a mile along the sh.o.r.e, mounting about 120 guns of various patterns, the greater part being quite modern. Some distance inland is another fort and the magazines. These forts, designed to protect the sea-front, are therefore very formidable, and well manned with competent gunners would const.i.tute a real danger to any s.h.i.+ps entering the river. The bar of the river is 5 miles off, and is so shoaly that vessels drawing 20 feet have to lie 5 miles off that, that is 10 miles from the forts, and it was at this point that the fleet of the various nations was at this time lying at anchor, the British being _Centurion_, flags.h.i.+p, _Barfleur, Orlando, Endymion, Aurora_.
The only vessels that could therefore enter the river and bombard the forts were gunboats and destroyers; of these the Russians had three, _Bobr, Koreelah_, and _Gilyak_; the French, the _Lion_; the British, the _Algerine_, steel despatch boat with six 4-inch guns, and two destroyers, the _Whiting_ and _Fame_. These two last captured four perfectly equipped modern destroyers, whose crews bolted; properly handled, they might have destroyed all the attacking s.h.i.+ps, who without them found sufficient work to do in keeping down the fire of the forts.
The plan arranged by the others was that, after an effective bombardment, a landing party should attack the north-west and north forts and the other forts in succession.
The Chinese, however, had no intention of letting the Westerns have it all their own way, but at a quarter to one a.m. on the morning of the 17th opened the ball by firing upon the _Algerine_, who promptly replied, and the battle became general. A terrific bombardment on both sides roared through the night, the gunboats in addition to the fire of their big guns keeping up a continuous hail from their quick-firing guns in their tops. The Chinese were equally determined, and stuck to their guns through it all, but they were very poor gunners, and their sh.e.l.ls did not burst, and so for six hours the gunboats' targets for two miles of forts and some 200 or more guns escaped serious injury.
As daylight came, however, the Chinese made better practice, and the position became more serious for the allies, and it seemed as though the attack was going to fail. The Russian s.h.i.+p _Gilyak_ was. .h.i.t by a sh.e.l.l, and lost several men. She could not leave her moorings in consequence, and suffered severely from rifle fire from the sh.o.r.e, her losses during the action being the heaviest in the fleet, 2 officers and 10 men killed and 47 wounded.
The tide now rising, the s.h.i.+ps boldly steamed amid a storm of shot and sh.e.l.l close under the forts. The German _Itlis_ was seen constantly in the post of danger, and the gallantry with which she was fought evoked the admiration of all.
HMS _Algerine_, commander R.H. Stewart, greatly contributed to the final success, which at one time was so doubtful. She was always in the thick of the fight, but escaped with only slight damage to cowls and rigging, and received no shot in her hull, largely owing to the fact that her commander put her so close into the forts that they could not be brought to bear on her, and the shot pa.s.sed over. She had only 1 officer wounded and 3 men killed.
Still the battle continued, and the Chinese kept doggedly at it, and succeeded in bursting their sh.e.l.ls. Fortunately about seven a.m. an awful explosion occurred, the chief magazine blew up, and the Chinese lost heart, and soon after all firing ceased. Meantime the storming-parties had seized the north-west fort.
The landing party consisted of British, 23 officers and 298 men, from the _Alacrity, Barfleur_, and _Endymion_; German, 3 officers and 130 men; j.a.panese, 4 officers and 240 men; Russian, 2 officers and 157 men; Italian, 1 officer and 24 men; Austrian, 2 officers and 20 men,--total, 904 officers and men. The command was confided to Commander Craddock, RN. These landed under heavy sh.e.l.l fire in the dark by 2:30 a.m. with no loss, and at 4:30, when the s.h.i.+ps' guns had silenced those of the forts, advanced upon the north-west fort. In the firing line were men from the _Alacrity_ and _Endymion_ on the right, Russians on the left, and Italians on the right flank; the _Barfleur's_ men supported the charge, and the rest of the force were in support. The j.a.panese, however, were not to be restrained, and as soon as the charge sounded, raced with the British for the west gate, and both nations climbed the parapet together. Their commander was first in, and the English commander a good second, the former unfortunately being killed. The remaining forts were easily taken, and with small loss to the allies.
The Chinese garrison was estimated at 3000, of whom one-third was killed.
THE CAPTURE OF TIENTSIN CITY.
During the absence of the admiral and his force, the Chinese had kept our force defending the foreign settlement at Tientsin sufficiently busy, and did everything in their power to prevent trains with reinforcements going forward even before the 14th June, when the rails were torn up. Captain Bayly, RN, of HMS _Aurora_, had been left in charge of the British forces, and was joined on the 11th June by Commander Beattie, of HMS _Barfleur_, with 150 bluejackets and marines, and later by between 1600 and 1800 Russians, with cavalry and artillery.
The Boxers made their first attack upon the settlement upon 16th June, and from that time, until the capture of the Chinese city, there was almost continual fighting, in the course of which the Naval Brigade lost several officers and men.
The native city began to bombard the settlement on the 17th, and on the 25th a 12-pounder gun from the _Terrible_, one of those mounted on Captain Percy Scott's system, which had done such service in South Africa, arrived and sh.e.l.led the forts.
The _Terrible_ had also brought to Tongku a military force consisting of Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 7 officers and 328 men, some engineers, and other details, under Major Morris; these with a naval force of about 150, under Captain Craddock, RN, of the _Alacrity_, together with 1500 Russians with 4 guns and 100 American marines, made on the 23rd June an attack upon the military school, a strong position commanding the settlements. A great deal of bayonet-fighting took place in clearing the villages on the way, but the position itself was easily taken and the settlement relieved. The approximate total of the forces of all nations at Tientsin after this reinforcement was 4500, of whom about 1400 were British.
On 27th June a force of British seamen under Commander Craddock, and marines under Major Johnstone, the whole about 600 strong, under the command of Captain Burke, joined with the Russians in an attack upon the Chinese a.r.s.enal. The Russians took the centre and right face, our men being ordered to advance parallel to the left face. At 200 yards they were met with a heavy fire, and had to advance for some s.p.a.ce over a flat piece of ground until they could turn and face the a.r.s.enal, and when they advanced received the fire of a field-gun at the left corner.
However, fixing bayonets, the bluejackets charged with a cheer, the enemy quickly bolted, and were met with the fire of the marines, who had been left outside for that purpose. The Russians also drove out the enemy at their end, and destroyed the a.r.s.enal. Our losses were 7 killed and 21 wounded.
On 28th June and the following day messages came in from Pekin, dated 24th June, ”Our case is desperate; come at once.” Terrible news indeed for the allies; it was but two days since the expedition which had set out for Pekin had returned, and now the Tientsin settlement itself was in danger, besieged and bombarded daily by the Chinese forts. No attempt even at relief was at this time possible, and there was an awful anxiety both here and in Europe as to what the fate of the emba.s.sies might be.
On the 4th of July the Chinese made an attack upon the railway station, and were repulsed; and on the same day two additional 12-pounder guns from the _Terrible_ arrived, and also two Krupp guns taken from the Taku forts, a most important access of strength to the Naval Brigade, for up to this time the only guns had been the 12-pounder of the _Terrible_, two 9-pounder marine field-guns, and three 6 pounder Hotchkiss.
The next two days the forts in the native city were heavily bombarded by the _Terrible's_ guns, a.s.sisted by French and j.a.panese field-guns.
Several of the Chinese guns were silenced, but others, difficult to locate owing to the use of smokeless powder, replied with spirit and made good practice. A gallant attempt was made on the afternoon of the 6th by Major Bruce of the 1st Chinese Regiment to silence a 9-pounder which had been pushed up to within short range, and appeared to be aiming at the waterworks. The admiral lent him a 9-pounder gun, and Commander Beattie, of the _Barfleur_, with 70 men. No cover could be found, and the 9-pounder could not be brought into action owing to the heavy rifle fire, and the attempt had to be abandoned. The force lost 2 killed and 5 wounded, among the latter being Major Bruce and Mr F.
<script>