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TIENTSIN
those suspected of association with foreigners. So great was the animosity towards the latter, that great numbers of the compradore clerks and shroff classes came into the Settlements to obviate certain death. The Boxers attacked the Settlements and the Railway Station in great force on the night of the 15th of June, but were easily beater off by the 560 marines of all nationalities who had come up from the Fleet to conduct the defence. By great good fortune, as it afterwards turned out, a body of Russians numbering 1,700 men, and including a battery of well-found artillery, had been precluded from following Admiral Seymour in his gallant effort to rescue the Legations by the fact that the railway was cut: these men had perforce to remain in Tientsin. Even with their presence the fierceness and determination of the Chinese attack were phenomenal and was with difficulty warded off. It is terrible to think of the disaster that might have happened had this Russian force been absent. The lines extended over a length of two miles, exclusive of 2,000 yards of river frontage. The Chinese saw with great acumen that the key of the strategic position was at the Railway Station on the native side of the river to the east of the French Settlement, and directed all their efforts to carry it. It was here throughout that the Russians under Colonel Vogack did very fine service. Had the Station been carried, not only would the victors have been able to enfilade the Settlements with rifle fire, but they would have got a commanding position for their heavy guns, and in a day or two would have reduced the French and British Concessions to a heap of ruins. At first no fears were entertained of the Boxers, but when the defenders became aware that the Tau Forts were to be attacked on the morning of the 17th of June, it was at once seen that either failure or success placed the Tientsin foreign community in deadly peril. There could be no doubt that the Chinese Authorities would resent the act of war, and would seize it as a good reason for taking up the Boxer cause openly, and for opening fire on the Concessions. This was exactly what happened. At 2 p.m. on the afternoon of June the 17th, the Chinese opened fire from a concealed battery in the City, the very existence of which was known to nobody, though it was universally thought to be the Black Fort or Shui-tse Ying near the viceregal Yamen. The women and children with all non-combatants at once fled to Gordon Hall where the capacious cellars offered accommodation to a large number; there they remained for ten days. The Hall was often struck by shells, but in no case were there any casualties to European life or limb in its precincts.
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The Chinese infantry, accompanied by the Boxers, made vigorous assaults on the Railway Station for the next four days, but in every case were driven off by the steadiness of the Russian defence, often supported by the British and French naval contingents. An armoured train tried to keep open the communication with Tongku but failed. A fine attempt was also made to communicate by river: the launch unfor- tunately ran ashore in the dark and its volunteer crew only reached their destination after great hardships and narrow escapes. On June 19th, Mr. James Watts, jun, volunteered to lead a party of Cossacks through the enemy's lines with despatches, and at great peril did so. This was one of the most brilliant feats of the whole campaign in North China. The defence was already running short of ammunition, and unless help came quickly it would have had to become merely passive. On this same day the attack was the most resolute, and the Chinaman reached his highest level as a fighting man. The first part of the Siege lasted six days, during the course of which the Chinese succeeded in firing a considerable number of buildings in the French Concession and a few in the adjacent British Settlements. On the other hand whole tracts of the City and suburbs were destroyed by the foreign attack; the wholesale destruction of these villages became necessary as they were giving cover to the enemy's rifles.
The first part of the Siege was ended by the arrival of a relief column on Saturday, June 23rd. An advance guard of Russians and American marines had left Tongku on the previous Wednesday, but had been ambushed and driven back with heavy loss, also losing a Colt gun. On Thursday they were reinforced, and after two days' continuous fighting, in which they cleared the whole district between Tongku and Tientsin on the left bank of the Peiho, of the enemy, they reached Tientsin and freed it from further attack on the Eastern side, besides restoring communications with the naval base. The German marines on their way up net with strenuous resistance, and had a very serious engagement near the Eastern arsenal. The Chinese were still greatly superior in artillery, and at once renewed their policy of long bowls from the north and north- east; later on swiftly pushing their right round to the west, they placed new batteries near the Race Course and renewed their bombardment with greater vigour than ever. The one need of the Allies was heavy met with which to cope with the Chinese