101
2
I have met. I should say a man of decided character." (See also Captain Pritchard's remarks on this officer on p. 54 of his report. General Ts'ui commands the 19th Division, to which the detachments which have proceeded to the frontier belong.) The telegram received this morning from His Majesty's consul, Tengyueh, clears up the point as to the identity of the troops who are reported to have occupied Pien-ma. They are clearly the regulars of the 19th Division who were diverted north from Yungchang on the 1st February, accompanied by Prefect Chiang (who may be considered as holding a corresponding position to that of Mr. Hertz).
Assuming the necessity of maintaining the British claim, seeing that it was notified to the Chinese Government in unmistakable terms, and taking into account the uncompromising attitude of China in regard to the matter, it remains to consider what forces she has at her disposal in support of the troops of the Yunnan province, if she is determined to contest the point to the uttermost. (My note of the 18th October, 1910, dealt with the regular troops of Yunnan province only, viz., 19th Division, consisting of→
At Yunnan-fu and vicinity-
73rd Infantry, three battalions.
74th
Maxim gun battalion.
19th Cavalry Regiment, two squadrons.
19th Engineer Battalion.
19th Artillery
ウラ
19th Transport
nine batteries (Krupp 75 mm. Q. F. mountain guns),
At Linan-fu-75th Infantry, three battalions,
At Tali-fu-76th
11
In all, with staffs, &c., about 10,000 combatants.)
The neighbouring provinces are Szechuan, Kueichow, and Kuangsi (and behind them again Hupei Hunan, and Kuangtung).
The military resources of Szechuan are already severely taxed with the occupation of Thibet and the "marches," but there is at Chengtu the 33rd Mixed Brigade of Regulars, of whom Major Pereira, who recently inspected them, formed a high opinion. These troops number-
Two infantry regiments.
One cavalry squadron.
22
battalion mountain artillery (Japanese 75 mm.).
company engineers,
transport.
Military police, &c.
Total, with staffs, some 4,300.
(Besides these this brigade bad sent a force of some 2,000 troops of all arms to Thibet in 1909.)
Owing to the necessity of retaining a reserve in hand to reinforce Thibet or the "frontier force" in the "marches," where the as yet unsubdued tribesmen of San-ngai and Cantui, &c., are ever ready to contest Chinese authority, and allowing for deductions for recruits, sick, and a depôt, we may reckon that the 33rd Brigade could not, at the utmost, send more than about-
Three battalions of infantry.
Half-squadron of cavalry.
Two batteries of mountain artillery.
Half-company engineers.
22
>>
transport.
In all about 2,200 all ranks.
Their casiest route would be by boats down to Sui-fu (four to seven days), and thence by road twenty-four stages to Yunnan-fu (whence to Tali-fu 228 miles, and to Tengkeng 140 on, or about twenty-six marches-see Appendix B).
The Szechuan provincial troops and "frontier forces are fully occupied in the maintenance of internal order, and it is unlikely that they could furnish any contingent. It has to be remembered that more than one-third of the province is inhabited by non-Chinese populations unfriendly to the ruling Power.
3
The regulars of Kueichow (at Kueiyang-fu) amount only to one regiment of infantry and one four-gun battery of mountain artillery, and are in every way backward. (See despatch No. 18, dated the 12th January, 1911, to Foreign Office.) They might at the utmost send two battalions of infantry and their battery (about 1,200 all ranks). The provincial troops might, perhaps, furnish an equal number (their battalions are nominally 301 strong, but probably a good deal less).
The distance from Kueiyang to Yunnan-fu is 393 miles. (Major Pereira recently marched it in twenty days, and, considering the excellent inarching powers of Chinese troops, I consider they could probably do it in three weeks or a little over.)
Information is very conflicting as to the strength, composition, and distribution of the troops in Kuangsi, but it is believed that, all told, they number some 15,000 (including the regulars and various classes of provincial frontier troops). According to a French account, some 3,600 of these, spoken of as the 1st Brigade, and classed, I think erroneously, as "lachun" (i.c., regulars), with a battery of mountain artillery, are stationed in West Kuangsi, from Nanning to Posé (on the Yu Kiang). Posé is twenty-one stages from Yunnan-fu, and Nanning 155 miles (in a direct line, and probably, at least, 200 by road) from Posé.
The real "luchun "(regulars) of Kuangsi are said to consist of the following:-- At Lungchou~~
1st Infantry Regiment (one battalion only). Three batteries of mountain guns.
At Nanning-
2nd Infantry Regiment (three battalions, almost complete).
Two batteries of mountain guns.
One squadron cavalry (in formation).
One battalion engineers (in formation).
At Kueilin--A commencement only has been made, less than one regiment
being stated to have been organised up to the present.
At Nanning they have also six machine-guns.
The total of the "luchun " may be reckoned as about 3,000,
The Kuangsi provincial troops are very much scattered in small detachments, and are fully occupied in policing the province, a notoriously turbulent and lawless Their removal from the Tonkin border would almost certainly lead to an I think it safe increase of lawlessness, which might necessitate French intervention.
one.
to assume, therefore, that an inconsiderable proportion of them only could be moved away. Possibly a few " yings (battalions of 300 odd) might be collected and moved
Hunan has the 25th Mixed Brigade of Regulars, viz. :---
up via Posé.
Six battalions of infantry.
One squadron of cavalry.
Three batteries of mountain artillery.
Two companies of engineers.
One company of transport.
In all some 4,600.
Last summer, at the time of the Changsha riots, they were found insufficient to maintain order, and regular troops had to be borrowed from the neighbouring province of Hupei. In view of these so recent disorders, I hardly think it likely that troops could be spared from Hunan province. If, however, any could be sent, proceeding viâ Changte and the "mandarin route" through Chenchou and Yuanchou to Kueiyang-fu, and so to Yünnan-fu, they would take at least eight weeks to cover the distance. If they went by river (Hsiang River and Yaug-tsze) to Sui-fu, and thence by road to Yünnan-fu, the time might be reckoned as about seventy-two days.
Hupei, though so distant, is the most likely province whence supports might be sent, as Wuchang has a division and a-half of regulars, viz. :-
8th Division (a fairly good and well-trained division, under Major-General Chang Piao, a soldierly, strong man, though of the old school)--
Twelve battalions infantry. Three squadrons cavalry. [1918 u-2]
B 2
Vay