CO129-223 - Governor Sir Bowen Acting Governor Marsh & Others - 1885 [11-12] — Page 422

05)

---(6)-

But

batteries. With the fall of the town they would be defenceless. with a powerful fort at the Lye-ee-mun Pass, capable of standing a month's seige if need be, and another on Green Island, he would think twice about coming in, even if he entered in profound peace,

In the second of the two cases we might have a short notice, enough to enable the batteries to be manned and resistance offered to the Admiral's entrance. He could attack at both ends of the harbour simultaneously, with two or three heavily armed ships at each end, and land his two or three thousand men at different points on the southern shore. The foolish battery at the Lye-ee-mun could offer no resistance even if it were manned. It would probably not be, as there would be no time for torpedoes to be got out of store and transported to the Lye-ee- mun. The first resistance he would encounter at that side would be from North Point and Hung Ham batteries. Supposing his landing parties beaten back by our infantry, how long could these two batteries, as they Are now, stand the fire of two or three French men-of-war? Even if they were able to offer resistance, in what state would the town and docks be behind them?

Would we not be much safer if the French had first to encounter strong and self-defensible forts in the Lye-ee-mun and on Green Island, ready manned and provisioned, with torpedo boats and torpedo gear at hand, ready to be laid down at an hour's warning, and while engaging these what harm could the enemy do the town? Little or none. To meet his landing parties the whole force of the Garrison, less the artillery-men in the forts, would be free to act together and with effect.

In the third imaginary case, with ample time to prepare, of course, much more could be done, and both entrances to the harbour could be closed by torpedoes; but even although the present batteries could, with that assistance, successfully resist the entrance of the enemy's fleet, his land force must give him ultimate success. The infantry force in the colony must be broken up to cover and protect the batteries from landing parties from the ships. There would be no force to protect the City from a couple of columns of infantry, one pressing in by the Pokfo- lam Road and turning the Belcher's Bay battery, and the other by the Ty-tam Tuk and Stanley Road, or by the Victoria Gap,

The writer has finished his task, not a pleasant one nor one likely to be very thankfully acknowledged by anybody-but one that it behoved some person to take up and do. The defenceless state of Hong. kong and the futility of the works now in progress have been and are common talk, but until Mr. Jackson asked a question in Council the other day, no one cared to take the matter up or call public attention to it.

Let Mr. Jackson call a public meeting to discuss the question and to prepare a petition to the Queen upon the subject. He will have abundant support.

The existing defences are too near the town and barbour, and too far from the defensible channels. They are dangerously open to an enemy's machine guns and to attacks from landing parties. They need infantry cover to make them at all secure, with the result that

-(7)-

there is no force left to protect the city from an enemy landing on the southern coast.

There can be no satisfactory system of defence for Hongkong that does not include a strong casemated fort, mounting at least six heavy guns, on the narrowest part of the Lye-ee-mun, and a similar or even stronger fort on Green Island.

These two are sufficient, if no more can be had, with the present garrison and the naval force permanently stationed here.

The writer knows that every single statement he has made may be questioned and criticised, perhaps even contradicted, but he affirms the substantial accuracy of his statement as a whole, and appeals to any naval and military officer in the Colony, who has made a study of his profession, to say if the views here expressed are not, in the main, sound

common-sense.

PRINTED AT THE ÚSPICE OF "THE Hongkong TelegrAPH,”

PYDORK'S HILL, Hongkong.

421