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strong enough to deal with the situation.
fui.
men.
>
The Canton Government
consider that Ip Ting and Ho Lung will not be able to do much
mischief to Canton. Ip was formerly serving under Chang Fat-
He is now in command of some Cantonese, mostly Shiuhing
When he was leading his troops to Swatow, he told them
that they were coming by a different route to join Chang Fat-
fui, but when he actually get to Swatow, he began to show his
true colour. His soldiers, finding themselves deceived, then
refused to fight. Ho Lung's men are Hunanese. He was at one
time a brigand. He was taken on by Chang Fat-fui after he had
been rejected by Tang Sang-chi who considered him to be
unreliable. Ip and He fought well under Chang Fat-fui at Ting
Tsz-kiu in Hupeh. It was there that Chang's men earned the
proud name of "Ironsides". Chang is now not strong enough to
fight Ip and Ho at Swatow. When speaking to General Li about
his former Cantonese soldiers, Bhang burst into tears. When he
left Canton on the Northern Expedition, he had about 10,000
Cantonese soldiers under him, but his losses had been so heavy
that he had only 3,000 of these men left; and they are now with
Ip Ting. The men now under Chang are not the original Irensides,
though they are still being so called. They are Hunanese, and
they number 12,000 strong. Only 5,000 are now in Kwongtung, but
the others are on their way there. Some are still in the North
part of Kiangsi. Chang Fat-fui offered to lead his men to
Swatow to fight Ip Ting and Ho Lung, but General Li considered
it inexpedient in view of Chang's recent defeat at the hands
of Ip and Ho. He therefore sent fresh troops under Chan Chai-
tong.
Chang Fat-fui came to Hongkong about a month ago; stayed
here for a few days; went away for about ten days; and came back
again. The reason why Chang stayed in Hongkong instead of going
straight up to Canton was that he had to settle certain matters
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