[
    {
        "id": 212842,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1992",
        "page_number": 151,
        "title": "RAS-1992",
        "content_text": "136\n\nme whether I was afraid I would be arrested and carried off in the same way! It was because of the Lopez incident that for a long time some of the most useful men in Kokang, intimidated by Chinese threats, did not dare to work for us.\n\nAt Hsintang we occupied the thatched wooden building which the people of the village had erected for Lopez and in which he had been surrounded and arrested. It had two stories, with three small rooms on each floor, and packed into these rooms were no less than twenty beds, in layers. Though small, the building could thus house the whole of our party. All the furniture was made of bamboo, the beds, the steps leading to the upper storey, the stools on which we sat, and the table off which we ate. In the centre room below, Lopez had installed a mud fireplace, where of an evening we lit a fire, because here we must have been somewhere about 7,000 or 8,000 feet up and the nights were bitterly cold. The chimney, a hollowed bamboo over which we had to throw water every now and then, was unsatisfactory and the smoke hung about the top floor to the discomfort of those trying to sleep above.\n\nOur wireless was a great asset; it made such a contrast to the isolation which had been our lot when in eastern China. We could send and receive signals, and by laying the headphones in a tin basin, we could make a near-enough imitation of a loud-speaker to sit by and listen when the news came in. It was about this time that the Japanese made their desperate attack on the British at Imphal in an attempt to cut the railway, which supplied General Stilwell's Chinese divisions; in this attempt they were to exhaust themselves, and open Burma to reoccupation by the Allies. A little later General Wingate's second l.r.p.g. - long range penetration group - operations were launched. We were later to discover that the withdrawal of Japanese troops from all along the Salween to meet Wingate's threat offered an explanation of why they failed to raid across the river to disperse us.\n\nStan rejoined us, reporting that there was no flat territory in central Kokang, but that he found a hill slope which would do well enough as a dropping zone. The slope was near the large village of Lunghtang, two days march south, and we prepared to move there. The country became more open; the jungle on the mountain slopes was replaced by long grass. We passed herds of brood mares, with their young. The Myosa in the past had been the contractor for the supply of mules to the Burma Government; we were passing the breeding centres. A lonely",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1992.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 212843,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1992",
        "page_number": 152,
        "title": "RAS-1992",
        "content_text": "137\n\njackass stood tethered near the herdman's hut, on a knoll from which he could proudly survey his young.\n\nAt Lunghtang Jack rejoined us; he had followed the Salween and inspected all the ferries, except those around Kunlong, where the Japanese had established their bridgehead. During the past two years they had on several occasions raided from Kunlong as far north as Tawnio, putting the villages to fire. Kokang south of Tawnio was practically deserted and the mule tracks overgrown; there were no Chinese troops, but the Japanese were watched by standing patrols of the Kokang Defence Force.\n\nThe Salween at this season was low; in long stretches the current ran slow and the river could be crossed; the ferries were marked on the map at places, where tracks led down to the water. The width of the river, of course, varied; in the rapids where the water rushed through it might be no more than 100 feet, elsewhere generally nearer 300 feet. There were no boats; the method of crossing was to cut down a number of bamboos, lash them together, and paddle across. At the northern ferries small parties of Chinese troops watched on our side; the Japanese could be seen on the far side; but after the river left China to turn south, there were no more Chinese troops, and the ferries were watched by unarmed village levies, obviously ineffectively. The Japanese used the same system on their side, and at one ferry Jack had been able to shout over and hold a brief conversation with the two Kachin watchers on the far bank. At certain of the northern ferries shots were frequently exchanged between the Chinese troops, assisted by men of the K.D.F., and the enemy; and sometimes the Japanese would roll a gun up and lob some shells over; at other times it would be a trench mortar. On certain sections of the muletrack it was unwise to move by daylight.\n\nI sent Jack back to Hsintang where we had picked up some useful contacts, mostly thanks to Lopez' earlier work. Opposite Hsintang the Kachin tribes appeared ready to help, and we hoped we would be able to get people through onto the Burma road to watch Japanese movements, and so to facilitate Wingate's operations; if we could at the same time destroy some Japanese dumps so much the better.\n\nWhile at Hsintang I had been visited by one of the staff officers of the Nth division. I had with some difficulty persuaded him to allow our agents to cross the Salween at the ferry, which led most directly to the friendly Kachins and where the Japanese watch was not strict. We had",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1992.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 212844,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1992",
        "page_number": 153,
        "title": "RAS-1992",
        "content_text": "138\n\nconcerted a system of secret signs by which the Chinese troops watching the ferry could recognise our men; it was all unnecessarily complicated because with Jack there the Chinese, when in doubt, could quickly inform themselves; it was in fact part of their policy of making things as complicated as possible, the policy of obstruction.\n\nMeanwhile Stan was supervising the clearing of the d.z.; we hired men from the village to cut down trees and to burn off the long grass. At Lunghtang the mountain slope was less steep; we looked down into the small valley of a stream, which ran into one of the larger tributaries of the Salween at an angle, so that the far ridge interposed between us and the main river. Thus the fires which we would light at night on our d.z., to guide the aircraft, would be screened from the view of the Japanese posts on the far side.\n\nLunghtang was a large village off the beaten track, and because of that it had grown larger; people had migrated from the troop nuisance on the more popular tracks. There were really three separate villages, grouped near each other; rice terraces had been cut out of the slopes below, and in other less level fields maize and the opium poppy were planted. The water supply was not good; it was led in by a ditch which had been dug a long way, following the contour of the mountain. The water also drove a series of wooden hammers for polishing rice. The method was ingenious; a log, scooped hollow at one end, was balanced so that when water poured in from a bamboo spout and filled the hollow, that end became too heavy and dropped. The drop would tip out the water, whereupon the other end, to which the hammer was attached, dropped down with a thump and the hammer fell into the small hole, scooped out of stone in which the rice was held. The movement repeated itself without end. The circle headman was a close relative of the Myosa; he was a heavy opium smoker and at first was cautious in his attitude towards us, but later gave us much help, information about local politics, and good advice.\n\nI decided to establish our headquarters at Lunghtang. The headman selected a site, to one side and above the villages, to which we could lead clear water from the mountain through split bamboo channels. The water was first to serve the kitchens, then the wash-houses, and finally it would flow through and flush out the latrines. We were very pleased with our water-works. The walls of the buildings were made of bamboo lath and mud plaster; the roofs were thatched. There were quarters and",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1992.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 212846,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1992",
        "page_number": 155,
        "title": "RAS-1992",
        "content_text": "140\n\nthough that description is scarcely fair to him. I do not think he was really disloyal to his elder brother, the Myosa; he had merely been caught in a situation which was beyond him. He was a weak character, the Chinese had terrified him, and he was as butter in their hands. I was concerned for our protection; though Lunghtang was ten miles back from the Salween, apart from the unarmed village watchers at the ferries, and an odd post of the K.D.F., there was nothing between us and the enemy. I asked the Puppet to let us have twenty men of the Defence Force. We would arm them, train them, and retain them as our personal bodyguards. He could not refuse.\n\nDuring his reconnaissance Stan had investigated the state of the Defence Force. They were about 200 strong at Sincheng, to watch the Japanese opposite the Kunlong bridgehead; their arms consisted half of British and half of Chinese rifles; they were desperately short of ammunition; their training was poor. I arranged with the Puppet that after training the bodyguards he would send us his five Bren teams for a course and for equipping with new guns, as most of those they had were damaged. Later we would train a platoon at a time, and equip them with further rifles and light automatics. I hoped also to find men of the guerilla type for use in trans-Salween operations, but these men would mostly have to be recruited from the tribes across the river, so that they could return to operate on their own ground.\n\nThe controversy between Tommy and Sten guns had settled itself. I had been for standardising on Stens, but Jack and Stan were both used to the Tommy and insisted on carrying one; I carried a Sten, which with its clip weighed 5 lbs against their 10. I noticed one day a Tommy had been loaded on the pack animals and on going up the line found Stan carrying a Sten! An extra 5 lbs makes a lot of difference when you are marching up and down mountains! Jack too soon fell into line and we made presents of our Tommy guns to the Puppet, who already had one or two. I also arranged to replenish his ammunition supplies.\n\nThe country people were poorly clad; no new cloth had come in for several years. We were able to include in our supplies some bolts of cloth, Shan pants, jerseys, and rubber shoes; they were originally intended as gifts for those across the Salween who worked for us, but we soon found they dared not receive such gifts because the Japanese, when they saw anything new, immediately realised that it came from their enemies, and concluded that those who wore it were helping our",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1992.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 212851,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1992",
        "page_number": 160,
        "title": "RAS-1992",
        "content_text": "145\n\nand probably compelled them to increase the area of opium cultivation. Obviously the crop was being passed on through the Chinese officers at the Puppet's headquarters. I had found there that they used his office as if it were their own. This may have been another reason for the grip the Chinese had taken of this small state. When Allied government is re-established in Burma it is to be hoped that serious attention will be paid to the question of opium. On the barren slopes of Kokang it is one of the only crops which grow, and so the problem is chiefly economic, the finding of a substitute crop. I noticed that no opium was planted in the Lihsaw villages; they were all Christians, converted by the American Baptist Mission—a mission which does the same as Dr. Seagrave's very excellent work in Burma, and they had been taught to grow potatoes instead. But the Lihsaws are not numerous, there are limits to the demand for potatoes, and further alternatives will be required.\n\nKokang was not self-supporting in rice. The normal flow of commerce is along the motor road from Kunlong to Hsenwi and Burma; that road was now cut by Japanese occupation, and Kokang had to depend on China for additional supplies. I believe the Puppet did his best to exchange part of his opium for rice, but not very successfully. Yunnan itself had inadequate supplies to feed the large forces of the C.E.F. for whom quantities of rice had to be imported from further afield. It was a difficult situation for the Puppet and one which put him the more under Chinese obligation.\n\nI got to know many of the headmen personally and well; with two exceptions, men recently appointed by the Puppet, they were hostile to him, and anxiously awaited the return of the Myosa, whose fair and just administration had left happy memories.\n\nI did not fathom the system of appointing circle and village headmen. The Myosa appeared to have the authority to make appointments, but I found in many places that the post was hereditary; many of the headmen too were of the Myosa's family. They often had managers, or Prime Ministers, who managed their affairs for them; and in at least some instances the function of manager to a circle headman was hereditary too.\n\nI returned from Sincheng to Lunghtang with a baffled feeling; the Bren gun teams were sent for training, but I felt they were the last the Chinese would allow to come, and the event was to prove my doubts justified. The despatch of further men was delayed on one pretext after",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1992.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/qf85tx75x",
        "rank": 0
    }
]