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August 25, 1900.]
but net a bit of it! They have gone back to their utter wallow in the mire of inhumanity. Tls. 50 were given for the two Colt guns lost on the same occasion (about June 20). There are many entries for rewards given for foreign loot which was of course regarded as proof of defeat.
CHINESE ACCOUNTS.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
stood, and so the idea spread that the Russians and their few German, Austrian and Italian supports had been beaten off by heavy fire. Their actual losses were trivial-so indeed were ours the latter two killed and twenty-one wounded, mostly by stray shots. The fact was it was once more a Japanese day. The Ital- Ju-Lu's despatches to Peking on the in- ians away on the left suffered very severely, cidents of the Boxer rising, the attack on the having 300 casualties (over Taku forts and the bombardment of the The cause were not far to seek, and indeed I 50 killed). Settlements are very interesting reading have referred to one of them before-the ex- perfect models of courtier finesse and plausibility.treme visibility of the Japanese uniform. An- They are too long to quote in a letter, but I may other was their defective formation in presence refer to them later on. They deal with the re- of guns; they were in big masses, and shrapnel tirement of a reconnoitring party as the was bound to pay well, if well timed. third foreigners then skulked back to their dens." was that their leaders have too much élan; they If a company retreats before 2,000, it is an over- have already done so well that they are keen on whelming defeat, and no numbers are quoted; keeping it up, and are not taking their op- but barring this fault they are not an unfair ponents, and especially their opponents' weapons, account of the battles and struggles between seriously enough. The enemy was supposed to demi-gods and beetles as seen from the Chinese number only 5,000 or 6,000. Their retreat was Olympus of superiority.
deliberate enough, and there were neither spoil nor wounded. Indeed it is supposed the bulk of them withdrew the previous night. About fifty or sixty dead bodies were seen at the first trenches (they were either naked or without uniform); at the second they were undoubtedly Imperial troops, at the third mixed.
YAMEN DOCUMENTS.
The Yamen documents contain lists which will be invaluable later on: viz. the names and ages of all the Boxers in the village round Tien- tsin.
They also commend warmly to the Throne the three great leaders, Chang-te-cheng Tsau-fn-chen, both of Tu-Lin, and Wang-te- cheng of Pahon and Wai Ngan districts.
The U.S. 24th infantry arrived to-day.
THE RELIEF OF PEKING.
[FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.]
YANGTSUN REACHED.
We heard to-day the Allies were at Yangtsun, 18 miles ont, AS they have advanced up the right bank of the river, the great tactical difficulty of crossing it obviated. In many places in the advance mines have been seen, but so far no casualties have been reported from them.
BUSY PREPARATIONS.
There is also some correspondence about the foreign and native Christian at Paoting-fu, it casually mentions the death of seven (or six) foreigners and natives in the Northern Suburb and the atter destruction of all Mission proper- ty in the vicinity. The American Presbyter ian Mission was located in the Northern Suburb and had three adults and three children (foreign-
The commissariat has orders to advance ers), so there is naturally great suspense among twenty miles from Tientsin to-day. This is their friends here as to who were the victims. really grand progress, and if maintained will It is hoped the folk of the American Congrega-see the force before Peking this week. General fional Mission and C.I.M. escaped from the Dorward, R.E., is left in command of the British South Suburb.
force here in Tientsin, 1,600 strong, the total be- LATER. ing some where between 5,000 and 7,000. Iun. derstand very careful dispositions have been made to meet a rush of the enemy from the S. and S. W. We still have an abundance of news that a large force of Chinese is 7 or 10 miles to the S.W., and there is a widespread feeling that we are going to see some very stiff fighting here yet. We are remounting guns and our battery along the Wei-tze or mud wall is formidable, althongh minus the 12 prs. A 4.7. Q. F. is to be erected there also. I saw the Nordeske at Taku this morning, so I presume the cable is laid, or is about to be laid, to Chefoo. I fear, however, that with eight Governments claiming precedence to private or press messages, the latter will get a very poor chance. The British Admiralty is moving with the times, for I saw the high poles necessary for Marconi's wireless system being erected at the upper North Fort. This will put us all in com. munication with the fleet 12 or 14 miles out- side. I believe special experts are coming out to work it. Admiral Bruce is here.
THE FIGHT AT PEITSANG.
Tientsin, 6th August. The allied army after a Council of War held on Friday morning began its march north to- wards evening. The main body of the troops, however, did not leave till Saturday, August 4th. Speaking roughly the Russians (the right wing) were about 5,000 strong, the Americans and English (the centre) about 5,000 also, and the Japanese (the left) from about 8,000 to 10,000. Reconnaisance had disclosed the fact that the enemy had chosen a strong position at Pei- fsang, some four or five miles distant from the city on the Peking Road, and there entrenched in forte. It was resolved to dislodge them. Our first news from the front, sent off by ener- getic pressmen, was that there had been a very severe artillery duel lasting all the morning; that the enemy had been driven (shelled) from one series of trenches to another - three in all and was in full retreat, after suffering casualties greater than those of the Allies, which were over 1,300 The Russians alone had lost 500, having had to bear the brunt of the terrific shelling.
FACTS AND, SURMISES.
The incompatibility of this brief summary with that which has come in to-day is a valuable lesson to commentators and journalists gener. ally. If we cannot get the truth when the forces are only seven miles distant, and the gal- lopers coming in all the time, what is it likely to be when the forces are far afield, and the scouts do not come down daily? I may as well state the origin of the inaccuracy is no deli berate alteration of news, but in the fact that engagements now cover so large an area that people in one part of the line misunderstant tactics in another part and interpret them by preconceived views. For example, yesterday the Russians suffered little or nought, and were hardly in it at all. The Chinese had flooded their left for a large ares, and the Russians ware not able to get at them. What then did they do? Like good soldiers they marched book and tried to get at them by following up the Americans and English in their frontal advance. This was seen in part but misunder-
AS OTHERS SEE US.
It is sometimes instructive to see ourselves as others see us, and possibly the two annexed dis- patches of Yu Lu, the Viceroy of Chihli, des- cribing the incidents of the first days of the war, may interest your readers. I transcribe them all the more willingly because my own report of these days and incidents has got lost, and is. either at the bottom of the Gulf of Pechili, or mislaid with countless other letters in the hold of H.M.S. Barfleur.
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[the populace in Tientsin gave 50,000, but both these numbers are surely exaggerations] who regard the destruction of churches and the kill. ing of foreigners as a patriotic duty, I called a meeting of their leaders, and explained to them the policy of the Government. All offered their services freely, and their patriotism is manifest in their actions. To-day we saw a [near Tientsin] We harassed the foreigners train going northwards from Cheng Chue Kon by destroying the line, upon which they fired and wounded many. We returned their fire and the action continued till night-fall.
"On the 22nd [June 18th] the foreign troops again attacked our men in different places, but we held our own at all points. Our forts
row and different camps shelled them, and the patrio- tic Boxers assisted everywhere in the fighting, which continued till the evening when the for- eign troops were beaten. Many foreign build- ings in se Chu Lin [Settlements] were burned [It is a curious fact that of the numerous houses destroyed in the two Settlements, only four have been set on fire by shell-fire, and nearly all those destroyed are Chinese-owned. In the two British Settlements only two godowns were inflamed and destroyed by shell. In the French another two, but as incendiarism was rampart all the time, it is doubtful if even this small number was due to the enemy's artillery]
"On the 23rd the foreigners again attacked us at sunrise, thinking their dens would be difficult to guard, so their fierceness was much greater than before; our troops, com- bined with those patriotic Boxers, fought severely with them for a long time. They [the foreigners] were apparently unable to hold out for any length of time, whereas our men fought very bravely, and in the afternoon found the enemy very unwilling to continue. hey finally saw them skulking back to their dens, [to run in as a rat to its hole. Yeh and I were of opinion that our affairs had gone well so far. It was vain to hope to restore good relations so to augment the courage of our own men we thought it better to bombard the dens of the foreign troops in order to disarm them. After that we planned to retake [the forts at] Taku, one hundred li distant. For on account of breaks in the telegraph we do not precisely know the truth of what has transpired there. Amongst other things it is report- ed that the powder magazines have been exploded from which we gather the place is in some danger. [This is disingenuous. Yu Lu knew early in the day of June 27th both by wire and special messenger that all the four forts had capitulated after storm.]
"
We now tore up the railway line at Cheng Liang Cheng [half-way between Tientsin and Taku] and other places, and we opened the water sluices and gates at Cheng Chua Kou [above Tientsin city] to let the water out of the Pei-ho, and thus by lowering the depth prevent the foreigners going to Peking by stream. We found that those foreign troops already set out for Peking. [i. e. Admiral Seymour's column] had been cut off by Boxers at Yangtsun [eighteen miles from Tientsin] by destruction of the line, and that they were now trying to skulk back to Tientsin, so we at once dispatched forces to ent them off.
"These are the victories we have won since, the beginning of the trouble, and this is the true condition of the defences here. Now to fight eight Powers with the forces of one is quite im- possible. How then can the force now at my disposal at Tientsin be brought against the collective armies of eight nations? I ask your Majesties to send a great army to Tientsin as soon as possible to aid the circumstances of the Empire. I submit this by rapid courier,
I cannot guarantee the literal exactitude of the translation beyond testifying to the honesty and ability of the interpreter. I interpolate critical or explanatory remarks in some parentheses. On the whole one cannot but be struck with the extreme moderation of the statements. They lack the sharp, well-defined "Again there are more than 400 troops pro- edge of western descriptive prose, when the tecting the Legations at Peking, and I hear narrator is sure of his facts, and, of course, they that our patriotic Boxers have by their sole gloss over disaster and disagreeable facts in the initiation taken steps against the [foreign] reli- way well known to all beaten satraps and gene-gions in the capital. Now Tientsin is in a con- rals from the beginning of time; but on the dition far different from that of a
any former whole to a man conversant with the incidents time, and I trust your Majesties will devise s referred to they are a fair account of things proper and safe plan (to relieve the situation)". from the Chinese peint of view.
The Imperial Rescript ran: “We will issue an edict.
THE CHINESE ACCOUNT.
[When the Chinese opened fire on us on that momentous 17th of June (21st day of fifth moon)] "Le Jung Kwan had in the city and suburbs 2,000 of the Wu-wei army and General Nich's men. As there were also 30,000 Boxers
A POSTCRIPT.
In a supplement or posteript his Excelleder tabulates his opinion that the troubles have ni originated in religious differences, and that the pressure of unforeseen circumstances have fore-
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