The next thing to be done was to change front to the right, and attack the arsenal, which was only about three-quarters of a mile distant. It was first subjected to a heavy shell fire from the Japanese and Indian artillery, who burst clouds of shrapnel all over its face, and who were in turn shelled by two very small, but very diligent, quick-firing field guns. The latter had bad luck, for although they kept up an exceedingly rapid and very accurate fire, the damage done to the Allies was practically nil. The shells appeared to be too small to do any considerable damage, even if exactly placed, and became, as the day went on, contemptible as far as danger went, though admirable in their pertinacity and the skill with which they fled to their harmless destination.
When the way had been prepared by the artillery, the advance commenced, the British and Japanese making the frontal, the Americans a flank attack. The resistance was trifling, and the arsenal was taken possession of at about ten o’clock. From the cover of the walls the enemy were harassed in their retreat by rifle and gun fire, but it is improbable that their losses were at all heavy. It was at first proposed to garrison the place, but eventually it was decided to abandon it, for many reasons.
Unfortunately, that part which faced the native city was not defended by any wall, or entrenched in any way, and as the distance was but about 2000 yards, it was open to long-range rifle fire which would soon have made it untenable, to say nothing of the enemy’s artillery, which could have speedily demolished every building.
Then again, there would have been the communications to keep open, which, although it would have been a comparatively easy task, was imposing needless work on the troops; consequently, after everything of military worth had been destroyed, the force began their return journey. They were assiduously shelled from the precincts of the city, and fired upon by concealed snipers for the whole distance, and unfortunately lost several men.
Soon after this, on the arrival of further reinforcements, it was rumoured that plans were being matured, by the carrying out of which the native city should be stormed and occupied.
Accordingly, no one was much surprised when, two nights later, orders were given to the naval brigade to be ready to march out with the Russians at 2 a.m. The British, Japanese, and Americans were to attack the southern gate, while the French and Russians were to have operated on the other bank of the river. The men were called at a quarter past one, and, as the old adage that “an Englishman fights best on a full belly” is still very true, they were fed preparatory to departure.
Unfortunately the message to start never came: instead came a Russian who “was very sorry, but would every one go to bed again, as somehow or other their sappers hadn’t been able to prepare the way.” As one of the officers remarked, “This was disquieting news, for to turn in at 2 a.m. with one’s belly full of boiling porridge, is not half such fun as scrapping with Chinamen, nor is it so healthy.” Be that as it may, the haunting nightmare, which it may safely be inferred visited that officer, was not allowed to have a free hand in the headquarter barracks that morning, for suddenly the enemy opened on the settlement with a terrific shell fire, which capsized one of the chimneys over the officer’s sleeping room, and filled the whole place with dust and smoke. One shell burst in the men’s quarters, and by the extraordinary fatalism which pursued the “Centurion’s” men throughout the operations, the only man hit belonged to that ship. He, poor fellow, was the only “Centurion” man in barracks. Even this alarm was not the last, for at four o’clock a marine, breathless and capless, rushed in, and reported that the station was being attacked by a large force, who were fighting with more than their ordinary bravery, and who were gradually enveloping the position. B company “Barfleurs”, and the company of the Hong-Kong regiment were immediately despatched to reinforce the defenders, who consisted of the “Terrible’s” marines and some Frenchmen, whose ammunition was practically exhausted. The Pathans crossed the river and advanced by a somewhat circuitous route along the railway line, on to which all the empty trucks had been shunted from the station, and which afforded good cover. On this occasion, however, the trucks were tenanted, and a sergeant had just time to yell “Chinese in the trucks!” when he was shot dead, and a heavy fire was opened on to the remainder of the company. Without a moment’s hesitation the Indians went in with the bayonet, and within a minute or two this part of the enemy were in full retreat. B company moved up by a more direct path, being greeted, while crossing the river, by a shrapnel which burst right above the company, but, marvellously enough, hit no one.
On arriving at the station, matters were found to be even worse than the man had said. Some of the enemy were ensconced behind a bank some 30 yards to the front, and their fixed bayonets could be seen as they moved to and fro, evidently summoning up courage for a charge, in the event of which the little garrison would only have escaped annihilation by a miracle. But little firing was going on, our men husbanding their last nine rounds each for the final rush, and the enemy evidently not liking to expose their valuable carcases to take aim. Certainly the enemy in the rear had been keeping up a hot, but comparatively innocuous fire, whilst those in front occasionally “eased off” without taking any aim at all; perhaps invoking Joss to find a satisfactory resting-place for their bullets.
On the arrival of reinforcements, however, the Chinese finally made up their minds that it wasn’t good enough, and at once commenced to retire. As it was now getting light, and they had 100 yards of open ground to traverse, they lost heavily from the deliberate and accurate fire which burst out with renewed vigour from the station, and the open was quickly strewn with more of war’s victims. The retreat was not continued very far, and on reaching the excellent cover afforded by the graves, already mentioned, they resumed a galling rifle fire before again withdrawing. Immediately they had retired, their artillery opened fire, and the Allies had again to leave the locomotive shed, the walls and roof of which were by this time absolutely pulverized; and it would be rash on the part of any one to hazard an estimate of the number of shell marks which it bore. Very soon, however, the Japs and Russians sent detachments of men to the threatened point, and all fear of the success of the Chinese attack was at an end. Towards eight o’clock the enemy planted banners on two of the biggest mounds as a sign of defiance, but finding that they attracted our fire, they soon hauled them down and began to retire sullenly under cover of a heavy shelling from our guns. With the exception of the first fight at the station, this, which proved to be the last, was the most severe. Up to date the enemy’s tactics had been childish in the extreme, and each previous attack had been heralded by a terrific storm of rifle fire. On this occasion, however, they had presumably got into position to resist the projected Russian attack of the night before, and, finding themselves so close to the coveted station, attacked it vigorously on ascertaining that the movement had fallen through. This is of course merely conjecture, but there is much to be said for such a line of argument, for their knowledge of every move, and indeed every plan, inside the settlement, throughout both sieges, was little short of marvellous.
The 11th was passed amidst a storm of shells from both sides, the 4-in. gun, mounted out towards Pei-Yang arsenal, having a two hours’ duel with four guns mounted close to the banks of the canal at a range of 4000 yards. Three of the four were silenced, but the fourth gave as good as it took till the very end, when the cessation of fire was mutual. The next day was the exact opposite of its predecessor, there was no early morning fighting, and even shelling did not begin until the evening. It was a Heaven-sent rest, for much remained to be done in the way of fatigue work and gun mounting, to prepare for the morrow, which was the day chosen to assume the offensive and attack the native city. A German 6-in. gun arrived, but was not mounted, and although carpenters were busy constructing a mounting for the 4.7-in. which arrived on the 11th, and the engineers made an emplacement and magazine for it, the work could not be finished in time to take part in the great effort of the morrow, and was abandoned. Admiral Seymour and the remainder of his brigade went down to Taku by river in the afternoon, thereby just missing the hardest battle in the naval brigade’s experience, and an operation which proved to be the most important—in fact the turning-point of the whole campaign. Their departure was the last thing of importance which took place in the period 27th June to 12th July, between which dates began and ended the second siege of Tientsin.