To the Japanese belongs the lion’s share of the credit, the Russians and British probably being their most able assistants. This victory, the most costly as it was the most decisive, was also the turning-point from defence to attack,—in fact, it must always remain the most important movement in the whole campaign, opening the way, as it did, for the advance on Pekin, which for several reasons could never have been begun until the Chinese had been forced to evacuate their great stronghold. The severity of the fighting may best be judged from the casualty list, which numbered 775, of whom the greater number were Japanese and Russians, the remainder being mainly composed of Americans, British, and French. The Naval Brigade’s share in the day’s fighting was alluded to in the General’s despatches in a most complimentary manner, and the services rendered by the company who went to the assistance of the 9th U.S. infantry, were also gracefully acknowledged by the American Senate.
CHAPTER IX
SCENES IN THE CAPTURED CITY. TIENTSIN LOOTED
When once resistance had ceased there was time to look about one, and it was a scene worth remembering that met the eyes, if only it had been possible to shut out some of the hideous effects of the last two days’ fighting. From the top of the wall one saw a large, densely-built city which at first only seemed to boast of three roads, one encircling the whole, and the other two equally dividing it into four parts, meeting at the centre, where their intersection was marked by an imposing-looking structure, which might have been either pagoda or gate. In its most peaceful days it is improbable that any one thought it beautiful. “Striking” is perhaps the word which would have been employed by a globe-trotter. However, Tientsin was unlike itself on the morning of July 14, and had it ever been striking, it was then doubly so. The first thing to be noticed was the gate of entry, which was blazing furiously, together with what remained of a fine pagoda which had been built on the top of it. The latter had been literally pulverised by shells, and had been burning for some hours. Though nearly burnt out, it caused great inconvenience to the troops, who were compelled for the time to lie in its vicinity. A glance at the wall also bore testimony to the accuracy of the Allies’ artillery fire; and although the projectiles were for the most part too small to inflict any great structural damage, yet here and there the ramparts had been swept clear away for several feet at a time. Twenty-three shell marks were distinctly visible on the south gate walls, and on what remained of its pagoda, and it must be admitted that the Chinese who defended this and the neighbouring portions of the wall, showed a tenacity not to be gainsaid.
Main Road—Tientsin.
[page 176.
It is doubtful whether, with the exception of a few in the suburbs and prison, the enemy lost as many as thirty men from rifle fire on the whole of the 13th; for the wall was so thick, and the loopholes so small, that even the possibility of a stray bullet finding a fleshy resting-place was almost precluded.
Shells, however, had done their work elsewhere, as destructively to material and perhaps more so to life, as they had done on the walls. They had burst promiscuously when once they had passed over the walls; and from what the Allies had seen of promiscuous shelling it was not held to be particularly dangerous; but here the conditions were somewhat different. Hardly a shell could pitch without landing on a roof, and then the houses were of a much more inflammable nature and densely packed with human beings.
From this, and from the general appearance of the town, it may be assumed that the actual damage done in the last twenty-four hours’ incessant shelling was nearly equal to that which was the effect of many days’ dilatory bombardment on the part of the Chinese. The casualties, which were the result of it, were undoubtedly heavier than those which occurred in the settlements, from a similar cause, during the whole month’s siege. The further one went into the city, the more horrible were the scenes with which one was confronted. Shrapnel, common shell, and lyddite had spared no one; every type was to be found there lying where they fell, killed, one might almost say, by an accident,—male and female, old men and little naked children. Brutalised as one gets when fighting against a merciless foe, it makes one shudder even now to look back on it! The numbers were largest towards the north gate, but in this case men were looking on the bodies of their proper enemies, the paid soldiers of the hostile government; and, after gazing on the scene just pourtrayed (one hundred times more lightly than the reality, out of respect for the feelings of those who peruse this chapter) there was for them no room for sentiment. Rather sad too was the sight of the ten or twelve corpses, all laid on hastily improvised stretchers, to be seen in most of the courtyards of the Yamens, which had evidently been turned into hospitals for the occasion. Some of these had been attended to while still alive, but the bandages were put on in a careless and slovenly manner, and testified neither to the skill nor the attention of the native doctors. No wounded were found in these places, which points to the fact that the Chinese, even in their hasty retreat, retained some of the cohesion without which any body of armed men quickly becomes a rabble.