With the Allies to Pekin: A Tale of the Relief of the Legations

by G. A. Henty

“Presently we were all in the boats and making for the shore. Day began to break just as we approached the forts. At this moment the Chinese gunners doubled their fire, and now we thought the gun–boats could never live under such a storm of shot and shell. But their fire was as regular as ever, and the fact that they were all in motion seemed to bother the Chinese gunners as much as the darkness had done. A 10–inch gun isnʼt easily managed by men who have never used such a toy before, so that although the fire from the smaller guns was more accurate than it had been, it seemed to us that the big ones fired less frequently. The Iltis was hit by a heavy shot, and at the same moment a magazine at the northern end of the south fort blew up. The Chinese fire slackened a little, but in a short time the action was as hot as ever.

“We and the Japs were making for the north forts, and the Russians for the other side. I tell you, Bateman, things looked nasty. By six oʼclock the storming parties were near the north forts, and a heavy fire was already opened upon them; but they pushed steadily forward until at eighteen minutes past six the main magazine of the south forts blew up. The concussion was terrible, and a dense black column of smoke and fragments of all sorts rose a thousand feet in the air.

“Firing stopped instantly, and for half a minute a dead silence reigned. Then a tremendous cheer rose from the gun–boats and storming parties, and the latter raced forward to the assault. Firing was renewed more briskly than ever on both sides, but at half–past six the resistance had almost ceased, and the British flag was hoisted on the north fort, followed a minute later by that of the Japanese. The garrison of the southern fort, appalled by the destruction that had been made by the explosion, were already in full flight across the plain, and now those on the north side were endeavouring to follow their example.

“The number of casualties among the storming party had not been large, that of the British and Japanese amounting to only twenty–six killed and wounded. The casualties in the gun–boats were remarkably few, almost miraculously so considering the fire to which they had been exposed. The Russians had suffered most, having sixteen men killed and three officers and fifty–two men wounded; the Germans had six killed and fifteen wounded; the French one officer killed and one man wounded; and the British three men killed and one officer wounded. The Chinese actually in the forts consisted of three thousand men. The rest were in support behind and near the line of railway, and took no part in the affair. Nearly one thousand killed were found in the forts, and the prisoners, who were nearly as many, were set to throw the bodies into the river.

“All communications ceased with Tientsin from the time of the capture of the forts, and it was not till some days afterwards that we learned from a man who rode through the Chinese lines that the place was besieged and that the garrison were hardly able to hold their own.

“There is no doubt that it was a fine action, and we, who had been left on board the ship, were very sore at being out of it; but, of course, even if we had been ashore, we should only have been with the assaulting column, and their share in the business was a very small one. The gun–boats had all the fighting and all the glory. I dare say, however, that we shall get our share presently. I donʼt think the Chinese are much good in the open, but I fancy they can stick to their walls, and in the narrow streets we may have very sharp work.”

“It must have been a grand affair,” Rex said. “Fancy six little gun–boats fighting for so many hours against forts mounting nearly three hundred guns! Of course some of these couldnʼt be brought to bear upon them, but there must have been enough to blow them out of the water in a quarter of an hour.”

“One would certainly think so, but we must remember that the guns had to be very much depressed, and the gunners could not very well make out the boats in the dark. Of course the flashes of their guns showed their position, but I expect the Chinese, who were new hands at the work, did not understand how to sling those heavy pieces about or give them the right elevation. There is no doubt that they stick to their guns manfully. I was talking to some of the Algerine fellows and they told me that several times when they had managed to send shell after shell close to a gun that had been annoying them, it was silent for a half a minute or so and then, when they thought that they had finished with it, the beggars began to fire again as regularly as before, though it is probable that three–fourths of the detachment before working it had been blown into smithereens.”

“Listen! Do you hear the shouting? The relief party must be coming in.”