“Of course I am no judge whatever of military matters, but it does seem to me, as it seems to every civilian here, that at least something ought to be done, and that with the force we have here it is disgraceful that we should be doing nothing while our countrymen are fighting for their lives at Pekin. However, I suppose the present state of things cannot last indefinitely. I have no doubt that telegrams have been sent by all the nations in Europe to their military representatives here urging them to make an effort to relieve the Legations, though unfortunately, as we learn from Shanghai, it appears to be almost a settled conviction in Europe, as it is among the military men here, that the Legations have already fallen and all within them perished.
“The Empress of China is the one person responsible for all this mischief. If she had set her face firmly against the Boxers from the first, and issued stringent instructions to her generals to stamp them out, they would never have been formidable. The encouragement that she gave them, and the punishment she inflicted upon the few generals who did their duty and attacked them, has caused this. It was because they were allowed to attack the Legations and destroy the railway that the allies were forced to capture the Taku Forts, and the capture of the Taku Forts at once caused the Chinese army to make common cause with the Boxers. One step has been necessitated by another, and were it not that the viceroys of the Yangtse Valley have declined to obey her commands, and have maintained order in the districts under them, the whole of China would be in a blaze, and every European outside the treaty ports would have been massacred.
“As soon as the affair is over I shall return to Europe, and remain there for at least a couple of years, for certainly there will be no renewal of trade within that time. You may be sure that every merchant in the Chinese city who carried on dealings with us, and was therefore suspected of being well–disposed towards us, is among the vast number who have been massacred. We know that the quarter inhabited by them has been almost destroyed, and before this can be rebuilt, and a fresh body of men take their places, a very considerable time must elapse.”
CHAPTER XV
RELIEF IN SIGHT
On the afternoon of the 4th of August the British and American troops marched out from Tientsin to Hsi–Ku. The route led through the almost deserted and ruined city, and through villages which straggled away for miles on the northern road. The weather was threatening when the start was made, and heavy rain began to fall when they were half–way out. The roads soon became soft and slippery, and all felt that they would have a bad time of it if the weather continued to be wet. The rain ceased, however, when they reached their destination. They halted at a village near the fort. Here General Gaselee took up his head–quarters, while the British troops bivouacked to the left and the Americans to the right of the road. Orders were issued for an early start, and the troops lay down on the wet and miry ground to get what sleep they could.
The enemy were known to be entrenched in a position extending across the river and railway, their right resting on an embankment running from Hsi–Ku in a westerly direction, their left being five miles away on the other side of the river, at a camp near a railway bridge. Beyond this the country was inundated. The main body of their force was in the centre, where the line crossed the river. Here the position was covered by a series of rifle–pits and trenches, which, being partly concealed by the high crops, would have been very difficult to capture from the hand of a determined enemy. A grove of trees on the left bank of the river, and within the loop made by a double bend, marked the centre of the position. A battery of artillery was posted on the embankment, and a line of entrenchments across the plain. On the left bank of the river the position was protected by a canal running along its whole length.
It had been arranged that the Japanese, British, and Americans were to advance against the enemyʼs position on the right bank of the river; that the Japanese were to lead the attack, with the British in support and the Americans in reserve; while the Russians and French, assisted by the guns of the British Naval Brigade, were to operate on the left bank.