“Then I should, perhaps, send in my papers, sir?”
“No, I do not say that, Eskdale. I would suggest that you accept the posting to Peking and do your very best there, as I do not doubt you will, and then wait for the invitation to do more. You are known to the Foreign Office already, of course, and will continue to write your letters to Mr Cecil. I suspect they may bear fruit in time. Do not withdraw from Her Majesty’s service, Eskdale, but do be ready to change the way in which you serve her.”
Chapter Two
The Earl’s Other Son Series
Chinese Whispers
“The trouble with Peking, lies in getting there,” Magnus pronounced, leaning on the bridge rail of the destroyer Mountjoy in the most un-seamanlike fashion. His wife, dressed for the occasion all in white, that feeling very nautical to her, stood primly beside him, listening and not wishing to comment on matters of the sea in the company of her husband and the captain of the small ship.
Passage had been arranged for them on the destroyer, despite its small size and discomfort, the ship being conveniently present in Shanghai and able to enter the Pei-Ho. They had been given the captain’s cabin and their servants and the mound of necessary baggage had been squeezed in where possible below decks.
They were inside the Gulf of Chihli and approaching the coast and the entrance to the bay guarded by the Taku Forts.
“Thing is, my lady, that the bay is shallow, and the Pei-ho River has a bar that prevents anything much bigger than Mountjoy from getting in. No problems for a junk, needless to say, but not even every sloop can make an entry.”
Ellen had been doing her reading and wanted to know why, in that case, were there no fewer than four forts to protect the entrance.
“Pirate fleets, such as no longer exist, my love. Time was the great pirates could have mustered ten thousand fighting men and brought them into the attack. The forts protected the river and its commerce and kept the pirates out of the local farmlands which feed Peking, or so I would suppose. It must also be the case that they wish to protect the entrance to Peking particularly from the Japanese, but also from the rest of the world, us included.”
“Now, there is a railway line leading to Peking, is there not, husband?”
“There is, ma’am. From Taku, close to the forts, by way of Tianjin up the Pei-Ho, more or less a hundred miles – there is some argument as to where the river actually reaches the sea. Different cartographers give their own distances. Mountjoy will take us in and deposit us at the wharves next to the station, the coastal terminus. A few slow hours – for their trains are hardly expresses – and we shall reach Peking. Before the railway it was necessary to collect together horses, carts and carriage, and an escort of bannermen, to make the journey slowly over several days, how many depending on the weather and the willingness of bandits to stay clear. Now we have a one-day journey among friendly local people, or so I am informed.”
She nodded; it made sense that the foreigners would not permit the old ways to continue in China.
“The sea is yellow here, husband.”
“Shallow waters, the waves coming in and roiling up the mud. Dirty water. The engineers complain that it fouls their pumps and bilge water drains, which seems reasonable, looking at it. The coastal plain is very flat hereabouts and there is no great gradient from land to sea. The river, the Pei-Ho, winds a lot as a result. I am told it is much the same off the mouth of the Amazon, though I have never seen it myself and ships can enter the Amazon, but the river shows muddy miles out to sea. Here, anything as great as a cruiser must come to an anchor as much as fourteen miles offshore – out of effective gun range.”
Ellen did her best to memorise the facts given her – she was a new naval wife and had much to learn, she believed.
“You say the river has a ‘bar’, my lord?”
“It has. There are several sandbanks across the mouth and reaching close to the surface. High tide is said to allow three fathoms of water at best. I must imagine that times of flooding will give more water, but one cannot rely on the rains inland to be fortunate, especially at the moment, I am told. There are mudflats as well, covered only by inches of water and almost impossible to walk across. Not easy ground for any attacking force – but we must hope that such will not eventuate. The Navy took the forts some forty years ago – a hard fight, and the forts have been expanded since.”
“Must one ask permission to pass them, my lord?”
“No. We have International status, and that gives us the right to travel any of China’s rivers as we will. The treaties are quite clear that the navies of Britain, France, Germany, Russia, America and Japan have the right to sail where they wish. Italy, Spain and Portugal have been added to the list, and Austria-Hungary, though they have no navy worth the name.”
Ellen was not entirely sure why the Chinese should have agreed to such humiliation; she could not think that Britain would permit foreign warships to sail the Thames at their pleasure.
“Chinese agreement was not necessarily entirely voluntary, my dear. China is militarily weak and must do as it is told – for the while. One day, no doubt, the country will wax powerful again; but that day has not come yet. For the moment, the Chinese must do as we bid them, even if they do not like it and are building up their forts. I am told they have purchased big guns from Krupps and have installed them in their forts. They have trained gunners as well. The question, as always in China, is not ‘can they fight’ but ‘will they’. The old Empress has lost the loyalty not merely of her people but of her own court and provincial lords. The orders go out from Peking, but they are often ignored even twenty miles away. We shall see the four forts when we enter the river; I am told they could be powerful, but only if their garrisons are willing to fight.”
“You are saying that the soldiers are cowardly, husband?”
“No, not at all. They will fight with the best, if their leaders will tell them to and set an example to them. We have seen with the Pings at Hanshan that their forces can and will go into battle and do well. Too often though, the generals say ‘fight’ while protecting their own necks most carefully; then they are surprised that their men run away. Probably one half of the Chinese generals and lords take money and other assistance from the foreigners – including us. The other half may well be loyal and patriotic, but what can they do in such circumstance? The ordinary peasant soldiers are mostly conscripted and wish no more than to be at home with their families, working their land. Given leadership and good reason, they will fight – but not here and now, for they have nothing to fight for.”
“Unlike our bold British tars who will always fight for Queen and Country.”
“Exactly so, my love.”
Magnus was not at all sure why the British seamen were so willing to fight, apparently welcoming odds against them, but it was the case that they would always go happily into battle. Thinking on it, so would he, and it was not entirely rational that he should. He wondered what had created such carefree bellicosity, for the British were not a military race in the way that the Prussians, as an example, were.
“Most peculiar!”
“What is, husband?”
“Oh, I was merely considering the difference between the British and the Prussians, and wondering what had caused it when the two nations have so much in common.”
“The proximity of Russia, perhaps, husband? If we had the Asiatic hordes breathing down our necks, we might well encourage a great army and very willingly send our children off as soldiers. The Prussians are the product of the Teutonic Knights, are they not?”
Magnus was once again struck into admiration of his lady’s intelligence and learning – he had no doubt she had given him the answer to his question.
“I had not considered that, but you are certainly right, my lady. Add to that, there are the French to their south and west, and they have invaded the Germanies repeatedly over the years, and cry outrage when their aggression is defeated as it was in 1870. Germany must be af
raid all of the time for its borders, which is a pity for leading to instability in the whole of Europe. Not to worry – we have enough on our plates here in China! We are approaching the bar now, are we not, Captain Roberts?”
Mountjoy’s captain gave orders to reduce speed and sent a pair of seamen into the bows to give warning of unexpected shoals.
“The Admiralty Pilot tells us that the bars can shift unpredictably, sir, and there can be violent local currents as well. The leading marks are not entirely trustworthy as a result – so it is slow speed and keep a sharp watch, sir. Not a passage I would wish to make at night, I believe!”
They entered the river mouth, mud flats to either side with men working on them.
“What are the coolies doing, Captain Roberts?”
Roberts put his glasses down, showed a frowning face.
“They seem to be planting thickets of sharpened bamboo poles, sir, slanting out to sea. Row upon row of them and very close together. I would say, sir, that they are to prevent landing parties coming from boats to attack the inland sides of the forts.”
“Inform Admiral Seymour when you return to Hong Kong, Captain Roberts. One must see that as an indication of hostile intent on the Chinese part. That must result from an order of the Imperial government.”
Captain Roberts made a note of Magnus’ words.
There was activity in all four of the forts, built north and south of the river where it took a great hairpin curve just before reaching the sea.
“They are not as tall as a castle wall, husband, but on flat ground they need not be, I presume. There are many guns showing.”
“The bulk of them are ancient muzzle-loaders. Bronze guns of slight value. But there are fieldpieces visible; some of them look to be six inchers. If they are manned by Chinese naval gunners, trained by Germany and by ourselves, then they may be very dangerous.”
The nearest fort was oval in shape and as much as two furlongs on its axis, possibly with a garrison of thousands.
“Is that concrete on the outer wall, my lord?”
“It is. I am told that it may be two feet in thickness and laid over a mass of earth contained between wooden and brick walls. Very difficult to breach with gunfire. Earth tends to absorb explosions. They will have to be taken by storm, if the need ever arises. Not easy with riflemen and field artillery in the defence.”
“But, will there be the need?”
“Captain Hawkins believes it is likely, and he has more knowledge than most of us in China.”
Captain Hawkins had been gloomy in his briefing, convinced that war was probable, and soon.
“The Empress Cixi has lost control of the country and is wholly unaware of the fact. She gives her orders and sets out her Imperial edicts and truly believes that she is governing China. The problem is that she is not, but none other can be while she remains in Peking. China is a country of tradition, and the only government that must be heeded is that in Peking. She is happy in her delusion and spends such money as she has on luxury and foolishness – she has used some part of her naval funds to build a great stone war junk in Peking, to represent the power of the new navy to foreigners and so terrify them! She lives in delusion, it seems, and is content that all is well if her own little court, which is all she sees, dwells in the lap of luxury.”
Magnus was shocked – he had still retained the illusion that the Empress was a Chinese Victoria, not without personal power, but essentially a figurehead. Now Hawkins was suggesting that her whim governed China, to the extent that it was governed at all.
“Where does actual power lie, sir?”
“It doesn’t, Eskdale. That’s the problem!”
“Anarchy?”
“Not quite, but soon may be the case if the worst eventuates. One might say that the south and east of the country, which is under the most direct influence of Great Britain and France is the least unruly. The warlords are inclined to behave more reasonably for being under the cannon and rifles of foreign powers who have shown willing to slap them down if the need should arise. To the north, the contending influences of Japan, Russia and Germany tend to give the warlords and the Imperial mandarins more opportunity to play one off against the other. In the west, particularly the northwest, the bulk of the warlords have lost their power, and commonly their heads, to the new movements among the peasants, the successor to the Tai Pings.”
“These Heavenly Fist people, sir?”
“That is the largest and most vigorous group, for sure. ‘Boxers’, the Legation is now calling them, when it can be bothered to notice their existence. The Legation has decided that the Boxers are insignificant, that they have no part to play in China. Such being the case, they refuse to take an interest in their doings. But they are strong in Shantung, always a turbulent province and close to Peking.”
That seemed a very typical attitude for the British Civil Service – once a stance had been taken then it was the sole reality and mere facts could not be expected to alter it.
“I see, sir. How many are there in this non-existent grouping of peasants, sir?”
“God knows. They are a revolutionary group, though of course they claim to be the exact opposite. They say their sole aim is to return the Middle Kingdom to its old glory, to re-establish the old realities of power and glory following the guidance of their ancestors. They have killed all of those, such as the mandarins, who oppose their noble aims; consequently, there is no authority by way of magistrates and administrators to count them. The word I have is that millions is a better estimate than thousands. They tend to be armed with clubs and sticks and stones rather than rifles, but a million men with bamboo spears take a lot of stopping.”
“Where are they, sir?”
“Good question, Eskdale. They have destroyed the railways and pulled down the telegraph poles. Who knows what they might be doing or where they might be? They are not in Peking at the moment, and the Imperial Army is camped a few miles distant from the capital and has announced that the Boxers shall not pass them. They may mean what they say. They may join the Boxers when the time is ripe. I do not know. That makes me better informed than the Legation and the Foreign Office, for I know I am ignorant.”
“Is Peking safe, sir?”
“Probably, purely because Cixi is there and will wish to protect her own neck. You can be fairly sure that she will not allow the Boxers access to her capital… unless she may be persuaded that they are strong enough to expel the foreigners from the whole of China. Of course, it might be that her leading supporters decide to betray her. Treason is always on the cards in China. The old Dynasty is on its last legs and there must be a dozen would-be emperors on the sidelines hoping for an opportunity to create a new Dynasty that will last a thousand years, or for the next six months, which will be long enough to loot the country and get the spoils overseas.”
Magnus nodded thoughtfully.
“Am I wise to take my lady to Peking, sir?”
“Oh, yes, Eskdale. Nothing can happen at the Legation. They would not raise a fist to the British!”
Magnus inspected the forts as they passed them, realising that in case of war they must all be taken and that the garrisons of one could retire on the next as it was conquered. The forts sat in two pairs on either side of the river and each able to use its artillery to defend the others and to protect the twin towns of Taku and Tong-Ku, sat on either side of the river. There was a small naval base under their shelter and the Chinese were preparing the berths for the four new destroyers they had purchased from Germany and which were being sailed from Europe at that moment.
“Four big German destroyers, Captain Roberts, able to sally forth and into an invasion fleet of gunboats and barges if seen in daylight hours. Assume them to have a four inch gun and three or four of six pounders as well as their torpedo tubes – they could play merry hell with any landing parties. After that, they could head out in the night and use torpedoes to attack the anchored cruisers and battleships out in the bay. Given an enterpri
sing commander, the Chinese could mount a successful defence of the Forts, you know.”
“Agreed, sir. Any alternative would require a massive army landed two or three days march to the south, possibly even further distant at Tsingtao, and cutting its way through the Chinese. Did you make mention of a million of these Boxer fellows, sir?”
“I did, Captain Roberts. That would demand a hundred thousand of disciplined riflemen marching from Tsingtao, with full artillery and a division of cavalry besides. It would not hurt to have as many Russians making their way south from their borders.”
Ellen could count and was aware of most of the realities of British power.
“We do not have so many soldiers in the whole British Army, do we, husband?”
“No. And with the demands of garrison troops throughout the Empire, and with war in South Africa, we would be hard pressed to find ten thousand men for China. Our troops would have to be Indian, sepoys sent overseas, and certainly well short of one hundred thousand. To create so great an army would demand cooperation from Germany and France, and probably Austria-Hungary, and even then the numbers would probably not be forthcoming. America has only a small army and I am told it is tied up in the Philippines, so there would be nothing there. The Japanese might offer troops, but one might not have a great deal of use for Orientals, you know, although their Navy is quite good… The great bulk of the soldiers would have to come south from Russia, and that would give the Tsar our permission for him to conquer China, which might not be the most desirable outcome for us.”
“Every possibility seems undesirable for Britain, husband.”
“It is. We must hope that Cixi, who is ancient, will conveniently die and be replaced by a competent successor. Her grandson, the Emperor, is little more than an idiot and will no doubt find his throat cut within minutes of the confirmation of her death. That will, Captain Hawkins believes, lead to a brutal, but quick, power struggle in Peking from which will emerge a new leader who may, but more likely may not, be capable of taking his nation in hand.”
Chinese Whispers Page 3
