A Chinese Command: A Story of Adventure in Eastern Seas

by Harry Collingwood

  CHAPTER SEVEN.

  SAVED BY A HAIRBREADTH.

  The furious fusillade directed against the fort at once slackened, afterthe explosion of that shell amongst the guns; while the fire from thefort redoubled, the rounds of solid shot, grape, chain, and shrapnel,with withering volleys of small-arm fire, sweeping through the rebelranks like hail, and playing awful havoc among the closely-packed massesof men only partially concealed by the jungle. But the besiegers, asFrobisher had already had an opportunity of observing, were not easilyto be discouraged, and after the first shock of surprise had subsidedthey quickly pulled themselves together again.

  Another gun's crew came leaping out from the cover of the jungle andgathered round the wrecked field-piece; pieces of timber, emptyammunition-boxes, and even small branches of trees were secured andplaced alongside the gun; and several more men seized the piece andlifted it up until it was partly supported upon its remaining uninjuredwheel. The pile of material which had been collected was then builtsolidly up in place of the wrecked wheel, and the fresh gunners began toserve the weapon as coolly as though its original crew had not beenblown into eternity a few minutes previously. There could be no doubtthat these Korean rebels were showing themselves to be a remarkablybrave and efficient body of men.

  While the wrecked gun was once more being made serviceable, theEnglishman observed that two of the other guns were being slewed rounduntil their muzzles pointed seaward, and he at once surmised that thismust be the direction from which that devastating shell had come. Butcrane his neck as he might, although he could see a portion of the sheetof water forming Prince Jerome Bay, he could not see the whole of it.The entrance was clear, however, and it was therefore obvious that thevessel from which the shot had been fired--for vessel it must be--hadcontrived to enter the bay unobserved, and must now be cruising aboutsomewhere near the south shore.

  Frobisher was very anxious to obtain a sight of her, for he greatlydesired to get some idea of what her nationality might be. She mightbelong to any of the fleets of the various Powers that maintainedsquadrons in Chinese waters at that time; or she might be either aChinese or a Japanese war-vessel. Any man-of-war would consider herselfat liberty to interfere, in the event of a battle taking place on Koreansoil, if only for the protection of the foreign inhabitants, whose livesmight be imperilled in consequence of the hostilities; but Frobishercould not help thinking that the captain of the man-of-war was takingmatters with rather a high hand in deliberately firing on one of theparties concerned, without first offering that party the opportunity tocome to a peaceful arrangement. Such high-handed action did not appearlike that of a European naval officer, and therefore the most obviousconclusion was that the vessel must be either Chinese or Japanese.

  Even as Frobisher looked, however, the question answered itself, formoving slowly into his field of vision there appeared the bow of acruiser, quite close inshore; and as she gradually revealed her wholelength, her guns flashing continuously meanwhile, the Englishman sawthat the Dragon ensign was flying from her peak, and that she wastherefore a Chinese man-of-war. China, then, had at length decided totake a hand in the game, and her efforts were to be directed against therebels. Knowing as he did the terms of the Tien-tsin convention of 1884between China and Japan, the words "international complications" at oncesuggested themselves to Frobisher's mind, and, despite the awkwardnessof his own position, he could not help rubbing his hands gleefully.Matters were rapidly developing; and if he could but escape from hispresent unpleasant predicament there might be an excellent chance forhim to see active service again, either in the Chinese or the JapaneseNavy--he cared very little which--for that was what things wouldevidently come to, sooner or later. Japan was herself too muchinterested in Korea to permit China to play out her own game therealone.

  Frobisher had little leisure, however, for the contemplation of possiblediplomatic action on the part of the Chinese or Japanese, for he had nowother things to engage his attention. To his astonishment, as hewatched, he saw that the ship which had just steamed into view was notalone; she was followed, close astern, by another cruiser of her ownsize and class, also firing heavily with her broadside batteries, andalso flying the Chinese flag. A third and fourth vessel--gunboatsthese--followed in her wake; and, bringing up the rear, there were threehired transports which appeared to be crowded with men.

  So this was no chance appearance of a single cruiser at a criticalmoment; it was evidently part of a preconcerted scheme--some arrangementpreviously made between Korea and China whereby the latter country wasto lend her assistance for the crushing of the rebellion, a task whichthe Korean Government had apparently decided to be beyond itscapabilities.

  The Chinese squadron had been steaming exceedingly slowly when it hadfirst come into view, and Frobisher could now see, from the flash ofwhite water under the ships' sterns, that their engines were being sentastern; and a few seconds later the entire fleet came to an anchor,their cables flying out through the hawse-pipes with a roar which wasplainly audible at the fort. The four men-of-war anchored stem andstern, broadside-on to the shore, while the three transports took uptheir berths about half a mile farther seaward, the ships themselvesbeing screened from the rebel fire by the steel hulls of the men-of-war.

  Fully recovered now from their first surprise, the rebels resumed theircannonade most pluckily, two of the field-pieces being directed againstthe fleet, while the remaining four retained their original position,and poured a well-directed and concentrated fire on the fort. It wasapparently the intention of the rebel commander to reduce and takepossession of the fort, if he could, before the Chinese troops should beenabled to effect a landing, so that he might have some shelter behindwhich to hold out until he could summon more rebel troops to his aid.

  But the commandant of the garrison had evidently no intention of lettingthe fort slip through his fingers, now that assistance was so close athand; and from what Frobisher had already seen of him, he felt sure thathis visitor of yesterday was the exact type of man who would blow thebuilding into the air, with himself and all that it contained, ratherthan surrender, even to an overwhelming force. The guns from thebattlements crashed out anew, and although their fire was not nearly soaccurate as that from the rebel pieces, yet, in the long run, weight ofmetal was bound to tell; and, while the shot was solid and had nottherefore the devastating effect of the percussion shell fired from thewar-ships, it began to be apparent that some of them at least weregetting home, and that their effect was already becoming very galling tothe rebels. The latter, now harassed almost beyond endurance by thecombined fire of the fort and the ships, brought up, about midday, acompany of sharpshooters armed with the latest breech-loaders, whichthey had somehow managed to secure; and by means of well-directedvolleys, contrived to keep the men of the fort from their guns to suchan extent that the fire from that building dwindled almost to nothing,so that one more of the rebel guns was released to be trained on theanchored cruisers, when the effect of the increased cannonade soonbecame apparent in that direction also.

  Now and again Frobisher saw flashes of fire leap up on board themen-of-war, for it appeared that the rebels were also possessed of a fewpercussion shells; and he further observed that the ten-inch gun in thebow turret of the foremost cruiser had been put out of action entirely,thus giving a good deal of relief to the men who had been exposed to itsfire. The weapon had been struck full upon the muzzle at the precisemoment when a shell was leaving it, and the combined explosion had torna length of about four feet off the end of the gun, and had lifted itclean out of its bearings, so that it now pointed skyward, its underside resting on the edge of the turret and threatening to crash down ondeck outside at any moment. The ruddy orange tint of the light and thelength of the shadows told that the sun was near his setting, yet up tothis time no effort had been made to land any of the men from thetransports. But now Frobisher observed that boats were being loweredfrom the steamers, and that soldiers were beginning to clamber down intothem,
while the war-ships redoubled their fire, with the evident purposeof putting the rebel guns out of action, and so making it the easier forthe troops to effect a landing.

  And now at length that terrible and continuous cannonade began to haveits effect, especially as the garrison of the fort had begun to imitatethe rebel tactics and were now harassing the foe with rifle fire. Thegarrison, being sheltered by the parapet of the battlements, were ableto fire at leisure and without much danger to themselves; so that,although they were not such good marksmen as their opponents, the mereweight of their fire eventually began to tell upon the unfortunate menin the open, who had nothing but the fringe of jungle to protect them.

  The field-piece which had previously been put out of action was nowstruck a second time by a fragment of flying shell, and collapsed oncemore on to the sand; and so fierce was the rifle and shell fire that wasnow being directed upon the little band of gunners that, although theymade the most valiant and desperate efforts to repair the damage, theywere driven away from the spot time after time, and were at lastcompelled to abandon their efforts. Then a second field-piece was blowncompletely off its carriage by one of the solid shot from the fort, anda few seconds afterwards a third gun was dismounted and its crewshattered to pieces by a shell from one of the Chinese gunboats.

  Stubbornly, however, the rebels still clung to their position, and,again swinging round the two pieces with which they had been playing onthe ships, they resumed the bombardment of the fort, in the hope ofbattering in a breach through which the place might be carried by storm,or compelling its surrender before the approaching reinforcements couldarrive from the fleet.

  So absorbed was Frobisher in the little drama that was being enactedbefore his eyes that, even when the muzzles of the rebel guns weretrained on what appeared to be the very window out of which he waspeeping, the idea never once occurred to him that he was in a positionof considerable danger, and that he would be well advised to climb down;so that it was not until he saw the flashes of flame leap from thepieces as they were all fired simultaneously that he realised the fullextent of his temerity.

  Then, even as he flung himself backward off the support on which he wasstanding, there came a terrific concussion, followed by a rumbling roaras an avalanche of stone went crashing to the ground below; while thevery building itself, massive as it was, quaked as though the wholeedifice were on the point of crumbling to pieces. Frobisher, dazed andhalf-stunned by the tremendous shock, and nearly blinded by the showerof dust and mortar that came pouring in upon him, found himself lying onhis back on the floor, surrounded by a pile of instruments and machines,blocks of stone, and other debris, until it seemed nothing short of amiracle that he had not been crushed to pieces.

  As it chanced, however, he had not received so much as a scratch, andfound, as he picked himself up, that nothing worse had befallen him thanthe acquisition of sundry fresh bruises. And as he was already a massof contusions from head to foot, he felt that one or two more made verylittle difference.

  He was just about to climb up again to his point of vantage--for he wasintensely interested in learning the outcome of this stubborn littlefight by the sea-shore--when he happened to glance upward in order toascertain whether there were any more loose blocks of stone likely to bedislodged and fall on him. As he did so he caught sight of another rayof daylight shining into the gloom of his prison. Upon investigation hesaw that the last three shots from the rebel guns must have been so wellaimed as to have struck practically the same spot, for, sure enough,there was a ragged hole in the wall, slightly above the window and alittle to the left of it, apparently at the junction of the ceiling ofhis cell and the floor of the chamber above, just big enough for him tothrust his head through. Also, what was more to the point, it wasevident that very little effort would be needed to pull down more of theshattered masonry, and so enlarge the hole sufficiently to enable him tocrawl through.

  But, he decided, it would be sheer suicide for him to attempt to escapeat this particular juncture. The mere appearance of his head throughthe hole would be enough to attract the entire fire of the rebels, sincethey would naturally take him for one of the garrison; and there wasalso the very probable chance of his being seen by the riflemen on thebattlements, who would be able to pick him off with the utmost ease ashe climbed out. No; it would be necessary to delay the attempt untilafter dark, trusting that meanwhile everybody in general, and theGovernor in particular, would be much too busy to pay him a visit ofinvestigation and inspect the damage done.

  He therefore placed himself at the window once more, and soon saw that,even during the short interval of his absence, matters had alteredconsiderably. Another rebel gun had been dismounted, leaving only tworemaining, while of these one had had its carriage very badly damaged.Also, several more shells from the war-ships must have fallen among theriflemen, for the dead and wounded were now lying scattered about inheaps upon the sand, while the fire from the men in the jungle haddwindled very considerably.

  The boats, too, had by this time pushed off from the sides of thetransports and were heading--twelve of them altogether, crowded withmen--in three lines, "in line ahead", as Frobisher would have phrasedit, for the shore. Each of the leading boats was a steam pinnace whosework it was to tow the rest, and in the bow of each pinnace theEnglishman was able to make out a small swivel-gun, with the gunnersstanding by ready to open fire as soon as the boats drew within range.It could not now be long before the end came, for, when once the boatshad landed the troops, the rebels would be hopelessly outnumbered; andit seemed evident that Frobisher's hope of being rescued by the latterwas doomed to disappointment.

  By this time the dusk had closed down sufficiently to enable Frobisherto distinguish the trains of small sparks left behind by the fuses ofthe time-shells which were now bursting thickly over the jungle, theidea of the Chinese evidently being to drive the men concealed there outinto the open; and the plan succeeded admirably, although not quite inthe manner anticipated.

  Frobisher had watched shell after shell fall among the brush and reeds,and had seen group after group of men come reeling out from cover, onlyto be mowed down by the rifle fire from the fort, when suddenly heperceived a small tongue of flame shoot upward from the seaward cornerof the jungle--the corner which was, unhappily for the rebels, right towindward of them; and although a number of men immediately rushed to thespot and did all in their power to trample or beat out the flames, itwas of no avail. The fire spread with appalling rapidity, and fiveminutes after that incendiary shell had fallen the whole of the outeredge of the jungle was a continuous sheet of flame, the roar of whichwas plainly audible to the imprisoned spectator.

  Great masses of dense smoke were driven upward and forward through thejungle, and presently the hidden rebel soldiery came streaming out,driven forth by the flames and smoke; and so swift had been the advanceof the fire that the clothing of some of the last to escape was actuallysmouldering.

  Darkness was now falling rapidly, and, sorry as he felt for the rebelsin their defeat, the young Englishman could not but admire the weirdmagnificence of the scene displayed before him. A section of thickjungle, fully a quarter of a mile long and a hundred yards wide, was oneroaring, crackling mass of fire. The flames were leaping forward at therate of many yards a minute, while they must have attained a height offully thirty feet. Clouds of dense smoke billowed upward, their undersurfaces vividly illuminated by the ruddy reflection of the leapingflames. Even the sea itself, for a mile round, was brilliantlyilluminated by the glare, and the three little fleets of boats, whichwere now approaching the shore, with jets of flame spurting from themuzzles of their swivel-guns, appeared to be floating in liquid flame.

  Here, there, and everywhere could be heard the explosions of ammunitionas the flames reached the loose piles of cartridges which each man hadplaced beside himself while firing on the fort; and, with the continuousflash and explosion of the shells as they plunged into the earth, theblack silhouettes of the men and guns upon
that background of smoke andflame, and the deep, orange glow of the reflected flames in the sky, thescene so indelibly impressed itself upon Frobisher's memory that he isnot likely to forget it as long as he lives.

  The fire greatly assisted the garrison and the men in the boats, for itafforded them ample light to direct their volleys accurately, and alsoto choose the most favourable spot at which to effect their landing; andit soon became perfectly clear that all hope of success on the part ofthe rebels was at an end. Yet, even now they would not admit, tothemselves, much less to their enemies, that they were beaten. Slewinground their two remaining guns, and collecting their scattered andsadly-depleted forces into one compact body, they abandoned the attackon the fort, and directed the whole of their energies to the task ofpreventing the troops from landing from the boats; enduring thepersistent volleys poured into their ranks from the fort with the moststoical resignation. The gunners pointed and elevated their pieces ascoolly as though they were firing for practice at a target, and theriflemen loaded, and fired their volleys at the word of command assteadily and as accurately as though there were no foemen returningtheir fire, and no remotest possibility that every man of them would beshot or cut to pieces within the next quarter of an hour.

  And, had their numbers not been so dreadfully reduced during thatfierce, all-day struggle, it is quite possible that they might have won,after all; for the guns were so well served, and the rifle volleysdirected with such deadly aim, that the boats and their crews werebeginning to suffer severely. Already two of the towed boats had beensunk, and had been cut adrift so that they should not delay the others;and so terrible was the punishment inflicted by their enemies that thelanding party could not afford to stop to pick up their crews. The baywas known to be swarming with sharks, and it was not therefore probablethat very many, even of the unwounded, would reach the shore alive.

  One of the swivel-guns, too, mounted aboard the steam launches, had beenstruck and hurled overboard by a well-directed shot, and Frobisher coulddistinguish many a limp and lifeless form hanging over the boats'gunwales, with arms trailing helplessly in the water.

  But the Chinese were no less obstinate and determined than theiropponents. They had set out with the intention of landing, and theymeant to carry out their resolve. The three steamers were still puffingbravely onward, and moment by moment the distance between their bows andthe beach became less.

  Then, suddenly, high above the crackling of flames, the rattle of riflefire, and the crashing explosions of the guns, the young Englishmanheard the clear notes of a bugle pealing out. It was evidently thecommand to fix bayonets, for the flash and glitter of steel could beseen as the Chinese drew them from their scabbards and fixed them totheir rifles. A second call pealed forth, and the towropes were castoff, oars splashed into the water, and, with a wild exulting yell fromtheir occupants, the boats dashed for the shore, the men in them hurlingthemselves into the shallow water as the keels ground into the beach.

  And now the time had plainly come for the rebels to make their laststand. They were hemmed in on three sides--on one side by the fire,which was now raging furiously; on the opposite side by the cannon andrifle fire from the fort; and on the third by the men from the ships,who were now forming up in line on the beach. The only avenue of escapeleft to them was in the direction of the town, nearly four milesdistant. But if they chose to retreat in that direction they couldscarcely avoid being cut to pieces by their pursuers; there seemed,therefore, to be nothing for them but to remain where they were andfight until they were overwhelmed by superior numbers, killing as manyof the enemy as possible before they died. And this was evidently whatthey meant to do.

  The two remaining field-pieces were brought close together, theirmuzzles pointing seaward, and all the ammunition-boxes belonging to themand to the wrecked guns were brought up and placed behind them. Thenthe survivors from the day-long struggle formed up, three deep, oneither side of the guns, the first line lying down, the second kneeling,and the third standing, so that the rear-rank men should not fire intotheir comrades in front when the volley firing commenced. The gunnersloaded their guns to the very muzzle with solid shot--case, chain,grape, and whatever else they could find--and then took up theirpositions behind the pieces, waiting for the command to fire.

  For a few tense seconds the two bodies of men remained motionless,forming a tremendously impressive tableau. There was the line ofuniformed Chinese soldiery, their bayoneted rifles held at the charge,their officers standing in front and on the flanks with drawn swords;and on the other side was the little body of rebels, smoke-grimed,blood-stained, ragged and weary, but with indomitable resolution writtenall over them. Then the Chinese bugles again sounded, the officersshouted a word of command, and the landing party, with a wild yell ofdefiance, charged headlong up the beach, their swords and bayonetsflashing in the lurid light of the flames. But they had scarcelycovered half a dozen yards when the rebel guns crashed out, and theircontents went hurtling through the closely-packed ranks, leaving widelines of dead and wounded in their track, while immediately afterwardcame the rattling report of volley-firing as the rebels discharged theirrifles. The Chinese troops seemed to be literally smitten to a haltbefore that awful storm, almost as though they had charged up against asolid wall, while the cries, shrieks, and groans that uprose into thestill evening air thrilled Frobisher with horror.

  The check, however, was but momentary. The troops instantly rallied,and before those cruel guns, or even all the rifles, could be reloaded,the Chinese were among the rebels, the cold steel got to work, and ascene of sanguinary, relentless, hand-to-hand fighting ensued, thememory of which was to remain with Frobisher for many a long day.Before the end was reached he could no longer bear to look on, but,climbing down from his perch, seated himself on the floor and coveredhis face with his hands.

  For another ten minutes the fearful sounds continued unabated, and thensilence gradually fell; and a little later the moon rose over a scene ofcarnage such as had seldom been witnessed even upon the blood-stainedsoil of Korea. Of the rebels not a single man remained alive.

  So completely overwhelmed was Frobisher by the horror of what he hadwitnessed, that he sat motionless and so utterly oblivious to hissurroundings that he never heard the grating of the key in the lock ofhis cell door, never heard that door open and close, and never knew thathe was not still alone until he happened to glance wearily up, andbeheld the Governor gazing down at him with a sardonic smile; while twoother men, with masks over their faces, stood at attention but a fewpaces from him. One of them held a coil of stout rope in his hand, andFrobisher stared at it apprehensively. It was then too late to put intopractice his resolves of the night before. The sword with which he hadmeant to do so much execution was out of reach; and he knew that theslightest movement to secure possession of it would mean a disablingwound from a bullet of the revolver which the Governor held suggestivelyin his hand. And he could not afford to take the risk, since with sucha wound all chance of escape would be at an end; although, asappearances went, chances of escape appeared to be singularly scantyjust now. The prisoner felt instinctively that a momentous crisis wasat hand.

  "Well, Mr Frobisher," presently exclaimed the Governor, speaking in hisperfect English, "have you seen fit to change your mind since I last hadthe pleasure of seeing you? You will of course be aware by this timethat you cannot hope for help from your friends outside--they have beenvery effectually wiped out, to the last man--and I really think youwould be well advised to fall in with my suggestions."

  "Sir," returned Frobisher, "I have already stated my final decision; andno amount of argument you can bring to bear will make me alter myresolution. You may do whatever you please, since you have the power,but I assure you that you will draw no information out of me."

  "Very well," retorted the Chinaman; "you have spoken, and we shall soonsee to what lengths your determination will carry you. I have knownmany men who, at the outset, seemed to be quite as resolute a
s yourself;but it has invariably happened that, after receiving the attentions ofthese assistants of mine,"--here he indicated the masked men in thebackground--"they have come to their senses with marvellous swiftness.As I really need the information I have asked you for in all courtesy, Ihave no option but to obtain it by the only other means available,therefore--"

  He uttered a few rapid sentences in Chinese, indicating certain machinesand instruments by pointing at them. Frobisher shrewdly guessed, fromthe man's actions, that he was instructing his assistants to apply someform of torture to the prisoner; and the young Englishman braced himselffor the struggle which now seemed inevitable. The chamber was but dimlyillumined by a single lantern, which his unwelcome visitors had broughtwith them, and by the flickering light of the dying flames from outside;and of this uncertain light he sought to take advantage, hoping that hemight succeed in securing possession of a weapon of some sort before hisenemies could divine his intentions.

  Availing himself of the fact that the attention of the two assistantswas momentarily diverted from himself to the Governor while the latterissued his instructions, Frobisher cautiously edged his way toward thespot where lay the sword which he had already fixed upon as aparticularly suitable weapon, should he need one for purposes ofself-defence; but just as he was in the very act of reaching for theweapon, the Governor happened to glance toward him, evidently guessedwhat his prisoner contemplated, and promptly levelled his revolver. Asthe muzzle came up it spouted flame, and Frobisher heard the bullet singpast his ear, to flatten itself against the massive stone wall. Againthe vicious little weapon was fired; but at the precise instant that theChinaman's finger pressed the trigger, Frobisher leaned over and graspedthe hilt of the sword; and again the bullet missed. A third time therevolver spoke in as many seconds, and Frobisher's arm tingled to theelbow as the bullet struck the blade and glanced off the steel, luckilyaway from instead of toward his body; and at the same instant the twoassistants, recovering from their momentary paralysis, hurled themselvesupon him.

  Standing where he now was, close to the pile which he had reared againstthe wall to serve as a platform, the prisoner raised his weapon andquickly swung it over his shoulder, intending to make a sweeping cut athis assailants as they came on; but the blade came into violent contactwith the erection behind him and baulked his blow. Nevertheless he wasable to bring the weapon into a position which afforded him theopportunity to receive the most eager of his adversaries upon its point.With a smothered groan the man dropped writhing to the ground, whileFrobisher, hitting out with his left fist, caught the second man fair onthe point of the jaw. The man went reeling backwards against theGovernor at the precise moment when that individual again pulledtrigger. The result was another miss, which so utterly exasperated theChinaman that he hurled the revolver at Frobisher's head andincontinently turned and fled, locking the cell door behind him.

  With two of his foes _hors de combat_ and the other fled, the Englishmanfelt himself to be master of the situation.

  Keeping his eyes warily upon his prostrate foe lest he should beshamming and should strive to take him unawares, the young Englishmannow seized the lighted lantern and proceeded to hunt for the Governor'srevolver, which he presently found and thrust into his belt, aftersatisfying himself that it still contained two live cartridges. Next hepicked up the coil of rope and bound the prostrate man.

  Hardly had he accomplished this business when he thought he detected thesounds of voices--that of the Governor and some other--and footstepsapproaching outside his prison door. The next instant he was sure ofit. The voice of the stranger was raised as though in anger oraltercation, while that of the Governor was pitched lower, in tones thatseemed to convey the idea of expostulation, entreaty, and apology.

  There seemed to be a further altercation outside, the stranger speakingin an angry, authoritative voice; then the lock grated harshly as a keywas inserted and turned, the door flew open, and a man entered, dressedin Chinese naval uniform, or what passed for uniform in those days,closely followed by the Governor, whose countenance betrayed a curiousmingling of ferocity, apprehension, and anger.