My Splendid Concubine

by Lofthouse, Lloyd

  Guan-jiah pulled back the tarp to reveal a larger, heavier crate. He used the pry bar to open it.

  “How fast can you load a musket and fire?” Robert asked.

  “If you’re good,” Cooper said, “maybe two or three times a minute but you have to be fast. And if you panic, you might forget to pull the ramrod out and shoot that. Then you’re in trouble.”

  Robert reached in and took out the first rifle. “This is a lever-action breech-loading Henry repeating rifle. It holds sixteen .44 Caliber bullets.” He lifted the weapon to his shoulder, aimed at the ocean and pulled the trigger. After he fired, Robert worked the lever, ejected the spent cartridge and loaded another bullet.

  “You can fire up to twenty-eight rounds a minute when used correctly. Before I bought this shipment, I was trained to use this weapon, and I am going to teach you what I learned before we get to Ningpo. You will all be experts on the use of the Henry and the Colt before we arrive.”

  “Who made these rifles?” Anwar asked. “I’ve never even heard of anything like this before.”

  “It was made in the United States to be used in fighting the Confederate Army. You have heard that there is a Civil War going on over there now?”

  “I’ve read about it,” Anwar said, and several others nodded. “Those damned Yanks are inventive. No wonder we lost the colonies to them. When do we get started? My hands are itching. Seeing a weapon like that excites me more than if I were with a virgin in a hayloft.”

  The others laughed.

  “Be my guest,” Robert said, and handed a Henry repeating rifle to Anwar. “Go ahead, men, the crates are open. You will have fifty rounds for each rifle. Keep that ammunition in the larger leather pouch that will hang around your neck and shoulders. We also have a small crate full of bullets for practice. Those rifles cost the emperor forty-two American dollars each so after this is over, I would like to return them to the rightful owner.”

  “I am glad the Chinese didn’t have these during the last Opium War,” Leopold said, as he stepped up to the crate and reached for a Henry repeating rifle. “Oh, this is a beauty.” He kissed the barrel.

  “Not to worry. I couldn’t buy enough of these to outfit an army. There aren’t that many in production yet. Only the emperor’s personal guards will have them in the Forbidden City.”

  Robert trained his clerks how to operate the weapons, and they practiced by shooting at driftwood and other floating objects in the water. Since all of them were hunters and many were war veterans, it didn’t take long to learn. It sounded as if a war was being fought on the aft deck of the Nanzing. A few times, he saw the ship’s Captain and some of the crew watching with worried expressions.

  He hoped that the little time he had to get his army ready for the coming battle was going to be enough. Then it hit him hard when he realized he could be taking all of these men to their deaths. What if he were fooling himself, and there was nothing he could do to save Ayaou and the children? These loyal men could die for nothing.

  Chapter 53

  The Nanzing was steaming along the crowded Yong River covering the last sixteen miles to Ningpo.

  Since the Manchu general had fled with his troops in December, the Taiping army had occupied the city without a fight leaving the battlements in good shape. Taking the city back was not going to be easy, because the walls were made of granite.

  A Chinese army was already gathering, and Robert had helped select a capable general, so he knew that in a few months war was returning to Ningpo. This time it was going to be bloody and many would die.

  “I’m uneasy taking the Nanzing this close to the Taipings,” the captain said. “I’ve heard they have cannons that can reach across the river and shell the Western settlement.”

  “You have nothing to worry about, captain,” Robert replied. “I have it on good authority that the Taipings are cooperating with the foreign merchants so trade will flourish. Ningpo is the only major port the Taipings have. They cannot afford to have it blockaded by British and French warships. If they fired on the missionaries and merchants living across the river or any Western ships like the Nanzing, the British and French navies would react. Your ship is safe.”

  Harry Parkes had told him the two Taiping generals controlling the city had assured Western representatives that trade would continue as usual, and that all foreigners would be respected and protected. It was unfortunate that Ayaou wasn’t a foreigner.

  “We will cooperate with these blasphemous creatures for now, Robert,” Parkes had said during a recent visit to Peking. “British policy is to support the Ch’ing Dynasty in this rebellion, not the pretender, who claims he is the younger brother of Jesus Christ. Ningpo is too important for foreign trade to see the port closed. We know why the Taipings are doing this. Until now, they’ve had trouble getting their hands on modern weapons. With Ningpo, they now have the access they wanted.”

  Robert knew things Parkes did not know. The Ch’ing Dynasty was negotiating with Apak, a notorious Cantonese pirate, and that Apak’s pirate fleet was going to support the Manchu army when it arrived.

  “We don’t have a navy,” Prince Kung had said. “Without Apak and his fleet, we will only be able to attack by land. We have no choice.”

  “Apak is a monster,” Robert replied. “Innocent people will suffer.”

  “It is the price the inhabitants of Ningpo must pay for cooperating with the Longhaired Bandits.”

  Robert thought of the fifty innocent Chinese in Canton that had lost their heads during the Arrow War. The Manchu could be brutal, and he didn’t always approve of their methods.

  He also had not forgotten what Cantonese pirates had done to Portuguese pirates in Ningpo while he had still worked for the British consulate. Some of the Portuguese had pounded on the locked gate to the British consulate begging for sanctuary. He had wanted to let them in but Dr. Winchester, the acting vice consul, said no. The Portuguese that survived to surrender were put on one of their ships and then that lorcha was set on fire with them in it. Apak had been the leader of the Cantonese pirates.

  Once the Nanzing was anchored near Ningpo, Guan-jiah went ashore to spy, while Robert stood by the rail and studied the foreign settlement across the river where the Christian missionaries and merchants lived. He had crossed the river many times his first year in China to have dinner on the Sabbath. That had been a lonely year. There had even been a British widow he liked with one leg shorter than the other. Then he had met Ayaou.

  A few hours later, Guan-jiah was back.

  “I entered the city through one of the water gates,” he said. “As hoped, I was not challenged.”

  “The Taipings are lax and inefficient,” Leopold said. His German accent was thicker than usual. “They will be easy to kill.”

  “Most are just peasants with little or no military training,” Robert replied, “but do not underestimate them. What they lack in training is made up for with an intense zeal.”

  “Once night comes, the water gates will be lowered,” Guan-jiah said. “We must be inside before dark.” Guan-jiah spread a map of the city on the deck of the ship.

  “I found Mistress Ayaou and the children,” he said. “They are imprisoned at the Yen-ch’ing temple near the city’s south gate.” He hesitated as his eyes jerked nervously toward Robert and away. “I saw posters announcing the date of their beheading.”

  Robert face went numb and a chill invaded his heart.

  “Bastards,” Anwar said. He lifted his rifle and shook it. “This weapon is the right tool to wreak vengeance on these devils. With this, our numbers will sound like hundreds. They won’t know what hit them.”

  But they will know soon enough, Robert thought. If we lose the element of surprise, even the Henry repeating rifles will not make a difference.

  “With these weapons, we will sound like an army,” Cooper said. “Without reloading, twenty men can fire hundreds of rounds a minute.” His baldhead was covered with a floppy bush hat.

  “What d
ate was on the posters?” Robert asked, afraid of the answer. However, he wanted to know.

  “February twelfth,” Guan-jiah replied. His eyes met Robert’s eyes. “I am sorry that I protested before we left Beijing. You were right, Master. If we had come on the fifteenth as the note demanded, the children would have been dead. It was a trap, and Ayaou and the children were the bait.”

  “Yes,” he managed to say. A lump in his throat was strangling his ability to talk clearly. It was as if he were standing on the edge of a cliff in danger of falling. He had doubts and considered moving the assault up several hours. He was afraid the Taipings might close the gates early. The raid had to take place that night, and there wasn’t going to be a second chance.

  It took all his discipline to suppress the urge to move sooner. Once inside the city, one mistake, one slip and all could be lost—they’d be slaughtered with Ayaou and the children. He could not abandon the original plan. It was their best chance.

  “How about these Taipings?” Anwar asked. “How are they armed?”

  “Mostly spears and swords,” Guan-jiah replied. “Maybe two hundred have ancient muzzle loading muskets, but they probably are not good shots. They do not have enough gunpowder to practice. However, that is changing. The Taiping generals have been buying modern cannons and munitions. The new cannons have been installed on the river wall. More shipments arrive daily, and I discovered that a shipment with several thousand muskets will arrive soon.”

  “How good is this information?” Anwar asked.

  “Most of my family lives in the city, and I picked their brains. My father believes that there are hundreds of Longhaired Bandits with crossbows. They have a few ancient muzzle loading cannons on the walls facing inland. Since the Ch’ing army is expected to attack the city by land, most of the Taiping soldiers are sleeping on the walls. Only a few are watching the river.”

  “Are you positive that the Inspector General’s family is being held in this temple?” Anwar asked.

  Robert looked at the wild looking Welshman with gratitude. Anwar seemed to know he was having a difficult time.

  “There were only a few guards outside the temple,” Guan-jiah replied. “I managed to sneak past them and find the room Mistress Ayaou and the children were in. But I did not see them. Food was taken into that room. When the door opened, I heard a child who sounded like Anna. A woman’s voice replied. It was Mistress Ayaou. I am sure of it.”

  Robert felt relief, and he looked at Anwar. “Thank you,” he said. Anwar acknowledged with a nod. “How many Taipings inside the city?” he asked, dreading the answer.

  “Thousands,” Guan-jiah replied.

  He felt a sinking sensation in his stomach, and his mouth turned dry. That was many times the number of Taipings Patridge had confronted in 1855.

  “Guan-jiah, did you tell your father to take the family and leave the city?” Robert had told him about Apak and the Cantonese pirates.

  “Yes, Master, I did as you said. He promised to leave, and they should be gone by now.”

  “Captain, wait until we return,” Robert said. “I’m counting on the Nanzing being here when we are done with our business in the city.” When Robert turned away to join his troop by the rail, he didn’t like the look he saw in the captain’s eyes. He was not sure he could trust the man, but what choice did he have?

  With the sun’s last rays fading along the western horizon in a swath of washed out yellow with strings of blood running through it, his men, disguised as Chinese peasants, left the Nanzing in sampans and glided into the city through the two water gates. Once they were on the lake, the sunlight died, and the evening gloom hid them.

  They rowed the length of the lake and went ashore opposite the county school. Since Robert knew Ningpo’s streets well, he decided to avoid the main avenues and use side streets to reach the temple.

  He gathered his troop in a narrow alley across from the Yen-ch’ing temple. It bothered him that the Nanzing was anchored far out in the river on the opposite side of the city. Trying to return to the steamer through the city would increase the odds of failure.

  They couldn’t use the water gate again, since it was closed for the night, and the newer cannons the Taipings had been buying faced the river. Even in the dark, his band would be easy targets all the way to the steamer.

  It would be safer if they attempted making their escape through one of the land gates to a spot along the river far enough from the city to be out of reach of the Taiping cannons.

  He gathered his men in a close huddle. “We might not be able to fight our way through the city once the Taipings know we are here. We must act quickly and make our escape through the closest gate before their generals realize that we are a small force.”

  “We must strike like the cobra and fly like the hawk,” Anwar replied. Nervous laughter answered him.

  Robert sent Guan-jiah and two men outside the city to purchase horses and hold them near the south gate at the Altar of Agriculture. He was counting on the eunuch to find enough horses.

  “Guan-jiah,” he said, “if we don’t get out of the city, you must take the horses and the two men with you and return to Shanghai and safety.”

  Guan-jiah’s eyes closed until they were narrow slits, and Robert didn’t like what the eunuch was probably thinking. “Guan-jiah, you must do as I say. After all, the rest of us might have to take a different route to reach the Nanzing if we cannot make it to the south gate. If you do not leave, all three of you might be caught.”

  Guan-jiah did not say a word. He took his repeating rifle and left, and the other two followed. Robert watched until the night swallowed them. He hoped his servant would survive.

  It was a long wait in that dark alley until midnight. He worried that Guan-jiah had been captured and the Taipings were torturing him. He was sure that the eunuch’s loyalty to Robert’s family would keep him from talking despite the pain. What about the other two? Would they hold up under torture? If the Taipings discovered his plans, the rebels could be setting a trap inside the temple walls.

  He checked his pocket watch for the hundredth time while the minute hand inched toward midnight. Finally, it was time.

  “Let’s go,” he said. He was the first out of the alley and heard the others behind him as they ran across the wide street. The guards at the temple’s main gate died under a storm of bullets that made the small band sound as if they were an invading army. They must have fired hundreds of rounds crossing that street to reach the temple grounds.

  Robert heard voices shouting and yelling in the distance. He held up a hand to stop his band. “I want Leopold and Brent to secure the gate,” he said. “Reload before going inside.”

  A moment later, he led the way toward the locked door that would let them into the temple. They battered the door until it crashed open. Several Taiping guards waited on the other side with crossbows. One managed to get off a shot that wounded Cooper. Then the guards were dead.

  “Cooper?” Robert asked.

  “It’s nothing,” Cooper replied. “A flesh wound.” He’d lost his bush hat and brushed a hand across his baldhead leaving a smear of blood. “Don’t stop on my account. I will keep up.”

  They hurried down the hall to the door that Guan-jiah had marked on the detailed map. Robert feared that he would open the door and find the room empty—the Taipings could’ve changed their minds and beheaded his family before the execution date, or maybe they had moved Ayaou and the children to a different location.

  Dreading the worst, he pushed the door open and lunged in with his two Colt revolvers ready. A shrill scream halted him. It was Ayaou. Her hair was in disaray and there was a wild look in her eyes. She held a wooden bench above her head and looked as if she were ready to smash him with it.

  Anna was holding Herbert and was hiding behind her mother’s legs. When Ayaou recognized him, her eyes registered disbelief. She tossed the bench aside and hurled herself across the room into his arms.

  He pushed her away.
“We don’t have time.” He thrust one of the revolvers into her hands. “I’m sure you haven’t forgotten how to use this.” She had fought beside him against the Taipings in 1855 and saved his life.

  “Ba, Ba.” Anna ran to him, and Robert hoisted her and Herbert into his arms. His eyes filled with tears. His chest was tight and he struggled to breathe. He swallowed hard to help bury his feelings. It wasn’t time to rejoice.

  “We run,” he said. Spinning around, he led the way down the hall, out of the temple and to the gate. As he reached the street, a crossbow bolt buried itself in the wood of the gate a few inches from Anwar’s face. Robert and Anwar fired at the same time killing the Taiping who shot at them. The other Taipings turned and ran. Robert’s men crowded into the street and started shooting, but there was no one to shoot at. The roar of rifle fire was deafening. Keeping up a steady barrage, they fled down the avenue.

  His thinking seemed clear and focused, but everything around him was moving in slow motion. He guessed that they could sustain this rate of fire for about four minutes—not counting the time it would take to reload.

  “Hold your fire! Save your ammunition! Shoot only if you see the enemy. To the south gate!” A wild desperation was driving him. “If the gate is closed, we fight our way out!” He realized that they could fail in an attempt to take the gate. That had not occurred to him earlier. He cursed himself. He should have brought explosives to blow the gate open.

  The others ran in a pack surrounding Robert’s family. The smell of their sweat and the sound of heavy breathing filled the air.

  As they hurried down the street, the men reloaded their weapons. Except for distant yelling and a ringing in Robert’s ears, it was as if a blanket had been tossed over the city to muffle sound.

  Drums started pounding as the Taipings sounded the alert. Panic tugged at his heart. Reinforcments would be sent to the gates and in a few moments they could be trapped inside the city. If they didn’t escape soon, there would be no place to hide.