04 Peking Nightmares (The Earl’s Other Son Series, #4)

by Andrew Wareham

  Once senior officers got to talking it was very difficult to silence them for long enough to take action.

  “How many small ships have we in the fleet that can reach the Pei-Ho River, Mr Knowles?”

  “Five or six, sir, excluding the destroyers, which are useless for a bombardment. Two dozen and more of small picket boats and such and unarmed transports, but no more than five carrying guns of four inches or more – and them only one or two apiece. The Americans are a problem, sir. From what I hear, they have no permission to attack, they may only take defensive action, so their gunboat Monocacy may be useless to us.”

  “Any bombardment will be limited, it would seem. What is it, two Russians, our Algerine and the German Iltis and the Monocacy? Very few guns and no guarantee the Russians will know how to fire theirs. I think Algerine might be the most powerful and she’s ancient – two five inchers and a pair of sixty-four pound black powder muzzle loaders, of all things!”

  “Embarrassing, sir, to still have her in service. Might be possible to use the sixty-fours as howitzers, sir, lobbing shells over the walls. The Russians are not new, either, could be they will do the same.”

  Heavy shells falling inside the walls of a fort could do massive damage to the garrison, the explosions channelled inwards by the walls.

  “Pity that we cannot get the big ships into range. A bombardment of eight and ten inch shell would do a lot of no-good to the forts. As it is, we will be storming the walls, for a certainty. Pull as many stokers as you can out of the engine room, Mr Knowles. Leave the Chinese to man the shovels. We need all the men we can get to the storming parties. Is there any word of the Chinese destroyers? Do we know what they’re doing?”

  Nothing was known of the destroyers – they seemed to be tied up and showed no signs of making ready to leave harbour.

  “No smoke, sir. No sign that the main furnaces are lit. They must have power to the donkey engines so we can assume that they are able to bring their torpedo carriages to bear, probably. They ought to be at full steam and just waiting for the signal to sail – but they ain’t.”

  “Bloody Chinese – they won’t do things according to the book. Completely unpredictable as a result. Put the men to bayonet drill, Mr Knowles. Be sure that they all know where they are and what they must do.”

  Magnus retired to his cabin and the serial letter he was writing for Shanghai. There was a postal delivery every three or four days, depending on ships bringing up stores for the fleet.

  Rumours began to circulate that Admiral Seymour’s expedition was in trouble. Within the day it was a known fact that the column had been destroyed, a massacre with no survivors, Seymour an English Custer. Another day and it was ‘known’ that the Legations in Peking had all been wiped out, none living apart from a few women, who were no doubt suffering a fate worse than death.

  “Where do these rumours come from, Mr Knowles? The telegraph lines are down – we cannot be hearing anything from the Admiral or from Peking.”

  “Bush telegraph, sir. Jungle drums, and all that.”

  “The Chinese don’t have either jungle or drums!”

  “Damned clever, these Chinese, sir. I expect their drums are silent so we can’t hear them.”

  Magnus wondered whether Knowles was serious – there was not a trace of a smile on his face.

  “Give the men a half-day Make and Mend, Mr Knowles. They need a rest. I’ve been pushing them hard. Have we anything we can issue in addition to the rations?”

  “There are some extra blocks of chocolate, sir – candy, correctly – which happened to be aboard the gunrunner we took into Manila Bay, sir. Enough for a slab apiece, sir.”

  “Make the issue, Mr Knowles. Give the men something sweet to chew, and all for free. They need to ease off a little.”

  “From Barfleur, sir. ‘Send boat to investigate report of mines laid in Pei-Ho’.”

  “Acknowledge, Mr Knowles. Midshipman Warren to take the steam picket boat and investigate as ordered. Add four riflemen to his crew. Cutter to follow, remaining distant ten cables, to pick up crew in case of need.”

  “Aye aye, sir. Submit Sublieutenant Knuyper to accompany Midshipman Warren, to place any mines precisely on the chart, sir.”

  Magnus thought for a few seconds, decided it made sense to put the man trained in navigation aboard the boat.

  “Good idea, Mr Knowles. Make it so. All men to be armed. Send Mr Knuyper to my cabin.”

  The sublieutenant came running, as was proper.

  “Mr Knuyper, the orders are to look for mines, presumably tethered in the main channel. Also, you will sketch the faces of the forts as accurately as is possible, noting especially any means of entry or paths that might lead up to the top of the ramparts. I want the locations of any wharfs or jetties. Note any watch posts you can see. Observe the destroyers and get an impression of their state of readiness. I expect that we shall storm the forts within a few days. I need every piece of information you can supply.”

  Mr Knuyper thought that would be fun and promised to miss nothing.

  The boats left the ship and Magnus watched them dwindle into the distance, quietly swearing that he could not be with them.

  He had to give his juniors the experience. They could never grow into self-reliant officers if they were not permitted to use their training, to make real the risks they played at. Warren was still not eighteen; Knuyper was twenty. Had they remained as civilians, one would still be at school, the other a second year student at University. If they were caught, they would be killed, quite possibly very slowly. If there were mines and they fouled one, they would die very quickly. The river mouth could be covered by Maxims from the destroyers. By going in, they would find out. Probably, they would come back again.

  It was the captain’s job to send men and boys into action. It would be far easier to go in himself, to lead from the front. In battle, he would do just that. A simple reconnaissance was not a battle and the captain’s responsibility was to his whole ship, not to his own qualms of conscience. The boys must look after themselves.

  If they fell, he would be sorry and would write a letter home to their parents. That would not be easy, but it would not be as hard as dying.

  “Three hours to the Pei-Ho, Mr Knowles. One to see what is there. Then the return. Should be back in the Second Dog. Is there any of that American chocolate left? Send me a bar, if you please.”

  Four hours in the cabin with the Paymaster, going through the tedious routine of checking the ledgers against each other to be sure they were accurate, that the record of stores issued tallied with the depletion of stocks on the shelves. There were clerks at the Admiralty who did nothing else all day long and who loved nothing more than to detect a discrepancy. An outstanding career at sea could be brought to an end by the failure of a pair of ledgers to match.

  The labour was mind numbing, but it was essential and it left no time to worry about what might be happening to the boats.

  A bridge messenger came down with a scrawled note from the First Lieutenant.

  ‘From Flag (Rossia) decision taken in principle to neutralise Taku Forts. No time or date for the action.’

  Magnus ran up to the bridge.

  “Any signs of movement?”

  “Nothing, sir.”

  “Watch Algerine. She’ll be sent in first. I doubt they’ll take action before receiving our report on the mines.”

  More tedious paperwork followed until the message came that picket boat and cutter were in sight. Then it was wait until the pair had closed the distance across the dirty, choppy Gulf and had finally come alongside. Magnus watched from the forebridge as they hooked on and were set to tow astern and the crews were replaced by single boatkeepers.

  “Report, Mr Knuyper.”

  “No sign of mines, sir. Some floating trash, nothing else. The destroyers have not got steam up, sir. No signs of activity at all, in fact. The forts are tall, sir, and full of guns. I could see some modern six inchers. As for means of
forcing an entry, sir – well, they don’t make a lot of sense. There are wharves at the feet of the forts with paths zig-zagging up to the top as well as made roadways leading around the bases to gates, presumably at the rear. It looks as if they couldn’t be bothered to go all the way round and let the men go up the short way, making their own stairways, more or less. I’ve drawn them in, sir. No sign of blockhouses at the waterside. They are relying on the guns on the ramparts for defence from attack from the sea. I don’t think they expect a land escalade.”

  “How high are the walls?”

  “Varying between twenty and forty feet, sir.”

  “Barbed wire?”

  “None that I saw, sir. I don’t think it’s reached China yet.”

  “I hope not. Write up your report, Mr Knuyper and draw out accurate charts of the forts. I will send a preliminary report to the Flag. Be ready to stand in front of the Admiral and make your own full statement. You have done well, Mr Knuyper, and your record of service will note the fact.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  All stiff and formal, as it had to be. Magnus could not say that he was relieved the boy had come back and that all was well.

  “Mr Knowles, boat to Flag with Mr Knuyper’s first report. Details to follow.”

  The light evenings of summer gave time for the boat to return safely, to cross a busy anchorage full of ships on the alert for attack by small craft. It was not impossible to mistake a ship’s boat for the bridge of a destroyer in the dark.

  Confirmation of an attack came through on the following day together with orders for the men taking part.

  “Commander Christopher Craddock to have command of the British force. Commander Keyes to take the destroyers by cutting out – he’s welcome to that one, Mr Knowles! Two smaller destroyers to go in under the guns of the forts and take the four destroyers and tow them out. Cochrane might have tried it, but I wouldn’t fancy the job!”

  Knowles agreed that there was every chance of that operation going wrong, but there was a major boost to the career of the man who carried it off.

  “We’ll see Keyes as a young post-captain, for sure, sir.”

  “So we should. What’s for us? Our landing party as specified to enter the Pei-Ho and storm the forts, either Northern or Southern, as need arises under the officer commanding’s discretion. Expected time of landing of two o’clock in the morning, all times by clock not bell as foreigners will also be present.”

  “Simple and straightforward, sir. We are to be second wave, going in where the first wave has not been successful.”

  “That is certainly what is implied, Mr Knowles. I do not see that it says so.”

  Knowles reread the sheets and was forced to agree.

  “Such being the case, Mr Knowles, we ain’t hanging about in the river. When the curtain goes up, we are going in, full speed ahead. No reason why we should be second to anyone. Who else is there? The Japanese putting men ashore. Two Russian boats to join Algerine and Iltis and commence bombardment at the signal for the off. Very simple plan, and that’s the best sort.”

  Mr Knowles was forced to agree.

  “Who is to join the landing parties, sir?”

  “All of us! Engineer Lieutenant Lockhart to the bridge, if you please.”

  Lockhart appeared, blinking in the daylight.

  “Mr Lockhart, there is to be a landing for two o’clock tonight. I shall require your presence on the bridge in the absence ashore of all other officers. A senior ERA in the engine room; as many of stokers as you can to be released to the landing parties. Be sure that bright youngster, Mulligan, gets his chance. There will be a skeleton party of seamen remaining aboard, mostly older men.”

  “Aye aye, sir. With respect, sir, those remaining should include a single gun’s crew, against need. Those destroyers might get out, sir.”

  “Accepted. Speak with Mr Pattishall and make up a crew from his less active men, those less suited to run up high concrete walls ashore, that is.”

  Lockhart agreed that to be a sensible idea and wandered off to find Guns, quietly confident that he could perform the task given him. He was an officer first, an engineer second in his opinion.

  “Leaving the ship at six bells in the First Watch, pulling boats in tow of the steam picket boat. Man the boats at what, five bells?”

  Mr Knowles thought that to be reasonable.

  “Good. Arrange for hot food for about an hour previous – nothing fancy, corned dog and beans and rice will do, with cocoa – but get the men’s bellies full ready for a busy night. Issue small arms and ammunition in daylight. Marines to the steam picket boat so they can be first ashore. All very simple. I will speak to the officers in the First Dog, if you will be so good as to invite me into the wardroom.”

  All as was normal – the procedures for landing parties were laid down and were the result of long experience in Africa and India in recent years and all over the world in the previous century.

  Magnus chose his words carefully in front of his officers.

  “The Taku Forts are held against us and we can expect the Chinese to fight. They did last time, as you will know.”

  There had been a hard-fought battle forty years before.

  “There will be a bombardment and we shall go in under it. At bayonet point. We shall accept surrender, gentlemen, and we shall offer all of the courtesies of battle to the wounded. Whatever previous example you may have seen, we in this ship are not uncivilised barbarians, nor shall we become such. You all know of the Indian Mutiny and the reprisals that took place there. You will not take that as your exemplar. I shall have no hesitation in sending in court-martial papers on any officer or man who breaches the rules of proper conduct in war.”

  He said nothing of the recent example of the King Yuan. He did not need to.

  Mr Knowles stood in response.

  “Thank you, sir. We shall not so far lower ourselves in this ship, sir, as to behave like savages.”

  “Well said, Mr Knowles. That said, we shall fight hard and if necessary, ruthlessly, to attain our necessary victory. Mr Pattishall has prepared explosive bombs to be used against blockhouses and will take the lead with Mr Parnell if we are held up by any strongpoint. If we do not take the Forts, we shall be unable to press on to Tientsin and the relief of the expeditionary column, so do not accept any delay. That said, gentlemen, we shall be well to the front and will show the remainder of the fleet just what Obelisk can do. Are there questions? Mr Geddes?”

  “I do not see my name on the lists, sir?”

  “Paymasters are not generally in the way of joining landing parties, Mr Geddes. If you wish, join up with Mr Knowles as his second, sir. Mr Lockhart must stay behind, but apart from the bare minimum remaining, there is room for everyone. Mr Knowles, may I beg you to order the bar open? Will you join me in a toast, gentlemen?”

  “Mr Knowles, change in orders, we leave the ship one hour earlier than first planned. Just in case of trouble on the way in. We do not want to be late to the party.”

  “It will cut the waiting time, sir. Do the men good to be on our way rather than hanging about at the rails waiting to board the boats.”

  “Good. I am glad you agree with my proposed course of action, Mr Knowles.”

  Knowles winced, aware that he had transgressed, had commented upon his orders.

  The wind remained favourable, which was either fortunate or showed damned good weather forecasting on some staff officer’s part. The Bay, which could, like any other landlocked body of water, become very choppy, was almost calm, no white water at all, the barest lop on the surface.

  Magnus stood on the bridge, counting down the minutes.

  “Cuts both ways, Mr Knowles.”

  “It does indeed, sir. Easier and quicker for the boats but a greater chance of an alert sentry spotting a bow wave. Warn the picket boat, sir?”

  “No point – they can do nothing about it other than slow down and we do not want that. Just rely on Mr Sia – he told us t
hat the bulk of the Chinese troops were second raters, which means badly led. If their officers are poor then the sentries will be slacking off, knowing they won’t be caught.”

  It sounded rather optimistic to Mr Knowles but there was no gain to him in saying so.

  “Load over the offshore rails, Mr Knowles. Just possible there’s a Chink with a big telescope looking out to sea. No need for him to see activity on deck.”

  Mr Knowles thought it highly unlikely, but nothing was absolutely impossible. He gave the orders.

  The picket boat took up its tows as ordered and discovered that the laden boats were too much for its little engine. Magnus turned from his position in the stern, bellowed to the nearest cutter.

  “Step the masts, set sail. Pass the word down the line.”

  He waited five minutes.

  “All boat handlers! Do not attempt to tack or wear. When the need arises, drop all sail and allow the picket boat to tow your head round. Keep to the line! Shout when you do so!”

  There was an officer or midshipman to each boat. All knew how to handle a small boat under sail. It should work, even in the dark.

  It was possible that the boats would foul each other, could even be driven under. Anything less than the best of seamanship could drown a substantial portion of his crew.

  “God damn it, Mr Knowles! We are the Royal Navy, the finest seamen on the face of the Earth. Hold course and make the best possible speed.”

  There were no sounds of collision or screams or drowning noises out in the darkness and they presumed that all was well.

  “Watch the funnel, stoker! Too much flame showing.”

  Midshipman Warren tentatively suggested that the solution was to reduce speed. The stoker could not maintain boiler pressure without building his fire high.

  “Your submission is noted, Mr Warren. I would advise you to study tact, young man. Wise midshipmen do not tell their captain that he is wrong. Captains are never wrong, Mr Warren – misguided, mistaken and incorrect perhaps, but not wrong.”

  “Yes, sir. I should have remembered, sir. My last captain informed me that he often made mistakes but that being wrong was not one of them.”