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

by Andrew Wareham

  “Can do, sir. My engineer has come with me – he wants to see some action rather than be hidden away below decks. A good man and I will lay any odds that he can handle a railway engine.”

  “Very good. You might give some thought to armour for some of the carriages. He might be able to put up some steel plate, or something. Could be he might mount a Maxim gun or two.”

  It was all very vague, but it gave Magnus freedom to do almost anything he wanted, including looting the workshops and warehouses for anything useful as armour, or for any other purpose.

  The little column doubled off to the station and proceeded to discover what was where.

  Magnus established himself in the station, finding an office that might well once have housed the station master. He retained a section of his riflemen under Midshipman Warren and sent the rest out in parties under their officers to secure the whole yard and the buildings surrounding it.

  Within five minutes he saw groups of Chinese running down the road inland, away from the line and clear of the town. He heard a few rifle shots.

  “Mr Warren, take two men as escort and go around the area to find out what’s happening.”

  The boy grinned and ran off, two bluejackets equally pleased to go towards the action and trotting at his side. The three were back in twenty minutes.

  “Boxers, sir, just a few. Mr Pattishall opened the nearest warehouse and two of them attacked him with swords. The rest ran away, taking their wives and children with them, sir. He shot the two and they are rousting out all of the others now.”

  Magnus thought it was very bad of the Boxers to bring their families into danger with them.

  “What of the other parties, Mr Warren?”

  “Mr Geddes has taken control of the warehouses and offices on the other side, sir. He’s checking them now. Mr Pattishall is in the workshops, sir, with Mr Lockhart, seeing what’s there. Lieutenant Robbins is clearing out the bit of a village, sir; there were definitely Boxers there. Mr Knuyper is inspecting the waterfront, sir, where it comes closest to the station.”

  “Good. That looks like smoke up the line, a train coming in. Put your men in cover behind the platforms, in case it’s full of Boxers.”

  The train was empty apart from a Russian officer and his personal guard. He informed Magnus, in passable English, that he had come to call for reinforcements. The Russian and American advance party had been stopped short of Tientsin by massive numbers of Chinese army and Boxers and had been forced to retreat to cover. They had taken casualties and were in dire need of support.

  “Mr Warren, run to Commander Craddock and inform him that there is urgent need for a party to go up the line to support the Russians and Americans and to evacuate casualties. I propose that I should load the Obelisks aboard this train and leave immediately.”

  Warren was back in thirty minutes.

  “Negative, sir. You must remain here until further bodies are put together.”

  Commander Craddock arrived minutes later.

  “No sense sending the troops out in dribs and drabs, Eskdale. A full party tomorrow. Send an officer and a small party up the line to bring back the rolling stock the Russians and Americans used.”

  Magnus sent Lockhart together with Robbins and his Marines.

  “Marines can turn their hands to anything, Mr Lockhart. Show them how to stoke an engine and turn it on and they’ll bring it back here.”

  “The train the Russians used had a Chinese engine-driver, sir.”

  “Even better – the Marines will know how to make Chinese work for them.”

  Mr Lockhart left, disapproving. A train came in under Marine guard three hours later, rapidly followed by the remainder of the party.

  “The Chinese Army is out in force, sir. Possible to use the railway for much of the distance to Tientsin at the moment, sir, but not for many hours longer. If we don’t go very soon, sir, we won’t go at all.”

  Magnus took the message to Craddock and the decision was taken to leave immediately with the troops to hand. Something more than a thousand men were crammed into the trains with Craddock bewailing the utter lack of organisation resulting.

  “Russians, Germans, Frogs, Italians and us, Eskdale, all on top of each other. I have left Beatty behind to bring on all the other men he can find tomorrow. He can be relied on to do that.”

  Commander Beatty had made his name on the Nile, attaining decoration and promotion for his handling of river gunboats in the expedition that led to the Battle of Omdurman and the destruction of the Mahdi in revenge for the loss of Chinese Gordon at Khartoum. He was renowned as a dashing hero – the Press loved him. The Navy either detested or admired Beatty in about equal parts.

  The trains made good speed inland and reached a point some twelve miles short of Tientsin in quick time. The line at that point was totally destroyed, irreparable short of complete rebuilding by skilled engineers with a large workforce. The force detrained and set out on foot, organising itself on the march. There was an amount of competition to take the van, national pride coming out well ahead of sensible cooperation. Commander Craddock was able to insist that he should have the lead, being the agreed officer in charge of the naval brigades. Magnus brought his crew along at Craddock’s shoulder, acting as his de facto second and providing the headquarters guard.

  They set out unmolested - which struck Magnus as poorly organised by the Chinese. An attack on the column as it put itself into shape must have been profitable to the Boxers.

  “Do you intend to put scouts out, sir?”

  “No. Any small party must be at great risk, Eskdale. There is too much cover in this territory.”

  The land was more or less flat, an ancient floodplain laid down over the centuries by the Pei-Ho. It was dotted with frequent villages, each of them with a collection of raised burial mounds that could have concealed dozens of riflemen. There were occasional patches of woodland and creeks that grew tall rushes, ideal concealment. It would have been possible for swordsmen to lay up until they were barely ten yards distant from advancing scouts. Given that the Boxers were said to be convinced that their religious exercises made them invulnerable to bullets, the chance of suicidal attacks was high.

  Three miles saw no sign of the Chinese but then a small column of cavalry was spotted, paralleling them at a mile or more distant. The Boxers were exclusively footmen.

  “Army in sight, sir.”

  Where there was cavalry to be seen, the possibility of hidden artillery or riflemen had to be considered.

  “If we stop and dig trenches, we just invite them to close on us, Eskdale. Continue as we are.”

  Rifle fire came from a set of burial mounds more than a quarter of a mile distant. It caused no casualties and the Chinese withdrew immediately a party sortied towards them.

  “Keep them close to the column, Eskdale. They could be provoking us to rush forward and into a closer ambush.”

  They marched at a steady two miles to the hour, taking frequent breaks in the dry heat. By mid-afternoon they could hear small arms and light artillery fire to their front.

  “Must be the Russians and Americans, sir. Send an advance party forward, sir?”

  Craddock felt it was unwise to split up his small force but the Russians and Americans had called for help many hours before and must, logically, be in extreme need now.

  “Take your fellows forward at the double, Eskdale. If possible, drive off the Chinks; it probably won’t be, but you can carve a way into the besieged encampment. You probably won’t be able to relieve them, but you should be able to lessen the pressure. When we come up, we shall hit the Chinese in the flank, put them in a pincers, with luck.”

  Magnus knew Craddock by name only, had never sailed with him; he decided he was an honest man, but of limited ability – his concept of tactics was sadly lacking. He was in command and was not to be argued with – a dispute between the senior officers would do more harm than any misguided set of orders.

  “Aye aye, sir. Ten
minutes to put my men in order and we shall set off, sir.”

  The Obelisks were stood together, shoulder to shoulder at the front of the little column.

  “Mr Pattishall, we are to march to the sound of the guns. Your party to the head. When we make contact with the enemy you will order the Obelisks into line, either to your left or right as you see best. I shall be immediately behind you. I intend to break through any Chinese attacking the Russians and Americans, rolling them up, if possible. Kill as many of the Chinese as you can – put fear into them. Open fire at your own discretion.”

  Pattishall saluted and called his men together.

  “Mr Robbins, the Marines next in the line. Mr Knuyper, Mr Geddes, Mr Lockhart, Mr Warren, in that order. Be sure your men have full water bottles. Return fire without further orders from me. Do not open fire on any target without checking with me.”

  Magnus glanced at his pocket watch, allowing five minutes for any man who needed to conceal himself behind a convenient bush or tree – the men were surprisingly unwilling to relieve themselves where they could be seen. Lower deck modesty was a factor to be catered for.

  “Ready, Guns? Lead out!”

  Pattishall called the men to double for ten minutes then march for fifteen followed by a five minute break, then a repetition. The result was four miles covered in the hour rather than the official three and the more normal two. The bluejackets were used to shipboard life – they were tough and strong but they never walked as much as fifty yards when at sea. Four miles in an hour was their limit, and not for too many hours.

  Two hours brought them within sight of the fighting. Mr Pattishall watched from the cover of an abandoned small village, on one knee behind the remnants of a mud-brick wall which had been part of a house twenty-four hours previously. He sent a runner back to Magnus.

  “Beg pardon, sir. But I don’t think a line makes sense in these circumstances, sir.”

  There was no siege as such.

  The Americans were more or less in line, behind cover and firing their rifles at a distant block of Chinese regular soldiers who were returning the compliment wildly inaccurately. The Russians were sat around campfires a hundred yards back, concealed in a slightly lower fold in the land. A small medical party was caring for a few wounded of both nationalities.

  “Half-hearted, ain’t it, Guns?”

  “Looks as if the Chinese are content simply to prevent them relieving the siege of Tientsin, sir. Keeping them at a distance rather than trying to wipe them out.”

  “Bugger that for a game, Guns. Let’s make the Chinese discontented. Lead us round to starboard. The ground looks a little higher and its bound to be drier. No sense splashing in the mud. Use this village for concealment for a few yards, then take us behind those burial mounds and along to those few trees over there. Then we’ll get into lines, if we’re still unseen, and give them a few volleys at a couple of hundred yards and see what happens.”

  It was a crude plan but had the advantage of being easily understood. They reached their position and started to fire, achieving total surprise. The Chinese were focussed entirely on the first expedition and had not noticed the newcomers; they ran, led by their officers.

  “Bayonets, sir?”

  “No. Keep firing. Let them run. Better than letting them see we’re only a hundred or so strong. While they’re running, they’ll think we’re an army. Force them to stand and defend themselves and they might start counting.”

  Two minutes and the vicinity was clear of Chinese.

  “Better introduce ourselves. Wait then for Craddock’s party to catch us up and follow his orders, Guns. I hope he will opt for a fast run to Tientsin – it can’t be an hour distant. Better in with them than out here waiting for cavalry in the night.”

  The Americans and the Russians were glad to see them but a little embarrassed that so small a force had caused the Chinese to run away. There was an implication that they could and should have performed that task themselves. Magnus tried to be tactful, easier with the Russians because few of them had any English and they were reduced to bows and smiles. All of the Americans thought they spoke English and many of them did so at great length, exculpating themselves and blaming the Russians. When Craddock came up, Magnus handed over to him with great relief.

  “Only a few hours till nightfall. Might be wise to fort up here and make arrangements to enter Tientsin in the morning, Eskdale.”

  Magnus drew on his reserves of tact, mentally blessing the years spent as a flunkey to various admirals where most of his work had involved kowtowing to the great and those who considered themselves magnificent.

  “Militarily, probably so, sir. I’m none too happy about keeping the wounded out here overnight with no doctors, sir. I would like to get our people into a hospital or sickbay or some-such.”

  “Well thought, Eskdale! I should have considered them myself. Damned poor show that I did not! We march as soon as we can put the column into order.”

  A few snipers loosed off shots at extreme range and another troop of cavalry sat their little horses and watched the column march. Other than that they were unmolested as they entered the outskirts of the old walled city and took over warehouses in the European concession, well at the edge of the ancient town.

  There was desultory shellfire coming in and steady small arms fire from the town walls, sufficient to make the streets uncomfortable. The extra troops, it was thought, would prevent any possibility of a successful onslaught by the Imperial forces.

  The garrison was of the opinion that Admiral Seymour was a few miles north and making his way slowly back to Tientsin. The general feeling was that the people in Peking must all be dead and they were lucky not to be the same.

  Commander Craddock was deeply unimpressed by the state of affairs.

  “Tell you what, Eskdale. I think it’s a cock-up.”

  “I could not agree more, sir. We need to clear the old town and get these Boxers on the run. That done, we can talk to the regular soldiers. They have all been trained by us or the Russians, they know what the rules are and can easily be persuaded to come to a sensible agreement. We need to get some action, and quickly, sir.”

  Craddock put this point of view forward and was overruled. There would be no action until the number of troops was greatly increased. Three days later Admiral Seymour brought his exhausted column into Tientsin and reinforced that decision – he was going nowhere without another ten thousand behind him. Magnus spent a few minutes with Captain Jellicoe, on a stretcher and gravely wounded, before he was sent down the railway, now open all the way to Taku.

  “Bloody hopeless, Eskdale. Try to hold the old man’s hand and don’t let him do anything foolish. Most of the time, that means don’t let him do anything at all!”

  “Will do, sir. I am afraid that Commander Beatty is frequently at his side.”

  “Another incompetent! Wonderful at waving a cutlass and slicing fuzzy-wuzzy heads off; useless at careful planning and execution of a course of action. Watch him, Eskdale!”

  Chapter Four

  The Earl’s Other Son Series

  Peking Nightmares

  The allied forces remained in Tientsin, almost unmoving, for another fortnight, enduring the unending shelling and sniper fire, taking a steady trickle of casualties but building their forces every day as ships came in and sent their men to Taku. A few patrols ventured outside of the town but all were driven back in by the sight of tens of thousands – they said – of Boxers.

  The Wei-Hai-Wei Regiment appeared and were scowled at by all those who believed the only good Chinaman was a dead one. They transpired to be as efficient as any sepoy battalion and took their share of duty quietly and efficiently. Additionally, Americans and Russians and more British from India came in, accompanied by field guns and larger naval weapons on Scott carriages. There was a trickle of French and Italians and Austrians and a larger flood of Germans and Japanese. News came that there was to be a commanding general, a German gentleman unfo
rtunately still in Germany but making best speed to join them.

  Word came as well, by a circular route, that the German Chancellor in Peking, Baron von Ketteler, had been done to death in Peking. This was regarded as a barbarous act. Magnus wondered who had arranged it and whether Captain Hawkins had paid for the job; he said nothing. There was much outrage in the camp – it was clear now that they were at war with the Qing Empire, not merely putting down stroppy Boxers.

  Commander Craddock was more indignant than most.

  “Should know better, Eskdale, old chap! You don’t go around killing diplomats, you know!”

  “They did assassinate the Japanese Chancellor, Sugiyama, nearly a fortnight since, Craddock.”

  “Well, that’s different, is it not? Chinks killing Japs – more or less the natural order of things. Been doing that for centuries and one hardly expects either of them to know the rules. It’s when it comes down to our sort that they ought to know better.”

  Magnus saw little point in arguing.

  “Still, that’s not what I was going to say, Eskdale. The assault on the old city of Tientsin is going ahead in a couple of days. This Indian Army general is commanding the whole affair. What’s the man’s name now, I keep forgetting it!”

  “General Dorward, sir. Is he the most senior man present?”

  “Seems so. He has the command in any case.”

  “He is not the shiniest sovereign in the purse, one might say, sir.”

  “Hush! He is what we have, Eskdale. I know he’s stupid and so do you, but whoever heard of a soldier with brains? Intelligence is bad for them! A soldier needs a bushy moustache and a loud voice – anything else is wasted on the breed. He has determined on a very clever plan – we shall all charge straight ahead and take the wall.”

  “Ah! Subtle indeed! Have we ladders, Craddock?”

  “No, but we can jump, I expect. Sailors are meant to be good at climbing things – frigging in the rigging and all that – so we are to use our initiative. Just be thankful that we have dry ground to our front. The flanks have to pass through swamp and ponds and ditches and God knows what else. The Japanese have the big gates. I think they intend to blow them.”