CHINA. 



101 



was cut on June 15. A force of 400 Russians and 

 150 American marines with 3 field guns attempted 

 to break through on June 20, and were driven 

 back. On June 20 a relief force of 1,500 Russian 

 soldiers and 380 British, 240 German, 100 Japa- 

 nese, and 50 Italian marines started in armored 

 trains, with an abundance of artillery, followed 

 by 750 German troops. This force raised the siege 

 on June 23, after silencing the field guns of the 

 Chinese and the guns of the forts in the old city. 

 In the night of June 25 a detachment of 2,000 

 Russian and other troops relieved Admiral Sey- 

 mour in the Chinese armory and brought his force 

 and 200 wounded safely away. The railroad was 

 then opened, and troops were landed at Taku and 

 taken up to Tientsin. As the allies made no fur- 

 ther move, the Chinese were encouraged to take 

 the offensive again. As soon as the allies ad- 

 vanced on Tientsin regular Chinese troops from 

 Pekin and other ports were ordered to oppose 

 them. Gen. Nieh with 10,000 Chinese regulars 

 arrived on July 4 and occupied the arsenals and 



southwest to the northeast, taking in the arsenal 

 as the final objective. Gen. Fukushima, com- 

 manding the Japanese, suggested the plan and 

 conducted the operation. With 1,000 infantry, 

 150 cavalry, and 2 mountain batteries, on July "9 

 he made a wide sweep, with the British in fine 

 on the right, under Gen. Dorward, con-i-tiri;.' of 

 the Welsh Fusileers, a regiment of Chinese trained 

 at Wei-Hai-Wei, a Hong-Kong regiment, and a 

 naval brigade under Admiral Seymour, and at the 

 pivotal point of the turning movement a force of 

 Japanese blue jackets and 100 United States ma- 

 rines under Major Waller, whose duty it was, 

 when Gen. Fukushima approached the arsenal 

 from the left, to advance under cover of the mud 

 wall, the whole of the forces converging on the 

 arsenal. Gen. Fukushima's infantry charge, pre- 

 pared by the British artillery and carried out 

 under cover of his own guns, was a marvel to the 

 military men of other nations. When the Japa- 

 nese soldiers came into the fire zone they broke into 

 a brisk run and kept it up for 2,000 yards. The 



THE FRENCH QUAKTER IN TIENTSIN, RUINED BY THE BOXERS. 



Copyright, 19fcl, by J. C. 



forts in Tientsin. Extending their lines so as to 

 partly inclose the settlements, the Chinese planted 

 guns in close proximity to the lines of the allies 

 and held the large European force practically in 

 a state of siege. On July 6 the English and 

 French settlements were shelled with fieldpieces 

 concealed in the suburbs of the Chinese city. Out- 

 post fighting was constant, and the rifle and gun 

 practice of the Chinese continually improved. 

 The railroad station was all the time under fire, 

 and along the whole line the Chinese attacked 

 nightly. Shells exploded in the buildings used as 

 barracks with increasing frequency. The invest- 

 ing line was extended until it formed a crescent 

 six miles in length. The battery of British naval 

 12-pounders was shelled from front, rear, and side, 

 and this cross fire and the bombardment from a 

 fort and several field batteries caused many casu- 

 alties in the settlements. The military command- 

 ers decided to clear the flank and rear of their 

 principal battery, when its position became pre- 

 carious, by a wide flanking movement from the 



Chinese, as soon as they saw the Japanese coming, 

 stopped firing and retreated helter-skelter. The 

 rest of the line then advanced so as to encircle 

 the Chinese works. All the Chinese disappeared, 

 leaving 4 guns and many banners, except ~>H) 

 Boxers, who were found in a village and nearly 

 exterminated by the Japanese infantry and rav- 

 alry. The arsenal was deserted when the Japa- 

 nese and American storming party scaled the wall. 

 In the afternoon the settlement was hotly 

 shelled from the city, but on the following day 

 the Chinese even refrained from attacking the out- 

 posts. The portion of Gen. Nieh's command with 

 whom the battle had been fought was reported to 

 be retreating, about 3.000 in number, and the rest 

 of these trained Chinese soldiers to be quarreling 

 with the Boxers, who alone made a vigorous bay- 

 onet attack on the railroad station on July 11, 

 and were only repelled after three hours of sharp 

 fighting, in which the Japanese lost 80 men, the 

 French 60, and the British 18. The troops were 

 on the spot, because a general attack on the Chi- 





