INTRODUCTION xxi 



alize that they were cultivating a dangerous friend. The 

 Mongolian army, at the most, numbered only two or three 

 thousand poorly equipped and undisciplined troops who would 

 require money and organization before they could become an 

 effective fighting force. 



The Chinese were not slow to appreciate these conditions and 

 General Hsu Shu-tseng, popularly known as "Little Hsu," by 

 a clever bit of Oriental intrigue sent four thousand soldiers to 

 Urga with the excuse of protecting the Mongols from a so- 

 called threatened invasion of Buriats and brigands. A little 

 later he himself arrived in a motor car and, when the stage 

 was set, brought such pressure to bear upon the Hutukhtu 

 and his Cabinet that they had no recourse except to cancel 

 Mongolia's autonomy and ask to return to their former place 

 under Chinese rule. 



This they did on November 17, 1919, in a formal Memorial 

 addressed to the President of the Chinese Republic, which is 

 quoted below as it appeared in the Peking press, under date 

 of November 24, 1919 : 



"We, the Ministers and Vice-Ministers [here follow their 

 names and ranks] of all the departments of the autonomous 

 Government of Outer Mongolia, and all the princes, dukes, 

 hutukhtus and lamas and others resident at Urga, hereby 

 jointly and severally submit the following petition for the es- 

 teemed perusal of His Excellency the President of the Republic 

 of China: 



"Outer Mongolia has been a dependency of China since the 

 reign of the Emperor Kang Hsi, remaining loyal for over two 

 hundred years, the entire population, from princes and dukes 

 down to the common people having enjoyed the blessings of 

 peace. During the reign of the Emperor Tao Kwang changes 

 in the established institutions, which were opposed to Mon- 

 golian sentiment, caused dissatisfaction which was aggravated 

 by the corruption of the administration during the last days 



