On to Pekin/Chapter 14
CHAPTER XIV
A FIRST BATTLE ON CHINESE SOIL
The distance from the Gulf of Pechili to Tien-Tsin by the Pei-Ho is all of seventy miles; for the river, broad and very shallow except during the annual high tides, winds its way along in serpent fashion through marshland and reeds, with here and there an embankment thrown up to resist the encroachments of the sea. Fortunately, the bottom of the river is nothing more dangerous than slimy mud, so that steamers getting stuck suffer little or nothing save the time and expense of getting afloat again.
The native city and the foreign concessions lie on the southern bank of the Pei-Ho; while opposite are the railroad station, docks, and, just east of these, the arsenal. The distance from here to Tongku by railroad, a direct line, is but twenty-seven miles, with but one station of importance between, Chung-Liang-Cheng. To the west of the native quarter is the Grand Canal, on the opposite bank of which are located the cathedral and the private grounds and palace of the viceroy of Shantung, Earl Li Hung Chang.
The native city of Tien-Tsin is surrounded by a high stone wall; and there is another wall still further out, around all of the settlements. The latter was erected during the war of 1860, when China was fighting the French and English. The wall would have made an excellent defence; but it was never manned, the Chinese soldiers contenting themselves with shooting off a vast amount of fire-crackers, in order to scare the enemy, and then running for their lives.
Tien-Tsin, new and old, covers a good many miles of territory; for, while the houses and huts of brick, mud, wood, and bamboo are often huddled close together, yet there are numerous wide market-places and low spots often covered with water during a heavy rain. The streets are narrow, crooked, and dirty to the last degree. Paving, as we know it, is unknown, and so are sewers; and the consequence is that each street, or rather lane, soon becomes something of an open ditch, breeding disease and death.
What struck Gilbert as peculiar on his first trip beyond Tongku were the numerous mounds which greeted his eyes, rearing their heads like so many anthills at every turn. He soon learned, however, that these were the well-known graves of China, scattered broadcast. In some cases these graves are deeply dug; but ia others the dead are placed along the roadside, and covered only with a handful of earth or a bit of coarse matting.
The young lieutenant's duties at Tongku kept him close to the river front; and from time to time he saw floating on the stream the lifeless bodies of Chinese soldiers and Boxers, the latter easily to be identified by the curious symbols on their breasts, painted on their garments as a guard against all evils! Once he saw three Celestials floating together, each in the death-grip of the others; and the sight made him shudder more than anything he had witnessed in the Philippines.
"Poor fellows! it's a good deal of a pity to fight them," he murmured. "They really don't know what they are doing. I suppose, in their way, they imagine they are quite in the right." Then he drew a long breath, and the soldier spirit came back to him. "But they have got to leave the missionaries and our representatives alone, and that is all there is to it."
The Brooklyn and the Oregon, the two warships which had given such good accounts of themselves at the battle of Santiago Harbor, had not yet arrived at Taku, but were expected at any hour. The Oregon had met with a slight mishap, and was in consequence undergoing some temporary repairs. General Chaffee was also expected very soon, with his troops from San Francisco.
It was on Independence Day that Gilbert found himself on the firing line for the first time. The Allies were trying to keep open the line of communication along the railroad to Tien-Tsin; but twelve nules from Tongku the rails were completely gone, the road-bed crossed by newly-made ditches, and the Boxers were on the constant lookout, hoping to entrap any "foreign devils" who might show themselves. In the mean time Tien-Tsin was being furiously bombarded by Boxers and Shantung government troops combined, who had brought to the scene a number of powerful Krupp siege guns.
"Lieutenant, we are ordered out up the railroad," said Captain Banner early on the morning of the Fourth of July. "The whole battalion is going, and Major Morris agrees with me that we are Kkely to celebrate the day by firing a good many shots."
"All right, captain. I am ready any time the major sets," answered Gilbert, with a grim smile. "I came to China to fight; and I believe fighting is a good bit like swimming,—the sooner you get into trim for it and plunge in, the better off you are. It won't do for a swimmer to stand on the bank and shiver, as he looks at the cold water; and it won't do for a soldier to get the 'yellow shakes,' as our Western boys term it, listening to the guns from a distance."
At this homely view of things. Captain Banner laughed. "I don't believe you will get the shakes," he said. "You have been through the mill too often."
"But I may get them, nevertheless. I have heard tell that the best of officers get shaky at times. There is no such thing as utter nervelessness, if you'll allow me to coin the word."
Orders were soon going the rounds; and, after a hasty breakfast, blanket rolls were packed, guns inspected, and additional ammunition passed around. In an hour more the battalion was on the march, those left behind wishing the members of the four companies the best of luck.
"Don't stop until you have gone straight through to Pekin!" cried one of the men left behind. "Show the foreigners what Yankee blood and pluck can do!" And a cheer went up, which lasted imtil the battalion had left Tongku behind.
The weather was warm and muggy; and, had some of the soldiers had their way, blanket rolls would have been pitched aside, to be picked up by the cart train following. But this was not allowed, for there was no telling where the battalion would rest during the coming night or if the train would get through in safety.
"I have often wondered if the folks at home fully realize the life a soldier leads," remarked Captain Banner, as he walked along near Gilbert. "They hear of victories or defeats, and read the death lists and all that; but do they realize the knocking around a soldier does,—how he has to tramp miles and miles, be it hot or cold, dry or wet, with a heavy gun and a heavier load, eating when he can and whatever he manages to get, and sleeping very often in the open air and occasionally in a soaking rain?"
"I don't believe folks do realize it," answered Gilbert. "If they did, so many of them wouldn't be for talking of the glories of a soldier's life and the pride of conquest. Of course there is lots of excitement, when a real campaign is on; but such waits as we had in the Philippines, especially during the wet seasons, are awful."
"Everything depends upon what you get used to," put in Major Morris, who was near. "Now look at Captain Cannon, for example. He has been in both the army and the navy, and he virtually knows nothing else. He would rather fight than eat, and nothing would suit him better than for the United States to start out on a world-conquering tour. He told me yesterday that he hoped we should keep on fighting in China for at least a year."
"A year!" cried Gilbert. "Well, I don't agree with him. I trust we have only one or two good battles, and that the Chinese then come to terms. I am afraid it would make me sick to fight the pig-tails for a whole year. I was heartily tired of fighting the Filipinos when I left Manila."
By noon the battalion had gone along the railroad line for a considerable distance, and from ahead came the booming of a cannon in the direction of Chung-Liang-Cheng. There was a wide paddy field to cross; and beyond was a small wood, flanked on the right by a mud embankment and a ditch.
"Some Russian troops ahead," announced Major Morris, after surveying the situation with his field-glasses. He turned to Gilbert. "Lieutenant Pennington, take two men with you over to yonder embankment, and find out what is going on."
"I will do so, Major Morris," answered the young lieutenant, and saluted. The major next issued a command for the battalion to halt, and the four companies came to a rest at the edge of the rice field.
Gilbert knew that he could trust no men more than Stummer and Casey, and soon had them at his side. The trio hurried across the field, but with caution, and soon entered the wood previously mentioned. From a distance the cracking of rifles continued, but the sounds showed that both the enemy and the Russians were shifting their positions.
"We'll be nixt to it very soon now," muttered Dan Casey, as he clutched his gun in such a manner that he might use it at the slightest warning. "It sames to me I'm afther hearing thim Chinks yell already."
"I dink dem vos Roossins you vos hear," answered Stummer. "Da vos firin' by Here da come now!"
There was a rushing of many feet and a yelling in a tongue that was foreign to Gilbert, and the next instant a body of Cossacks burst into view. Whether they were making a flank movement or retreating, the young lieutenant could not tell. As they swept along, a captain of the command saw the three, and ran toward them.
"Who are you? Where come you from?" he asked in the Russian tongue, and then, noting the uniforms, added, "Americans?"
"Yes," answered Gilbert. "Do you speak English?"
The Russian captain shook his head. "Do you speak Russian?" he asked in his own tongue.
It was now Gilbert's turn to shake his head. This made him smile, and the Russian seemed also to enjoy the grim humor of the situation.
"If we can't understand each other, we're stuck," muttered the young lieutenant. Then a sudden thought struck him, and he turned to Stummer. "Carl, try him in German."
Saluting, Stummer did so; and at this the Russian looked relieved. He could speak sufficient German to make himself understood; and, through the private, Gilbert learned that the Russian body at the wood numbered about three hundred. Over two thousand Boxers were in front of the Russians, and the latter were on their way to use the embankment as a cover.
"We have over four hundred men," answered Gilbert, through Carl. "I will inform my superior of the state of affairs, and he will most likely come to your aid. Will you hold the embankment if we skirt the wood and come up on the other side?"
"We will," answered the Russian.
By this time the foreign officer had to move along with the last of his command,—fierce-looking fellows, whose uniforms were covered with dust, dirt, and blood. The young lieutenant lost no time in returning to Major Morris and reporting.
"We will skirt the wood, as you intimated to the Russian captain," said the major, promptly. "Battalion, attention! Forward march! Double quick!" And away went the command, Company A leading, with Captain Banner and Gilbert at either end of the long line.
It must be confessed that Gilbert's heart beat quickly, for the Chinese could be seen at a distance, shouting and screaming and waving innumerable banners; for to the Celestials banners seem almost as necessary as guns. Then came a sudden cracking of rifles, and a volley of bullets passed over the Americans' heads.
"Take aim! Fire!" came the order; and the long line of rifles flashed forth and many a Boxer was seen to topple over, to rise no more. Each regular was a trained marksman, and shot to kill. Then the Americans swept on, and in a few seconds more Gilbert was in the very midst of his first battle on Chinese soil.