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two Chinese factions, the Commander of the Japanese garrison observed strict neutrality from the beginning, but was forced to open fire when Chinese guards in the vicinity of the Japanese Concession began to shoot indiscriminately into his district. His demand that the combating Chinese forces should keep at 300 yards distance from the border of the Concession did not relieve the situation, which grew so tense that, on November 11th or 12th, all foreign garrisons mounted guard.
Chinese version.The account given by the Municipal Government of Tientsin is very different. They assert that the Japanese employed Chinese ruffians and Japanese plain-clothes men, who were formed into operating gangs within the Japanese Concession, in order to start trouble in the Chinese city. Their police authorities, being timely informed by agents of this situation, were able to repulse the disorderly bands emerging from the Japanese Concession. They say that, from the confession of arrested members of these gangs, they are able to prove that the riot was organised by the Japanese and that the men were armed with guns and ammunition of Japanese make. They admit that the Japanese garrison Commander complained on the morning of the 9th that some of his men had been wounded by stray bullets and that he had asked for a withdrawal to a distance of 300 yards, but they assert that, in spite of their acceptance of these conditions, the Japanese regular troops attacked the Chinese city with armoured cars and shelled it.
The account of the Municipal Government further states that, on November 17th, an agreement was reached which fixed the details for the withdrawal to a distance of 300 yards, but it asserts that the Japanese did not carry out their part of the agreement, and that consequently the situation grew worse.
On November 26th, a terrific explosion was heard, immediately followed by firing of cannon, machine-guns and rifles. The electric lights in the Japanese Concession were put out, and plain-clothes men emerged from it attacking the police stations in the vicinity.
Outbreak of November 26th: Conflicting accounts.The Japanese account of this later disturbance as given in the Herald of Asia is to the effect that, on the 26th, the situation had become so much better that their volunteer corps was disbanded and that, on the same evening, the Chinese opened fire on the Japanese barracks, and as the fire, in spite of their protests, did not stop until noon of the 27th, they had no choice but to accept the challenge and to fight the Chinese. The battle went on until the afternoon of the 27th, when a peace conference was held. On that occasion, the Japanese demanded the immediate cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of Chinese troops and police forces to a distance of 20 Chinese li from all places where foreign troops were stationed. The Chinese agreed to withdraw their soldiers, but not their police forces, which were alone responsible for the safety of foreigners in that district. The Japanese say that, on November 29th, the Chinese offered their withdrawal from the neighbourhood of the Concession; their offer was accepted; the Chinese armed police withdrew on the morning of the 29th and the defence work was removed on the 30th.
Effect of the Tientsin disturbances on the situation in Manchuria.The threatening situation at Tientsin on the 26th caused the staff officers of the Kwantung Army to propose to the Commander an immediate expedition of troops via Chinchow and Shanhaikwan to reinforce the endangered small force at Tientsin. As a mere transport problem it would have been easier and quicker to despatch reinforcements by sea via Dairen. But considered strategically, the suggested route had this advantage, that it would enable the advancing troops to dispose en route of the very inconvenient Chinese concentration around Chinchow. It was assumed that the delay in taking this route would not be long, as little or no resistance from the Chinese was anticipated. The suggestion was approved, and one armoured train, one troop train, and a couple of aeroplanes crossed the Liao River on November 27th, and their attack on the first Chinese outposts was sufficient