Show TilE MiliTARY SITUATION iN CtUNA I By Brig Gen H C Corbfe U S A I Copyrighted by Colliers Weekly Now York City and Reproduced oy I Express Permission of that PublicatI oI As events now occurring in China are engrossing the attention of the civilized civi-lized wrold some account of the Chinese Chi-nese army of the forces the powers can bring against them and of the operations likely to lake place will be of Inlerest Telegraphic reports from China have been no meager and ao confusing that before proceeding further fur-ther It will not perhaps be out of place to give a brief synopsis of what has occurred up to dale BEGINNING OF THE TROUBLE On May 31st there were at Talcu seven Russian one French two British and one Italian warships all of which landed detachments of sailors and marines ma-rines other ships afterward arrived and on June Olh the number of ships had bene Increased to twentythree two of which were American Meanwhile Mean-while detachments of various nationalities na-tionalities had been sent into Peking to guard the legations The troops when landed proceeded to take possession pos-session of and repair the railroad June 10th n force of about 2000 men under Admiral Seymour left Then Tsin for Peking Arriving about forty miles from the capital it was found that the railroad had been destroyed and that further progress would have to be made by marching For sometime some-time nothing was heard from this column col-umn On June 17th the Taku forts at the mouth of the Pel IIo river were attacked at-tacked and captured On June 21st an attack on Tien Tsin began and It was necessary to send a force to its relief The first detachment consisting of I J I r J < iv I q BrigGen H C Corbln U S A about 0 Russians and 130 American I marines under MaJ Wailer met with serious resistance and were In great danger unlll reinforced by about 1000 I British troops The rest of the rctlev Irlff force arriving an entrance Into I Tien Tsin which had been held by about 3000 men principally Russians was effected on June 23rd I was then learned that Seymours column not only had been unable to do anything any-thing for the relief of Peking but after af-ter hard fighting against greatly superior su-perior forces had been compelled to withdraw and had Intrenched near Tien Tsin June 25th 2000 men went from Tien Tsin lo Seymours relief The arsenal was destroyed and the whole force returned to Tien Tsin In the I early part of the troubles the Boxers had been opposed by Chinese troops but afterward the latter joined the Boxers and In the recent lighting their forces have been combined Prince Tuan thoroughly l opposed to all foreigners for-eigners Is reported to have poisoned the Emperor to have put himself at the head of the anllforolgn movement and to be actively directing the troops While the news of the assassination of the German Minister and of the massacre mas-sacre of all foreigners in Peking Is arllutnr the civilized world the combined com-bined forces of the powers are at present pres-ent at Tien Tsin and Taku and unable with their present strength to make a forward movement The steps taken by the powers to Increase their strngth In China will be referred to hereafter I THE CHINESE ARMY I The total strength of the Chinese army cannot be accurately given and If It could the statement would have but little value as many of the men who are carried on the rolls are neither armed nor equipped and a largo number num-ber are followiiiR civil vocations and performing no military duty whatever These troops are organized into eight banners of from len to twelve army corps each The banners Kl are die Uiigufahcd by the colors designated here and are further divided Into two classes as follows Tho Three Superior Banners 1 yellow with red border L plain yellow 3 nlnlu whIte Thu Five Inferior BannersI I whit with red border plain red C red with blue bonier 7 plain blue S bluo with red border horLer These eight banners nominally contain con-tain about 300000 men but the number maintained on n war footing Is very much less men being taken from the bannermen to form other corps The nationalities comprising the banner force are three in number viz Manchu Man-chu Mongolian and Chinese tho latter lat-ter being descendants of those natives of northern China who joined the Manchu Man-chu Invaders during the period of their contest with the Ming dynasty In tho I early part of the seventeenth century The soldiers are distributed under each color according to their nationality there three nationalities Thus being natonaltcs each banner Is subdivided into three parts Kubul There are therefore twentyfour Kusal three in each Kl The Kusal are more administrative than tactical units Under one or other of these divisions all living Manchus and all descendants uf the Mongolian and Chinese soldiery of the conquest are enrolled The banners ban-ners constItute in fact the population of Poking with offshoots In various provincial garrisons and l certain number of the adult males of the force receive pay as members of one or the 1 other mIlItary corps Into which they J have from time to lime been organized organ-ized In addition to the pittance they I receive as soldiers of the banner The various corps aro divided Into companies Lyanzu numbering 250 men each In Iho Infantry and 150 In the cavalry According thit latest reliable authorities au-thorities about all the organized and drilled Chlnec troops to bo counted vmbnlnUtiG follows presentoperations T aro as strength v Approximate General Sungs corps 10000 Soon Clnga corps 7000 < Tung Fu < Slants corps now operating oper-ating near Peking 10000 atng nCr Peling 100 Gen Niohs corps now operating near Tien corr 13000 Hu ShonK corps lW Poking field force 10000 Division of guards f 10000 The last three corps of these troops are drawn from the Manchu banner men There are other troops more or less well organized and drilled In dls ant provinces but they need not bo considered as a factor In the present operations The Governor of ShanTung Shan-Tung is said to have a corps of about 15000 troops drilled according to German Ger-man methods The value of the Boxers Box-ers as a fighting force against organized organ-ized European troops IB an unknown creat quantity but Is not thought to he FORCES OF THE POWERS When the troubles In China began the armed forces of the powers were I composed of the sailors and marines who could bo landed from the ships I Some of these ships were near at hand while others were in different parts of tho Orient but within a few days sail The total number of warships of all classes in those waters Is as follows I fol-lows Great Billaln t 32 I Russia t 20 UnIted Slates 20 Franco < 12 I Germany 9 Japan G < II Italy had one ship at Taku and Austria Aus-tria had some marines ashore so her navy must berepresented but these I i two nations are omitted In the foregoing I forego-ing list Germany had besides the men on shipboard about 3000 men at Kiao Chow Russia had perhaps 20000 men at Port Arthur and a large num her of troops in Eastern Siberia She has also a large force on the northern frontier l of China but it is at a great distance overland from Peking and cannot be considered available Any reinforcements would probably be sent from Odessa Japan has a large number num-ber of troops available and can furnish fur-nish at short notice as many as maybe may-be needed Late reports state that the powers have all agreed lo utilize Japans Ja-pans military strength and give her heir mandate to bring order out chaos The powers however not depending entirely l upon that are preparing to send troops from home Great Britain has sent about 1000 troops from Hong kong Between 1000 and 5000 men were to leave Calcutta June 21th Lord Roberts was asked if he could spare any from South Africa but he answered an-swered In the negative A late telegram tele-gram from India gives the force to bo sent to China from India as follows Two hundred and twentythree British Brit-ish officers 308 British warrant and noncommissioned officers and men 0540 native olTlcers and men 7170 followers fol-lowers 1280 horses and ponies 2060 mules 6 guns and 1 Maxims Two coolie corps of 1000 each will also proceed pro-ceed to China There left France for China June 23rd three warships and two transports carrying two battalions o Infantry and two batteries of artillery There are also said to bo about 10000 French troops at Saigon ready to embark German had already made preparations to strengthen her force In China but the news of the assassination of her Min ister makes It certain that she will eventually have in China as many ot oS her troops as she deems neccssarv The United Slates have sent u battalion of marines and i regiment of infantry from the Philippines There are at present about COOO loops en roule for or under orders to tho Philippines As they go 10 Nagasaki they can be sent from there to Taku Instead of lo Manila Ma-nila direct I is reported lhat Italy and Austria will also send contingents Because of unavoidable delays and the approximate number of days required re-quired to reach Taku from the various starting points it is apparent that all the troops under orders for China cannot can-not arrive there until early In August There will be constant accessions however how-ever from now on and there will perhaps per-haps be enough troops on the ground to nice Hie offensive much earlier There certainly will be If Japans offer Is accepted The question of the manner man-ner In which Japan Is to be paid may prove a stumblingblock Then would he no objection to a money payment but there probably would be to a cession ces-sion of territory The great necessity for prompt action may however cause all objections to bo overruled I In regard to the use of the navies o the powers their effectiveness doponda upon two thingsthe use of their ships and their capacity to furnish men for duty ashore Active operations will be entirely on land Gunboats of light draught will bo useful In river work not only on tho PelIIo but near treaty ports In Other parts of China where protection may bo needed The larger ships particularly the battleships will be useless except to furnish landing parlies The United States navy has near the scene of action live gunboats whose draught will enable them to be of ser Ice In navigable Inland waters THE THEATER OF OPERATIONS I Is not certain within what limits active operations on shore will be con lined China is not n homogeneous nation na-tion As a rule the people of ton ot one province prov-ince know little of and care little for What Is occurring in a distant province Each is governed by a Viceroy or Governor Gov-ernor who though appointed by the central Government Is almost entirely Independent of it and Is practically a king within his own dominions Ho raises and maintains an army of the Idnd and of1 the size he wishes and that he la able to pay for Thlsjistall lustralcd bytho dispatches from China which report the Consuls at tho treaty ports as negotiating directly with time Viceroys In regard to the safety of foreigners Up to the present time tim troubles have been confined to the province of Chlhll In which Peking and Tien Tsin are situated and the province of Shantung The latter embraces em-braces the peninsula of the same name on the coast of which are situated the British port WelIIalWcI the German port Kino Chow and lie treaty port Chic Foo If the troubles continue to bo confined to these provinces the theater of operations will be much re Btrlcted Tien Tsin will probably be the base of operations and Peking hip objective Any opposing armed forces lying between the two cities must be disposed of and Peking taken With Peking In the hands of the powers the rest or the work win be a mauer iur diplomatists It 1 considered by wellinformed people peo-ple that a force of 60000 or 70000 men will bo ample The number required will vary with the composition of the force A compact homogeneous body of one nationality wouldbe much more efficient than a composite force of the same strength made up of tho contingents con-tingents furnished by the powers no matter how good the quality 01 each contingent might be History leaches that in the operations of allies iric ion jealousies and diversity of purpose pur-pose obtain If the relief force Is to be a composite army under a single head the details of command and start should he agreed upon at once by agreement of representatives of the powers otherwise other-wise there will inevitably be friction and delays when the time comes lo begin active operations From a purely pure-ly I military standpoint leaving political politi-cal consideration aside it would be by all odds most advisable to Intrust the work to a Japanese army as Japan by reason of her proximity can put In the field better than any other nation the necessary number of troops and a thorough previous understanding of the combined European powers with Japan as to payment for her services should prevent any possibility of political politi-cal complications A HARD CAMPAIGN AHEAD The question of the organization and composition of the army being settled the only remaining question Is the character of the operations and the difficulties to be overcome This Is the worst time of the year for military operations In that region The rainy season Is about beginning The country coun-try Is low and fiat and has no metaled roads The PeiUo river with its branches Is shallow and tortuous In the rainy season It overflows Its banks and as there Is nothing to indicate the channel Its value for transportation or troops and supplies is small The principal prin-cipal difficulties to be overcome are therefore those connected with transportation trans-portation and supply As the column advances detachments must be left to communications and hold keep open the places taken On arriving before Peking a siege might be necessary The city Is surrounded by a wall forty feet thick faced Inside and out with brick and stone from one to two feet thick and this In turn by a moat fifty feet 100 feet wide about wide A flat space lIes between the wall and moat Peking is dependent for its supplies from the but outside It has immense granaries these are outside the walls and could be captured If the ChInese conteni resistance and their determined plate conducted w ith ability operations are city would be no the capture of the before an caL matter as the time fnvestment could be made could be employed investment walled city Soyed in provisioning the |