The Apparent
Inconsistencies Of The Chinese Can, In All Likelihood, Be Reconciled.
That
they offer excellent military material when shaped and guided by
foreigners may be pronounced certain.
If they come from the Manchurian
provinces or from Shantung, they are found to be steady, willing to be
taught and amenable to discipline, of splendid physique and able to bear
hardships and cold without a murmur. If from Honan, they exhibit many of
the best characteristics of highland races - courage and loyalty to their
own leader, but they are more difficult to manage, and they are not steady
in any sense of the word. The southern Chinese seem to be held generally
in low esteem, but one should not forget that the best fighters of the
Taeping army were the men from the Canton province, and that, as seamen,
the coast populations of Southern China are unequaled. The western
highlanders, whether Mohammedans or not, are men of good physique, and
would make good fighting material. The Mongolians are horsemen from their
early years, and are suitable for light cavalry of the Cossack type.
Like the Central Asian peoples, the Chinese possess in a high degree the
virtue of passive bravery. At first the Russians, in their contests in
Central Asia, expended much time and wasted many lives in besieging towns.
They acted with caution, throwing up approaches and opening trenches. This
method, however, was presently abandoned for that of open escalade, as,
for instance, at Tashkend, Khojand and Uratapa. Finally, the plan was
adopted of storming breaches, to permit of which breaching batteries would
be thrown up at very close quarters, after which, a favorable time being
chosen, the place would be carried by storm. From every point of view,
this proved to be the most effective method. The Chinamen, as has been
proved repeatedly, is like other Central Asiatics in this respect, that,
under cover, he sustains the heaviest fire with indifference; he never
surrenders except under bold assaults, which he cannot withstand.
What is the conclusion to which the observations of all first-hand
students of China have conducted them? Their conclusion is that it is a
question of vital importance, a matter of commercial life and death, for
England to maintain and consolidate herself in the Yangtse basin, which
cannot possibly be done except by an effective occupation of the upper
Yangtse, and by developing in every possible way her communications along
that watercourse, and by the West River from Hongkong, also by railway
connection with Upper Burmah and through that province with India. Mr.
Colquhoun, for his part, also believes it to be high time that countries
like the United States, Australasia and Germany should set themselves to
watch with attention, not to say anxiety, the situation in the Far East.
He advises them to reflect upon the history of the ancient empire formed
by Genghis Khan and his successors, for that history is repeating itself
to-day. Russia is conquering by modern methods the kingdoms of Genghis and
Kublai Khan, and the Russian Czar, once emperor of China, will take the
place of the Tartar conquerors who carried fire and sword beyond the
Carpathians and the Vistula and throughout eastern, western and southern
Asia.
THE END
End of China, by Demetrius Charles Boulger
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