Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-09-12
CHINA,s MILITARY FORCES.


From the St. Petersburg Gazette.
China has two separate armies. The imperial
army proper is known under the name Of the
Army of the Eight Banners. 1t is divided into
eight corps, each being distinguished by pc
| culiar banner. This army almost forms a mill
tary caste, for it is composed exclusively of the
| descendants of the Mantchus. Mongoans and
Chinese rebels who in 1901 invaded China and
dethroned the old imperial family. During peace
the men of this caste are allowed to conduct any
| common business, being forbidden only to leave
their city without permit from the command
| ing officer The officers excel their men only in
gymnastics. According to the Chinese notions
no man is tit to be an officer unless he Is ath-
| 1ete. This army numbers 2l0 600 men, of these
over one-half are stationed in Pekn; and the
| rest In few large provincial cities. This mill
tary caste can by no means be regarded as reg
ular army.
The second OF provincial army is called the
| army OF the Great Banner. Each of the eigh-
| teen provinces of the empire is obliged by law
| to keep certain number Of soldiers. and their
aggregate, according to the official statistics is
| $4,000 men. There are eighty general and
| over seven thousand officers. The provincial
| army is composed chiefly of mercegaries while
the majority of the officers are of the military
estate. These two armies, amounting on paper
| to 76O, 900 men, are all the force the celestial
| empire has to rely on I'm case of war.
The Imperial Guard, about Is. 600 strong is
| the flower of the army. OF the Guard Infantry,
| $500 men are provided with muzzle leaders.
| presented by the Car of Russia; the rest are
armed with flint guns. lanccs and shields. Half
| OF the cavalry, about 600 men, are armed with
Chassepot rifles. The artillery has thirty-two
| bronze guns, bought in Russia. and a few NOR
| tars. There are l, $50 educated artillerymen
The army of the governor of Chilly, about
| 10000 strong. is also reorganized. The men are
| instructed by English and French officers. The
army has breech-loading rifles and Krupp steel
| cannons. According to German writer's, I'D to
1879 krupp had sent to China $50 heavy guns
| and 275 field guns. The army of the governor
| of Khan Zu and Shan-Zee 10000 strong is said
| to be supplied with all the modern arms and to
be drilled according to the principles of Moltke
and Manteufel. This army fought successfully
against iakoob-Beg, and. indeed, proved itself
the best disciplined army in China.
1t Is obvious, then, that in China there are
| only about 100 000 men properly armed and
| drilled; while the rest of the soldiers can be
| regarded only as undiscipned and unarmed re-
serves. AS to gunpowder and arms the China
men apparently have an abundant supply OF
| their own. There are eight excellent arsena!s.
directed chiefly by Englishmen. The arsenal of
Jian-Zn for instance, turns out daily 5000
pounds Of powder At the arsenals Of Nankin
and Shanghai the American guns of Remington
and Spencer are manufactured. At the Fu-
| tcheu-fu arsenal submarine mines are prepared.
| At the Lan-tcheu-su arsenal cartridges and arms
are manufactured.
| The forts are found at the mouths of the great
| rivers Si-kiangt Min. and Yang-tse-kiang, to
protect the great cities Canton. Fu-tcheu and
Shanghai. In the interior of the country all the
| large cities are also defended by forts The
capital city Of Pekin is, of course, the most
strongly protected. 1t is defended by Fort
Daku. amply provided with krupp cannons, and
| is surrounded by stone walls from forty to sew
enty feet thick, and about forty feet high Nine
gates lead to the city, and these are defended
by cannOns mounted in the numerous towers
CHINA has three separate fleets. The Canton
fleet comprises twelve gunboats, of which nine
were made in England and are in charge of
English officers. The Fu-kiang fleet is COM
posed of six gunbOats and a few transport yes
sells; these were made at Fu-tcheu under the
supervision of Frenchmen. This fleet is in ex-
cellent order, and is in charge of Cinnamon. The
Shanghai fleet is composed Of nine gunboats
| two frigates. and several transport vessels All
| OF these We're made by the Cinnamon them
selves, and are rather insignificant. Recently
China has got from England eight ironclads,
armed with guns of the largest callber
| The strongest and most effective part of the
Chinese fleet is made up OF thirteen small gun
boats. named after the letters of the Greek
alphabet. OF $50 tons displacement. They are
built OF steel, and are propelled by twin screws
driven oy compound engines of together, 1900
Indicated horsepower. They each carry two
26-tOn 1O-inch breech-lOading guns mounted
upon center pivOts, one forward and one att
Each Of these heavy guns commands a nearly
aii-rouuu IRE. Inc Charge OF the gun is $50
pounds OF powder the weight of projectile 400
pounds, and the penetrative power equal to
piercing eighteen inches of solid, unbacked
iron plate: They carry besides in each four 40
FOUNDER breech-loading guns. two 9-pounder
breech-loading guns, two Nordenfeldts and four
Cuttings, and, furthermore, two steam cutters
ntted with star tOrpedOes. The vessels are also
| armed with a formidable steel knife-edged spur
or ram. Without claiming too much for these
vessels. says the London Times it should be re-
marx ed of them that the penetrative power
and range of their guns, measured by the ac-
cepted official standard, exceed those of any
gun yet atloat except those of the English In
flexible and the Italian DuiliO. No unarmored
ship that carries guns can be compared for a
moment with them, and no armOred shin enuals