The Portland daily press., 1883-09-18
China's Military Forces.
Her Preparations for Attack and Defense
Both by Land and Sea.
rst. Petersburg Gazette.l

pertal army proper Is known under the
name of the Army of the Eight Banners.
1t is divided into eight corps, each being
distinguished by a peculiar banner. This
army almost forms a military caste, for it is
composed exclusively of the descendants of
the Manichus, Mongolians and Chinese reb-
els 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
commanding officer The officers excel their
men only in gymnastics. According to the
Chinese notions no man is fit to be an Off
Ger unless he is an athlete. This army
numbers 100000 men; of these over one
half are stationed at Pekin, and the rest in
few large provincial cities. This military
caste can by no means be regarded as reg
ular army.
The second or provincial army is called
the Army of the Great Banner. Each of the
eighteen provinces of the empire is obliged
by law to keep certain number of soldiers,
and their aggregate according to the official
statistics, is 650,000 men. There are 80
generals and over 1000 officers. The pro-
yincial army is composed chiefly of merce-
naries, while the majority of the officers ale
of the military estate. These two armies,
amounting to 100000 men, are all the force
the Celestial Empire has to rely on in case
of war.
The Imperial Guard, about $4,000 strong,
is the flower of the army. OF the Guard
Infantry, 5000 men are provided with muz-
zle leaders, presented by the Gar of Russia;
| the rest are armed with flint guns, lances
| and shields. Half of the cavalry, about
| 1000 men, are armed with Chasse-pot rifles.
| The artillery has thrty-two bronze guns,
bought in Russia, and few mortars. There
| are 1,750 educated artillerymen.
The army of the Governor of Chilly, about
| $4,000 strong, is also recognized. The men
| are instructed by French and English Off
GERS. The army has breech-loading rifles
and Krupp steel cannon. According to Ger
man writers, up to 1879, Krupp had sent to
China $50 heavy guns and 2T5 field guns.
The army of the Governor of Khan-Zu and
Shan-Zee, 10000 strong, is said to be sup
piled with all the modern arms, and to be
drilled according to the principles of Moltke
and Manteuffel. This army fought success
fully against Yacoob Beg, and, indeed,
proved itself the best disciplined army in
China.
1t is obvious, then, that in China there
are only about 100000 men properly armed
and drilled; while lhe rest of the soldiers
| can be regarded only as undisciplined and
unarmed reserves. AS to gunpowder and
arms, the Cinnamon apparently have an
| abundant supply of their own. There are
eight excellent arsenals, directed chiefly by
Englishmen. The arsenal of Jian-Zin, for
instance, turns out daily 5000 pounds of
A of md
Shanghai the American guns of Remington
and Spencer are manufactured. At the Fu-
tcheu-fu arsenal submarine mines are pre-
| pared. At the Lau-tcheu-fu arsenal car
tridges and arms are manufactured.
The forts are found at the mouths of the
great rivers Si-ktangt Min and Yang-tse-ki-
ang, 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 of Pekin is, of course,
| the most strongly protected. 1t is defended
| by Fort Deku, amply provided with Krupp
cannons, and is surrounded by stone walls
from forty to seventy 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 threeseparate fleets. The Can
ton feet comprises twelve gunboats, of
which nine were made in England and are
in charge of English officers. The Fu-kiang
| feet is composed of six gunboats and few
transport vessels; these were made at Flu
tcheu, under the supervision of Frenchmen.
The fleet is in excellent order, and it is in
charge of Cinnamon. The Shanghai feet is
composed of nine gunboats, two frigates and
several transport vessels. All of these were
made by the Cinnamon themselves and are
rather Insignificant. Recently China has
got from England eight ironclads, armed
with guns of the largest calibre.
The strongest and most effective part of
the Chinese feet is made up of thirteen
| small gunboats, named after the letters of
| the Greek alphabet, of 1850 tons displace-
| ment, They are built Of steel, and are pro-
| PEELED by twin screws driven by com
| pound engines of together 1900 indicated
| horse power. They each carry two 26-ton
10-inch breech-loading guns, mounted upon
| centre pivots, one forward and one aft. Each
of these heavy guns commands a nearly all
around fire. The charge of the gun is 1870
pounds of powder, the weight of the projec-
tile 400 pounds, and the penetrative power
equal to piercing eighteen inches of solid,
unbacked iron plate. They carry besides in
each four 10-pounder breech-loading guns,
two 8 FOUNDER breech-loading guns, two
Nordenfeldts and four Gatlings, and fur
thermore, TIVE steam cutters fitted with star
torpedoes. The vessels are also armed with
formidable steel knife edge spur or ram,
Without claiming too much for these YES
sells, says the London Times, it should be
remarked of them that the penetrative pow
| er and range of their guns, measured by the
| accepted official standard, exceed those of
| any gun yet afoat, except those of the Eng
| fish Infiexible and the Italian Dullio. No
| unarmed ships that carry guns can be COM
pare for moment with them, and no ar
mored ship equals them in speed