, 1884-09-19
CHINA'S TWO ARMIES.
The Imperial Army Proper and the
Provincial Army.
A Force Amounting to 700, 900 Men
The Imperial Guard-Three Scpa-
rate Fleets-Forts, ArSeuRIs,
Arms and Ammunition.


lShAAAhV AAAAINi
China has two separate armies. The i'm
perial army proper Is knownu under the name
Of the Army Of the Eight Banner. II is
divided into eight corps, each being dis
tinguished by a peculiar banner. This army
almost forms "a military caste, for 1t Is COM
posed exclusively Of the descendants Of the
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. 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
10 leave their city without IA permit
from the commanding officer. Tn
officer excel their men only in gym
nastics. According to the Chimes notions, no
man is fit TO be an officer unless he is an ath-
lete This army numbers 10000 men. OF
these over one-half are stationed In Pekin,
and the rest in a few large provincial cities.
The military caste can by no means be re-
garied as a regular 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 n GER
tain number Of ~soliiers, and the aggregate,
according 10 the official statistics, Is 10000
men. There are eighty generals and over
1000 officer. The provincial army is com
posed chiefly Of mercenaries, while the ma
jority Of the officers are Of the military estate.
These two armies, amounting 10 100000 men,
are I'll the force the Celestial empire has 10
rely on In case Of war.
The imperial guard, about 1900 strong. Is
the flower Of the army. or the guard in
fnntry. 800 men arc provided with muzzle-
leaders presented by the ear Of Russin; the
rest are armed with flint guns, lance and
shields. Half Of the cavalry, about 1000
men, are armed with ChRssepot rifles. The
artillery has thirty two bronze guns, bought
in Russia, and a few mortars. There arc
], $50 educated aTtillerymen. The army Of
the governor Of Chilly, about 1000 strong,
is also reorganized- The men are instructed
by English and French officers. The army
has breech-loading rifles and Krupp steel
cannon. According to German writers, up.
to 1879, Krupp had sent TO China 100 heSvy
guns, and 275 field guns The army Of the
governor Of Khan-Zu and Shan Eee, 49,
900 strong, Is said to be supplied with
all tho modern arms and TO bo drilled
according TO the principles Of Moltke and
Manteuifel. This army fought successfully
against Ynkoob Beg, and, indeed, proved IL
self the best disciplined army in Chinn IL
is obvious, then, that in China thern nro only
about 10000 men properly armed and
drilled, while the rest OF tho soldiers cnn be
regarded only rs nndisciplined and unarmed
reserves.
As TO gunpowder and arms the Cinnamon
apparently have an abundant supply Of their
own. There are eight excellent arsenals, di-
rected chiefly by Englishmon. The arsenal
Of Jian-Zin, for instance, turns out daily 5000
pounds Of powder, At the arsennl OF Nnnkin
and Shanghai tho American guns OF Reming-
ton and Spencer are manufactured. At Foo
Chow arsenal submarine mines are pre-
pared. At the IEn Choo arsenal cartridges
and arms are manufactured. The forts are
found at the mouths OF the great rivers Isl
kiang, Min and Yang-tse-Kiang, TO protect
the great cities Canton, Foo Chow and
Shanghai In the interior OF the country all
the large cities are also protected by forts.
The capital city Of Pekin is, OF course, the
most strongly protected. IL is defended by
Fort Daku, amply provided with Krupp can
non, and Is surrounded by stone walls from
forty 10 seventy feet thick and forty feet
high Nine gates lead 10 the city, aud these
arc defended by cannon mounted in the
numerous towcns.
China has three separate fleets. The Can
ton fleet comprises twelve gunboRts, Of
which nine were made in England and are
in charge Of English officers. The Fu-kiang
fleet is composed Of six gunboats and n few
transport vessels. These were made at Foo
Chow, under the supervision OF Frenchmen.
This feet Is in excellent order, and it is in
charge Of Cinnamon. Tho Shanghai fleet Is
composed Of nine gunbonts, two frigates, and
several transport vessels. All OF these were
made by themselves and are rather insignif-
cant Recently China has got from Eng
land eight iron-clhds, armed with guns OF tho
largest caliber. The strongest and most
effective part OF the Chinese fleet Is
made up Of thirteen small gunboats,
named after the letters of the Greek
alphabet, OF 1880 tons displacement.
They arc built OF steel, and are propelled by
W screws driven by compound engines of,
together, 1000 indicated horse power. They
each carry two twenty-six ton ten-inch
breech-loading guns, mounted upon center
piyots, one forward and one aft. Each Of
these heavy guns commands a nearly all
round fire. The charge OF the gun is $50
pounds OF powder, the weight Of projectile
400 pounds, and the penetrativo power equnl
TO piercing eighteen inches Of solid, unbacked
iron plate. They carry besides in each four
forty FOUNDER breech-loading guns, two nine
FOUNDER breech loading guns, two Norden-
feldts and four Gatlings, and, furthermore,
two steam cutters fitted with spar torpedoes.
The vessels are also armed with a formidable
steel knife edge spur or ram.