The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-07-15

| by the war council sitting at Ilen-tSln
The pay OF all the soldiers was in ar
rears, and the majority fought sulienly
only on compuhsion. and from the very
first pitched battle at Ping-yang. IN ko-
rea. where the Chinese lost 5000 men,
TO the last engagement at Niuchuang.
the japanese had them constantly on
the run. The Chinese did not win
single victory, and yet both the OH
GERS and the rank and file fought with
consummate bravery-up to a certain
point In the first fight the finest body
OF troops Ii Hung Chang possessed. his
/ 5000 trained Mantchoos. stood their
ground against overwhelming odds and
| fought till every man was slain. Sew
leral commanders. both of land and na-
val forces. were beheaded for coward
| ice, and several others committed sui
eide in anticipation of such fate be-
falling them Il cannot be denied that
the Chinese have courage. but 1. - OF a
very peculiar kind.
1t is more than doubtful IL the Chi
nese learned anything of value from
their dear bought experience in the
Chino-Japanese war. IL Is said THAI
the court at Picking did not know that
its armies were defeated until the last
battle was fought. and yet the war had
lasted more than six months. After 1t
was over one of the most learned men,
bers OF the court argued that since the
modern arms. repeating rifles and the
like. had been so ineffective in the hands
of the Chinese and Mantchoo soldiery.
they should all be armed with the an
tiQue jingalls. bows and arrows. with
which they had conquered their enc
mics OF Old
Tha Chinese vox-x- x,-eu ~, ~tg-a 1Ixy -
stroyed or captured during the late
war and now numbers hardly more
than ZOE vessels of all classes. Tha
army. however. was not appreciably re-
duced. for the gaps in its ranks vera
quickly filled by drafts from the surplus
millions of China's population. Some
spasmodic attempts have been made TO
bring it up 10 European standards. by
the Introduction OF foreign officers and
tactics. by the purchase abroad OF i'm
mense supplies of ammunition, guns
and armament OF all descriptions. But
ii is one thing to lead a horse to water
and quite another to make IL drink.
There are great arsenals. as st Shang-
hal and Nankin naval and military
academies. factories for the manufac-
ture of black and smokeless powder
There are European instructors IN milf
tary and naval tactics. students who
have studied abroad and hundreds OF
cadets who are studying at home under
foreign and native professors; yet. de-
spite all this. there Is something In tho
Chinese character that absolutely pre-
eludes the acquisition or retention OF
technical information necessary 20 ma
val or military success. The Chinese
lengineer may learn how TO run the en-
gines of a warship and the gunner how
TO calculate the range of cannon. but
the chances are that the former VIII
ram a vessel Of his own instead OF the
enemy's fleet and the latter be unable
to hit anywhere near tie object OF hia
aim.
The Cainese army Is numerically vast
and imposing. First OF all. there ara
the Eight Banners" containing soma
SOC. 900 men, mainly descendants OF the
IMantchoo fighters and conquerors. ths
entire force subdivided into thres
lgroups OF Mantchoos. Mongols and Chi
Inese. With them the profession Of war
lis hereditary. and from their ranks ars
drawn the Tigers and the Smperiai
guard. while perhaps 10000 are scatter
ed in garrison along the Manchurlan
frontier.
The great national army, called thu
Wing Ping" or the Green Flags" Is
also known as the Five Camps" be-
| cause split into Eve distinct parts.
further subdivided into Is corps. one for
each province. at the orders OF the gOv-
ernor general or viceroy. on paper this
| army has q strength OF 100000 men,
with about one-third available in time
of war But only a small portion -
armed with modern weapons and haa
an up 10 date organization.
Added 70 these are the "mercenary
troops" which can be called out II need
ed. and the Monaghan cavalry. 20 the
number OF about 100000 nominal. but
not more than 10000 actual The total
Figures show land army OF about &C.,
600 men on a peace footing and OF up
ward Of /. 600 600 on a war basis. But.
as a whole. the army is Ineffective. ac-
cording 20 Lord Beresford. who has
made a study OF II. lacking cohesion.
UNITY and discipline. and chiefly armed
with weapons long since obsolete.
The drill Is hardly more than n ulsre
physical exercise: there Is no adequate
equipment OF medical service. transport
or commissariat.
| There IL no coherent body Of men ens
titled to the name Of an army. the en-
1 tire force is so divided into Eeparats
| groups or camps scattered throughout
| the various provinces. The finest corps
is that known as the 1ien-tsin coEtn-
gent. the pet OF II Hung Chang, which
is equipped with repeating rifles. KruDp
| guns and all modern accessories, be-
sides having had the benefit of superior
drill and Cat least on paper better Pay
about 81 per month. against less than
| half that amount received By soldiers
| in the Banner army.
II has been declared that the Tartar
soldier never surrcDderH. even In the
face Of absolute and overwhelming do
feat: that he viii Kill HIS wife and chill
dren and burn himself alive IN hiB
| home. leaving nothing but heap *
ashes for the yictors. u II capital
oHense for a Chinese soldier or officer
TO fail in any important mission In
! trusted 10 him. 80 that u an -fflcer. out
side Of his salary and awards. is Eurs
OF one thing officially from Imperial
sources IL Sc promotion Or decapifatiou
In conclusion. while the Chinese army
appears most Formidable Al a B8per6-
ciaI glance. stiIi. as has been Thown IN
the preceding columns. 81 organic
weakness more TRAN compensafea for
its vast numerical superiority otter ths
allied army IL invasion. But n Il -
nioined 20 the millions % an suraEeg
populace there VIII - danger IN tts
mere uIazsing % the nnuifitudea. which
vii dash upon the invaders ike ooeaa
waves against rock.