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CHINA'S BIG ARMY

MILLIONS OF MEN.

-FEW MUNITIONS, NO TRANS-

PORT.

j _ ••> hat pzn has China to right vhh ; < | should the present bnhappr position in • tie .Far East yz&x her to a tig sar -' < - aix 0. M. Green. iormezl? Editor of tie Norik China Nests. in an i article in a London nesrspsper. iianj - j people are asidng tbe question. She] : nas more uses, indeed, under arms,{ ■ than anjr ration, a total censerra- 5 itireij estimated at _ 1 ‘ But Trunj rhr.-r-nrA-z ci these, in the jj ; north-tresi, tck. and south-vest, arej ! too I2r oif ever to get near a fight' j with Japan. Besides, then- are needed] on the spot for the perpetual prorate j vars of their- cot generals. ' Hundreds or thousands more 2re mere ••'uniformed coxier '—-peasants; attracted br the prospect cf 10 dollars a mouth (usualir months in arrears.), rood and Lodging at least, ta possibilities of loot. These men drift from side to side vrtb the fortunes or their leaders. When a Chinese

general collapses and retires abroad, it is esiqu eite for him to write asking his opponent to take charge of it? troops. The arc rage Chinese soldier is perfectly indifferent for whom he a gats. The British Defence Force, "when bolding Shanghai ie 1927. r aj pestered by Chinese soldiers anxious to be enrolled in it. The weli-cared-for state of tne British soldier was highly tempting to the ragged myrmidons outside the barriers. Tier —ere quite prepared to shoot down their own count:;- men at the foreigners' - bidding. CHAIN"G TSO-LDCS AEMY. Bit there remain some GOG.OiX) or 7(fj/jyj men, by no means contemptible. Foremost is the Mancnurian armr fcnilt np by the late Dictator, Chang Tso-lin : 227.'»j men in 1 eng- ’ ties, the southern province. SI,(XX) in Kir-.n the central, and 57,000 m Heilungkiang, the northern. Cinema pictures of these troops, shown in Shanghai siz -ears ago, reveaied a Te.i-crul-ed. workmanlike, force, and ioreign military men who inspected it gave it a good name. Chang Tso-lin created an excellent arsenal at Mukden, sriih 100 foreign advisers, and experts, most of them still there, I believe, under the famous one-armed General Sot ton. a man of immense vitality and resourcefulness. On one occasion Chang asked him why his bombs were so much more expensive than those of a Chinese tce-n tendering. Sutton called in his rival, and offered to let him thro - * - bomb at- him fSutton), on condition that he might throw one of his bombs at the Chinese afterwards. The oner was hastily declined, and Chang Tso-lin * Unluckily the 3lakden arsenal is in Japanese hands. Eut ‘‘the young Marsha! IChang Eso-lin’s son) took most of the Fengtien army with nis into North China when be moved down to occupy Pekin a few months Chiang Kai-shek has about 250,(/W men, certainly above the average, and including a “model” division, used with much effect in last year's civil war, which was created by the 3Q German oSoers whom Chiang brought to Nanking in 1928, under the late Col. Bauer, Ludendorfi’s chief of ' stan. The German touch was plainly visibly in the well-planned campaign, which the 3V uhan rebellion in March, 1929. A few weeks later, Bauer, a most likeable man, died of smallpoz. HARDY MOUNTAINEERS. If all China unites against Japan, as she usualiy does against a ioreign foe, the compact little Shansi army of perhaps 60,090 hardy mountaineers, cheerful, alert, and fine marchers, would certainly fight vigorously. Inis force, created by the erstwhile “Model Governor” of Shansi, Yen Hsi-shan, is now commanded by Han 1 u-chu, one of China’s best generals. The arsenal at Taiyuaniu, the provincial capital, i 3 second only to Mukden’s, with mod; ern German machinery and a staff of foreign experts. Most picturesque of all is the private army, perhaps 30,000 men, of Feng Yu-hsiang, the famous Christian general. Though on. the losing side last Tear, Feng is believed to have this armr tucked away somewhere in the north-west. Most of them have been with him for years, and would fight for no one else. ... Feng’s enthusiasm for Christianity has waned in recent years, but at one time he used to baptise his men hv hundreds in a morning and preach t&em a daily sermon. He eats the same food, wears the same clothes, lives exactly like a private. _ He imposes iron discipline and is accompanied on his daily rounds by two executioners, ready for instant service. Feng has several “shock” units of picked men, armed with Mauser pistols and the old heavy Chinese sword, and intensively trained in physical exercises. Hand-to-hand they would be formidable. But how near yrould they ever get to the Japanese? j China’s arsenals are like her army | a large number, and much money has | been spent on foreign machinery, but only three or four of them are of any ! account. Of guns bigger than 75mm. ' j she has none. . But her best troops | are fairly well equipped with machine- ! guns and trench-mortars, which are

very popular with Chinese generals. The Nanking and Fengtien armies have a few tanks, bought from England and France. Nanking has recently been buying quite a number of aeroplanes. CHINA’S FEEBLE NAVY. Meanwhile China’s navy is so pitiable that one hardly dares mention it. Five cruisers of under 3000 tons, dating from 1893; 33 gunboats, of which the two newest were launched in 1918; four old destroyers, three or four training ships and an aircraft carrier. For want of money the ships are seldom docked, their bottoms are foul, their engines and boilers in poor repair. One second-class Japanese destroyer might make mincemeat of the lot. ’ The pathos of the thing is that several Chinese naval officers have been trained in British ships, and, though starved for funds, have done much to diffuse the right spirit among their fellows, and s-trive to make their old ships look smart. A fine specimen of this class was Admiral Tseng Yu-cheng, trained at Greenwich, a man immensely tall and broad and curiously like Lord Kitchener, who, with a handful of Marines, successfully held the arsenal outside Shanghai against vastly greater numbers of rebels in 1913. Two years later he was killed by a revolutionary bomb in the middle of Shanghai. Another much respected Chine M2 sailor is Admiral Sir Sah Chen-ping also trained at Greenwich and knighted by King Edward in 1910. He was one of the few who stood by the Manchu Emperor in the revolution of 1911. Now he lives in retirement in his native Foochow, which ha 3 produced hosts of good seamen. SOLDIERS’ COURAGE. It is a delusion to think that the

Chinese, because they appear timid in seme ways, and have been- so c-ften; defeated by much smaller forces, make, fed soldiers. The brawny fellows of ; snantung and Henan are as good material as any is the world. The old-Britiih-oSoeried Wei-hai-wei Regiment made a fine skraisg at the 1897 Jubilee. and did invaluable work with the; AlEed Expedition to Pekin in tne ] Boxer year. In recent crvE wars the carnage has been frightful, proving at least, the soldiers 5 courage. _ IIt is ail a question <A officers. With ; the vast majority the training has been as sketchy as their pay. A cap-, tain, when he gets it, receives S') dollars, say £4 1%. a me nth. The temptation to steal the men’s pav is irresst--, ibie. In peremal pluck and staying? power many of the Chines© troupe would give a good account of them-,; seines against the Japanese, tnougfi: how they are to get at them I co. not see. since transport is non— existent and railways too dilapidated to carry < them. But" of course, neither they, i nor siffi less the nary, would stand a chance. It would be sheer butchery to ; send them against the perfectly drill- < ed. eonipped and directed islanders.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MS19311207.2.94

Bibliographic details

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 6, 7 December 1931, Page 8

Word Count
1,306

CHINA'S BIG ARMY Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 6, 7 December 1931, Page 8

CHINA'S BIG ARMY Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 6, 7 December 1931, Page 8