Chinese War Horrors

Manawatu Times, Volume LIII, Issue 6631, 9 June 1928, Page 8 (Supplement)

Chinese War Horrors

QUICKLIME ROUTS BESEIGERS Battle for Walled Town “WHEN the history of the Chinese Civil War is written—ri supposing that it ever is!—the siege of Inchowfu will stand out as one of its most thrilling incidents.”

This statement was made to a representative of the “Sunday News” by a British Army transport officer just home on leave from China. Giving some interesting details in that part of the war in which his duties took him, the officer said; "Part of the forces were not badly armed or trained for'Celestials, and there were good men among them, but the majority did not, know what they were 'fighting for. It they did not get pay when it was due there was trouble, for a ‘Chink’ must have money to gamble with. . Russian “Hard Cases" “There were plenty of adventurers out there—the hardest cases that ever struck a trail, especially the Russians, and it was due to their schemes that the trouble started. One of the worst features of the war was when battalions deserted en bloc, and started campaigns on their own against peaceful citizens. "The methods employed by the rabble armies trained under Soviet adventurers are unprintable. It is almost impossible to conceive that human beings could perpetrate such outrages. There was no satisfying their lust. Victims of tender years were tracked and carried away from their parents in broad daylight, in public streets. “The troops rarely moved faster than the artillery, drawn by Oxen over roads that were built for nothing heavier than a rickshaw. At times heavy guns would sink in the road, and the whole force would stop to recover them. Behind the field guns came the handcarts carrying ammunition. “It was remarkable to see a force open fire. The order to halt would be given, and officers would race up and down the ranks like cats on hot bricks. At last the men would be mustered in some sort of European fashion. At long range they would blaze away at each other, with the back-sights of their rifles elevated to the fullest extent; then there would be a long lull to allow the ‘handcart squadron’ to retire for more ammunition. “Millions of shells fired during the revolution never exploded. Some were dummies, while others had their time fuses so regulated that they burst midway between the opposing forces. _ “At the 'assault on Inchowfu, inhabited by 90,000 people, the attacking forces were handicapped by the thick wall which surrounds the town for nearly four miles. Inchowfu is an isolated spot, some 60 miles from Tsingtan. The invading army camped on the outskirts of the town for over a month without making an impression on its walls with their biggest guns. “Then airplanes were sent for, and backward and forward they flew, day after day, dropping bombs. Fortunately, many of them failed to ex-

plode, but the dust they raised from the shattering of bamboo houses led the aviators to think that they had practically wiped out the population. Then the invaders constructed wide bamboo scaling ladders, which would hold four soldiers on each rung; but when these were placed against the big wall the raiders discovered they would not reach more than half way to the top. “Meanwhile, the defenders collected all the sacks they could find and filled them with quicklime. They emptied the sacks in the faces of the invaders. The result was appalling, .for as they looked upwards from hundreds of ladders the quicklime was showered down upon their faces. Ladders were emptied quicker than they were scaled! Killed Each Other “As the lime burned their eyes, men fell upon each other in heaps, roaring with pain. Then followed flights of poisoned arrows, and spears pierced their bodies until over 15,000 were slain. Thousands more were blinded, and ran in terror, discarding rifles and equipment. , / “It was the most disastrous combat in the history of the revolution, and, strangely enough, it was a triumph of mediaeval warfare over an army furnished with modern equipment, which goes to show that modern weapons in the hands of the untrained, are ap impediment rather than assistance. “There is much to be said for the bravery and fortitude of the townsfolk in withstanding the siege for a month. Their dead at the end of- the siege amounted to lesS than 1,000, including death from airplanes.” .