SUCCESS OF THE BRITISH TROOPS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2626, 13 July 1904, Page 19

SUCCESS OF THE BRITISH TROOPS.

BOMBAY, July 4.

Colonel Younghusband frankly warned the Thibetan delegates that the British were perfectly ready to anarch to Lhassa, while a second army was at Chumba ready to regarrison Gyangt&e, and a third on the frontier ready to regarrison Chumba.

July 6.

The Thibetan delegate are afraid to take the responsibility of evacuating GyangtEe and Jong lest the Dalai Lama should decapitate them, but are apparently willing to resume negotiations if Jong is captured. Hostilities will therefore be resumed at the expiration of the armistice, the Thibetans not having replied to Colonel Younghusband's demands. j July 7.

Seven thousand Thibetans attempted a gallant defence of the Jong. Three columns advanced in the darkness, explosions announcing their progress, but even the roofs were crowded with Thibetans, volleying and impeding the attack.

Lieutenant Gordon, of the 32nd Pioneers was killed while leading one storming party.

After establishing their positions, the columns fought from house to house, being stubbornly opposed. When m possession of the southern fringe of houses an ineffectual attempt was made to cany the main gate of the Jong, but it was found to be too strongly defended, despite well-directed support from the guns. The climax of the fighting occurred in the afternoon. A heavy fire was directed on a spot on the extreme east of the Jong, 160 ft above the plain. The ramparts slowly crumbled under the terrific ihail of shell and bullets, the wind blowing the fragments in a continual cloud.

At one moment the Thibetans developed a counter-attack, and a heavy bombardment lasting 90 minutes against the British right flank followed. The British casualties were small. Clearing * .the Jong is proceeding.

The Times' correspondent at Gyangtse says that the conduct of the troops must impress the Thibetans. He adds •that all concerned in the day's exploit deserve the fullest credit for carrying through a carefully-considered and "beautifully-executed scheme against one of „ the strongest fortified places in Central asia, when a successful and rapid operation was essential to the .work awaiting Colonel Younghusband's onission .

The Daily Mail's correspondent says that the troops' achievement compares .With that of our men at Dargai. Three Ghourkas were killed in the attack on the Jong, while four officers, three British privates, and 20 Sepoys were wounded. The Thibetans' loss was heavy.

July 8. The sappers destroyed the fortifications of the Jong. The Thibetan delegates Tongsa and Penlop congratulated , Colonel Younghusband on his victory. The whereabouts of the delegates is unknown. Tong^a's messengers are searching for them. They are authorised to announce that Colonel Younghusband is willing to treat with them provided they return within a reasonable time. I

The head lama of Gyangtse admits that £10,000 was expended on the jong. July 10.

Four additional officers, including Lieutenant Bowden Smith, were wounded at the attack on the Thibetan jong on the 6th. The mounted infantry overtook 400 Thibetans, inflicting some loss upon them. Dangtse, which the column reached • on Friday, was entered unopposed. The monastery, together with the rest of Gyangtse, was occupied on the 7th without resistance. Ihe villagers are returning.

July 11.

The mounted troops discovered 14 miles beyond Dangtse a deserted jong almost as large as that at Gyangtse. Tongsa Penlop, the ruling Minister of Bhutan, has advised the Dalai Lama to come to terms.

LONDON, July 6

The Times' correspondent at Gyangise reports that three of General Macdonald's columns were operating before ■dawn against a dense mass of houses at the foot of the eastern slope of the Jong. •A seven-pounder was used to clear a passage from house to hou^e. It was ; intended at daylight to utilise the guns I stationed halfway to Palla and from the , Ohourka post to clear the face of the ' rock preparatory to an assault on the Jong. Twelve hundred troops will he engaged. The enemy's position has- been strengthened by the construction of fresh sangars.

July 7.

Colonel Younghusband, at the close "©{ the armistice, warned the Thibetan delegates to leave the fort and remove ' the women. The notice was disregarded. ' An explosion of gunpowder in the Thibetan magazine at 4 o'clock near the point of the attack helped operations at Gyangt'e, and must have killed many £11 the Jong. 4 coag^tfjjted lire proved.

T successful, and, the wall crumbling to its fall, the po&ition was practically ■ abandoned. The Ghourkas, with reinj forcements of Pioneers, climbed an I almost precipitous ascent to the breach, the Thibetans still frantically firing volleys and throwing down torrents of stones. One knocked Lieutenant Grant, leading the Bth Ghourkas, off his feet. He quickly recovered himself, and he was the first man over the breach. Scaling the slope prior to that incident was accomplished under a magnificent covering fire from the guns, which continued their work until the last possible moment over the heads of the troops. Then the various companies climbed the rocks slowly, and forced their way over the breach. The task was a difficult one even if it , had been unopposed.