TEE DEFENCES OF CHINA.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1182, 24 October 1884, Page 3

TEE DEFENCES OF CHINA.

The following excellent article on the defensive force of China is extracted from the Hominy Post lr, ii certain that China has ma’e large parr-bases of war material since 1882. Krupp alone has supplied to the Chinese Govern nunt up to the en t of 1883 allege hj r 563 guns, rumy of them of heavy calibre, and inclu dug bed and mountain, siege, forties*, nauit defence, and ship's guns. The Chinese have also purchased guns of Arm, strong, amt small arms of Manser (in Germany) and the Steyr sin ,11 arms factory (in Austin). It is iquilly curtain that large q landties of war m itar'ial and arms have iieen imported from the Dnile I Stales, anil that fir the last half year China has been constant ya' uiing. At the sums time; and notwithstanding that th-Chinese Mibtay School, established in 181 at. Tientsin, is furnishing a cantinu ms supply of organising elements for the new array, China, as a matter of fact, does not yet possess an army organised throughout in accordance wi hj European notions, and which could cope with a Wi-stem enemy. MODERN' REORGANISATION. Compue I with ihe scare •■£ ner military fo cas in 1860, however, rhe.army of China hj is va tl> improve I, mo e cspeci illy as regards its us- for coast pefeiioe. The ‘’armed mob"—to use an expression app ied in 'he war of 1870 71 to the French M mile guar is -s-whi-b the Chin ee Gov roraenthive kept up for some yea s on the Rus iau fr.uitiers in the north and west, and which have be,-n assembled since the beginning of 1883 on the i onquiu frontier in the south of the great empire—are without proper tactcil organisation, are not u lifortned and arme I al ke, and do not possess a staff and an administration adapted to modern require aunts. STRENGTH OF THE ARMT. But, asaOme oin.ed ona beginning b is been m ule in the reorganisation of the Chinese a my, and the Government are now said to have at their disposal three fairly organised armies i-l o e alion, each from 30,000 to 40.000 s'rong, besides ■mother lorce of about 12 :.000 men, which fmm be garrisons of the i.iue imp -riant cities. At a pinch, therefore, if the French w n> to make up their mala for a march on Pekin, China wnul I ne ab!a to oppose to lb m between Tientsin an-' the capital 150 00> Hoops, fairly well drill d and armed wi hmo ern weapons. We know for certain that the P kin Government cone nitrated in 1883 an army corpse of 40 001 men at Ganton, and it is probably iho»e troops which will be employe I in the campaign in the sooth. They posse s a certain degree of organisation i.nd tactical f tion, and contrast favorably with also in equipment and training wi hj the rest of the Chinese forces. Unorganised »s the great bulk of the army of China siiT is, it has this advantage, hj waver, over an eroe i tiouary corps, that those mobs at armed men will be readily replenished in ihecoun ti-v itself even after the most disastrous defeats.

COAST DEFENCES. 1' is more easy toubia;u reliable particulars respecting the preparations that have been made for the protection of the coast of Ch.ua, and which form a decided advance in her defences. In accordance with , her geographical and political srnation, and pro tiling by the experience of 1833 and 1860, China hag concentrated her principal atten« tions upon tue di fences of her cows, notably those near the capital. In this branch nothing that existed had to be removed, nothing overthrown that had been long established. Not even passive resistance hail to be met, and, consequently, much could be performed. Tne fitness of the Chinese for coasting navigation and their general inclination were in favor of the undertaking. An enemy will not now land so easily on Chinese territory and march - noon Pekin. He will have to defeit a string coast fleet, wed equipped and heavily anne I, which consists of thirty-two Kurnp -an gunboats with guns of the heaviest calibre ; he will have to meet torpedo wirfare which is abreast of the latest inventions and improvements in that science ; he will finally have to taka the forts which have arisen at tha principal, ports, and ctuvfl-y ia the Golf of Pi> choice and at

Canton, and which are Mot; constantly extended amt equipped with all the- mentis of defence of ths present dayi such as ii onoiad towers. Armstrong a id Krupp guns...

THE IMVKR BATTERIES Regarding the coast defences of China, the following may lie aided to what.has albeen st ted. At the mouth if the Peiho there are the Taku Ports. They extend' as far north along the coast as to the Lmgho (Pehtang), and along the Feibo as far as Tientsin. They are constructed and armed on the German principle. In the .Southern po-t’on of the Gulf of Po-ohe-les, a fleet staiiou bus been constructed at Lai-obnw, and is defended by three forte; At the mouth of th« Yang tee»Kungcoast batteries have been erected from Ohio Kiangus far as Woong sung, and at that of the N astung. Kiang (Min Kiang) at Foochow. Canton is defended by the two forts of Dutch Polly (south) and French Polly (east). The en trance to the canal syatent (if the Si Kiang an I Chu Kiang is covered by tbs fire of numerous catteries, constructed on islands or p’-nj iObing rocks. The new fortifications of Shaiuchai-Chwang, the point where the Great Wall of China touches the Gulf of Pe-chelee, were begun recen ly, THE STRENGTH OF THE BWY. The officers and troops defen img, with the navy, the coast include the best Chinese and European e'ements of the array of Pekin, the first Chinese force reorganised by Li Hung Chang, In giving a list of the l Chinese navy we ne-d not include the two ironclad corvettes, Ting Yuen and Cheng Yuen, an I the ironclad ram cruiser TsiYueu, which are stilt in German waters, and consequently out of the sphere of action ; nor, for the same reason, the two corvettes of l,8i)0 tons displacement each, building at Riel, We may also leave out of the reckon ing the two iionclads in the arsenal of Pi-o chow, one equipping and the other building, and which have probably hy this time been taken or destroyed bv the French. Excluing these seven vessels, the Chinese navy consists of two ironclal ram cruisers (the YaUg Q toi and Cha > Yong), two unarmored cruisers, two frigates, three avisos, one armored gunboit, three api-o gunboats, tweinyeight gunboats, one floating bat ery, seventeen transports, and three excise steamers, carrying together ’ 277 guns and twenty mitrailleuses. The Chinese navy consist of four divisions—the Foochow fleet, (now partly destroyed), the Shanghai fleet, the Canton fleet, and the vessels for the Peiho and the Northern coasts of China. There are besides eleven torpedo boats one for spar torpedoes, two for spar and fish torpedoes, four for fish torpedoes only, and four of the same class attacned to ironclads. “THE BLACK XLAO* ” Although a, well known fact, it should be added here, as included in the defensive forces of China, that the Black Flags- a force which oiiginated in the Taiping Rebellion (Suid, 18(H). and which consisted at first of fugitives from that rising whore-, treated into Tonquin—now form welcome auxiliaries of the Chinese army. Th-y have been fighti g hitherto, as circumstances demanded, either against the Annaiiii'e Go vernment or the Fr. aoh, and are recruited by Chinese deserters or foreign adventurers The Black Pla.s, as recent events have shown, are a well organised ' body, armed wi'h Remingtons and possessing breech loadiiu-guns.. In the impending hnstili ies they wid form \ most valuable avant garde, being mostly veto-ana.