THE CHINESE ARMIES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3658, 28 June 1927, Page 4

THE CHINESE ARMIES.

HOW THE SOLDIERS SHOOT.

NOTORIOUSLY POOR MARKSMEN.

Some remarks on the calibre of the Chinese soldiery were made in an interview in Dunedin this week by the Rev. G. W. Shepherd, of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, who is on a holiday visit to New Zealand. Mr. Shepherd said that the Russian military adviser of the Nation alist general, Chiang Kai-shek, who conducted the attack on Nauchang, told him that the Northerners were much better trained men than the Southerners, but were purely mercenary troops. The Southern Nationalists possessed a morale that the Northerners could not hope to secure, because theirs was a na-tion-wide programme, and they constituted the only party that gave any hope for the future. “Though there has been a considerable amount of talk about the 'improvement in Chinese military efficiency, I can assure you that they are far behind any Western nation,” said Mr. Shepherd. “The Chinese cannot understand high explosives and cannot cope with the steel walls of the barrage that can be put up by the shell-fire of the warships. His is guerilla warfare. There is a big arsenal at Shanghai, but the quality of the arms issued to the troops is not good. On one occasion an escort of six soldiers conducted us past a spot where the bandits wore said to be hidden. Following the military custom, of the country, they were ordered to fire one or two shots in the air as a threat, but not one of the six rifles would explode. They had been recently issued from the arsenal. “Many of our people owe their lives to the fact that the Chinese soldiers on both sides are notoriously poor marksmtn. Friends of mine were shot at from a distance of only 25 yards, yet their assailant missed. On the occasion of the siege of the mission at Nanking, an American marine stood on a wall in full view of the Nationalist soldiers for three minutes while he signalled for help to the British and American warships. He was fired at by 100 soldiers, but not ono managed to hit him. Plucky? Yes, of course he was, but that was his job, and the barrage that followed •his signal saved the lives of the people inside.”