Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 113

In Yuan Shikai's view, this was a repeat of the methods used in Wuhan to force the Beiyang government and the Later Ming dynasty to break with each other. He laughed angrily at the time and said to his confidants, "Do these young men in Wuhan think I'm a monkey? Time and time again, it's never going to end. I'll let them into the city and see if they can actually take back the Russian embassy..."

Although Yuan Shikai refused to fall for Wuhan's provocation, he also forbade Wuhan to send a large force of troops into Beijing. After all, the foreign powers only had two or three thousand troops in Beijing, and Russia had only three or four hundred troops stationed there. Therefore, he believed that sending one or two battalions from Wuhan would be enough. However, he also had his own ideas about Wuhan. If it provoked a protest from the diplomatic corps, Wuhan would bear full responsibility for it.

Wuhan did indeed only send one battalion, but it was equipped with machine guns and artillery, with a total strength of about 1500 men. Such a force was indeed able to contend with the forces of the foreign powers stationed in Beijing. However, it also made Cao Kun's troops stationed in the capital feel somewhat threatened. Cao Kun was very worried that this force would not attack the Legation Quarter in the end, but instead stay and be stationed in Beijing. He did not know what to do then.

However, before Cao Kun and Xu Shichang could reach a conclusion, on the third day after entering the city, Qin Lishan, in the name of the National Assembly, delivered a third ultimatum to the diplomatic corps, informing them that the Chinese army would enter from the west entrance of Dongjiaomin Lane at 9:00 a.m. on September 17 and then proceed to take over the Russian embassy and Russian barracks, requesting that the diplomatic corps' guards clear the way to avoid unnecessary conflict.

The Russian minister also received an ultimatum: Russian diplomats and troops were required to assemble at the barracks parade ground that day, gather their personal belongings, and after the handover, they could proceed to Tianjin with their belongings and then board a ship to Yingkou. The parliament warned the Russians that if resistance occurred during the handover, they would lose their diplomatic privileges and be considered adversaries, in which case the Chinese army would treat them with hostility.

Upon hearing that Qin Lishan had issued an ultimatum to the diplomatic corps in the name of Congress, Tang Shaoyi immediately rushed to see Xu Shichang and emphasized, "What Congressman Qin is doing is not in accordance with international law. If the diplomatic corps rejects Congress's ultimatum and a conflict occurs during the reception process, it will lead to a serious diplomatic incident. We cannot afford to make the fool of declaring war on all nations."

Since the Boxer Rebellion, Qing Dynasty officials had adopted an ironclad rule: "There are no small matters in diplomacy." Anything involving foreigners, no matter how minor, could escalate into a major problem. Therefore, avoiding conflict with foreigners became the first principle for Qing officials. Xu Shichang naturally understood this principle, and thus he refused to participate in negotiations with the diplomatic corps, leaving the task of dealing with foreigners to Qin Lishan and the National Assembly.

Although the Qing Dynasty had previously transformed the Zongli Yamen (Office of Foreign Affairs) into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, making it the head of the Six Ministries, this was entirely due to coercion from the foreign powers. While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs appeared to hold a high position, its actual work was thankless and arduous. If it genuinely served the foreigners, it would damage its reputation; if it shirked its responsibilities to foreigners, it would lose its position due to their complaints. Therefore, officials serving in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were like rats in a bellows—suffering from both sides.

After the National Assembly eliminated the Western Party, the Beiyang government was interested in other government departments, but not the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, because they did not want to be caught in the middle between foreigners and the National Assembly. Unlike before, when serving foreigners would only result in public criticism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was now completely supervised by the National Assembly. If it did not perform well, it would be punished. Even people like Tang Shaoyi, who had studied abroad, dared not take over.

By this time, the Beiyang clique had increasingly become a military-political alliance of a modern military group and overseas-educated bureaucrats. The formation of this alliance was, in fact, based on political reform. From a certain perspective, the Beiyang clique was like a combination of the successors of the Hunan and Huai cliques and the remnants of the Westernization Movement and the Reform Movement.

The military group represented by Yuan Shikai needed the banner of political reform to rally popular support and find a direction for the Beiyang clique. The reformists, in turn, needed the support of a powerful military group to turn their political agenda into reality. Therefore, on the issue of combating the political system of the Manchu nobility and the clique of the Qing dynasty, the Beiyang civilian faction, represented by Tang Shaoyi, strongly advocated cooperation with Wuhan. Only by overthrowing these political conservatives could they seize central power and implement their long-held political ideals.

However, the Beiyang reformists, centered around the young students sent to the United States, pursued a political ideal of transforming China and making it a part of the world order, not a destroyer of it. Even if the current world order was harmful to China, they still believed it was due to China's backwardness, not the world order itself being flawed.

This is clearly an unacceptable diplomatic ideology and flawed political concept for Wuhan. Wuhan maintains that the current world order is problematic, and China can accept a portion of reality, not because we endorse this world order, but because we are powerless to resist it. Given any opportunity, China should unite with the people of the world to overthrow this reactionary imperialist order under the global colonial system.

Because the two sides could not reach an agreement on diplomatic ideas, Qin Lishan took over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the name of the National Assembly, instead of finding someone familiar with international law to lead the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Xu Shichang suggested.

Due to Qin Lishan's opposition, Tang Shaoyi was unable to take over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He himself also refused to accept the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the leadership of the National Assembly, because he believed that diplomacy was a professional field and that laymen should not be allowed to instruct diplomats. The reason he supported the purge of the Empress Dowager Cixi's faction was that they did not understand diplomacy at all and had turned the Ministry of Foreign Affairs into the office of the foreign powers' legations.

This time, Qin Lishan's issuance of such a diplomatic proclamation in the name of the National Assembly, which was so contrary to international order, gave Tang Shaoyi an even bigger headache. In his view, Wuhan could not represent the central government. Although Wuhan had taken the lead in overthrowing the outwardly strong but inwardly weak post-party politics, since a National Assembly was to be convened, a new central government should naturally be formed according to democratic principles. How could Wuhan be allowed to speak for itself? If trouble was caused, the whole country would suffer, not just Wuhan.

Although Xu Shichang agreed with Tang Shaoyi's words, he was unwilling to step forward now. He said to Tang Shaoyi, "Let's wait a bit longer. If we step in to stop it now, we might end up pleasing neither side. We can't bear the foreigners' accusations, and we'll have to take the blame from the people. On the other hand, Wuhan did nothing, but it became a national hero."

Tang Shaoyi opened his mouth but couldn't speak, because he realized that Xu Shichang was right. If the Beiyang government intervened at this time, the people would only think that the Beiyang government was servile to foreigners, and would not think that Wuhan was too reckless, because people didn't understand what international law was, and would only judge who was going against the foreigners based on their own position.

According to the Boxer Protocol, the Legation Quarter in Dongjiaomin Lane was entirely under the jurisdiction of the police of the various legations. The Imperial River, flowing from north to south, divided Dongjiaomin Lane into two areas, east and west. The eastern area was the legation quarter of seven countries: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Japan, and France. These seven countries formed a unified committee to manage the eastern area, completely excluding Chinese sovereignty.

The western district housed embassies of Britain, the United States, Russia, and the Netherlands, but no unified committee was established. However, the Qing government's sovereignty was excluded, and all street affairs were managed by the embassies. All government offices, residences, and temples within the embassy district were razed to the ground, and barracks and Western-style buildings were constructed on the new sites. Chinese were forbidden from purchasing land or buildings within the embassy district, and Chinese carriages were also prohibited from entering.

The entire embassy district was surrounded by a wall with eight steel gates at the entrances, and a moat outside the wall, making it look more like a fortress than an embassy district. Notices were posted at each gate: "Residents, do not cross this border; those who disobey will be shot."

Because the southern part of the embassy district is close to the inner city wall, the diplomatic corps simply extended the embassy district to the inner city wall, including the Zhengyangmen gate tower, which is the eastern part of the city wall, within the embassy district's cordon, and prohibited Chinese troops from patrolling the city wall.

Thus, the rule that Han Chinese who dared to climb the city wall to spy on the inner city during the Qing Dynasty would be beheaded was changed when foreigners occupied the Zhengyangmen gate tower, which was the city wall, allowing Han Chinese to freely climb the inner city wall to view the scenery of Beijing's inner city.

At approximately 8:00 AM on September 17th, a group of Chinese troops attempted to ascend the Zhengyangmen city wall, but the American soldiers stationed there refused them entry. The leading Chinese officer negotiated with the Americans while instructing his men to disperse. Both sides maintained restraint and avoided escalating the conflict. However, gunfire erupted from the western entrance of Dongjiaomin Lane below the wall, and the American soldiers on Zhengyangmen nervously pulled their triggers. A bullet wounded the negotiating Chinese officer, and the Chinese troops below immediately launched an attack, throwing several grenades onto the wall.

The Americans were completely unprepared for battle. Although they brought a lot of heavy weapons, they did not place them on the city walls. The Chinese troops that came to take over Zhengyangmen were elite troops who had fought against the Russian army several times. They knew very well what the purpose of the battle was, and they were prepared for battle before they appeared here.

The Americans quickly gave up surrendering. In addition to an American platoon, there were Dutch and French soldiers stationed at Zhengyangmen and on the city wall. However, after seeing the grenade explosion, these Dutch and French soldiers gave up resistance and only expressed their protest verbally. Wu Cheng, the company commander who was in charge of occupying the Zhengyangmen tower and city wall, said that he could not understand their language and asked them to lay down their weapons and come downstairs with the American soldiers.

After clearing the foreign troops from the city wall, Wu Cheng finally had time to pay attention to the battle taking place below the city. The American barracks was located on the south side of the western end of Dongjiaomin Lane, below the city wall on the east side of Zhengyangmen Gate Tower. This was also the reason why the US military wanted to occupy this section of the city wall, because standing on the city wall would allow them to control the entire US embassy district.

To the east of the American embassy district was the Dutch embassy district, to the north of which was the Russian embassy district, and to the north of the American embassy district was the French hospital. Entering from the west entrance of Dongjiaomin Lane, one only needed to walk a short distance to reach the Russian embassy district. However, for some reason, the Americans intervened and blocked their way. Wu Cheng ordered machine guns and mortars to be carried onto the city wall while he consulted with Battalion Commander Zhu Zilong about his next mission.

Chapter 400 The Battle of Dongjiaomin Lane (Part 2)

After a gunfight broke out at the western entrance of Dongjiaomin Lane, Qin Lishan, who had been observing from the Great Qing Gate, finally calmed down. He said to those around him, "Our military force still hasn't deterred the diplomatic corps. They always seem to want to test our resolve. Battalion Commander Zhu, I authorize you to repel the enemy obstructing my entry into Dongjiaomin Lane, but do not attack civilian residences or the embassy buildings..."

Qin Lishan's original intention was that since the diplomatic corps wanted Wuhan to show its determination, then let them show their determination. Therefore, he was unwilling to escalate the battle and only targeted the diplomatic corps' guards who were blocking the Chinese army's advance. He had no intention of pursuing the guards who had retreated into the embassy and civilian residences. He thought that the diplomatic corps' guards, who were inferior in number and weaponry, would give up resistance and then turn into a diplomatic negotiation. He was mentally prepared for this.

The Boxer Protocol only stipulated that Dongjiaomin Lane be designated as the Legation Quarter, where Chinese people were not allowed to reside, and that foreign countries could station troops there. However, it did not grant the legation guards the power to prevent Chinese troops from entering. As long as the Chinese troops did not directly attack the legations or civilians, diplomatic wrangling would suffice.

In his view, the British, French, Germans, and Japanese would never risk a bloody conflict with China over this; if they did, they wouldn't have waited until now. As for the Russians, the two sides were already at war, and the other countries were not considered major powers by China's standards; he didn't believe China couldn't afford to offend them.

However, he underestimated the arrogance of the imperialists. They opened the western entrance to Dongjiaomin Lane, but the Americans, who had retreated into the embassy, ​​launched an attack on the Chinese army from the buildings facing the street. The American embassy district was located on the south side of the western entrance, and these buildings along the street acted like small fortresses, blocking the Chinese army's passage. It was clear that without attacking the American embassy district, it was impossible to pass through the western entrance.

Faced with the military's request for instructions, Qin Lishan gazed at the distant barracks of the American embassy district, pondering for a long time before speaking slowly and deliberately: "Deliver a new ultimatum to the diplomatic corps. Since the Russian garrison has abandoned the goodwill ultimatum we offered, from this moment forward, all Russians are no longer under diplomatic protection. Regarding the Russian garrison's actions of kidnapping the American minister and attacking the French hospital against our troops, we believe this exceeds the protection clauses of the Hague Agreement. Therefore, from this moment forward, Russian armed personnel are also no longer under the protection of the Hague Agreement. We will first rescue the innocent civilians and diplomatic officials kidnapped in the French hospital and the American embassy district..."

After receiving the new orders, Zhu Zilong immediately went down to make arrangements. For him, a battle with restrictions always made him feel uncomfortable. If there were safe zones on the battlefield, then the battle could not be fought. Now that Qin Lishan had given him free rein, he naturally rushed down to convey the orders in order to prevent the other party from going back on their word.

Unlike the army of the Qing Dynasty, the military commanders of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army did not need to consider any unspoken rules. Their political discipline and military objectives were clear. As long as they acted within this clear scope, the consequences would be borne by the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee and the Party, not by the personnel who specifically commanded the army.

For generals who cannot independently bear the risks and responsibilities, the final outcome will only be a disastrous battle like the Boxer Rebellion's siege of the Legation Quarter, because the higher-ups have no intention of breaking with the foreign powers, so the lower-ups will just fire shots into the sky to get by.

The Americans clearly had some misunderstanding, thinking they could replicate the miracle of 1900. In fact, the American soldiers launched a firm obstruction against the Chinese army. The American minister, John Rockhill, was not entirely clear about this. He always thought the Chinese were attacking the American embassy and that the American soldiers were actively defending it. Therefore, he kept contacting ministers of various countries to inquire about the meaning of the Chinese army's attack on the legation quarter.

Until the Chinese sent their latest ultimatum, as a linguist and sinologist, Rocky could certainly understand the contents of the ultimatum. He angrily pointed out to the members of the diplomatic corps: "This is simply a distortion of the facts. They attacked the embassy district first, and then attacked the American embassy. How could Russians have entered the American embassy and attacked the Chinese? Do these Chinese really treat international law as a piece of waste paper?"

However, apart from the Russians, the ministers from other countries remained silent. Even the Japanese minister, who had previously advocated for maintaining international order, had no intention of responding to the anger of the American minister, because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' previous statement had been unanimously refuted by the Army and Navy at home.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs continued to follow the direction of British diplomacy in its foreign policy, prioritizing the defense of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. Therefore, it made contradictory statements regarding the Chinese intention to reclaim the Russian embassy and leased territories. However, for the army and navy, while the Anglo-Japanese Alliance was important, the Chinese containment of Russia was also a necessary condition for achieving final victory.

After Japan joined the war, the fighting on the Sino-Russian front eased considerably. Although Russia had to urgently redeploy its troops from northern Manchuria to southern Manchuria, the Russian defenses were riddled with weaknesses under the pincer attack from both the north and south by Japan and China. Therefore, Japan needed China to exert greater pressure on the Russian army, rather than allowing China to doubt Japan's intentions in joining the war.

The Foreign Ministry's attempt to maintain international order was tantamount to revealing Japan's postwar ambitions. By disclosing its ambitions to the Chinese before even defeating Russia, wasn't it giving the Chinese an excuse to make peace with Russia? Therefore, when the Japanese minister to China reported his statement back to the country, he was severely reprimanded by the cabinet.

Faced with pressure from home, the Japanese minister dared not overly defend the interests of the mission this time. Moreover, there are already many contradictions between Japan and the United States. Japan is trying to control the North Pacific, but the United States is constantly undermining this. It's just that Japan has greater interests on the East Asian continent, so the two sides have not escalated the conflict.

The conflict between the Chinese and Americans is actually a good thing for Japan. According to data collected by Japanese diplomats in China last year and this year, China's four largest trading partners are the UK, Germany, the US, and Japan. Last year, the UK ranked first with $7500 million in trade, Germany second with $7400 million, and the US and Japan each had trade volumes of around $4000 million, with the US slightly higher.

From the Japanese perspective, Japan is the closest country to China, therefore Japan should naturally have some special interests in China that surpass those of other countries, just as the United States considers South America its backyard, China should also be Japan's backyard. However, Japan is not currently reaping the greatest benefits in China, which greatly displeases the Japanese.

Japan wouldn't dare to provoke established powers like Britain and Germany, but it felt it still held an advantage in East Asia over an American nation, a former British colony. The worse the relationship between China and the United States, the more advantageous it would be for Japan.

The impromptu meeting of the diplomatic corps did not exceed Qin Lishan's expectations. For various reasons, Britain, France, Germany, and Japan remained unwilling to declare the Chinese army's attack on the legation quarter as an act of war against these countries. While other smaller nations made loud pronouncements, they could offer no substantial support to Russia and the United States beyond expressing their solidarity.

As a result, a split occurred within the diplomatic corps. After much deliberation, the British minister concluded that negotiations with the Chinese should be initiated first, prioritizing the safety of civilians in the legation quarter and disarming areas such as the hospital and the Six Nations Hotel in exchange for the Chinese army not attacking these peaceful areas.

The British proposal essentially betrayed the Americans, because it was the British who had initially declared their intention to use force to prevent Chinese troops from entering the embassy district, and it was also the British who fired the first shots at the Chinese troops. But now that the fighting had actually begun, the British had backed down. The Americans were furious about this, because while the British could withdraw, the American embassy district was right at the western entrance, and now that the Chinese were directly attacking the American embassy, ​​how could they possibly reach a peace agreement with the Chinese?

Just as Rockefeller was filled with resentment, the American Legation Quarter was under heavy attack by the Chinese army. The U.S. Army was essentially a colonial force composed of militia. In their battles against Native Americans, Mexicans, and Filipinos, they demonstrated how an army supported by industrial power could crush an army of an agricultural nation. However, they nearly capsized when facing the Spanish.

However, the U.S. Army failed to grasp this point. Overjoyed by its victory over Spain, the U.S. Army believed it too deserved a place in the world. At this time, the American and Japanese sentiments were not so different; a new imperialist expansionist mentality also dominated within the U.S. Army.

Therefore, when the U.S. Army suppressed the Filipino uprising in the Philippines, it completely disregarded international law and treated the Filipinos like Native Americans. When the U.S. joined the Allied forces in the invasion of China in 1900, the U.S. Army was far more proactive than the U.S. government, and their conduct during the war was no better than that of the Russians. Newspapers of the major powers even acknowledged that the Japanese had the best military discipline among the Eight-Nation Alliance.

Therefore, while American soldiers weren't the first to fire when preventing Chinese troops from entering the embassy district, they quickly became the main force in the battle. This was because American soldiers didn't believe the Chinese had any fighting ability; before joining the army, the Chinese they saw in America were the most timid and cowardly laundry workers.

If we disregard combat organization, these American soldiers' marksmanship was indeed above average, given that Americans learn to shoot from a young age. This initially inflicted considerable casualties on the Red Army, but the situation immediately reversed after Qin Lishan unleashed his troops' full potential.

The Red Army soldiers stationed on Zhengyang Tower and the east side of the city wall had a commanding view of the entire American embassy district. However, they had not received orders to fire on the American embassy district until they received the order. The Red Army soldiers on the city wall immediately blocked the passageways between the buildings in the American embassy district and took control of several artillery positions in the American barracks.

Meanwhile, the French hospital quickly raised white and red cross flags, indicating its unwillingness to get involved in the fighting. After Zhu Zilong ordered a platoon to take control of the French hospital, they began suppressive fire on the American embassy's street-facing buildings through the hospital windows, and then began a house-to-house clearing operation. Compared to the Americans, the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was much more experienced in urban street fighting, especially since they carried the best weapon for clearing rooms—hand grenades. Simply opening a door and throwing a grenade into a room would instantly stop any resistance inside.

The Americans were quickly overwhelmed by the combined grenade and sniping tactics employed, especially after the passageways between buildings were blocked. They could only hear the continuous explosions coming from neighboring buildings, but were powerless to do anything about it. American soldiers huddled inside rooms were killed or rendered incapable of resistance by grenade shrapnel before they could even see the enemy.

The military attaché at the U.S. Legation in China could only report to Rockhill that they were unable to stop the Chinese offensive. The Chinese were now focusing their attacks on the U.S. Legation, and had even stopped attacking the Russian legation quarter. If they didn't manage to make contact with the Chinese, the entire U.S. Legation garrison would be wiped out.

Chapter 401 Sino-US Relations

Hubu Street, the western boundary of the embassy district, is an extremely wide avenue located east of the Thousand-Step Corridor. At the western entrance of Dongjiaomin Lane stands the newly built French Hospital, the tallest building in the vicinity, a three-story structure with a half-story sloping roof. The sloping roof houses an attic with windows leading out onto the roof. The hospital has east and west wings, and its facade is remarkably wide.

The south and west sides of the hospital were the parade grounds of the American barracks. There were no buildings there, only a brick wall and iron fence about half a person's height separating the barracks from the street. However, looking down from the west wing of the hospital, the view was unobstructed. In addition, Zhengyangmen was right behind the barracks, so the American blocking positions here were quickly broken up.

Across from the hospital’s main entrance is the two-story U.S. military headquarters. To the west of the headquarters is the U.S. Embassy Hospital, and to the east is the embassy’s office building for daily affairs. This row of buildings are all two-story brick and tile buildings with pitched roofs, and they are just a head shorter than the hospital across the street. However, there are not one but three buildings here. The headquarters is in front, and the buildings on both sides are behind. The width of the office building is one-third longer than the two buildings on the west side combined.

To the east of the office building is the main gate of the US embassy district. To its south are two single-story residential buildings with connecting corridors running north-south; these were the barracks for the US military. East of the main gate is a garden; facing the street to the north is the ambassador's residence, to the west of the small garden is the secretariat, and to the east are the advisors' residences. North of the ambassador's residence and east of the hospital is a courtyard complex, formerly the site of the Ministry of Rites.

Because the layout of the US embassy was so clear, Zhu Zilong gave the troops on the city wall the order to use the main gate of the US embassy as the dividing line. All personnel west of the main gate were to be considered armed and were not restricted from attack. However, personnel east of the main gate were not to be shot at, and the use of machine guns and mortars on the east side was strictly prohibited.

The US military quickly realized this during the battle. They desperately dragged the wounded across the main entrance and placed them on the open ground, where at least they could provide medical assistance. On the west side, even hiding inside buildings was not safe.

Unable to endure the Chinese's house-clearing tactic with grenades, an American soldier jumped from a second-floor window. He frantically shouted to his comrades who came to his rescue, "Those Chinese want to kill us all! That damned Captain Pete, may he be dead from the Chinese bombs..."

Captain Pete was the one who issued the order to prevent the Chinese from entering the embassy district. Initially, the American soldiers thought it was a hunting game, just like their game of hunting insurgents in the Philippines. The Filipinos lacked weapons, and the US military's operations against the Filipino insurgents were no different from hunting.

However, in this battle, the American soldiers realized that they were the ones being hunted. At this point, they no longer resented the Chinese they were fighting, but their own commander who had started the war, because this fool had turned them into prey for the Chinese.

Although the American soldiers cursed their foolish commanders, they did not abandon their duty to resist the Chinese attack. Even Wang Han, who led the attack, admitted this. In his post-war report to his superiors, he said, "...The Americans may not be as obedient as the Russians, but their enthusiasm in battle is much stronger. In urban combat, individual initiative is obviously more important than obedience. They caused us a lot of trouble and also made us understand our many shortcomings in urban warfare."

That's the theory, but in the later stages of the battle, the initially somewhat clumsy Red Army quickly developed a simple and clear tactic for clearing inside buildings. Combat teams of three to five soldiers were formed: one controlled the environment, one kicked down doors, one threw grenades or fired, and the rest provided support.

The Americans trapped inside would often open fire wildly when the door was broken down, but they would almost never hit anyone except to reveal their own position. The next step would be a grenade thrown into the house from the doorway. Apart from a few Americans who reacted quickly and jumped out of the window to save their lives, almost everyone else was either killed or seriously injured. Some were lucky enough to hide behind a thick sofa or wooden table and escape unscathed.

When Rockay was brought before Qin Lishan at the Great Qing Gate, the sounds of resistance from the American embassy had almost ceased. Only the occasional explosions reminded the American minister that the Chinese were still attacking the American embassy.

With a stern expression, he rebuked Qin Lishan, "Is your side planning to provoke a war between China and the United States? To launch an attack on the embassy of a sovereign nation like this, it seems your country has not yet learned the lesson from the Boxer Rebellion."

Qin Lishan silently observed the American for a while before calmly replying, "No, we did not attack your embassy. We were merely rescuing American embassy personnel who were being held hostage by the Russians. In such a battle, it is inevitable that your personnel might suffer accidents. I think you, Minister, need not make a fuss. Your ambassador can file a claim with St. Petersburg, and we are willing to testify on that behalf."

Rouke felt that the Chinese man before him was treating him like a child and trying to fool him. He angrily questioned, "Do you think your excuse is reasonable? Even a pig wouldn't believe such an absurd reason. You're going to use machine guns and cannons to rescue our embassy personnel? I will definitely report your words back to the country and let the American people know how arrogant and conceited you are. If you don't stop the attack immediately, the American government will never forget today's humiliation."

Qin Lishan was quite displeased by the Americans' words. If the Americans hadn't interfered, this battle wouldn't have happened, and he wouldn't have had to deal with the aftermath. Moreover, the Americans had already stationed troops in Beijing; what was the point of talking about international law? Did they think Chinese troops could be stationed in New York?

However, he remained calm and replied, "As an American diplomat, you certainly have the right to express your views on China; that's your freedom. But we will not allow you to smear the image of the Chinese people. Please remember, Your Excellency, the Chinese Exclusion Act in the United States still discriminates against Chinese people, and there are many racists in the United States; I suspect you are one of them."

As the U.S. Minister to China, I assumed you were here representing the friendship of the American people, but your words just now tell me that you are an outright racist.

We painstakingly rescued you from the Russians, yet you dare to turn around and bite us. We will lodge a strong protest with your government, and until the US government appoints a genuine pacifist as its diplomat to China, we will consider downgrading our diplomatic relations with your country…”

"..." Looking at Qin Lishan, who was righteously accusing him, Rouke Yi couldn't help but doubt himself. Was this Chinese man out of his mind, or was what he was seeing not the truth? However, the gunshots and explosions coming from afar reminded Rouke Yi that the Chinese were still attacking the American embassy.

He took a deep breath to clear his head before asking Qin Lishan, "The US government has always advocated for the preservation of China's territorial integrity. Are you planning to completely antagonize the US government by treating China in this way?"

Qin Lishan looked at the American with some surprise and said, "The US government is well aware that in East Asia, only China is willing to maintain friendly relations with the US. However, the US government still pushed through the Chinese Exclusion Act domestically and humiliated our diplomatic officials. Compared to your government's efforts in maintaining Sino-US relations, I don't think our actions are anything out of line."

Furthermore, since your country cannot stop the anti-Chinese sentiment within its own borders, yet can manipulate the American public to wage war against China, in my view, this is simply deceiving our people. The future of Sino-US relations depends on the American people, not on you.

If you're unwilling to let the Russians bear this responsibility, then you can take responsibility for the deterioration of Sino-US relations yourself. Frankly, I'd also like to see how many troops the US government is willing to send to attack us.

Rookie hesitated for a moment. The US government might not be able to send troops to attack China. In the last Spanish-American War, without the support of the British, the Americans would not have been able to take the Philippine Islands at all. This is also the reason why the US Congress was willing to give up the southern Philippines to the Japanese. Because Congress was unwilling to fight a war with Japan in East Asia for a barren island, the United States would pay a heavy price for it.

As a sinologist, he was well aware that China today was different from China before the Boxer Rebellion. Before the Boxer Rebellion, China at least had a unified central dynasty, so as long as the central dynasty was subdued, the Chinese could be forced to sign agreements. However, China today no longer had such an authoritative central dynasty. Although China was nominally still under the rule of a government, it was actually divided into large and small local powers, meaning that no single power could unilaterally decide China's affairs.

The decline of Empress Dowager Cixi has effectively shattered the Russians' dream of forcing China to sign a peace treaty by capturing Beijing. As things stand, unless the Russians can advance all the way to Wuhan, or even occupy Wuhan, they may not be able to subdue the Chinese. This is because the Wuhan regime's appeal lies in resisting foreign aggression. If the Wuhan regime also surrenders to Russia, they will lose their current authority to command various regions.

This also reflects Russia's attempt to once again unite various countries to invade China. However, is it even possible for these countries to set aside their differences and truly focus their efforts on China? It's utterly impossible. Although East Asia is the last uncolonized land in the world, in the struggle for global hegemony, the colonial interests of this land are no longer so appealing.

For Germany, it might be even better if Britain and Russia focused their efforts on the Far East, allowing them to truly operate freely in Europe. For the United States, while countering European hegemony is important, it is absolutely unacceptable to allow a unified European power to emerge, otherwise the United States could not even hope to compete with Europe.

Therefore, the United States is now focusing most of its energy on Europe, and is even very cautious about expanding into South America. In recent years, it is the British and Germans, not the Americans, who have been accelerating their investments in South America. No matter how arrogant Qin Lishan may be, his judgment is correct: the United States is unlikely to provoke an invasion of China at this time.

Chapter 402 Isolated

When the Chinese army launched its attack on the western gate, the Russian minister, Pukody, along with Kosovitz and Vogak, were in their office listening to the developments. The British did not want the Russians to provoke a fight, so they had asked the Russians to stay in the embassy and not go out. However, the Russians did not expect that a conflict would still break out between the Chinese and the minister's guards.

The Russian legation was the oldest in Dongjiaomin Lane. During the Kangxi era, the Russians had their own dedicated residence in Dongjiaomin Lane. However, until 1900, the Russian legation was located in a courtyard house and did not carry out large-scale renovations like the British legation.

During the Boxer Rebellion, the Russians seized the surrounding Honglu Temple, Imperial Medical Academy, and Imperial Observatory, then demolished the old buildings in the area and built five Russian-style small buildings and three Russian-style bungalows, forming the Russian Embassy District that is now 200 meters long from north to south and 300 meters wide from east to west.

The embassy's main building was located in the center of the embassy district, with the barracks to the west and the British embassy district to the north. To the east of the barracks was Bingbu Street, which faced the main entrance of the American embassy.

Initially, the Russians were quite excited when they heard about the clash between the diplomatic corps guards and the Chinese army, as this incident could garner Russia the support of the great powers to exert diplomatic pressure on the Chinese. However, the political changes in Beijing over the past month have made the Russians realize that a shift in power is taking place in central China, and they now don't know who to talk to about diplomatic issues between the two countries.

However, this clash between the Chinese army and the legation guards will inevitably lead to the emergence of a new Chinese leader, allowing diplomatic work between the two countries to continue. The Russians do not believe that the Chinese army would dare to offend the legation quarter. Perhaps the Chinese would dare to attack one or two great powers, but they have learned enough lessons from the Boxer Rebellion regarding provoking all great powers.

However, the Russians did not expect that the diplomatic corps would soften its stance even faster than the Chinese. First, the French declared the hospital a non-military target, refusing entry to the Russian guards and allowing the Chinese to enter the hospital for examination. This resulted in the surrender of an important stronghold on the north side of the western pass to the Chinese.

After taking control of the hospital at the western entrance, the Chinese immediately gained control of the intersection of Bingbu Street and Dongjiaomin Lane. The Russian guards were no match for the Chinese blockade. Although the Russian barracks had cannons, like the cannons in the American barracks, they were controlled by Chinese snipers and machine guns and could not be moved at all. This was because no one had anticipated that the surrounding high ground would be occupied by the Chinese, since the barracks were built in a courtyard house, and the multi-story buildings were constructed later.

Thus, the Russians could only watch helplessly as the Chinese launched an attack on the American embassy. If at first the Russians showed a sense of schadenfreude about the development of the situation, after all, the Americans had always been Russia's opponents on the Manchurian issue, and now the Americans were reaping what they sowed, which also provided the diplomatic corps with an excuse to put pressure on China.

However, the Russians soon realized that the situation was out of control because the Chinese insisted that they had been at war with the Russians, who had infiltrated the hospital and the American embassy, ​​posing as guards of other powers and launching attacks against them. Therefore, they had to take measures to disarm and hunt down the Russian guards in order to protect the safety of diplomats from various countries.

This was, of course, a clumsy lie, but as Kosovitz told Minister Pucotti, "The Chinese excuses are not meant to explain to foreign ministers; they are meant to justify their actions after the war. These Chinese are trying to confuse right and wrong and portray Russia as a barbarian."

Pucodi knew what Kosovitz didn't mean. Although Europeans liked to view the East as a barbaric and backward tribal civilization, in the minds of Europeans, the barbarians of Europe were actually the Russians, even though the Turks were more civilized than the Russians.

Russia's expansionist actions in the Far East have effectively offended European countries, especially its attack on Beijing, which further provoked them. British and American public opinion has consistently viewed Russia's actions in the Far East as an act of aggression and a robbery of the poor Chinese people. Coupled with the earlier massacres of Jews within Russia, this has completely shattered Russia's image in Europe.

France, an ally of Russia, has shifted from limited support to limited criticism this year. The most obvious example is that the French refused to issue war bonds for Russia, indicating a lack of confidence in Russian bonds in the French market. However, France recently issued a staggering amount of bonds for China, nominally unrelated to the war and primarily intended to improve infrastructure in northern China. This clearly demonstrates France's stance on the war.

As for the Germans, although the Kaiser has consistently expressed support for Russia's actions in the Far East, Germany is also China's largest investor and fastest-growing trading partner in the south. German businesses and financial institutions are practically building Wuhan into the Berlin of the East. German public opinion also supports China, not Russia.

Under such propaganda, it's hard for Europeans not to believe the Chinese aren't telling the truth, because they have reason to believe the Russians are capable of such an act. And as long as this public opinion prevails, governments are unlikely to take any severe measures against China, because they are not confident they can force the Chinese to submit.

For example, Russia wanted to replicate its success in 1900 and re-enter Beijing at minimal cost, but now it finds itself caught between China and Japan. Seeing Russia's fate, how can other countries possibly hope for a repeat of the miracle of the Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of Beijing?

The situation then unfolded in the worst possible way the Russians had predicted. The American legation quarter quickly surrendered. Russian observers noted that the Chinese attack differed from the Boxer Rebellion's siege of the Legation Quarter; their actions were resolute, forceful, and clearly targeted. The Americans had set an example for the Russians—a rather disastrous one.

After meeting with the Chinese, U.S. Minister John Rockhill announced, "There has been no fighting between the United States and China. The United States recognizes the right of Chinese troops to enter the Legation Quarter. The Legation Quarter remains Chinese territory. The previous exchange of fire was merely a misjudgment by a few individuals. We will inspect all personnel within the U.S. Embassy and expel any non-U.S. armed personnel from the Legation Quarter..."

After the Americans surrendered, the Dutch embassy, ​​adjacent to the American embassy, ​​was forced to open its embassy district to the Chinese, allowing them to enter and check for non-Dutch armed personnel. Once the Chinese occupied the Dutch embassy, ​​they effectively blocked the bridge across the Imperial River to the east of the embassy, ​​thus partially sealing off the Russian embassy district.

Soon, the Eastern District Committee of the Legation Quarter understood the American announcement and reached an agreement with the Chinese that the Eastern District would not allow Russian armed personnel to enter, and that the Chinese army would not launch an attack on the Eastern District.

When Pucotti heard the news from the Eastern District Committee, he unusually swore. As a former finance ministry official who frequently dealt with the French, he had always advocated maintaining the image of a diplomat. But now he couldn't hold back any longer; these damned bastards were essentially standing on the shore waiting to see Russia make a fool of itself.

Pucotti could now only hope that Korsovitz would bring back good news. He had sent him to consult with the British minister, hoping to gain British support to counter the Chinese army's upcoming attack on the Russian legation quarter.

However, Kosovitz did not bring back good news. When he returned, he said to Pucodi with a solemn expression, "Minister Sadaoyi suggested that we should negotiate with the Chinese to end this conflict in a dignified manner."

Upon hearing this, the military attaché, Vorgak, blurted out, "Isn't this just asking us to lay down our arms and surrender? Are we to surrender to a bunch of yellow-skinned monkeys? Are the British humiliating us?"

Pukody and Kosovitz remained silent, and Vogak's mind finally calmed down. The Russians had already surrendered to the Chinese before. The Russian prisoners of war who had been passing through Beijing every day had long since destroyed Russia's prestige in the East. Not to mention the British, even the Chinese probably wouldn't think that their surrender was a great victory.

Just then, a Russian officer knocked on the door and reported to the officers inside that the Chinese had brought up their artillery and looked ready to launch an attack on the western barracks soon, with little time left before the Chinese gave them.