The Times of Thursday published a striking article on the
new Chinese Army by its special correspondent who was lately with General Nogi. He describes the work of that Army— which has been mostly created within the past four years, and owes its organisation to the genius of the Viceroy Yuan SW- kai—as little short of a revelation. At the manceuvres recently held at Ho-chien-fu, a city a hundred miles up the river from Tientsin, thirty officers representing foreign armies attended on the invitation of the Imperial authorities. The writer describes the Chinese transport and commissariat arrangements as admirable, and the discipline of the infantry as all that could be desired. Further, "it is safe to assert that better fire discipline could scarcely be conceived The manner in which the drivers handled their teams and brought
the guns out of line one by one was a sight for gods, and a great contrast to the screaming and' jibbing teamwork characteristic of the Japanese artillery." The work of the engineers was also excellent. The worst points of the new Army are the cavalry, which requires years to per- fect, and the weapons, which are often old-fashioned and too diversified in pattern,—both of them defects which time will remove. The writer gives high praise to the way in which great masses of men were handled in the final parade before the Viceroy. Such a departure from traditional Chinese policy is far more significant than the clamour of the young Chinese nationalists, for it means 'reforms on the same lines which have made Japan great. Europe has been trying for a hundred years to awaken the Chinese. We doubt when they are fully awake whether we shall be pleased with the result.
Previous page
