The Center of the Earth

While Earp was fighting at the edge of the world, George Armstrong Custer was marching right into it’s very heart. At first it appeared as if Custer would not make it to Peking at all. He had expected to face the Kansu warriors, only. US intelligence had estimated them to only be a few regiments of cavalry. If Custer was surprised and deterred by suddenly running into infantry, and Chinese artillery who were armed with their Krupp Howitzers, then he showed no sign. Custer was both outnumbered, and out gunned by the Imperial Chinese Army that Cixi had sent to stop him.

Custer’s infantry force was primarily made up of United States Marines who were reinforced by sailors who formed an ad hoc battalion. The US 7th Cavalry was also proceeding dismounted and served largely in the function of infantry as well. The US did have artillery with them but their guns were no match for those of the Chinese who had the latest German models. Custer had what amounted to an under strength division. He was facing nearly two divisions of the Beiyang military district.

The first battle along the Tiensin-Peking Railroad went as one might expect. The Americans attacked but were quickly repulsed by overwhelming numbers and heavy fire. Custer was forced to withdraw with great reluctance. Fortunately for the Americans they fell back on a nearby Chinese fort that had been hastily abandoned, earlier in the week, by it’s garrison. This Fort contained most of the reserve munitions for the forts that Custer had destroyed near Tiensin. The munitions were largely of no use to the Americans but that was not the case for the Chinese.

Li Hongzhang had taken charge of the Beiyang forces that had taken to the field. Cixi had personally insisted that this be the case. Not only was Li a seasoned field commander (even if he had been horribly defeated at every turn) but, he ensured a greater number of troops would fight. Li was admired in the army despite his unenviable record. This situation greatly illustrates the basic problems faced by the Qing Government. Cixi’s hold over it’s component parts was always tenuous at best. Her actions that, in effect, put her at war with the entire world did nothing to help matters. Many units in the Beiyang Military district refused to fight. Some of them even aided the western militaries. Even these problems were nothing in comparison to the fact that two thirds of the Chinese military were not directly under Cixi’s control.

China had long since been divided into three military districts. The Beiyang was but the northern one and while it had been armed and trained better than the central and southern districts, it was also the smallest of the three. By a mutual agreement, of the kind that could only be seen in the likes of chaotic Chinese politics of the day, the military districts were not bound to aide each other. This was never more dramatic than during the Franco-Sino war. The southern and central districts begged the north to aide them in the conflict and was flatly refused. Pay back was inevitable.

Despite the internal division of China, the Americans were still heavily outnumbered but Custer had used his speed to good advantage (even if many argue that Custer was just lucky). Li Hongzhang had been depending on using the supplies in the very fort that Custer was now defending. He had never believed the Americans could have advanced so far so quickly and had expected to find the fort in friendly hands. 

The Chinese assault that was designed to dislodge the Americans proved to be a bloody fiasco. American repeaters and machineguns were well positioned. The US artillery was firing canister shot, at point blank range, against targets that were marching over cleared fields of fire. The Chinese had built a first class fortification here and now it was working against them. The Chinese howitzers were unable to effectively make their presence felt against the harden positions. The attacks were also poorly planned and executed as Li Hongzhang had a very hard time getting his subordinates to cooperate with each other.

The battle may very well have devolved into a siege at this point. Neither side had enough of an advantage over the other to do much. It is certain that Li Hongzhang was thinking along these lines. Unfortunately for him, events elsewhere would radically change the situation on the battlefield. Li also constantly underestimated his opponent. Li knew that Custer was considered a hard charger but he never thought that the man was insane. Custer’s orders were considered just that by the men he commanded.

By this point the Russians, at Port Arthur, were now fully aware of the situation. Up till this point, General Kuropatkin’s primary concern was defending the port against the Japanese who had a large army in Korea. In the early days of the war it did appear as if the Japanese were not eager to get involved. Kuropatikin’s spies were reporting to him that Japanese troops on the peninsular were doing nothing out of the ordinary. He would find out later that this information was completely wrong. Japanese spies had been feeding, the Russians, false intelligence all along. They had planned on going to war with Russia, over Port Arthur, all along and this war only looked like a prime opportunity to them.

At the time, none of this was in Kuropatkin’s mind. The Russian Consulate was also under siege in Peking. Beyond that, Kuropatkin also had to consider his strategic situation. He required the American Fleet to properly secure Port Arthur and, right now, that fleet was anchored in Tiensin with a large compliment of it’s personnel off playing infantry. Kuropatikin had a much larger army than the Americans and he knew that devoting only a part of it to the relief of Peking would be enough. He wasted no time in doing so.

The word of the Russian invasion of Manchuria reached Li Hongzhang not longer after his third assault on the Americans failed. Li had more than just military considerations to factor into his situation. The Russians were still a long way off and would be unable to lend any real support to the Americans for some time. Unfortunately for Li, they did not have to. 

The Qing Dynasty was not ethnically Chinese. They were Manchurian and considered by most Chinese to be as foreign a regime as the westerners. An invasion of Manchuria would weaken Cixi’s power base in ways like nothing else could. Manchuria would have to be fought for and tenaciously so. While the Russian invasion would give Li more willing troops, it would also give him a much larger situation to deal with and suddenly the Americans did not look as important.

As Li made preparations to march north with most of his force, leaving behind what he considered enough firepower to keep the Americans pinned down, Custer was busy preparing to make his own move. Both commanders waited for dark. Li hoped that the cover of night would shield his withdrawal and make the Americans think he still had his full army facing them. Custer was hoping that darkness would off set the Chinese numerical advantage. The result proved to be a disaster for the Chinese. 

The wife of General Custer, Libby, many years later would taut this as her husband’s greatest battle. Historians disagree in so much as Custer, once again, proved more lucky than brilliant. The Chinese who were manning the front lines, facing the Americans, had been told to prepare for a siege. They were taken by complete surprise as American Marines stormed their positions. The Krupp Howitzers were largely unmanned as their crews lay mostly asleep. Many of those guns would be turned on their masters as the Americans had an almost unlimited supply of ammunition to go with them. 

The rest of the Chinese Army had already formed up and was ready to march away. When the Americans closed in on the Chinese formations the darkness shielded the identity of the attackers. The Chinese troops were in column formation, ill prepared to give battle, and stunned by the sudden volume of fire that fell on them at almost point blank range. Many troops dropped their weapons and fled without ever having fired a shot. The battle was over in less than an hour and Li Hongzhang found that his entire army had been scattered as a result. He was helpless to do anything so he too, fled the field.

News of the battle reached Peking quickly. It was far more potent than the American military ever could be. The Kansu warriors had proven unable to dislodge the foreigners from their fortified compounds. In reality, it would seem that they never truly devoted much effort to it. The Kansu were mostly Muslims from far western China and felt as if the residents of Peking were as foreign as the Europeans. 

The Kansu were of a class of warrior that had been common in ages past, in all militaries, but were of a dying breed at the dawn of the 20th Century. They were all men who lived on horseback at the very edges of civilization. They had been recruited into the militaries of the world as much to keep them from raiding their benefactors as to be used for true military purposes. Peking must have looked like a treasure trove to the Kansu who had spent most of their lives around the edges of the Gobi Desert. For this reason, it would seem, that their primary purpose in Peking was to loot the city as opposed to fight the Europeans.

When it became clear that the Europeans would fight back with tenacity, the Kansu seemed to have lost much interest in going near the legations. While we are not certain, as no records exist, there are reports that Cixi had to bribe the Kansu just to get any kind of action taken against the foreigners who were fortified right in the heart of China. Even these bribes seemed to be largely ineffectual, if they even happened at all.

The ineptness of the Kansu was aided by the clever strategy that was implemented by the British Foreign Minister, Claude McDonald, the very man who had set in motion the events that would almost mean his death. McDonald seems to have quickly become aware of the unreliability of the Kansu Warriors, very early on. He had emerged as the de-facto leader of the Europeans and most followed his lead. He knew he had a limited supply of bullets but, had a much larger supply of money on hand. If Cixi was not really bribing the Kansu, McDonald most certainly was. This carrot and stick approach most obviously worked.

European currency became enough of a defense until the word of Custer’s approach swept through the city. The Kansu had little interest in fighting a pitched battle. They mounted their horses, with long baggage trains of loot behind them, and left Peking completely undefended. Cixi watched them go and this seems to have prompted her choice to make a royal inspection of the outer terrorities. She fled Peking not long after the Kansu.

Custer would march in to Peking, unopposed, and as a conquering hero. He was hailed by even his European enemies that cheered his arrival. Just the day before they had all thought they were as good as dead. Custer quickly took charge of the Chinese bureaucracy that was the real Chinese government. In effect he had them all under house arrest. They were free to continue with their jobs but only under American direction. The army of bureaucrats cooperated willingly since, to them, it was no different than the arrangement that they had with the Manchurian dynasty that had just fled the forbidden palace. The United States now found itself in charge of northern China and Custer would knock Wyatt Earp, for the time being, out of the headlines. What Custer also did was set another chain of events into motion, one that made another major battle, for his country, a foregone conclusion.