Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 63

Lin Xinyi watched as Lieutenant Harry Singh and a group of sergeants saluted him in the distance before merging into the convoy, before replying, "Do you think the British troops in Nyonso, upon seeing these wounded and dead, felt a surge of morale and a sense of shared hatred for the enemy? Or do they feel that the war is already unwinnable and it's time to retreat?"

Li Tang hesitated, but Deng Yulin beside him said eagerly, "They must think they can't win. Some of those Indian soldiers don't even speak English; they're only fighting for pay. They might bully unarmed Tibetan civilians, but if they knew they could die, they probably wouldn't risk their lives for that little bit of money. I think we should launch an attack after the convoy arrives in Nyaungsuo. Taking advantage of the Indian soldiers' panic, the success rate of this surprise attack will be very high."

Lin Xinyi nodded and said, "I'll take Deng Yulin, Cheng, and Qian's two companies to Gongga Zong first. Li Tang, you clean up the mess and manage the British and the remaining Indian soldiers separately. Also, find a few people to learn how to operate that cannon; it might come in handy later..."

The sacred mountain known to Tibetans as Quwo Ri Mountain separates the plain at the foot of the mountain (Jiangdang Plain) where the Nyangsuo ferry crossing is located from another small plain to the east. The southern slope where the iron chain bridge is located is right at the forefront of the sacred mountain bordering the Yarlung Tsangpo River, and a small village called Qina Village is thus formed here.

It can be said that the wide valleys and plains found in Shannan, Gyantse, and Lhasa are mostly small parts; the majority of the terrain consists of mountains. These mountains fragment the few plains that exist, resulting in most of Tibet being uninhabited areas, as no one can survive in the mountains.

The British army advanced unimpeded from the Nyangchu River valley in Gyantse to the Yarlung Tsangpo River valley, largely unchallenged, as the route was sparsely populated and the few villages could not sustain a large force. The Tibetan army managed to establish a defensive line of nearly a thousand men at the Karola Pass, a feat they had barely accomplished. Only at Quxuzong could they support a force of over a thousand men, thanks to the resources of the Lhasa Plain. However, by this time, the Tibetans had lost their will to win, and the British nearly opened the gateway to the Lhasa Plain.

However, now that the British troops were blocked on the south bank of the Yarlung Tsangpo River, they were quickly confined to the mountainous terrain. Unfamiliar with the local geography, they could not move freely off the roads, making them easy targets for guerrillas, as the British supply lines were fixed routes.

In order to protect their own logistics, the British army attempted to station troops in villages along the route, but encountered a shortage of manpower. Because the mountains separated the two places, even if they could hear the sound, it would take a lot of time to go around the mountains to provide assistance. This gave Chen Jingcun's troops, who had the support of the local Tibetans, a lot of room to maneuver.

Brigadier General MacDonald, the British commander, could no longer tolerate the attacks from Chen Jingcun's forces. Since the British army in the Nyaungsuo region was entirely dependent on supplies from the Gyantse region, the guerrillas cutting off this supply line was tantamount to besieging the British forces in Nyaungsuo. Therefore, in a desperate move, the brigadier general deployed all his mobile forces to suppress the guerrillas operating in the northern areas of Langzika and Baidi. This reduced the British forces in Nyaungsuo and Qina to a force of slightly more than a battalion, barely managing to control the Jiangdang Plain, and even abandoning the piedmont plain east of Quwo Rishen Mountain.

Chapter 217 The Logic of Imperialists

The further west you go from Tsetang, the higher the altitude becomes, and the less forest you see. All you see are bare mountains, covered only with a layer of weeds. Only in the river valleys near the Yarlung Tsangpo River can you find some trees, so the Tibetans' primary fuel is dried yak dung, not wood. Yaks are even more important to Tibetans than sheep.

In order to replenish food and transport supplies, the British army confiscated a large number of Tibetan yaks, making it difficult for the Tibetans to make a living. After crossing the Yarlung Tsangpo River, Chen Jingcun was immediately welcomed by the local Tibetans, which enabled him to quickly gain an advantage.

With local Tibetans as guides, he was naturally adept at attacking British transport convoys. Although the British army kept mobilizing troops to encircle and suppress him, in such mountains, Chen Jingcun's company, along with more than a hundred newly joined Tibetans, would have had a hard time capturing him, let alone thousands or even tens of thousands of British troops.

During the encirclement and suppression of Chen Jingcun, the main force of the British army was instead led to the mountains to the north, far from the Niangsuo ferry crossing. On October 5, a caravan of mules and horses emerged from the valley of Quwo Rishen Mountain. The British troops stationed at the entrance to the valley initially thought that Major Peterson's troops were transporting spoils of war back, but they were all stunned when they saw the wounded and dead on the carts.

Just as the convoy continued its journey towards the ferry crossing, the soldiers guarding the passage couldn't help but grab the driver and ask, "How many enemies did you encounter? How could so many people have died or been wounded? Where are the major and the others?"

The soldier driving the cart had no intention of answering these questions, but seeing that the other party was blocking him from leaving, he could only give a vague reply: "Many, many Chinese troops, majors and the others, I don't know where they are."

After the soldiers guarding the passage released the yak's reins in shock, the driver added, "Those Chinese also have Maxim machine guns; we can't possibly defeat them."

A sense of panic began to spread among the British troops in Nyaungsuo as these defeated soldiers returned. Previously, when the Chinese had wiped out the 8th Cavalry Company and Colonel Younghusband on the north bank of the Yarlung Tsangpo River, they had not seen any bodies, so although they were frustrated, they were not afraid, because the Chinese were only defending the north bank and would not rush to the south bank.

However, the Chinese army first intercepted their supply lines, and now they have wiped out Major Peterson's detachment. With so many corpses and wounded appearing in front of everyone, the British soldiers finally began to fear. They worried that they were surrounded by the Chinese. They really did not want to lose their lives here, even though this was a holy site for Hindus.

Brigadier General MacDonald was unaware of the thoughts of the Indian soldiers below him. In any case, he had little interaction with these soldiers; he only dealt with the British officers under his command. As for the morale of the soldiers, that was the responsibility of those officers, not his.

In fact, the training objectives of British officers for Indian soldiers were similar to those of the Russian army: to eliminate all civilian traits from these soldiers and turn them into unconditionally obedient wooden puppets.

This can be roughly understood by simply looking at the Indian civil servants of the British Indian government or the Indian servants in British households in India. Civil servants who are responsible for stenographers cannot type, and civil servants who type cannot be responsible for stenographers. Servants who mop the floor cannot mop the table. Everyone is only allowed to do what their master allows, and they are not allowed to do anything beyond their job scope.

Within these constraints, the British became the sole decision-makers, and the Indians, having lost their masters, were unable to accomplish anything. This was because the British applied the division of labor and cooperation developed during the Industrial Revolution to the management of the colonies, ensuring that the Indians could not cooperate spontaneously.

This is the main reason why Indian soldiers were completely disoriented once the New Army killed or captured British officers. Of course, the British called this way of managing people "doing one's duty," which they considered the best virtue of mankind.

Although Lieutenant Harry Singh brought back the wounded, the dead, and some soldiers, his actions offended the British. He did not act under the orders of a British officer but instead cooperated with the Chinese on his own initiative. This meant that he crossed the line set by the British for the Indians and made a decision that only a British officer could make.

Compared to the merits of the wounded and prisoners he brought back, the destructive consequences of this Sikh lieutenant's violation of the unspoken rules of the British Indian Army were obviously more serious. Therefore, Brigadier General MacDonald quickly ordered the lieutenant to be imprisoned and decided to hang him early the next morning on charges of treason.

Did Brigadier General MacDonald do anything wrong? Of course not. This was how the British Army managed Indian soldiers ever since the Indian Revolt of 1857. No Indian was allowed to enjoy the same prestige among Indian soldiers as British officers. They could only be assistants and servants to the officers, not leaders of the army.

The Sikh soldiers in the camp were bewildered by Brigadier General McDonald's decision. Although the Sikh soldiers and officers who had returned with Lieutenant Harry Singh protested, the British officers warned them to shut up or they would become the lieutenant's accomplices, and the protests immediately fell silent.

Several Sikh soldiers who were on good terms with the lieutenant secretly came to see him and told him about the disloyal behavior of these Sikhs. The lieutenant himself remained calm. He simply removed his rank insignia and threw it on the ground, saying to his comrades, "The Chinese are right. Only Ranjit Singh is a hero of the Sikhs because he fought for the Sikh people. Those Sikhs who fought for the British are no heroes; they're just a bunch of pathetic wretches. Take my words to my brothers and tell them not to expect honor from the British. How can they bestow upon us something they themselves don't even have..."

Of course, there were also honest British officers who were surprised by the brigadier's decision, especially since executing a Sikh officer at this time would obviously be detrimental to the unity of the army. Therefore, some officers went to persuade the brigadier to change the hanging to flogging.

The brigadier stared blankly at the officer who had come to persuade him for a moment, then asked him, "Can't we afford to lose this battle?"

Just as the officer was at a loss for words, the brigadier general answered himself: "No, as long as India remains in our hands, such a defeat is nothing to the British Empire, not even a broken finger."

Even if we lose this war, can the losses outweigh our defeat in Afghanistan? As long as the Indians are still here, as long as India's wealth remains, we can continue the war again and again, and eventually conquer those barbarians.

Compared to our failures in Afghanistan, the massive mutiny of Indian soldiers in 1857 was truly terrifying; we almost lost India. Why did such a mutiny break out? Because those Indian soldiers made their own decision: they refused to obey the orders of British officers.

I don't care what that Sikh lieutenant did, but he overstepped his bounds and made a deal with the Chinese on his own initiative, and that's the greatest evil. If Indians can decide for themselves what they should do, then what are we needed?

The brigadier's reasoning was compelling, and the British officers who came to persuade him could only silently salute and leave the brigadier's room. However, even though the brigadier shifted the blame for the defeat onto Lieutenant Sikh on charges of treason, it couldn't change the blow to the morale of the British troops from so many corpses and wounded, to the point that even the brigadier himself began to consider retreating.

On the afternoon of October 5th, Lin Xinyi led Deng Yulin, Cheng, Qian, and Luosang to a village on the plain in front of the Yarlung Tsangpo River on the eastern side of Rishen Mountain in Quwo. Although the Tibetans here had to flee the village due to the British army's search, they hid in the nearby mountains and lived in hiding with the British army.

Because they were trying to evade the British search, they were able to observe the British army's activities in great detail. Lin Xinyi had previously made contact with the local Tibetans and made them guerrillas to monitor the British army's movements. It was also the local Tibetans who brought the news that a large number of British troops had been transferred away.

After meeting with the Tibetans here, Lin Xinyi drew a simple map on a stone in front of the village and then said to his subordinates in front of the stone: "This is Qina Village, which corresponds to the ferry crossing on the north bank. 1.5 kilometers southwest on the riverbank is the Niangsuo Ferry Crossing. About 1.5 kilometers south of the ferry crossing is a large village, which used to be a resting place for merchants. Now it is the headquarters of the British army. A little over 1 kilometer east of this large village is the exit of the valley passage of Quwo Rishen Mountain."

Based on current intelligence, the village of Qina is garrisoned by at most one British company, which is about half the size of our company, around a hundred men. The Niangsuo ferry crossing is also around one company. Only in this large village further back is there at least three or four British companies. In other words, in terms of troop strength, both sides are roughly equal, since we have three companies here, plus some local guerrillas, totaling about six or seven hundred men.

However, our mission this time is not to annihilate these British troops, but to teach them a lesson, and incidentally sabotage their ship construction and rescue the Tibetans. Therefore, what we really need to eliminate are the British troops in Qina Village and Nyangsuo Ferry. In order to eliminate these two British forces, we need to deter the British headquarters from sending troops to rescue Qina Village and Nyangsuo Ferry.

Therefore, I need a company to ambush in the valley passage of Mount Quwo Rishen. Once we detect any signs that the British are reinforcing the Niangsuo ferry crossing, we will launch an attack on the British main camp. However, it should just be a bluff; we must not actually storm the village. The British will surely defend their main camp, and a real attack will inevitably fail.

Then, the other two companies and I went to Qina village and Nyangsuo ferry crossing. I led one company to attack Qina village, while the other company lay in ambush between Nyangsuo ferry crossing and Qina village. If reinforcements came from Nyangsuo ferry crossing, we would ambush them and then capture the ferry crossing. If the enemy at the ferry crossing did not come out, then after I eliminated the British troops in Qina village, we would decide whether to attack the ferry crossing based on the situation…”

Chapter 218 Night Attack

Night raids are the best means of attack for the side with inferior weaponry against a powerful enemy, and there were many successful examples of this in the Boer War. While at the Marine Corps School, Lin Xinyi and DeWitt repeatedly analyzed these cases and ultimately concluded that successful night raids generally shared several characteristics: the enemy was completely unaware of the raids, the attacking force resolutely advanced deep into the enemy's lines, and the enemy was unable to establish a stronghold to gather their retreating soldiers.

Therefore, Deng Yulin and other students from the Marine Corps School were no strangers to night raids. They even took the time to build a simple layout of Qina Village with small stones and then conducted several simulated attacks to prevent the night raid troops from getting lost in the village and thus overlooking some areas.

After these simple preparations, everyone had dinner around three or four in the afternoon, and the two teams set off separately. Lin Xinyi led Deng Yulin, Cheng, and Qian's team upstream along the passageway along the Yarlung Tsangpo River, while Losang and Chen Qiang's team headed towards the valley passageway. Although their journey was about half the distance of Lin Xinyi's group, about 5 kilometers, it was more difficult because they had to climb hills.

In October, the upper reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo River valley are already similar to late autumn in the inland areas, but still slightly warmer than the high-altitude regions, with nighttime temperatures close to 0 degrees Celsius. At this temperature, marching is not a very difficult activity.

After resting two or three times, around 11 p.m., they were finally only one kilometer away from Qina Village. The guerrillas who had been stationed here to monitor Qina Village and Niangsuo Ferry were also waiting here. They reported to Lin Xinyi that there was nothing unusual in the two places and that they were still following the same routine as usual.

Lin Xinyi ordered his men to rest for 30 minutes and eat to replenish their strength. After the rest, he left a squad to guard the horses and mules, and then sent the guerrillas with Cheng and Qian's companies to the designated ambush position. He himself led Deng Yulin's company to Qina Village to prepare for the attack.

At 2:10 AM on October 6th, Lin Xinyi ordered Deng Yulin to launch an attack. Two platoons were deployed: one charged down the southern slope, and the other charged up the eastern path. The other two platoons positioned themselves below the eastern path. This was Lin Xinyi's first time conducting such a night raid, and he wasn't entirely confident. After all, real combat and exercises were different, and the moon was particularly bright that night.

However, under the training of the new army, the soldiers responsible for the raids mostly adhered to discipline, such as not shouting during the attack. Previously, the Tibetan army's numerous night raids had failed because the soldiers always shouted before charging. This was a way to distinguish friend from foe in the era of cold weapons, but against the British army equipped with rifles and Maxim machine guns, this method of attack undoubtedly indicated the direction of their fire.

After the new army taught these Tibetan soldiers how to deal with new weapons, their ability to stealthily approach and attack on the plateau terrain was obviously better than that of people from the inland areas, because they themselves lived in such an environment.

The Sikh company stationed in Qina village consisted of Sikhs, except for one British officer. The company belonged to the 32nd Engineer Advance Regiment. Although the British believed that Sikhs were physically strong, brave in battle, and particularly suited to fighting in mountainous and high-altitude areas, the Sikh company in the early days of its arrival in Tibet did indeed demonstrate its ability to endure hardship.

In March 1904, a Sikh company of the 23rd Regiment was escorting a transport convoy of the 12th Mule Caravan when they encountered a blizzard on the route from Pari to Tuina. They camped in the snow at -18 degrees Celsius, going without food for 36 hours, and still managed to complete their escort mission. The British officers rewarded these Sikhs for their loyalty by allowing them to rob Tibetans.

However, after being blocked by the Chinese army at Qushui, the Sikhs began to feel that they had been treated unfairly. First, the Sikh officers in the cavalry company took responsibility for the British officers' decision-making errors, and now it was reported that a Sikh officer was to take responsibility for the failure of Peterson's detachment. This was a heavy blow to the honor that the Sikhs valued.

If the previous punishment of a Sikh officer by a British officer was considered justified by many Sikhs, this time most Sikhs do not believe that the failure of Peterson's detachment could be blamed on a Sikh officer. If so, why would this Sikh officer bring back the wounded and the bodies of the dead?

The Sikhs' distrust of the British officers began to rise, naturally leading to a decline in their sense of duty. The Tibetan vanguard successfully approached the Sikh sentries and killed them while they were off guard. After eliminating the sentries, the subsequent operation proceeded smoothly. The two attacking forces only managed to provoke the British troops in the village by throwing grenades into the stone houses.

After the British officer rushed out of his house, he tried to rally his soldiers to his side, but his shouts attracted the attention of the attacking New Army soldiers. Several New Army soldiers quickly threw several grenades at the British officer's position, killing the small group of Sikh soldiers and the British officer who had just assembled.

Lin Xinyi and Deng Yulin, who were waiting at the foot of the hill, heard the sounds of resistance above gradually subside. They immediately directed their troops to Qina Village to clean up the mess. At this point, less than half an hour had passed since the raid was launched.

At 3 a.m., Lin Xinyi had already cleared out the remaining enemy in Qina Village, capturing about fifty or sixty Sikh soldiers. Thirty or forty of them were killed, and a few others risked rolling down the hillside. Lin Xinyi ignored the escapees and only demanded that the Sikh soldiers be imprisoned. Then he began to focus on the spoils and the situation at the Nyaungsaw ferry crossing below the mountain.

When they raided Qina Village, the British troops at the Nyaungsaw Ferry were indeed alerted and sent troops to reinforce them. However, the British troops arrived too late, and the battle at Qina Village ended too quickly. Before the British troops even got close to the ambush area, they heard that there was no more gunfire on the hillside. The British officer in command was quite wise and immediately ordered the troops to retreat back to the ferry to defend.

At this point, the inexperience of the new army became apparent. Cheng Qian had never encountered such a situation before and hesitated for a moment, failing to immediately order his troops to switch from an ambush to a forced attack. By the time he realized what was happening, the British army had already begun to retreat, so his pursuit did not yield much success. The British troops who had retreated to the crossing and the British troops left behind to guard the crossing immediately formed a defensive position, which instead taught the new army that had followed the attack a lesson.

When Cheng and Qian's report arrived from down the mountain, Lin Xinyi was also unsure whether to retreat. The commotion had clearly alerted the British main camp to the south, as evidenced by the brightly lit area there. The terrain of the ferry crossing was advantageous to the defenders, as it was still the high-water season, meaning the crossing was surrounded by water on three sides, with only one passage for attack.

However, at this time, the local guerrillas had already found the location where the Tibetans were being held, which was in a cave at the foot of the mountain. In order to buy time for the rescue of these Tibetans, Lin Xinyi decided to launch another attack on the ferry crossing. However, he did not intend to use human lives to charge, but instead ordered a 2.75-inch mountain gun from Qina Village to be pushed down the mountain.

The British were likely preparing for a forced crossing of the Yarlung Tsangpo River, having established an artillery position at Qina village facing the crossing point on the north bank. Besides a 2.75-inch mountain gun, they also had three 10-pounder mountain guns. The 10-pounder was a relatively old weapon in the British arsenal, with a caliber of nearly 70mm, weighing 400kg, and a maximum range of 5500 meters. However, it lacked a recoil mechanism, making it suitable for colonial warfare. During the Boer War, this older mountain gun proved unsuitable for modern warfare, hence the British re-equip themselves with the 2.75-inch mountain gun, adding a recoil mechanism, increasing the rate of fire, and making it lighter.

Therefore, Lin Xinyi was too lazy to push the three old mountain guns down the mountain. He simply ordered them to be loaded with explosives and prepared to be blown up during the retreat. As for the 2.75-inch mountain guns, although they lacked firepower, they were sufficient to bully the British troops who lacked heavy firepower and strong fortifications.

At 4 a.m., Lin Xinyi followed the mountain gun to the foot of the mountain and found a location to set up the mountain gun position. Deng Yulin also set up a blocking position to guard against the British army attacking from the south. However, to Lin Xinyi's surprise, the reinforcements from the village to the south had not yet appeared. He did not know what the British were doing, but this did not stop him from starting to test fire the mountain gun. He was the only one here who could be called an artillery expert.

Captain Luke, stationed at the ferry crossing, felt like he was going to collapse when he heard the roar of artillery outside the village. It was the familiar sound of the 2.75-inch mountain gun firing. These barbarians had actually managed to push this new cannon off the village of China and even fire it. This made him feel that the ferry crossing was not safe. At that moment, he especially wanted to drag his superior, Colonel Fuller, to the ferry crossing and make him face the fire of his own cannon.

Captain Luke was actually against setting up artillery positions in China beforehand, because he believed that the place could not be guaranteed to be safe. However, Colonel Fuller believed that no one could threaten the British-held artillery positions. Until a large number of British troops were transferred away to suppress the guerrillas in the rear, his fears finally came true.

While Lin Xinyi was leisurely adjusting the cannons, he was actually focusing most of his attention on the British reinforcements to the south, ready to abandon the attack and flee at any time. Since it was just a charade, there was no need to press the crossing too hard. The village to the south finally stirred, but instead of sending reinforcements, a fire suddenly broke out in the village and gunfire began to erupt.

Lin Xinyi was also stunned. He didn't think that Luosang and Chen Qiang's company could break into the British army's main camp. However, since the situation had arisen, he had no choice but to ask Deng Yulin to send people to investigate and began to seriously fire at the ferry.

The men sent by Deng Yulin quickly brought back the men sent by Luosang and Chen Qiang. The messenger reported to Lin Xinyi that after the attack from the north, they rushed out of the valley through the passage and approached the British headquarters. On the way, they encountered several fleeing Sikhs, including the Sikh lieutenant who had brought back the wounded and the dead. The British wanted to hang him, but after the battle in the north, his friends took the opportunity to rescue the lieutenant.

At Chen Qiang's urging, the Sikh lieutenant decided to return to the village and encourage his fellow Sikhs to flee, to avoid his friend being seen as an accomplice by the British, who were now in complete chaos at the British headquarters. Upon hearing this intelligence, Lin Xinyi immediately ordered his men to bring their mountain guns and, together with Deng Yulin's company, head to reinforce the British headquarters, preparing to completely throw the British headquarters into disarray.

Chapter 219 Madman

Seeing the chaos in the village, with gunshots ringing out everywhere, Harry Singh was at a loss. After escaping the village with the help of his friends, he suddenly realized he seemed to have nowhere to go. He wasn't sure if the Chinese would take him in, and more importantly, what should he do next?

In this moment of confusion, the appearance of the Chinese pointed him in a direction. If he could go back and encourage the Sikh soldiers to flee back to Gyantse, at least his friends wouldn't be caught up in the chaos. Although the British were very secretive about how they handled mutinies during their rule of India—from the mid-18th century to the present day, Britain itself has recorded more than 100 mutinies—the Indian soldiers and officers still managed to pass down some of their stories.

For example, during the 1806 Vellore Fort Mutiny, the Indian soldiers who did not participate in the mutiny were eventually driven into the fort's squash court by the British and then killed by grapeshot. So, although he escaped the threat of death, his friends who helped him escape were in danger. He certainly didn't want them to suffer such a fate, so he accepted the Chinese advice and returned to the village to persuade his friends to flee.

At first, things went smoothly. Apart from the residences of the European officers, the rest of the village was guarded by Sikhs, so Hari Singh and his friends quickly passed through these checkpoints and returned to the village, and began to encourage the Sikhs to return to Gyantse.

Frankly, after seeing the corpses and wounded during the day, and then hearing news of the Chinese attack that night, the Sikh soldiers were already panicked. Encouraged by their comrades, they naturally fled. However, their escape was quickly discovered by a British officer, who then ordered the Gurkhas to fire on the fleeing soldiers without hesitation, which escalated the situation.

For the British, the Gurkhas were the most trustworthy members of the Indian army. Since Britain had not occupied Nepal and therefore did not directly oppress the Gurkhas, a foundation of mutual trust naturally existed. Conversely, while the British considered the Sikhs to be the best Indian soldiers, after numerous battles between Britain and the Sikhs and the subsequent occupation of Punjab, the Sikhs naturally became part of the Indian nation and were clearly not entirely trustworthy.

Therefore, within the British Indian Army, both the British Mainland Army and the Gurkha troops were the primary choices for protecting officers and suppressing rebellions, naturally leading to tensions between Indians and Gurkhas. When British officers ordered the firing on fleeing Sikh soldiers, the hesitant Sikhs were enraged, believing it was yet another instance of the Gurkhas abusing their power. Already increasingly dissatisfied with the expedition, the Sikh soldiers, under the cover of darkness, finally opened fire on the Gurkhas and British officers.

At first, it was only a spontaneous act by a few resentful Sikh soldiers, but the Gurkhas didn't care about that. They directly regarded all the Sikhs in the village as rebels. This was also the bad result of the British army's divide-and-rule policy. Now the British really lost control of the situation, and no one could control the current situation. The indiscriminate attacks by the Sikhs and Gurkhas made no one dare to go to the fire to stop them.

Fortunately, the British controlled their own ammunition depots. Even during the campaign, the British strictly controlled the amount of ammunition supplied to Indian soldiers, a practice similar to the Qing Dynasty's control over the ammunition usage of its New Army. Therefore, after fighting for half a day, the Sikh soldiers ran out of bullets, which gave the initially smaller Gurkha soldiers the upper hand, as they carried the same amount of ammunition as the British soldiers.

At this point, Brigadier General McDonald could no longer concern himself with his men under attack at the ferry crossing. Hearing the gunfire from the other side begin to subside, he ordered Colonel Fuller to clean up the mess, instructing the Sikh soldiers on the other side to immediately rejoin their ranks and prepare for defense. Brigadier General McDonald's assessment was that the ferry crossing was beyond saving; it would be good enough if the enemy didn't manage to breach it.

However, the Sikhs dared not surrender to the Gurkhas. They knew very well that once they laid down their arms, some of them would inevitably be executed by British officers using cannon fire—a cruel punishment invented by the British to deal with rebellious soldiers. Whenever the rebels were executed by cannon fire, the British would gather the soldiers together to watch; almost nothing was left except their legs.

At this point, the Sikh soldiers weren't thinking about whether the British officers would forgive them. They only remembered that the British had sided with the Gurkhas, and since the British were demanding they lay down their weapons, it meant they considered them rebels. Under these circumstances, the Sikhs quickly made contact with the Chinese army outside the village through Hari Singh.

Previously, although the Sikhs and Gurkhas were engaged in fierce fighting, they had refused Chinese intervention, as most of them believed they were not betraying Britain but merely retaliating against the Gurkhas' massacre. Now, however, they abandoned this naive idea and began to cede the battlefield to the Chinese.

Although Losang and Chen Qiang took over the Sikh-controlled area, they still couldn't break through the Gurkhas' defensive perimeter. Realizing that Chinese people had actually appeared on the other side, the British finally deployed Maxim machine guns, effectively blocking all routes to the British headquarters.

However, at that moment, Lin Xinyi arrived with Deng Yulin's company. The situation was actually quite easy to resolve; they could simply bombard the area with artillery. Especially since the other British artillery pieces were also positioned in Sikh-controlled territory, Lin Xinyi quickly moved the mountain guns in front of the British machine gun positions. By then, dawn was breaking, and with excellent visibility, the British machine gun positions were quickly obliterated by the artillery.

Once the Gurkhas realized that their enemy was no longer Sikh, they lost the will to resist the relentless bombardment. The new army then used artillery to chip away at the British defenses layer by layer, eventually reaching Brigadier General MacDonald's headquarters. By this time, it was already broad daylight. Lin Xinyi immediately ordered the captured British officers to shout towards the headquarters, demanding that Brigadier General MacDonald and the other British officers and soldiers surrender their weapons, or else their stone houses would be razed to the ground.

During a lull in the fighting, Lin Xinyi summoned Harry Singh again. In a courtyard, he asked the lieutenant who had been brought with him directly, "What do your comrades mean now? What exactly are they planning to do?"

After a moment of silence, Harry Singh said, "They don't consider themselves your prisoners and hope you will allow them to leave?"

Lin Xinyi nodded and said, “They are certainly not my prisoners, but this is Tibet, our territory. Who would allow an army carrying weapons to roam around here? I will allow them to leave, but they must hand over all their weapons and looted goods, and then leave under our arrangement. Please remember, even if they resisted British imperialism, it does not mean that they are not part of the imperialist army that invaded Tibet.”

Initially, the Sikhs thought they could negotiate with the Luosang and Chen Qiang companies, but after Lin Xinyi arrived with artillery and quickly broke the stalemate in the village, the Sikhs became much more compliant. When Colonel Fuller came out to negotiate with the Chinese waving a white flag, he was rebuked and forced to retreat by Lin Xinyi. Ultimately, the British chose unconditional surrender, and the Sikhs finally accepted the terms proposed by Lin Xinyi.

Colonel Fuller went to persuade his men at the ferry to surrender, and then the New Army on the opposite bank began to cross the river. Wu Luzhen was in the second group to cross. As soon as he got off the boat, he rushed to Lin Xinyi's village. Seeing Lin Xinyi sitting in the courtyard handling affairs, he laughed and said, "There were gunshots all night long last night, which really worried me to death. I wish I could have flown over last night to fight alongside you. So, what were the results of the battle last night?"

Lin Xinyi stood up and said to him, "You've come at the right time. You can clean up the mess here. I'm taking Cheng and Qian's companies to launch an attack now. You bring over all the troops from the other side of the river. Send one platoon forward for every platoon you bring over. We need to take advantage of the British army's encirclement and suppression of Chen Jingcun's troops in the mountains to trap them inside. In this weather, without logistical support, they will surrender in just a few nights."

The British army deployed only eight regular battalions, totaling less than 4000 men. Of the remaining 7000 men, half were porters hired from Sikkim and Gurkha, and the other half were auxiliary troops, which did not have much combat capability.

After last night's night raid, aside from the three battalions tasked with encircling Chen Jingcun and protecting the supply lines, only one and a half battalions remain in Gyantse. In other words, if we can force the British troops encircling Chen Jingcun to surrender, the British will have little ability to retaliate.

Wu Luzhen's eyes lit up, and he immediately said, "Then why don't I go after them, and you stay here to handle these matters?"

Lin Xinyi shook his head and said, "I'm only familiar with the troops here. I don't know how the troops in Jiangbei are mobilized. The most important thing now is speed. I'll pursue them, and you can mobilize the Jiangbei troops to keep up. That will save the most time. As for the fighting, you'll have plenty to do. You don't think that just because this British force has suffered a defeat, the British will give up on attacking Tibet, do you...?"

The captured British were not only officers, but also several journalists, including reporters from The Times and the Daily Mail. Since its defeat in Afghanistan, the British Empire had focused on using newspapers to protect its overseas expansion. They would typically portray imperial military actions as friendly inspections or negotiations to protect British commerce, and then label those nations that rejected British goodwill as barbarians.

When the British invaded Tibet, The Times initially referred to the British troops as a mission or expedition, and shamelessly stated, "We sincerely hope that this expedition will directly establish friendly relations with the Dalai Lama... Sir Curzon sent the expeditionary force entirely for peaceful purposes."

The Daily Mail did little more than the Times: whitewashing the British invasion. But now these journalists were witnessing a British defeat, the second time the British army had fallen to barbarians since the Mahdi.

The Times reporter stood in the courtyard. Although he had been captured by the Chinese, the British admitted that although the Chinese soldiers were a bit rude, they were at least more disciplined than the British soldiers. At least they did not search their luggage or rob their belongings. The only arrangement for them was to stay in a courtyard and not wander around.

Even so, the British would not be grateful to the Chinese. For example, this Times reporter was praying, "I hope that Colonel Brown, Colonel Cooper, and Colonel Byrne will react quickly and rescue them from the barbarians."

Edmund Candler, a reporter for the Daily Mail, watched as the Chinese army commander, having defeated the British, began to regroup and said to his companions, "The fact that the mad mullah almost won at Engrig in 1902 proves he is indeed mentally ill. Only a madman could defeat the British army! This Chinese man must be insane too; he actually thinks he can lead this small force to attack our army in broad daylight..."

Chapter 220 Smooth Sailing

From Niangsuo Ferry to Langkazi, the terrain is almost entirely mountainous, with only a few mountain basins where people can be seen. These mountain basins are now occupied by British troops, ranging from thirty or forty men to fifty or sixty men.

In general, such a garrison is sufficient for maintaining order. Relying on the mountain pass terrain, it can even block several times more troops, giving neighboring forces time to gather and support them.

This is also why British journalists were not optimistic about the Chinese army's operation. Having experienced many battles fought by the British army, they possessed basic military skills and naturally knew how difficult it would be to break through in such terrain. Once the British troops tasked with suppressing the guerrillas reacted and regrouped, these Chinese troops would be doomed.

However, Lin Xinyi had no intention of fighting them one by one. He headed west from the Niangsuo ferry crossing, following the mountain path along the Yarlung Tsangpo River upstream. When he reached the first tributary valley, he found a British outpost. He immediately sent Harry Singh to inquire if there were any British officers there. After receiving a negative answer, he told the garrison that Brigadier General MacDonald had surrendered and that they were now on their way to negotiate with the British.

While the garrison was still hesitant, Lin Xinyi gave them three options: first, to surrender directly, hand over their weapons, and go to Niangsuo Ferry, where they would be taken care of; second, to remain neutral for the time being, and make their choice after they relayed Brigadier General MacDonald's orders to the British officers, but during the neutral period they were not allowed to leave the village or attack or threaten any passing Chinese troops; and third, to start the war now.

The Indian soldiers stationed in the village quickly surrendered when faced with the Maxim machine guns and cannons carried by Lin Xinyi's troops. Their superiors were at the Nyaungsaw Ferry. Since Brigadier General MacDonald had surrendered, their superiors must have surrendered as well. There was no need to wait for anyone's orders. This was stipulated in the military manual given to them by the British.

Lin Xinyi was quite agreeable. After confiscating their weapons, he allowed them to continue their journey to the Nyangsuo ferry after the night. He then gathered the Tibetan villagers from the village, providing them with guides and some firearms to guard the surrendered Indian soldiers. Led by the guides, they traveled upstream along a tributary valley, arriving at the second British outpost before nightfall. The British troops there had also surrendered.

After rescuing the local villagers, Lin Xinyi's troops rested there for one night. The next morning, a company arrived from the rear. After Lin Xinyi inquired that nothing had happened in the rear, the troops continued to advance into the upper reaches of the tributary valley. Before noon, they arrived at the third British stronghold, where the British troops also chose to surrender.

After lunch, Lin Xinyi's troops began to cross the watershed between the tributary valley and Yamdrok Lake. Before dark, they arrived at a village on the shore of Yamdrok Lake. There, they found a British lieutenant who could not believe the news of Brigadier General MacDonald's surrender. However, faced with the superior strength of Lin Xinyi's troops, he did not dare to engage in battle. In the end, he said that he would remain neutral and wait for instructions from his superiors before deciding whether to lay down his arms.

After speaking with him, Lin Xinyi learned that the troops stationed from here to Langkazi were all under the command of Colonel Cooper, who was currently stationed in Baidi Village, 30 miles away. Lin Xinyi accepted the British lieutenant's neutrality but demanded that he release all the villagers and give up half of the village for his troops to rest.

Having chosen a neutral stance, both the British lieutenant and the Indian soldiers below him lost their will to fight, and thus obediently ceded half the village. Judging from the behavior of the garrison there, Lin Xinyi confirmed one thing: the battle situation at Niangsuo Ferry had indeed not been relayed. Therefore, when the British heard of Brigadier General MacDonald's surrender, they assumed the main Chinese army had arrived, hence their panic and lack of courage to resist.

After a peaceful night, Lin Xinyi left a platoon to monitor the British troops and instructed the local Tibetans to inform the Tibetans in nearby villages that Lhasa had begun a counterattack. He also asked the Tibetans in each village to report any British troop movements they learned of to him, and that any guerrillas in the area or Tibetan soldiers who had been separated from their units could come to his aid.