书城外语AShortHistoryofShanghai
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第70章 THE SECOND REVOLUTION, 1913(2)

The week was a nerve racking one for Shanghai. The nightlybombardment started at eight o"clock and continued till the earlyhours of morning, and the screaming of shells passing overhead, withthe noise of the machine guns and rifles, made sleep impossible.

Taking over of Chapei by the CouncilThe Shanghai Volunteers were kept under arms and had but littlerest. On July 26th the Municipal Council made a declaration of thestrict neutrality of the Settlement, Chapei, and the Soochow Creek.

Chapei was included, although Chinese territory, because a number ofChapei residents appealed to the Council to take temporary control ofthat area.

This became necessary after General Chen Chi-mei, in commandof the attacking forces, moved his headquarters from Nantao toChapei, for if Chapei had been used as the base of hostilities, theInternational Settlement would have been in great danger.

When Col. C. D. Bruce, Lt.-Col. A. S. Barnes and the Volunteersmarched in to take possession, General Chen Chi-mei was forced toleave his headquarters in Chapei. He retired to Woosung and shortlyafterwards disappeared.

There was considerable irresolution on the part of the Councilover the occupation of Chapei, but finally the Police Station in thatdistrict was put under the control of 150 bluejackets from H. M.

S. “Monmouth,” who remained in possession until the district wasformally returned to Admiral Tseng on August 17th. The occupationwas resented by the Chinese as it was considered a prelude toannexation, inasmuch as they were aware that, in the proposedextension of the Settlement, a part of Chapei had been included.

Landing of Men from Ships in HarbourDuring this critical period strong forces of British, German,Austrian and Italian sailors were landed and made a ring aroundthe Settlement, joining hands with the French at Siccawei. Britishbluejackets patrolled the Soochow Creek, to keep the rebels fromcoming into Shanghai by water.

Hostilities at WoosungAfter the attempt on the arsenal failed, the scene of operationsshifted to Woosung. The commander of the Woosung Forts had beenwilling to surrender to Admiral Tseng, but the rebels had obtainedpossession of the forts and hoisted the rebel flag.

On August 2nd, the forts were unsuccessfully bornbarded by thecruisers “Hai-chi” and “Hai-yung,” and on August 6th the “Dare-todie”

regiment, although originally on the side of the rebels, attemptedto seize the forts and hand them over to the Government. It wasrepulsed with great slaughter.

Battle at Kiangwan

When the government forces advanced to Kiangwan, the rebelsfrom the Woosung Forts made a daring sortie and delivered a vigorousattack. A battle was fought, in which the operations extended fromthe Kiangwan Railway Station to the International Race Course. Someforeigners who came to see what was happening were caught betweenthe fires and obliged to take refuge under the grand stand on the RaceCourse. Others sought safety in the first bunker on the golf linkswhich they found already occupied by some of the Northern troops.

After a struggle the rebels retired to Paoshan, and melted away into thesurrounding country.

One of the last acts in the drama was an explosion on thegovernment yacht “Lienching,” which had been seized by the rebelsat Woosung and loaded with bombs. Five men were killed and seveninjured.

Fall of Nanking

Although the rebellion had been suppressed in Shanghai, the siegeof Nanking continued. It lasted from August 14th to September 1st.

With the fall of that city into the hands of General Chang Hsün, thisattempt to overthrow Yuan Shih-kai"s government came to an end.

On the whole the sympathy of the residents of Shanghai was withthe Government. They could see no evidence of the ability of the rebelsto establish a better régime than the one they plotted to overthrow, andfeared that their success would result in an increase of turbulence ratherthan in a period of peace.