Chapter Forty-Six: The Allied Forces

While Feng Chengqian was engrossed in designing new warships, a momentous event unfolded in the Qing Empire. The humiliating defeat in the Sino-Japanese War compelled the Qing emperor to appoint reformist officials and embark on a program of modernization, only to face a fierce backlash from the conservative faction led by the Empress Dowager. The reform efforts ultimately ended in failure. Out of sympathy or other motives, Britain, France, and other nations assisted these reformists in fleeing China. The emperor was placed under house arrest in the palace by the Empress Dowager. If not for the opposition of the foreign powers, the Empress Dowager would have already deposed him.

Feng Chengqian found nothing remarkable in this chain of events. The defeat in the Sino-Japanese War was the last straw for the Qing; under the threat of extinction without reform, the emperor, who still retained a spark of ambition, sought to take action. Lacking a solid foundation, he could never hope to rival the conservatives led by the Empress Dowager, and the failure of the reforms was hardly surprising.

What followed, however, was far from reassuring. Initially, Feng Chengqian paid little heed to the turmoil in the Qing Empire. After all, it was a domestic affair, and he, living in the German Empire, was powerless to intervene.

By 1899, as the situation deteriorated, Feng Chengqian realized that even if powerless, he could not stand idly by. The worsening crisis was precipitated by the so-called "Boxers" who stirred up trouble in Beijing, and the Empress Dowager sought to harness their anti-foreign fervor, resulting in atrocities against foreign travelers, missionaries, and converts. Clearly, the situation had exceeded Feng Chengqian's sphere of influence.

When Feng Chengqian learned of the developments from the Kaiser, Britain had already issued a diplomatic note to France, Russia, Germany, the United States, Japan, Italy, and Austria-Hungary, calling for joint action to stem the crisis, including, if necessary, military intervention in China.

Feng Chengqian, mindful of his position, kept silent. He could not oppose military intervention before the Kaiser, since the Empire's interests were also at stake. To say nothing of Baron Richthofen, the Imperial Minister to the Far East, who narrowly escaped death at the hands of the Boxers, while the missionaries accompanying him were not so lucky—none returned to Qingdao.

Yet Feng Chengqian did not offer his support either. His reasoning was simple: this time Britain took the initiative. If the campaign succeeded, Britain would gain prestige and strengthen its influence in China. If it failed, Britain could shift the blame onto other participating nations and exert pressure upon them.

Feng Chengqian advocated a single principle: do not take the lead; let Britain bear the brunt.

Of course, he did not elaborate, for he could not tell the Kaiser that the Eight-Nation Alliance would not have smooth sailing, and that China was not so easily subdued.

Fortunately, the Kaiser trusted Feng Chengqian's strategic acumen and adopted his suggestion.

Among the great powers, disagreements abounded regarding the intervention in China—such as who would command, and the size of each nation's contingent.

In 1899, nearly everyone believed that once the powers intervened, China would capitulate.

No one truly grasped the difficulty of this war.

The debate dragged on until early 1900, when it was decided that Admiral Seymour of the Royal Navy would lead the expedition to Beijing to protect foreign nationals and Chinese seeking refuge.

At the time, Seymour commanded only two thousand troops, most of whom were sailors transferred from warships.

Clearly, the governments gravely underestimated the challenge of the operation and the depth of resentment among the Chinese, accumulated over decades.

In mid-June, Seymour’s forces were surrounded at Langfang.

Upon hearing the news, Feng Chengqian hurried to the Potsdam Palace and advised the Kaiser that the time had come for the German Empire to take the lead.

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The defeat at Langfang greatly shocked the powers. No one underestimated the difficulties of the campaign any longer.

By the end of June, Britain first proposed reinforcement, and Russia quickly agreed, deciding to send 170,000 troops into Manchuria. France and the other powers soon followed suit.

As for the command of the allied forces, Marshal Waldersee, recommended by Frederick III, was not initially accepted.

Feng Chengqian learned that Britain would send 5,000 troops, France 3,000, Russia 3,500, the United States 2,000, Japan 8,000. After landing at Dagu, the first priority was to rescue the besieged Seymour and then advance on Beijing, to force China to sue for peace by taking the capital.

With reinforcements, the situation improved somewhat, but remained unsatisfactory. The main issue was that the additional forces did not arrive until August, the height of summer, leaving the troops exhausted and making operations extremely difficult.

In mid-August, Feng Chengqian again advised the Kaiser to appoint Marshal Waldersee as commander of the allied forces.

In exchange, after Waldersee assumed command, the Empire would transfer two thousand marines from Shandong and dispatch the Far East Fleet to Dagu.

Due to poor performance on the front lines, the other nations did not oppose this proposal.

On August 14th, Marshal Waldersee was formally installed as commander. At that time, he was still hastening to the Far East.

Feng Chengqian's timing was impeccable.

Three days after Waldersee became commander, the allied forces stormed Beijing and occupied the Forbidden City, while the Empress Dowager, the emperor, and imperial kin fled.

Clearly, even without Waldersee, the allies would have taken Beijing.

In early September, Waldersee arrived in China. The total strength of the allies had risen to 100,000, not only capturing Beijing and Tianjin, but also Baoding, Zhengding, and Shanhaiguan, with forces penetrating into Shanxi. Meanwhile, the Tsar fulfilled his promise, dispatching 170,000 troops to Manchuria.

Although the allies suffered defeats on some fronts—for example, the Franco-German forces were beaten in Shanxi and forced to halt their advance—overall, China had lost the war. The question was no longer how to fight, but how to extract the greatest price from China before the peace treaty was signed.

Evidently, the allies lacked the capacity to occupy China.

In fact, even holding Beijing proved agonizing, as the enormous cost of war was prompting several nations to consider withdrawal.

By early October, France was the first to submit a memorandum to the powers.

After two months of negotiations, Marshal Waldersee, in his capacity as commander, formally presented the “Peace Protocol” to China in early December. Twenty days later, China, with no other choice, was compelled to accept it. Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain soon joined the alliance.

After the war ended, talks dragged on for half a year.

It was not until the latter half of 1901 that China and the allied forces formally signed the Treaty of 1901.

What did this treaty signify?

Though it differed from the history Feng Chengqian knew—for instance, the final indemnity was not 460 million taels of silver, but 520 million—this was nonetheless the most onerous and unequal treaty in modern Chinese history, and it sounded the death knell for the decadent Qing dynasty.

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The greatest beneficiary was not the instigator of the alliance, but Tsarist Russia.

While the allies attacked Beijing and Tianjin, Russia sent nearly 200,000 troops, advancing from north and south to occupy Manchuria within months.

Was this good or bad?

From Feng Chengqian’s perspective, it was not necessarily a bad thing, for Russia’s occupation of Manchuria was not part of the alliance’s plan, and it severely harmed Japan’s interests. Japan’s enthusiastic participation in the war was motivated by the hope of seizing Manchuria. But with Russia’s occupation now a fait accompli, Britain, France, and the rest did nothing to secure Japan’s interests, tacitly accepting the reality. As a result, Japan’s cabinet collapsed again, and anti-Russian sentiment rose sharply.

To most Japanese, their efforts in the war entitled them to claim Manchuria as their sphere of influence.

In a sense, the allied intervention in China was the fuse for the impending Russo-Japanese War, as the two powers vied for Manchuria.

During the war, another event occurred: Australia formally declared independence and established its federal government.

The conflict also exposed rifts among the powers. After occupying Beijing and Tianjin, Britain and Russia nearly went to war over the route of the Beijing-Tianjin railway. During the occupation, British and Commonwealth troops clashed repeatedly with other nations over issues of discipline. The most serious incident saw the Australian Federal Army nearly engage in bayonet combat with the French.

Clearly, the alliance was a coalition of convenience.

Once their common interests vanished, they would naturally disperse.

To Feng Chengqian, this was no trivial matter. If the German Empire was ever forced into war with the other powers, exploiting their internal divisions might well be the key to victory.

Yet greater opportunities lay within China.

The invasion awakened many patriotic Chinese to the fact that a dynasty incapable of defending its own capital could never hope to restore national strength.

At the end of 1901, Feng Chengqian undertook a critical initiative: through Krupp and other imperial companies operating factories in China, he arranged for ten personally selected labor representatives to return home ostensibly for work. In truth, he tasked them with a vital mission: upon their return, to actively connect with patriots and, when necessary, take action.

He then wrote to Baron Richthofen, requesting his assistance.

By the time Feng Chengqian completed these arrangements, it was already 1902.

That year, the Royal Navy officially funded the construction of the battleship Dreadnought, and the three-year-long Boer War was drawing to a close.

Under Feng Chengqian’s influence, the German Empire behaved with great restraint during the Boer War.

Though this somewhat alienated the Netherlands, it eased British suspicions and tensions between Britain and Germany, winning the Empire more time for development.

Yet there were many matters demanding Feng Chengqian’s attention.

For instance, France’s expansion in Morocco was now a serious threat to the Empire’s interests, and the economies of various nations were trending downward.

A storm was brewing, its ominous clouds gathering on the horizon.