PAGE 164. Chapter 9. Relieving Force Arrives and the Capture of Tsechen and Gyantse Jong

THE reason why General Macdonald and his column did not reach Gyantse was now disclosed. When his first column reached Kangma on the 22nd, a reconnoitring party of the 2nd Mounted Infantry, having proceeded up the Kangma-Ralung road (which will be remembered as cutting off the right-hand corner of the Y formed by the meeting of the roads at Gyantse), found a large force of Tibetans in position at Niru, estimated at 800 to 1,000 men. This was the same body of the enemy that we had heard of on the 18th as passing through the hills in the Khamba Jong direction. Its object in holding that road was to prevent the General's force from proceeding that way to the Karo La and Lhasa, which, of course, he had no intention of doing. On the 23rd a column of 500 men, two guns, and fifty of the 1st and 2nd Mounted Infantry (twenty-one of the 1st Mounted Infantry garrisoning Kangma), all under Colonel Hogge, marched against the Tibetans at Niru. They, however, did not wait to be turned out, but decamped early that morning,not thinking their wall, high enough to stop a British force. About half of them joined another force holding Gubshi, and the rest came into Gyantse Jong, where they were not well received by their own generals, and were ordered out on the night of the 24th-25th to hold Naini monastery.

The Tibetans lost about 150 in killed, wounded, and prisoners, and must have been thankful that the whole 900 of them were not despatched.

Our losses were five men killed, Major Lye, a native officer of the 2nd Mounted Infantry, and nine men all badly wounded. Amongst the wounded was one man of the 1st Mounted Infantry who had come from Kangma. The rest of the 1st Mounted Infantry spent the day waiting for the chance that never came, the Tibetans thinking it safer to remain in the monastery than to try conclusions again in the open.

The relieving force were inclined to scoff at the stories of the jingals in the Jong, but they changed their minds when, crossing the Gyantse stream at the end of the wood, they found the jingal bullets clattering about them, although they were 2,000 yards away. A British gunner who had his helmet knocked to pieces by one of them expressed his disapprobation in very strong language. An officer of experience, paying a courteous visit to old friends in the post, confessed he never did so much bullet-dodging in his life as in those last 500 yards through the wood into the post.

The General's force looked like a big army to those who had been at Gyantse, but numbered only about 2,000 rifles and eight guns, a wee force to capture the capital of a hostile country.

It comprised the remaining four guns of No. 7 British Mountain Battery, four guns of the 30th Native Mountain Battery, four companies Royal Fusiliers, four companies 23rd Sikh Pioneers, four companies 8th Gurkhas, four companies 32nd Sikh Pioneers, eight companies 40th Pathans, the 2nd Mounted Infantry, twenty-one men of the 1st, and one section of the 3rd Mounted Infantry, hospitals, ordnance, &c., and over 3,000 transport animals. It was the latter which made the column look so big

The 27th was a nasty wet day, and the troops were given a halt. A column was detailed for next day to go down the left bank of the river (i.e. in the Shigatse direction), and drive the enemy out of all the villages as far as Tsechen monastery, and if time allowed to storm that monastery and Jong

Colonel Brander, with the 32nd, was to start at 3 A.M. on the 28th, and go down the right bank of the river, and occupy two small villages near the river, so as to prevent the Tibetans in the Jong from sending reinforcements to Tsechen.

It rained hard all night, and up to 11 A.M. on the 28th. 8 A.M. had been fixed for the column to move off; but owing to the wet, the Royal Fusiliers had been unable to cook during the night, and to give them a chance of getting some food the advance of the column was postponed for two hours.

Much to the satisfaction of the 1st Mounted Infantry, old scores with Tsechen were to be wiped out that day. The enemy in Tsechen were not friends of ours, and the company were very pleased to be in the advanced guard of the column going against them. Also it was the first occasion since March and the first action in which the whole company were together. The Royal Fusiliers and 23rd Pioneers were in the first line, the 8th Gurkhas, 40th Pathans, guns, and Maxims in the second.

We found the villages all empty, and saw about 200 horse and foot of the enemy come out from Tsechen and occupy a village about 1,000 yards in advance. As the column came on, the Mounted Infantry advance guard was sufficient for this party of the enemy, and drove them out of the village they had just occupied, capturing four of their ponies. Near the foot of the Tsechen Hill is a large substantial village in a grove of trees called Gubshi. This used to be occupied by about 500 or 600 Tibetans; but to-day there seemed to be no- body. However, before we could find out, the guns from about 4,000 yards off began to drop shells into it with the utmost accuracy. This settled the question, and there was no enemy within when the first line got up to it. The Mounted Infantry orders were to become the left flank guard when nearing Gubshi, and moving out to take up their position they saw a lot of Tibetans escaping up into the hills on the left, so gave chase, scattering them and capturing six more ponies. The rest of the mounted Tibetans did not stop till they got to Dongtse, twelve miles down the Shigatse road.

A short description of Tsechen Hill and position is necessary. It is another of those hills that stand by themselves on the plain. This one in shape resembles the side view of a great whale lying on a flat surface, tail to the left, head to the right. It is about one mile long, and the highest point about 600 feet above the plain, and narrow. Near the right end, or head, the monastery and village are built. The monastery extends up the face of the hill from the plain to the summit of the ridge, and is surrounded by a ten-foot wall nearly all the way. The jong is built on the highest point of the ridge about midway between both ends. From the jong towards the left the ridge slopes down to the plain in a system of sharp and jagged boulders. Both the front face and the back face are practically inaccessible, and impossible for troops to get up under fire, except at the monastery itself. The jong was a massive stone loopholed building, and the houses in the monastery of the same class. Gubshi village, near the left end of the hill, was expected to have been strongly held, but it proved to be otherwise, and therefore, as it was still early in the day, the General issued his orders for the assault of the monastery and jong. Four companies of the 40th Pathans were sent against the village and the monastery, and two companies of the 8th Gurkhas, commencing on the extreme left, scrambled up the tortuous path through the rocks and boulders towards the jong. All the guns, Maxims, and rifles of the reserves covered these movements by a concentrated fire on the jong and monastery.

The 40th advanced across the open plain with all the elan of the Pathan, and dashed into the monastery just as the Gurkhas from amongst the rocks opened fire on the Jong at 200 yards range. The ten-pounder common shells had breached the jong splendidly, and the gunners kept up their fire till the Gurkhas were within eighty yards of it, so that the enemy could not stand to their loopholes to fire on the Gurkhas. The co-operation between the guns and infantry was beautiful, and crowned with success. The Tibetans could not stand it, and took to their heels before the Gurkhas got to the Jong; at any rate, few remained to oppose them, and these they soon disposed of. More or less the same took place in the monastery, and most of the enemy bolted over the ridge or hid in the cellars as soon as the 40th gained the lowest houses. One large house at the top held out until the gate was blown in by Captain Shepherd and his sappers.

Almost the whole place was in the hands of the 40th when Captain Craster (age 33), of that regiment, was shot dead. His day's work was finished, and done well, and it was a sad fatality that claimed him at its close.

The orders for the Mounted Infantry were to wait under cover near the left end of the hill, and to allow the enemy to get well out on the plain before pursuing them. They halted behind a con- venient chorten, or Tibetan monumental wall, whence a good view of the plain behind the Tsechen Hill was obtained, and where they were well concealed. They and two companies of the 23rd Pioneers, in Gubshi village, were told off as the left flank guard, and I was directed to take charge of the whole. Lieutenant Bailey had rejoined the 1st Mounted Infantry since the arrival of the General's force. He was instructed to pursue when he saw a good opportunity, and to send word when he went off, so that if possible I should follow him. Behind the Tsechen Hill, along the bank of the river, is a patch of scrub-jungle about three miles long and a mile broad. The Tibetans, having been ejected by the Pathans and Gurkhas, were soon seen dropping from the rear walls of the jong and monastery in large numbers, and plunging down the rear face of the hill, and making for the jungle. The Mounted Infantry now pursued, and swept through theJungle in line, playing havoc with the enemy. Lieutenant Bailey having sent an orderly to me before starting, and the two companies of the 23rd having been ordered to join their regiment, I followed the Mounted Infantry and met them returning from their pursuit. They had been right through the piece of jungle, and pressed the Tibetans so hard that many of them jumped into the river.

Now, if there is anything in the world a Tibetan hates it is water, so that they must have been in extremis when they tried to cross a river. They found this of no avail either, as one section of the Mounted Infantry plunged in, and with their ponies swam across. Most of the Tibetans were drowned. There was a small village on the other side of the river, and the section of Mounted Infantry, seeing some mounted Tibetans going into it, charged into it also, and captured ten ponies and six prisoners.

While we were waiting for the company to reassemble large numbers of Tibetans were seen escaping from the Jong and monastery, and coming down the hill, some hiding amongst the rocks and caves, and others going into a small village at the base of the hill. These, of course, had to be turned out. The Mounted Infantry on their way came into sight on the right side of Tsechen Hill, where they were not expected, and, being a long distance off, were mistaken for the enemy by an excited Maxim, which greeted us with a few rounds before recognising us. Lieutenant Bailey, with about thirty men, went for the village, and the remainder, dismounting, attacked up the almost precipitous rear face of the hill towards the Jong and monastery. The rocks and caves were swarming with Tibetans, and all the men were soon engaged individually. Those of the enemy who laid down their arms were taken prisoners both here and in the village. Before ascending the hill a shot was fired from the point of the hill where the jingal that commanded the bridge used to be. Two Gurkhas begged permission to go and slay the firer with their kukeries. This being granted, off they went in great glee, but the Tibetan was too nimble for them and got away.

When the Mounted Infantry commenced their pursuit the guns were firing at the jong and monastery, and any shells that went over their mark came screaming above the company. One common shell was seen to strike the ground and explode quite three miles beyond the Tsechen Hill; others either did not explode or fell into the jungle, where the explosion would have escaped notice. Three shrapnel burst over the company, and probably owing to their being 800 or 900 feet up at the time of burst, or to the wide extension of the Mounted Infantry, no damage was done. These shells afforded a good experience for the men and excellent training.

It was raining hard and quite dark when we fell in to march to camp. The plain had become a marsh, and many were the falls that took place before the men and ponies were settled down in their lines in their new camp, as during the day the camp had been shifted to the left bank, and a mile below the post, to make the Tibetans in Gyantse Jong think that the attack would come from the Shigatse direction.

This day's work was a terrible shock to the Tibetans in Gyantse Jong, as they had placed great reliance in the immense strength of Tsechen and Naini monasteries and their respective garrisons of 1,000 and 900 men. That night a leakage of Tibetans commenced from Gyantse Jong, and by July 6 the garrison of 8,000 or 10,000 men had dwindled down to about 4,000 or 5,000.

Considering the number of good rifles and ammunition captured at Tsechen, and the strength of the garrison and place itself, our losses were ridiculously small. Captain Craster, of the 40th, was killed, Captains Bliss and Humphreys, of the 8th, wounded (slight), and seven rank-and-file wounded.