China by Edward Rutherfurd (historical books to read TXT) 📕

the new troops began to arrive in the city, Nio soon reported back: “They look half starved. Some of the companies are in rags. They’re from distant provinces and can’t speak a word of Cantonese. Most of them don’t even seem to know where they are.”

“And their officers?”

“Drinking and whoring. They only show up on payday. As for General Yang, he’s over seventy and deaf as a post.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes. He believes the British are using black magic. If so few of the barbarians can defeat so many Chinese, he says, there can be no other explanation.”

All through April, Nio brought reports of fresh arrivals of troops and cannon. One day in early May, in a secluded inlet near the city, he saw a small fleet of fire ships being prepared. Presumably they could be used against the flotilla of British vessels out in the gulf. This he also reported.

By the third week of May the heat in Canton was growing intolerable. The merchants at the factories, making up for the time lost in the spring, continued their urgent business of selling opium and buying tea, as if the world of trade would never cease. But Nio noticed that the ordinary people of Canton, those who could afford it, were quietly leaving the city.

His informants at the governor’s yamen told him that something big was brewing. And then, one afternoon, Nio discovered a cannon hidden in the yard of a disused warehouse near the factories and realized that it could easily be dragged out onto the waterfront to fire at British ships.

The next day he saw Whiteparish. “Where is Elliot? And where is the iron ship?”

“The iron ship is down at the Bogue. Elliot’s on it.”

“They’d better come up fast and take the people in the factories off. I think General Yang’s about to attack, and he’s going to take over the waterfront.”

Two days later, the Nemesis and a flotilla of British warships came up the Pearl River to the factories. Somewhat disgruntled, the merchants allowed themselves to be evacuated.

By nightfall, the flotilla was out in the waters below the city.

—

So most people were asleep when, at two o’clock in the morning during the ebb tide, all hell broke loose on the Pearl River.

Cannon, dragged onto the waterfront, suddenly roared. Fire ships, chained together in pairs, were floating towards the anchored British vessels. The assault was huge and seemed well organized. The Chinese navy was good at fire ships, after all.

It didn’t take Nio long to bribe a guard to let him up on the city wall. The night scene before him was spectacular. The roars and flashes from the cannon, coming from so many directions, were confusing, but Nio could see what the fire ships were doing. The British vessels, tall, ghostly shapes in the half-distance, had been caught unawares. Most were still at anchor or trying to get under way as the flaming hulks bore down upon them. Only the Nemesis was moving about and firing its guns. More fire ships were appearing. Some war junks were training their cannon on the British vessels. He even thought he saw the Nemesis take a hit. Were the British going to be defeated for once?

“I believe we’ve got them,” he cried excitedly. He said it without thinking, and nobody heard.

It was only as the minutes passed that he noticed something odd. Perhaps, he thought, it was the dark. The fire ships were still advancing, but they seemed to be moving more slowly. A couple of the British ships had weighed anchor; one of them had got a grappling hook on to a fire ship and was dragging it off course. He stared into the blackness. And then, as a good waterman, he suddenly realized…and let out a groan. “The fools,” he wailed.

The ebb tide that was supposed to carry the fire ships towards the British was almost over. They’d sent the fire ships out too late.

And so it proved. Through the rest of that short night and as the first hint of dawn appeared, he watched the great fire offensive slowly disintegrate. With the change of tide, some of the fire ships were even carried back to the waterside suburbs of the city, where flames soon broke out amongst the wooden houses. Finally, as dawn sent a faint grey light over the futile remains of the action, Nio made his way down from the wall.

He felt a sense of disgust. Before, when the British attacked the forts, the Chinese weapons were no good, their gun batteries useless. They were bound to lose. But last night, the Chinese could have won. Why did they lose? Because they were foolish. They lost face. And although his own interests lay with the British now, he felt a sense of shame.

So he was glad, two hours later at the governor’s yamen, when one of his informants told him: “It wasn’t General Yang who sent in the fire ships last night. He didn’t even know. It was his boss. The emperor’s cousin. He’s the one who gave the order and sent them at the wrong time.” A Manchu. That explained it, Nio thought. No Han Chinese would do anything so stupid.

—

By chance, Cecil Whiteparish was the first one to recognize Nio in the small sampan coming towards them. There was still so much confusion along the waterfront and in the river that few people would have noticed one vessel more or less. But when he caught sight of Nio, Whiteparish smiled and waved at once. And by the time Nio reached the Nemesis, he had Elliot at his side, ready to receive the news.

Nio’s report was precise and to the point. The fact that General Yang didn’t even know about the plan of attack was interesting.

“It sounds as if their command’s in disarray,” Elliot remarked to Whiteparish. “I believe we can finish this entire business in short order. I shall call on Canton to surrender.”

Whiteparish looked at the city’s massive walls. “But surely, it’s