A Large-Scale Skirmish Game Set in The Boxer Rebellion
Major Borkenhagen, (I made a number of attempts to find military rank structures for the forces involved in this hypothetical wargame. Unfortunately, I had no success either in text or Internet research. And so, I elected to stay with "universal" rankings for the Allied Officers, be they German, Japanese, Italian; be they Army or Navy. My apologies to the experts of the period. the German commander of the Allied Relief Force, dabbed the wet towel to his forehead and wiped the back of his neck. This offered but brief respite to the already stifling heat and humidity of the morning. The flaps of his command tent were up and tied, but there was next to no breeze or cross wind to offer any kind of comfort. Leaving his uniform collar unbuttoned, he reached for his pocket watch to check the hour. The irony of the situation dawned on him just then. The gold watch had been a gift from his father. The Major's father had fought with distinction in the war against the French in 1870. Now, just 30 years later, the French and Germans were on the same side, fighting a different kind of enemy. Now, on this hot morning in late July of 1900, he would be leading a multi-national effort to rescue and relieve a group of French Marines and Italian Sailors. These men were trapped by Boxers at Taipeng Mission, having themselves been attempting to rescue Western missionaries from the hands of the angry Chinese.
The Major was interrupted from this reflection by his subordinate, Senior Captain Gosswein, who stepped into the shade of the tent in order to inform him of the return of the cavalry reconnaissance. Major Borkenhagen returned the chained heirloom to his uniform vest, secured his pistol belt, sword and helmet, and prepared himself to receive the report from the British-officered cavalry patrol. Based on this final information, he would present his plan for battle to the assembled officers of the international force under his charge.
Meanwhile, a little over five miles north of the command tent, Lt. Trudeau, commander of a platoon of French Marines and senior officer of the ad-hoc garrison of Taipeng Mission, had no time for irony nor for battle plans. His men, and the Sailors under command of Lt. Corelli, were exhausted and under-strength. A week ago, they had been tasked with "rounding up" Chinese converts north of the Leiho River and leading them to the safety of Allied lines by way of Taipeng Mission. This incursion of "foreign devils" had not gone unnoticed by the Boxers nor by Imperial Troops. For the last two days, their line of march had been harassed by small units of Boxers. The French and Italians had protected the group of converts, but at some cost. Several troops had been killed or wounded by sniping fire. Among this number: the sergeants of both platoons. Lt. Trudeau himself had been grazed on the cheek by a ricochet. The wound looked worse than it was, thankfully.
His heart was heavy though, for the death of his Platoon Sergeant, Sgt. Lohmann. This sturdy veteran had taken a bullet in the back while ushering women and children into the relative safety of the Church at Taipeng Mission. Time constraints did not allow a proper burial of the sergeant as men had to stand a post at the walls or assist in the construction of hasty barricades linking those walls.
The Marines and Sailors worked well together. In less than six hours after reaching the gate of Taipeng Mission, the walls were reinforced and hasty barricades (old wagons, barrels, bags of rice) constructed. Ammunition was counted and distributed. What water there was, was also rationed. Now, they could only wait. Wait for the attacks they knew would come; wait for the relief they hoped would.
BACKGROUND
The basic idea for this large-scale skirmish wargarne stemmed from reading Diana Preston's excellent work, The Boxer Rebellion: The Dramatic Story of China's War on Foreigners That Shook the World in the Summer of 1900. The idea was refined with the purchase of The Sword and The Flame 20th Anniversary Edition rules, which contained a supplement for gaming actions of The Boxer Rebellion. I might add that the idea was further inspired by the need to get away from England for a while, especially as it was coming on Winter. (For some time, I had been working on and wargaming in my ECW-solo campaign. While the contest between Prince John, the Queen, the Scots and the French has proved interesting and challenging, it was coming on the Winter season and I was faced with the burden of an amount of paper work as opposed to field action. And so, being a couple of issues ahead of the "game" with respect to MWAN commitments, I thought I would take a little side trip to China at the turn of the 20th century.)
SCENARIO CONSTRUCTION
Premise
The basic premise for the wargame scenario also stemmed from the above reading. The details were fleshed out over the course of a week, during undetected sessions of day-dreaming at the office and lunch breaks spent alone, hunched over blank paper that was soon covered with scribbles, doodles and notes.
Essentially, there was a small force of allied soldiers or sailors who were trapped in a mission with a group of Chinese converts. This force was to be rescued / relieved by a larger and more multi-national force. In the way of the allied mission stood a fairly large number of Chinese; a mixed force of Boxers, Tigermen and Imperial Troops, all supported by a number of cannon and a few units of irregular horse.
Terrain
The battlefield was a rather large one (12 feet by 7 feet of floor space), and in comparison to other floors and tables I have gamed on, a little more complicated. That is to say, the terrain was more involved or even "crowded." Please see the following map for layout of the field as well as for initial dispositions of the Chinese forces and surrounded allied "garrison." (Please note that the map is not to scale.)
The field was oriented on a north-south axis, with the Leiho River dividing the playing surface approximately in half. An improved road ran from the southeast corner of field into the village of Huan-Su. From this village, the road split into a "Y" running west toward Taipeng and east toward Kengtow. Taipeng was a town; larger in area and number of buildings than both Huan-Su and Kengtow. Both Taipeng and Kengtow were on the south side of the Leiho. A rail line ran roughly parallel to the improved road, passing just west of Huan-Su and then past Taipeng, over the Leiho River, past the arsenal on the north edge of the river, and continued northwest.
Once across the river, the improved road formed an inverted "Y", coming together in the middle of Taipeng Mission. This was a rather large structure, the church having been built of stone and brick some 40 years prior to the day of battle. There were a number of out-buildings, a cemetery in the northwest corner of the grounds and a low, square stone wall that nearly enclosed the Mission. A improvised gate stood across the road leading north out of the Mission proper.
There were several hills on the site of the field. At opposite corners, there were long, low ridge lines. Each of these was topped with a small copse. Just behind Huan-Su, there was a large, squat hill of two levels. On each tier, there was also a growth of trees and/or some kind of scrub. Just to the north of this hill, across the Leiho, there was a smaller hill. In the center of this rise, there was a dense wood. A less dense wood grew out of this and spread in a westerly direction, down the slope.
Scattered about the rest of the field were a number of other copses and woods as well as a fair number of fields. These fields were a mix of cultivated earth, corn, wheat and taller-than-a-man bamboo. (Again, please refer to the map for general location and number.)
The other two salient terrain features consisted of hasty barricades and light field works. For the Allies, the natural protection provided by the architecture of Taipeng Mission was reinforced by whatever could be found. A spare wagon was wedged against the gate of the Mission. Rice bags, doors, a few felled trees and other detritus were added to the low stone wall for additional cover.
For the Chinese, they had been rather busy preparing a warm reception for the "foreign devils. "In front of Huan-Su, there was a large semi-circular line of hasty works. There were similar, if smaller lines constructed in front of Taipeng and Kengtow. A secondary line of works, this, perhaps a little more sturdy as it was built by Imperial troops, was established on the front edge of the hill just behind Huan-Su.
Orders of Battle
In addition to the advantage of terrain, the Boxers also held the advantage of position. The defensive line in front of the river would prove difficult to crack for any force, be they Western units steeped in history and tradition or not. The "garrison" of the Mission was surrounded and very much outnumbered. It was only in terms of fire power that the Allied Force had a plus in its column.
Spread between seven nations, the Allied Force consisted of the following: 11 platoons of infantry / marines and sailors; two (2) troops of cavalry - one troop of Bengal Lancers and one troop of Japanese "line" cavalry; and, five (5) pieces of ordnance. In terms of figures, this amounted to a solid total of 213 infantry / marines and sailors; 24 cavalrymen, and five (5) cannon / machine guns with crew.
In terms of disposition and deployment, the "garrison" was comprised of a platoon of French Marines with an attached light gun. They were joined by a platoon of Italian Sailors. In the Mission itself, under the combined protection of these men, there was a "platoon" of Chinese converts. (This "platoon" or group of converts numbered 16 figures and was under the "leadership" of Father O'Malley. The group was mostly women, old men and children, but there were a few able-bodied men present.)
The Relief Force was built around four (4) companies of infantry / sailors supplied by Britain, Germany, Russia and Japan. The Germans, Japanese and English had an artillery piece backing up the foot. The English and Japanese also had a mounted element present, but as it would turn out, only the Bengal Lancers played any role on the field. The United States was represented by a platoon of veteran Marines. These men were supported by a Maxim gun and its crew. Command of the Relief Force "fell to" the Germans. In the event Major Borkenhagen was killed or wounded, the senior officer of the British contingent would assume command.
Facing this multi-national force was a veritable sea of banners, bugles, swords and spears. In Huan-Su, two units of Boxers lined the barricade while a unit of Tigermen "hid" in the center of the village. A single cannon was placed between the Boxer units. To the rear of this position, a company of Imperial Infantry defended the hill. These uniformed soldiers were also supported by an artillery piece.
To the east, Kengtow was occupied by a unit of Boxers. There was a cannon at the center of the redoubt here, too. And to the right of this position, another unit of Boxers waited in the rough, wooded terrain. In Taipeng, it was a similar situation: there was a unit of Boxers and a piece of artillery manning the hasty defenses. To the right and left of this concentration, units of Boxers took up position. Another unit of Boxers was deployed to protect the arsenal across the bridge from Taipeng. Then, in the wooded ridge line on the southeast comer of the field, a unit of Tigermen concealed themselves. Behind the ridge itself, was concealed two-thirds of the Chinese cavalry strength: two (2) troops of irregular horse in line. Their commander positioned himself on the crest of the ridge, to the right of the hidden Tigermen, watching and waiting for the right moment.
North of the Leiho, the Chinese were loosely concentrated around the Mission. Their main concern was not defense but attack. Indeed, they wanted to destroy the "garrison" occupying the Mission, if not take the Mission apart itself - being as it was, such a symbol of the West, its religion and its corrupting influence.
All told, the Chinese numbered some 360 infantry, 36 cavalry and five (5) artillery pieces and crews. Three of the 18 infantry units on the Chinese side were comprised of Imperial Infantry. These troops were organized and armed like their Western counterparts. That is to say, of the 20 men (figures) in the platoon, two were leaders and all carried rifles. Three of the 18 units were comprised of Tigermen. The remaining 12 units were Boxers. These units had just one leader figure with the rest being front line troops. (This is not to suggest that the leaders of these units shied away from combat. As the battle wore on, many small unit leaders found themselves in the thick of fighting and often on the wrong end of a rifle butt or bayonet point.)
In the Boxer Rebellion Supplement of The Sword and The Flame rules, Larry Brom suggests a basic Boxer force of three Units or bands, one armed with rifles, another with swords and the last, with spears. (The full organization includes Imperial Rifles, two units of Tigermen (presumed armed with swords only as they have a "dash" on the range table), two units of irregular horse and two guns.)
I found this restriction a little problematic when I tried to draw up my first order of battle. I think there may be some question as to the historic validity of the division as well. However, it's not my intention to take issue with Mr. Brom and his excellent set of rules. I worked through this division of weapons class by permitting each band of Boxers and of Tigermen to be armed with a variety of weapons: spears, rifles, and swords (and other close combat arms like pikes, halberds, pitchforks, etc.). In this way, each unit would have some firepower against the Western forces. As it worked out, some units had more riflemen than others. The same might be said for those units which had more spearmen than swordsmen, and vice-versa. In the final count, against the 231 riflearmed foot soldiers of the Western nations, the Chinese were able to field about 125 riflemen. This total arrived at from the 60 Imperial Troops and the approximately 65 Boxers / Tigermen with rifles. (The exact breakdown of the 12 Boxer units was: 65 men armed with rifles, muskets or other firearms, 89 men armed with spears and 86 swordsmen. Again, the 175 armed with close combat weapons held a mix of weapons - "spear" and "sword" representing general divisions.)
Dispositions & Plans
The general disposition and basic plan of the Chinese forces has already been explained. In brief review, the majority of their force was south of the Leiho and in strong defensive positions. Their plan? To repel any and all Western attempts to get across the Leiho. On the north end of the field, the Chinese formed a loose ring around the Taipeng Mission. Here, the plan was offensive as opposed to defensive. However, here the objective was the same: the elimination of the Western threat.
The Allied "garrison" in Taipeng Mission could only pray to hold against the numbers facing them. They could only hope that the Relief Force would hurry and break through the Chinese lines, get across the river and come to their rescue.
The Italians manned the cemetery and the wall on the northwest side of the compound. A few men were posted left of the cemetery as well as around the blocked gate to the Mission. The French Marines took the remaining perimeter. The attached light gun was place on the road coming from Taipeng Arsenal. This employment was selected as the Chinese had their gun on this side as well, in addition to a platoon of Imperial Infantry and a troop of irregular horse.
Speed being paramount, the Relief Force made its approach in a multiple column formation. That is to remark that as part of the overall plan of battle, each contingent would occupy a certain aspect of the battle line, and each contingent would have primary and secondary objectives.
The Russian Sailors made their advance on the right side of the improved road. Moving forward in platoon columns (three (3) men abreast and six (6) deep, they were tasked with attacking and securing Huan-Su and then moving on to Kengtow, where they would force a crossing.
The troop of Bengal Lancers moved in conjunction with the Russians; the horses kicking up a fair amount of dust as they cantered down the improved road. Some distance behind this advanced cavalry, the Japanese contingent was marching. Like the Russians, these Sailors and Infantry were in platoon columns. Their artillery marched behind the lead platoon. Their cavalry troop was just off the road, on the right of the procession. Much to the consternation of the Russians, these men were to provide support for the attacks on Huan-Su and Kengtow. If the situation developed differently, then they would serve at the order of the German commander of the relief force.
Left of the road and of the railway line, the English were formed and marching. These smart-looking troops were also in platoon columns, with their artillery trailing the column. As with the Russians, the Brits were tasked with taking Huan-Su. Their secondary objective was the hill beyond Huan-Su.
Left of the British advance, was the single platoon of United States Marines. And left of these rough veterans were the German platoons. All were in similar formation and had the assignment of pushing past HuanSu to Taipeng. At this point as well, the Allies would try to cross the Leiho.
In the mind of Major Borkenhagen, it seemed like a good plan. After all, the Allies were dealing with armed peasantry. They lacked the discipline and prowess of line troops. However, as is often the case with military plans, things didn't go quite the way the he hoped they would go. The Major would learn a difficult lesson that day: that one should not attempt to do too much with so little.
The Relief of Taipeng Mission A Large-Scale Skirmish Game Set in The Boxer Rebellion
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© Copyright 2002 Hal Thinglum
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