IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| History of the Expedition in Asia, 1927-1935 : vol.3 |
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Citation Information
ed by wooden posts, on the north side of the yard. The whole pile was covered with tarpaulins and straw mats.
In the morning no more Tungan soldiers made their appearance. We had the impression that the whole crowd had fled, and thought the doctor's field-hospital had outlived its usefulness. But about noon a stream of Turkis, men, women and children of the civil population of Korla, started seeking remedies for aches and pains of all kinds; and the hospital was hard at work again.
So far, about 1,50o Tungans had left the town by road in the direction of Kucha. The Turkis hoped that soon none of the rabble would be left in Korla.
One of the doctor's patients, who had to undergo a minor operation, had in his pocket a leaflet that had been dropped by aircraft at Qara-shahr. It was drafted both in Turki and Chinese. YEW translated it as follows:
Open letter to the Turkis.
I understand very well how the bandit MA has endeavoured to make you the poorest of the poor. At present his forces have been greatly diminished; indeed, destroyed. But he is still trying to compel you to fight on his side. In his hands you are lost. But I shall do my utmost to assure your rehabilitation and the safety of your lives and your property. If you make genuine submission to me, you shall live in peace and quiet and receive all that you require for your maintenance.
TIIPAN SHENG SHIN-TS'AI.
The sheet bore the general's red stamp. Tu-pan is the Chinese title of a military governor-general or frontier defense commissioner.
At one o'clock the menacing hum was heard again from the sky, and an aeroplane came swooping from the north. The pilot was holding a southerly course, and soon disappeared.
Twenty minutes later he returned, this time dropping two bombs at short intervals. He cruised over the town; and as he passed over the northern part, where there were probably still Tungan troops in the old fort, he was fired on with machine-guns. In all, he favoured us with only seven bombs that day. I do not think that any damage worth mentioning was done. The previous day only two Tungans and a cow had been killed.
Many Tungan soldiers had grown tired of the war, and went to the mayor of their own accord to surrender their rifles to him. They said they no longer wished to serve under MA, and asked to be allowed to return to their villages and families. About a hundred rifles had been handed over in this way to the magistrates.
MA's SOLDIERS LOOT KORLA
Hours passed, and rumours flew in at one ear and out at the other. It was a quarter to ten when the night-watchman reported that three or four soldiers were knocking at the gate and demanding to be let in. YEW and KUNG went to the gate without opening it, and asked what they wanted.
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