3.63 Fall and Rise of China: Boxer Rebellion #3: Siege of Tientsin & Battle of the Taku Forts

<p id="docs-internal-guid-6d448ed0-7fff-7385-3541-ef36b3bb1043" dir="ltr" style= "line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> <span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: #202122; background-color: #00ffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Last time we spoke about the Qing - Boxer siege of Beijing and the 8 nation alliance expedition led by Seymour. Baron Von Ketteler was murdered by Kansu soldiers, ushering in a real siege of the foreign legation’s in Beijing. The situation was dire, communications were cut and soon the railways also. The foreign ministers called for aid and thus came an expedition of 8 nations led by Seymour to the rescue. Seymours expedition started out quite well, but soon the Boxers disrupted the tracks stopping them in…well their tracks. To the dismay of the westerners it turned out the Qing were joining the Boxers in battle against them and Seymour’s force had to make a fighting withdrawal back to Tientsin. They fought all the way to a secret arsenal where they dug in, until another relief force rescued them! Now they all marched back to Tientsin as gunfire could be heard.</span></p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr" style= "line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> <span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: #202122; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> #63 The Boxer Rebellion part 3: The Siege of Tientsin & Battle of the Taku Forts</span></p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr" style= "line-height: 1.38; text-align: justify; margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 10pt;"> <span style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: #000000; background-color: #ff00ff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: p