?4« JAPANESE SOLDIERS HOLDING A TK1UMPHAI FFAST AFTER THE VICTORY AT ASAN. (Sketchedby aJapaneseartist.)

CHAPTER IV.

THE DECLARATION OF WAR— THE OPPOSING KORCES.

THE formal declaration of war was issued both from Pekin and from Tokio on August ist. Before describing on a larger scale the warlike operations which now beganby land and sea, it will be wellbriefly to consider the forces that were about to engage in thestruggle.

If one wereto judge by mere paper estimates, China had at her command some millions of fighting men. But most of these were soldiers only in name. Officially, the Chinese armies weredivided into four classes:— (i) The Bannermen or Army of the Eight Banners.

(a) The Green Standard Army.

(3) The Braves or Volunteers. (4) The Drilled or Trained Army. The fourth class were, strictly speaking, a section of the second or Green Standard Army. For war purposes, only the third and fourth classes and a very small part of the first were of any value.

The Bannermen were the descendants of the Tartar army that conquered China in the seventeenth century and established the present dynasty. This army was composed of Mongols andManclau Tartars,andwasjoined by a portion of the old Chinese army. After the conquest the Bannermen were established in garrisons throughout the empire,but chiefly roundPekin. Their duties were to prevent rebellion in the newdy-conquered provinces, and in return they enjoyedcertainprivilegesand exemptions. They are supposed to number 250,000 fighting men, of whom rather more than a third are in the districts round Pekin. The only public service that most of them have performed for generations has been the suppression of an occasional riot or the escorting of a mandarin. They are ratherpolice than soldiers. To quote the words of the historian of the Japanese war who writes under the uom-de-guerre of"Vladimir":"Where the hardy soldiers were placed two centuries ago to guard tlae fortresses and curb rebellion, now their descendants can be seen living peacefully among tlae Chinese, enjoying privileges, but totally indistinguishable from the rest ol thepeople. There is not the slightest trace of that bravery and spirit of adventure, which led the mixedhorde from the barren north down to the fertile plains of China, in the present members of the Banner force. They consider that their