40
miles from the objective, and within the German zone?

[Sidenote: A British force co-operates.]

The British were not as critical of Japan's strategy as they were
suspicious of her policy. Dark suggestions got afoot that she had
ulterior designs upon the whole Chinese province of Shantung. Such views
could not but have reached the ears of the British authorities at
Wei-hei-wei and elsewhere, nor could they have been deaf to previous
murmurs. Diplomatic circles, however, could extend little sympathy to
the critics. Nevertheless, it was undeniable that the latter were
aggrieved, and that their attitude might produce unfortunate effects. If
Great Britain herself took some share in the Tsing-tao operations,
greater sympathy with their purpose might be induced, and a better state
of feeling in the Orient between the two peoples might possibly result.
It must have been some aim such as this that prompted the dispatch of a
British force to the Tsing-tao area to co-operate with General Kamio, a
step which the earlier symptoms of the British discontent cannot but
have influenced. On September 19, however, 1,000 of the 2nd South Wales
Borderers, a force so small as to be nominal, under Brigadier-General
Barnardiston, left Tientsin and proceeded to Wei-hei-wei. Transport
mules having here been taken on board, the expedition on September 22
coasted down the eastern shore of Shantung, and next day landed at
Laoshan Bay. A month later, as will be seen, they were joined by 500 of
the 36th Sikhs.

[Sidenote: Faint opposition.]

[Sidenote: Artillery battle.]

Meanwhile, it was probably about this time, or shortly after, that the
_Triumph_, a British battleship of nearly 12,000 tons displacement,
19-1/2 knots speed, and four 10-inch guns primary armament, joined the
Japanese squadron off Tsing-tao. A spasmodic bombardment had been
maintained during the preceding weeks, and seaplanes had been busy,
bombing and range-finding. The wireless station, the electric-power
station, and several ships in harbour were damaged by explosive
missiles. Little could be done, however, from the sea alone, and the
attack by land, owing largely to transport difficulties, had still to
develop. But the weather was now improving considerably. Another
set-back to Japanese military ardour was, indeed, constituted by the
marked reluctance of the Germans to form a line of resistance. German
outposts, upon encountering hostile patrols, invariably retired a