(1930) Fighting Near Kiaochow

Christianity's development has not be dependent on favorable outer circumstances and so it was in China. For several months in 1930 Kiaohsien was in the hands of a gang of bandits. The same year the city of Chucheng was besieged for six months.

Nationalist forces attacked with planes and canon.

Fierce fighting started 120 li(?) south of Kiaochow in the town of Chucheng on Wednesday, February 19. By Tuesday the 25th the city was surrounded by about 10,000 troops under General Fan Hsi-chi of the 46th division. Only 1000 soldiers belonging to Kao Kwei-tsi of the 19th division defended the city. The defenders of Chucheng held off the much larger army because of strong and high city walls and a moat. In the mean time Fan's troops were tunneling under the city walls in hopes of placing mines. Shooting lasted all day but intensified at night. Field guns shelled the city. At night soldiers tried to scale the wall with ladders but were shot down by the soldiers on the walls with heavy loss of life to the invaders. Cars were commandeered to transport the wounded to Kaomi and from there by train to Tsinan [where missionaries had a hospital?].

In the countryside between Kiaochow and Chucheng farmers went about their business as usual selling their goods or preparing for their spring work in the fields.

J.E. Lindberg and his wife were among the six missionaries in Chucheng connected with the Swedish Baptist Mission, four Swedes and two Americans.1 Many Catholic priests were also in the city. No news had been heard from any of them. Nothing was known of what may have become of them.

Johan Alfred and Oscar took the Model A to Chucheng as far as the city gate, but were not allowed to enter.2 Speaking with those at the gate, however, they asked for protection for the missionaries on the inside, which the Chinese defenders agreed they would do.

The city was under siege for a long time. At one point a Chinese man came to the city gate. He identified himself unwittingly as belonging to those who happened to be the enemy of those who occupied the city. He was shot down, killed with a single bullet.

A newspaper journalist for the Tsingtao Times was told by General Fan that once his troops entered the city, he would give all foreigners special protection. He hoped to enter the city in a day or two.3 At the beginning of March the fighting escalated when troops of General Kao outside the city tried to help their besieged comrades. They were repulsed though with many killed. On Sunday, March 9, one hundred men from the city of Kiaochow left with wheelbarrows to help with transporting materials for those besieging Chucheng .4 By the middle of March the siege was still on.

Oscar wrote about the developments in Chucheng and sent them directly to the Swedish newspaper Morgon Bladet. It was hot news. He scooped everyone else. The mission secretary, Hjalmar Danielson, read the article and was very upset. He called up Miss Strutz to ask if Oscar had written it. The article should have gone through the mission [to be reviewed first or to go into the mission paper?]. "I know nothing about it," she said. Danielson never found out who had written it though he suspected Oscar all along. Oscar was not too concerned if he had found out. What was important was that he had gotten the news out, and beat everyone else to it.

When the fighting was finally over twelve shells had hit the mission property, nine of them exploded. More than eight hundred rifle bullets marks were found in walls and other objects. The wounded were helped in the mission clinic. Missionaries and Chinese Christians escaped without injury. The mission gathered bullets and shell fragments, had them melted down and made into a bell for the use of the mission.5

Margaret Sails to America

On January 1 Margaret arrived in New York City as a first class passenger on the S.S. President Roosevelt, having set sail from Le Havre, France.

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Footnotes