As time went on the wars began to get more serious, and this was specially go when the Southern forces 14) entered the field, the most desperate, battle taking place in what might be termed he last of the civil warr, namely, the one between the Nanking forces and those of Feng Vu-hsiang fand Yen Msi-shan. After it ended many of the independent commanders were eliminated and most of their troops were dispersed or taken over by the Central Government. Most of the warlords have, as we have said, disappeared from view, whil> others are engaged in trying to. pr tect what was Toft of their property from the hands of their rapacious relatives.
The only persons for whom we have any sympathy are the soldiers, who were badly equipped and were often driven into battle at the point of machine-guns. When we know what they went through we can truly Jsuy- thatthe Chinese are a pation! and long-suffering people.
The chief warlords were as a rule men of outstanding ability and tough each of them had a certain distinct personality of his own, yet they had certain characteristics in common which to a large extent, mitigated against their compels success, and in fact throughout their careers weakened their power ant influence. 'The first of these characteristics was the inability. to choos: ocd and capable subordinates. A they were shrewd and far seeing in many respects, It is surprising that they' should have failed in' this all Political Strategy For instance, there have not been many greater personalities during the past few decades than Yuan Shih-kai. He was a master of political strategy and outwitted his enemies in many a bitter struggle, yet a number of his most trusted" subordinates were crude, illiterate, milltary men, cruel end corrupt, and with few' redeeming. features,' This all the more surprising when w=, think of the returned students he Jused in tis dealings with foreigners Jand inthe various. government ndministrations. We have only to men ton the names of Tsai Ting-kan, Jong Tun-yen and M. T. Liang to illustrate our point in this connec-Hien. As for the military men, 1 remember meeting one of the most powerful and trusted of his emeers, Jaman who had a most unenviable reputation, and who for the purpose fof. the Interview, got up from an adjoining opium couch:. The province jef Anhwei wag bled for many years by another of his subordinates, while sao Kun, though a pleasant and Jsomewkat harmless man, was largely inthe hands of his. relatives and certain minions whose misdeeds brought about his downfall.
Chang Tso-lin, a shrewd and able man, full of knowledge of the wiles and intrigues of officialdom, was also most unfortunate in many subordinates especially such men {chu Vu-pu and Chang Chung-chang. However, it. must be admitted that when he. did choose men of ability Jsuch as Yang Yusting and Kuo Sun~ Tin, they proved unfaithful to him.
Wu Pel-fu, quick witted, scholatiy, brave in battle and perfectly honest jas regards his private affairs, was searcely more fortunate, and 'T remember a visit to a man whom he had appointed to a. very high post and found him belt stupifed with drugs, He was but typical of a num~ ber of his associates and explains to a large extent, the failure of his overlord.
"The man who was most successful In his subordinates was Feng Yuhsiang, and this was partly due the fact that most of them tad served under him when he was a captain in the army. Tu time, however, the canker of Jealousy destroyed ' tha wonderful discipline which existe: throughout his armies, and. with, the revolt of Han Fuchu, Ma_Hung-kwel and Shit, Yiu-san, the Kuominchun was greatly weakened and never recovered its old time strength and efficiency.
Another falling common to most of the warlords was their unwillingness give sufclent authority to their subordinates, and to take upon them= selves work which could just as well be done by others "Yuan Shih-kal wrote the great majority of his letters and dispatches with his own hand instead of delegat~ ing all except the most Important ones to, an official writer, 'Wu Pel-fu, at the height of his power had seated round his audience oom men from almost every prov-{nee in China, each one trying to get support and' authority "for some for other. As he had very little time to spare, many matters, some of iRreat Importance, were settled after 8 few minutes conversation, with thy result that there was. often much misunderstanding amongst the thorities concerned, as the true fads of the ease had been mis presented to the gallant general.
Feng Yuchsiang was a great offend erin this Fespeet and not only was practically everything in his own organization referred to him, but he also took a fatherly interest in the private affairs of Tig oMcerg and men. "A friend of mine who visited him "in one of his retreats told me that while they were walking In the garden, no fewer than twenty me {in the course of an hour and a halt came. at various times to report 10 him and to receive instructions. th spite of his tremendous energy, it Is no wonder that his desk was always crowded with piles of documents waiting tis attention.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.