Richard Castle and the USS Santa Barbara
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: Except for the true parts, this is fiction. Rating: K, mostly. Time: The turn of the 20th Century.
USS Santa Barbara
Shanghai, China
February 6, 1900.
"Welcome back aboard, Captain Ryan. I hope we can fit your whole battalion on board."
"Thank you, Captain Castle. We'll damned well have to fit them all on. There are few enough of us for what we need to do. Um, I understand your dear wife won't be joining us?"
Castle smiled.
"As we have no need for an interpreter, she's staying in Shanghai, thank God."
"Have you heard any more as to how many Boxers we'll face?" Ryan asked.
"All that the people upriver can tell us is that there's a lot. All the Chinese say is, "many, many.", but many aren't Boxers. Since the Dowager Empress, Cixi, issued an edict supporting the Boxers, every Chinese with some sort of a grudge against any foreigners, or just hopes to get rich, has taken up arms."
Ryan nodded.
"Much like in Ireland, or even New York. Let there be a fight and every thug comes out of hiding to put his bloody hand in. But, I've heard that some troops are being sent to Beijing. I wonder if my regiment might be sent?"
"From what I've heard, the troops will be marines and sailors from the foreign warships standing off of Taku and will only amount to some four or five hundred troops. Not a whole regiment."
The battalion was loaded aboard the Santa Barbara as rapidly as possible and then the ship headed up stream. Their first stop would be at the remains of the China Light Mission. Once it had been evacuated, the local Chinese had demolished. It had become a sort of a rallying point for local anti-foreign feelings. The local Boxers said that it proved that the foreigners could easily be driven out of China because the Boxers were invulnerable to Western weapons.
With the crew at battle stations, the Santa Barbara approached the ruined town.
"They're just standing there on the dock, screaming at us." Franklin said.
"They're not just screaming." Castle said, as shots were fired from the crowd. "Now, we'll have to prove that our weapons will kill them. Mr. Franklin, we'll open fire with the machine guns and the pom poms."
Franklin sent orders to the gunners concerned. Franklin waited until the machine gunners in the ship's fighting tops and the pom pom gunners reported that they were ready.
"Commence firing!"
The guns tore gaping holes in the mob on the dock, scattering the survivors rapidly.
Ryan turned to Castle.
"My job is to disperse the Boxers and others so they're not as big a threat. I'll try to keep in touch with you, Captain, so as to have the support of the ship's guns, if need be."
"I suggest that we set up a small naval party in one of the ruined buildings by the docks. That way, you'll have no trouble contacting me and the ship."
"Excellent idea, sir." Franklin said. "May I have the honor of leading the landing party?"
Castle grinned.
"I'm afraid the honor goes to a more senior officer, Mr. Franklin."
"A more senior officer? But there's no one…You mean to go yourself, sir?"
"I'll take Lieutenant Smith and his Marines, and I think we'll dismount one of the machine guns and take it ashore. With a gun crew, of course. And some signal personnel."
Ryan's battalion was landed on the dock as well as Castle and his party. Then the Santa Barbara moved back into the river so that they would be able to move, if needed, to provide support for the troops ashore.
"This will do nicely, Lieutenant Smith. The roof of this place is gone, but the thick walls are intact. We have good fields of fire in all directions and the signalmen and their flags can be seen easily. Nicely indeed."
They could here the sound of gunfire moving steadily away from them.
"Sir, look at this, at the end of the building." One of the Marines called.
Castle and Smith walked over to see what had been found.
"Bags of rice, sir." The Marine pointed.
"China Light Mission." Castle read the printing on the bags. "Why import rice in China?"
"Rice Christians, sir." Said Smith.
"What are rice Christians?"
"Well, Captain, you know that Christians have to be charitable. So, if you're a hungry Chinese peasant, you soon learn you can drop by a Christian mission and get fed. Most wander back to wherever they came from once they have a full belly, but some figure they can do better by staying around and becoming Christians. They don't really have any interest in the religion, but they get food, shelter, medical care and schools for their children. So, they're called rice Christians."
"From the way the local Boxers fled, I wonder if the local Boxers didn't find they created rice Boxers?" Castle replied. "Anyway, we can use the sacks of rice to fortify the building. Block the door and windows up leaving only firing slits for us."
The men got to work and soon had the old warehouse ready for anything that might come their way.
After two hours, a messenger came from Captain Ryan.
"Message from Captain Ryan, sir." The soldier handed Castle a written note.
Castle read it and spoke.
"Captain Ryan advises me that he's forced a large group of Boxers up river and is pushing them towards the river bank. He'd like Santa Barbara to move upriver to keep them from escaping by boat." Castle looked around until his eyes fell on the man he needed. "Petty Officer Ianelli, will you please signal the ship to move upriver and advise them of Ryan's needs?"
"Aye, aye, sir."
The man took a pair of signal flags and climbed to the top of the wall of the warehouse. From there he used the flags to signal the Santa Barbara.
"Santa Barbara acknowledges and I can see her moving off, sir." Ianelli called down.
In no more than a half an hour they could hear the thump of the ship's 57mm guns and the steady roar of the pom poms.
"It sounds like Captain Ryan has flushed out some targets for us, sir." Smith said.
"No doubt."
They could hear the sound of the guns moving further up the river as the battle receded.
Then a Marine called out.
"Sir, there are some people moving our way. They're wearing a lot of red. Isn't that the color the Boxers favor?"
Both Castle and Smith moved to the window the Marine was stationed at. Through their binoculars they could see a small number of men, wearing red and armed with rifles, moving slowly towards them, keeping to cover as much as they could.
"I count fifteen, sir." Smith said.
"Fifteen it is." Castle replied. "When they get about a hundred and fifty yards from us, they won't have any cover. When all fifteen are in view, we'll open fire."
Smith passed the word to his men that they were not to fire until he did. Then they all watched as the Boxers slowly approached. Then they stopped, still in cover.
"They're thinking it over, sir." Smith whispered.
"No need to whisper." Castle said with a grin. "They're too far away to hear us."
"They're moving." Smith said, bringing his rifle to his shoulder. He waited until all fifteen Boxers had left cover before firing. One Boxer dropped and then a fusillade of shots brought down the rest.
Then all hell broke loose. Hundreds of rifles fired into the warehouse from the ruins of the town.
"I think the Boxers may have fooled us. They used their locals to pull Ryan's troops away from us and the hard-core Boxers are all out there, gunning for us."
"Most of their bullets are hitting the walls or the rice bags we put up. Petty Officer Ianelli, can you see the ship if you get on the wall?"
Ianelli climbed the wall and quickly dropped back down.
"I can see her smoke, sir. She's maybe five miles up the river."
"Can we signal her?" Castle yelled over the roar of the rifles and their one machine gun.
"We have signal rockets, sir. Once they see those, they'll come a running."
"Fire them."
The first signal rocket shot about forty feet in the air, then topped over and slammed to earth. The second climbed into the sky leaving a fiery red trail behind, as did the third and fourth.
"Ianelli, can you see anything?"
Once again Ianelli climbed up the wall, then tumbled down, bleeding from one arm.
"I can see the smoke, sir, but I couldn't tell if she's headed this way or not."
"Sir, I can see men with ladders coming this way." A Marine shouted.
Castle and Smith went back to the window.
"They're going to try to rush us and get over the walls and inside the building." Smith said.
A sailor from the signaling party flew backwards from the window he'd been at. Castle rushed to him and saw he had a bullet hole under his left eye and that most of the back of his head was gone. He took the man's rifle and cartridge belt. He moved to the window himself.
"Here they come!" Castle yelled. "Aim for the men with the ladders! If they get inside, we're done for."
Castle's world shrunk down to the view through his sights out of the window. He worked the bolt of his rifle back and forth, jamming new clips into the rifle every five rounds.
"They've got a ladder up!" Yelled Smith. "There!" He pointed to a portion of the wall just above Castle. Castle stepped back and when the first Boxer head came over the wall, he shot at it and was rewarded with a hit.
Given the short range, he drew his pistol, then checked for his extra loaded magazines and his loose ammunition in his pockets.
Two Boxers jumped to the top of the wall and began to jump down. Castle shot them both. One was only lightly wounded, but was bayonetted before he could do anything.
As Boxers came over the wall, Castle shot them, making sure to have a spare magazine in his left hand so that he could reload as fast as possible.
Then there were no more Boxers coming over the wall.
"They're running!" Someone yelled.
"Someone climb up the wall and push the ladder over." Smith yelled.
Two Marines stood shoulder to shoulder and allowed a third to climb on them and push the ladder over. That brought a small cheer from the men.
Castle got busy reloading his empty magazines.
"How much ammunition do we have left?" He asked.
Smith made a quick check.
"I'd say we have a lot more bullets than they have Boxers."
"We still need to get someone up on the wall and look for the ship."
The same three Marines volunteered. The top Marine just stuck his head over the wall briefly and dropped back down.
"She's headed our way, sir. I can see her smoke and it looks like she's coming full speed."
No sooner had he spoken than the Boxers began firing again. This time they made no attempt to charge the warehouse.
"They're spreading out." Smith said. "I'll bet they're going to try to keep us pinned down here until it's dark, then rush us.
"When the Santa Barbara comes within visual range, we'll need to signal her to open fire with everything she has until we can make a break for it."
It took another half an hour for the ship to become visible, but Lieutenant Franklin brought the ship as close to the shore as he could while keeping as many guns as he could covering the Boxers.
Once again, the Marines hoisted one of their own up and he managed to signal Castle's plan to the ship.
Castle explained the simple plan to everyone.
"In about fifteen minutes, the ship will give three long blasts on her horn. Then they'll open fire with everything they have on the Boxers. After five minutes, we'll rush to the dock where the ship's boats will meet us and take us home. Everyone understand that?"
He was met with a chorus of "Yes, sirs."
TBC