Communism -- Soviet Union; Mongolia -- Description and travel
Just at this time there arrived at the house of the Bolshevist Russian
colonist Bourdukoff three Bolshevik agents from Irkutsk named Saltikoff,
Freimann and Novak, who started an agitation among the Chinese
authorities to get them to disarm the Russian officers and hand them
over to the Reds. They persuaded the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to
petition the Irkutsk Soviet to send a detachment of Reds to Uliassutai
for the protection of the Chinese against the White detachments.
Freimann brought with him communistic pamphlets in Mongolian and
instructions to begin the reconstruction of the telegraph line to
Irkutsk. Bourdukoff also received some messages from the Bolsheviki.
This quartette developed their policy very successfully and soon
saw Wang Tsao-tsun fall in with their schemes. Once more the days of
expecting a pogrom in Uliassutai returned to us. The Russian officers
anticipated attempts to arrest them. The representative of one of the
American firms went with me to the Commissioner for a parley. We pointed
out to him the illegality of his acts, inasmuch as he was not authorized
by his Government to treat with the Bolsheviki when the Soviet
Government had not been recognized by Peking. Wang Tsao-tsun and his
advisor Fu Hsiang were palpably confused at finding we knew of his
secret meetings with the Bolshevik agents. He assured us that his guard
was sufficient to prevent any such pogrom. It was quite true that his
guard was very capable, as it consisted of well trained and disciplined
soldiers under the command of a serious-minded and well educated
officer; but, what could eighty soldiers do against a mob of three
thousand coolies, one thousand armed merchants and two hundred gamins?
We strongly registered our apprehensions and urged him to avoid any
bloodshed, pointing out that the foreign and Russian population were
determined to defend themselves to the last moment. Wang at once ordered
the establishment of strong guards on the streets and thus made a very
interesting picture with all the Russian, foreign and Chinese patrols
moving up and down throughout the whole town. Then we did not know there
were three hundred more sentinels on duty, the men of Tushegoun Lama
hidden nearby in the mountains.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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