From the point to which the allied expedition led by Admiral Seymour fought its way, and at which it was stopped by the increasing numbers that opposed it, it fell back to a position near Hsiku, on the right bank of the Peiho. There the allies drove the Chinese forces from an imperial armory and took possession of the buildings, which gave them a strong defensive position, with a large store of rice for food, and enabled them to hold their ground until help came to them from Tientsin, on the 25th. They were encumbered with no less than 230 wounded men, which made it impossible for them, in the circumstances, to fight their way back without aid; though the distance was so short that the return march was accomplished, on the 26th, between 3 o'clock and 9 of the same morning. In his report made the following day Admiral Seymour says: "The number of enemy engaged against us in the march from Yungtsin to the Armoury near Hsiku cannot be even estimated; the country alongside the river banks is quite flat, and consisted of a succession of villages of mud huts, those on the out-skirts having enclosures made of dried reeds; outside, high reeds were generally growing in patches near the village, and although trees are very scarce away from the River, alongside it they are very numerous; these with the graves, embankments for irrigation and against flood, afforded cover to the enemy from which they seldom exposed themselves, withdrawing on our near approach. Had their fire not been generally high it would have been much more destructive than it was. The number of the enemy certainly increased gradually until the Armoury near Hsiku was reached, when General Nieh's troops and the Boxers both joined in the attack. In the early part of the expedition the Boxers were mostly armed with swords and spears, and not with many firearms; at the engagement at Langfang on 18th, and afterwards, they were armed with rifles of late pattern; this together with banners captured and uniform worn, shows that they had either the active or covert support of the Chinese Government, or some of its high officials." {113} CHINA: A. D. 1900 (June 11-29). Chinese Imperial Edicts.