Thus it was that in 1903,Young Hasband led 2000 British and Indian soldiers over the 14000 foot high JieLa Pass from India into Tibet, behind them marched a ragged support column of some ten thousands coolies and a handful of English journalists dying for the scoop of the new century, also pressed into service were 6 camels, 3000 ponies, 5000 yaks and buffaloes, 5000 bullocks and more than 7000 mules, most doomed to die on the journey. The whole strange caravan trailed the telegraph wire that stretched back into India, like an umbilical cord to the modern world.

Young Handsband would be in charge of negotiating with the Tibetans. The military leader was an undistinguished General named Macdonald. Young Handsband and Macdonald detested each other, a situation that probably contributed to the tragedy ahead. The British would meet little resistance on the first leg of the journey, but the conditions would be harsher than any the British and Indian soldiers had encountered before.

"20 men of the 12 muleteers were frostbitten, and 30 men of 23rd pioneers were so incapacitated that they had to be carried on mules, on the same day, there were 70 cases of snow blindness among the 8th G."A.K , the Daily Mailer.

Outwardly, Young Hasband himself seemed impervious to the elements, taking cold baths each morning, and spending long periods reading, writing and meditating out in the elements. In his journal, he was already writing about mental telepathy, extraterrestrials and out of body travel.

Four months into the journey, as the mission approached the town of Gulu, the Tibetan resistance finally materialized .In the middle of a barren plain, mass behind a small hastily built wall, some 1500 Tibetan troops lay in wait, they vastly outnumbered the British advanced guard, but their firepower was 300 years out of date.

If you read the Tibetan accounts of this period, it seems that the Tibetans say we are not going to fight but we are not going to go away. And the British are baffled by this. You 've got to remember the whole idea of masive resistance, was not something was understood in 1903, 1904. And Tibeta's reaction wass just "Well, please just go away."Yound Husbands's reaction was : We've got to talk. He went further and further and further. And it was an enormous tragedy by the end.

The whole thing must have been incomprehensible to these poor men. No order had been given to them to retire. Gathered together in a body, their numerous superiority in numbers must have struck them. They had no idea, of course, of the advantage which we possessed. ----P.L the Times, London

" Well in my view, I think Tibetans were really, actually knew what they were up against the formidable force. I think it's wrong to say that, you know, they are so naive and they were taught they really can not resist against (the), the British. They had no other choice, even if they knew they would be slaughtered but to oppose that. But the Tibetan General rode out to plead this case. He begged Yound husband to turn back, retreat to the border and negotiate there. But Yound Husband was unmoved. He gave the General 15 minutes to begin disarming. 15 minutes later, General Macdonald ordered his troops into flanking position, assuming the Tibetans would simply hand over their arms when confronted with machine guns, modern rifles and heavier artillary. But each Tibetan carried on their chest a small pouch containing a blessing from the Dalai Lama, designed to render him imperious in England bullets.

umbilical cord n.

Something likened to this structure; a source or means of support or sustenance

和这个结构相连的东西；物质或支持方式的来源

frostbittten,frostbite过去分词

To injure or damage by freezing.

冻伤由于冰冻造成的伤害或损伤

impervious adj.

Incapable of being affected:

不受影响的

mental telepathy n.

通灵术

extraterrestrial n.

外星球的生物

imperious adj.

Arrogantly domineering or overbearing.

专横的或傲慢的
关键字:英语文库
生词表: