Martyr in China

Chapter 5. Flight to the Mountains

 |   | 

The Chinese Wall

Conforti and the city of Parma were already in mourning because the international press had given the terrible news: a telegram from Shangai had informed them of the murders of bishops Grassi and Fogolla in Taiyuan, and of another 42 Europeans, among whom were all the missionaries. The final tally matched exactly the number of Europeans killed: 32 Protestants and 10 Catholics (the two bishops, three missionaries and seven sisters); but, providentially, the other Catholic missionaries of the Vicariate had reached safety.

The younger ones had fled into the mountains; Manini was in the monastery of Tong-el-kou, about 20 miles from the city; he had escaped with Father Barnaba Nanetti, the superior of the monastery. When they were close to Father Rastelli’s mission they sent him a message telling him to flee to safety. Father Caio, dressed as a peasant, with a huge hat on his head and a sack on his shoulders, left his residence during the night and headed west. When he reached the Yellow river, no one recognized him and he passed through unchallenged. He went to a missionary’s house on the other side of the river but, fortunately, he stayed there just one day: the Mandarin, who was his enemy, had set ten soldiers on his trail, promising them a reward for his capture.

Rastelli described his lucky escape in a letter to the Founder dated December 10, 1900: “I am convinced that the Lord protected me as I traveled by night and day, staying in hotels and in  houses; I hid in abandoned caves and walked through crowded squares, but no one ever recognized me. I was so well disguised as a Chinese that perhaps not even you would have recognized me. One of my Chinese priests and three Christians were killed, just two days after my own departure, in the same house where I had stayed for two and a half days; the Lord surely protected me”.

On January 22, 1901, he wrote to the bishop of Parma: “The Mandarins, people, rebels, were all hunting down the Europeans and the Christians. I had a price on my head and ten soldiers on my trail, but the Lord was at my side and ensured that no one recognized me as a European during my ten day flight. What scared me most was crossing the Yellow river. After my crossing, three Chinese priests were killed there, two in the very place where I had crossed over earlier: for 15 cents I was able to cross without any problems; Manini and our Vicar General pointed a rifle at the boatmen who then gave in when they received 18,000 sapeche”.

Father Barnaba and Manini’s first port of call in Mongolia was the fortified residence of the Belgian Scheut Missionaries in Xiao-kiao-ban. They arrived on 29 July after a tiring and frightening journey that lasted 22 days. A few days later, Father Rastelli, unrecognizable in his disguise, joined them; it was also difficult to identify him because the meager food at the mission, and the hardships of the journey, had made him very thin.

A few days later, the persecution also broke out in Mongolia: the bishop and some priests were killed, and others sought refuge in Xiao-kiao-ban.

Plan of the Fortress of the Belgian Missionaries

Under siege in the fortress

The fortified residence had been built by the Belgian Scheut Missionaries only five years previously as a defense against the ever restless Mongol and Muslim hordes in the nearby province of Kansu. It comprised the church, the fathers’ residence, the orphanage, some dependences and a little garden. A 25 feet high wall surrounded the inhabited area, making a perimeter of about 600 yards. The walls were fortified, defended by five watchtowers and surrounded by a moat. Outside, on the southern side, lay the Christian village founded by the missionaries 25 years earlier.

At the first suspicious enemy movements, the Fathers gathered the Christians, about 500 people, within the confines of the fortified area.

At 10 pm on August 9, a crowd of Boxers surrounded the residence; a horde of loot-thirsty Mongols joined them. They advanced, carrying torches and making a fearful noise, shouting loudly: “Death to the Europeans! We want to eat your flesh”.

The Mandarins, people, rebels, were all hunting down the Europeans and the Christians. I had a price on my head and ten soldiers on my trail, but the Lord was at my side and ensured that no one recognized me as a European during my ten day flight. What scared me most was crossing the Yellow river. After my crossing, three Chinese priests were killed there, two in the very place where I had crossed over earlier: for 15 cents I was able to cross without any problems.
Fr. Caio Rastelli

The besieged Christians and missionaries defended themselves by firing on their assailants and occasionally sending some men out to put the advancing enemy to flight.

The Boxers believed themselves to be invulnerable, but when about forty of the besieged confronted them with guns and swords, six Boxers were struck down and the others took to flight.

They returned the next day, morning, evening and night. The missionaries and the Christians fired upon them. Rastelli described the scene: “On several occasions they drew close to our positions in groups of about ten, challenging us to shoot at them, declaring themselves to be invulnerable. We were distraught, but we had to shoot to defend ourselves and the 500 people who were with us. We were amazed at their blind faith in their supposed invulnerability. We were besieged by the rebels and by about 400 Mongol soldiers. With only 30 rifles, fighting the enemy from behind the walls and in sorties, we managed to scare them and put them to flight”. For a whole day and an entire night, Rastelli remained on the bastions, while the Boxers attacked in droves of about twenty at a time, shooting wildly: “Finally, exhausted and under fire, I called a Dutch priest to help me; an hour later he was shot dead beside me. I was somewhat distracted as I bent over him and enemy fire whistled close to my head”.

They also had to dig a parallel tunnel to the ones that the Mongols were digging to get under the towers and plant mines: “When we heard the frightening noise of rifle and cannon fire, or we heard the noise of the Mongols who were digging under the towers to blow them up, our thoughts turned to you, and the assurance of your prayers encouraged and consoled us, and filled our hearts with infinite trust” (letter to the bishop of Parma).

On September 15, after 37 days under siege, Rastelli was worn out and took to his bed with a fever.

At the end of September, news circled among the assailants that foreign armies were entering Peking; the empress had fled and European soldiers were wreaking havoc on the Chinese. Perhaps an order to withdraw came from somewhere: the Boxers pulled out, and the Mongols headed west.

» more