The Boxer Rebellion Project, Part 13: Captain General Nieh Shih-ch'eng of the Tenacious Army

聂士成

Nieh Shih-ch'eng (Wade-Giles version of name; see, I've been researching!) was a Chinese general of the Qing dynasty who served the imperial government during the Boxer Rebellion. Rising from obscure origins from Hefei, Anhui Province, in the early 1850s, Nieh Shih-ch'eng managed to pass the county examinations for bureaucratic positions, but due to the Taiping rebellion he was forced to abandon a bureaucratic career and become a soldier. Oh no! Forced to abandon bureaucratic misery (and graft) and be an honorable man and soldier!

In the late 1850s, Nie was in the service of Yuan Jiasan (the father of Yuan Shikai) against rebel forces in the Nian Rebellion, under whom he was commissioned as a lieutenant and then in the Huai Army in the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion, at the end of which he was promoted to general. He went on to serve Sino-French War of 1885, the suppression of minor revolts against the Qing dynasty, First Sino-Japanese War, and the Boxer Rebellion.

Throughout his career, Nieh Shih-ch'eng attempted to reform Chinese military forces to be more effective and along Western lines. Following China's loss in the First Sino-Japanese War, Nieh Shih-ch'eng was able to restructure his army and it renamed as the Wuwei Front Division. Trained by Russian military advisers and equipped with German and Russian weaponry, it was considered the most modern of the Qing armies of the time.

Nieh was not an active participant in the political intrigues of the Qing court, but was considered politically conservative and supported Empress Dowager Cixi against the Hundred Days' Reform. In his suppression of the Boxer Rebellion, Nie was in an ambiguous position. On one hand, as a general in the Qing army, he pursued a vigorous offensive against rebel guerilla forces in early 1900. Condemned by the pro-Boxer faction of the imperial court, Nie achieved impressive success inflicting large numbers of casualties during the year.

On the other hand, he could not accept the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance so he fought against the Alliance forces. Because Nie's forces killed so many Boxers, it was Dong Fuxiang's Kansu Braves who instead allied with the Boxers to oppose the Seymour Expedition, a multinational force of over 2,000 men, in its march to Beijing.

On 9 July 1900, while personally leading a counterattack against Russian forces under the command of General Anatoly Stessel in the Battle of Tientsin, Nie was fatally wounded when an artillery shell exploded nearby.

Japanese soldiers attacking during Battle of Tientsin.

In the Nankai District of Tianjin in present-day China, a "Nie Shicheng Martyrs Monument" is located in the area, to General Nie Shichen who died in battle in the Boxer Rebellion at the Battle of Tientsin.

Nie Shicheng Martyr's Monument.

This was a fun little vignette to make. I had some extra figures from Phase 1 (Wargames Foundry purchase); one of which was a general or senior official of the Qing dynasty. In addition I used my small hobby drill to make a hole in an extra artilleryman carrying ammunition and also had an extra infantryman to represent the general's body guard.

The above is the figure before I decided to make a "higher" command base for my Qing forces. Higher commands are not used in The Men Who Would be Kings but I know many people have house rules to include them in larger games. Senior officials would have various animals in the cloth patches depending on their rank; there was no way I was going to attempt that so I just painted what I thought would look good at gaming distance.

I found this image of Nieh Shih-ch'eng by an unattributed artist after I painted the figure. I'm going to look for a figure like this because it just looks cool.

Here is the artilleryman who is now a standard bearer. Don't look toooooo closely at his hands! Before I mounted the figure on the base I touched up the flag and a few places on his uniform. The flag is from North Star Military Figures on the Crusader Miniatures site under the Boxer Rebellion.

The base is from Litko and I used a hobby knife to line out the cobblestones and various greys and shades on the cobblestones. Add some hobby sand, figures, static grass and lichen and it doesn't look to bad.

I forgot to mention that the gong is from Pulp Figures.

Next: The Artillery.