

The first train was pushing a wagon armed with a gun in front of the locomotive. Already in Tientsin began the activities of the rebels, who tried to destroy the rails, but could still be dispersed without bloodshed. In any case, however, it was necessary to leave a security detachment here to maintain the rearward link, and therefore 400 men were left behind, including two German officers and 50 men under the command of Kapitänleutnant Kühne. For this the sight of many mutilated corpses of Chinese railway workers along the railway line reminded them of the seriousness of the situation and the implacable brutality of the rebels, stopping at the Dangtsin station that same night to restore the railway line that had been destroyed in several places.
This was successful, and on June 12, the expedition arrived in Lufa. A detachment of English sailors was left behind in the burning station building. They turned it into a fort and named it after the ship "Fort Endymion". The rest of the troops continued, and at 2 hours they arrived at Liangfang, about 40 km from Peking / Beijing, where information was collected about the great destruction of the railway and they were forced to stay for several days.
The boxers had all the parts that were necessary, so a repair was out of the question. The crew of the "Gefion" (German ship) was given the task of repairing the station and maintaining it. As it was previously done, they established a fort that was baptized as "Fort Gefion". In Liangfang, a supply train reached the Expeditionary Corps, but it was a very doubtful signal that the next, more important train, which apart from food and ammunition included material for the construction of tents, would no longer arrive, but was forced to return to Tientsin.
From a fugitive from Beijing, Lord Seymour learned that General Li received the order of the government, to avoid, under any circumstances, the entry of the Allied Landing Corps in Beijing, so that it is ready to face the regular imperial troops in a short period. The supplies and ammunition were already very small, and the lack of drinking water began to feel sensibly, since the wells were poisoned by the bodies thrown into it. On June 13, the Russian and German detachments were ordered to return to the next Lufa station to recognize and provide drinking water. The latter was successful, even very little resistance was found.
On the contrary, the boxers carried out a raid against the trains and "Fort Gefion", but they were rejected with great losses. At 6 o'clock in the evening the funeral of the first fallen soldiers took place, namely, five Italian sailors who had been ambushed in the forest and cut into pieces.
Sources: https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin ... MDLOG_0001
https://www.ebay.de/itm/China-Lt-Friedr ... 0013.m1986
Cheers. Raúl M
