On Wednesday I discussed some of my background research and the “eye-opening” (aka “new-to-me”) facts that can crop up. I’ll be sharing more of those facts, but another interesting aspect of such research is when themes emerge.

One of those themes, in my delving into various wars, and more specifically sieges, was the surprising number of instances of what I called “coming to the aid of the enemy.” In sporting parlance, it would be similar to scoring an “own goal.”

One example is the “Siege of the International Legations” in Peking during the 1900 Boxer uprising. The legations were completely cut off in the heart of the Chinese capital, and although the initial Boxer besiegers may have been poorly trained and equipped, once they were joined by the Chinese Army, that was no longer the case.

And although the legations’ defenders might be trained soldiers, the legations were not military installations and the defenders’ resources were limited. Yet the besiegers consistently failed to press their advantage, for reasons that contemporary commentators found inexplicable:

‘An American military officer reported: “I seek in vain some military reason for the failure of the Chinese to exterminate the foreigners.”

Missionary Arthur Smith summed up the Chinese military performance similarly: “Upon unnumbered occasions, had they been ready to make a sacrifice of a few hundred lives, they could have extinguished the defense [of the Legation Quarter] in an hour.” ‘

Interesting reading—not least because it’s not the only example I’ve read where a military power acts in a way that aids its opponents. But these accounts must await subsequent posts.