Editing Boxer Rebellion (section)

=== Seymour Expedition ===
{{Main|Seymour Expedition}}
As the situation grew more violent, the Eight Powers authorities at Dagu dispatched a second multinational force to Beijing on 10 June 1900. This force of 2,000 sailors and marines was under the command of Vice Admiral [[Edward Hobart Seymour]], the largest contingent being British. The force moved by train from Dagu to Tianjin with the agreement of the Chinese government, but the railway had been severed between Tianjin and Beijing. Seymour resolved to continue forward by rail to the break and repair the railway, or progress on foot from there, if necessary, as it was only 120&nbsp;km from Tianjin to Beijing. The court then replaced Prince Qing at the Zongli Yamen with Manchu Prince Duan, a member of the imperial [[Aisin Gioro]] clan (foreigners called him a "Blood Royal"), who was anti-foreigner and pro-Boxer. He soon ordered the Imperial army to attack the foreign forces. Confused by conflicting orders from Beijing, General [[Nie Shicheng]] let Seymour's army pass by in their trains.{{sfnp|Leonhard|p=12}}

After leaving Tianjin, the force quickly reached [[Langfang]], but the railway was destroyed there. Seymour's engineers tried to repair the line, but the force found itself surrounded, as the railway in both behind directions was destroyed. They were attacked from all sides by Chinese irregulars and imperial troops. Five thousand of Dong Fuxiang's [[Gansu Braves]] and an unknown number of Boxers won a costly but major victory over Seymour's troops at the [[Battle of Langfang]] on 18 June.{{sfnp|Leonhard|p=18}}{{sfnp|Cohen|1997|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ky4_whmgIZcC&pg=PA49 49]}} The Seymour force could not locate the Chinese artillery, which was raining shells upon their positions.{{sfnp|Smith|1901|loc=vol. 2, pp. 393, 441–448}}{{primary source inline|date=October 2022}} Chinese troops employed mining, engineering, flooding, and simultaneous attacks. The Chinese also employed [[pincer movement]]s, ambushes, and sniping with some success.{{sfnp|Smith|1901|loc=vol. 2, p. 446}}{{primary source inline|date=October 2022}}

On 18 June, Seymour learned of attacks on the Legation Quarter in Beijing, and decided to continue advancing, this time along the [[Beihe River]], toward [[Tongzhou, Hebei|Tongzhou]], {{convert|25|km|abbr=on}} from Beijing. By 19 June, the force was halted by progressively stiffening resistance and started to retreat southward along the river with over 200 wounded. The force was now very low on food, ammunition, and medical supplies. They happened upon [[The Great Hsi-Ku Arsenal]], a hidden Qing munitions cache of which the Eight Powers had had no knowledge until then.

There they dug in and awaited rescue. A Chinese servant slipped through the Boxer and Imperial lines, reached Tianjin, and informed the Eight Powers of Seymour's predicament. His force was surrounded by Imperial troops and Boxers, attacked nearly around the clock, and at the point of being overrun. The Eight Powers sent a relief column from Tianjin of 1,800 men (900 Russian troops from Port Arthur, 500 British seamen, and other assorted troops). On 25 June the relief column reached Seymour. The Seymour force destroyed the Arsenal: they spiked the captured field guns and set fire to any munitions that they could not take (an estimated £3&nbsp;million worth). The Seymour force and the relief column marched back to Tientsin, unopposed, on 26 June. Seymour's casualties during the expedition were 62 killed and 228 wounded.{{sfnp|Preston|2000|pp=100–104}}