At the end of March, however, these events were still unknown in
Uliassutai. We knew neither of the fall of Urga nor of the destruction
of the Chinese army of nearly 15,000 in the battles of Maimachen on the
shore of the Tola and on the roads between Urga and Ude. The Chinese
carefully concealed the truth by preventing anybody from passing
westward from Urga. However, rumours existed and troubled all. The
atmosphere became more and more tense, while the relations between the
Chinese on the one side and the Mongolians and Russians on the other
became more and more strained. At this time the Chinese Commissioner
in Uliassutai was Wang Tsao-tsun and his advisor, Fu Hsiang, both very
young and inexperienced men. The Chinese authorities had dismissed the
Uliassutai Sait, the prominent Mongolian patriot, Prince Chultun
Beyle, and had appointed a Lama Prince friendly to China, the former
Vice-Minister of War in Urga. Oppression increased. The searching of
Russian officers' and colonists' houses and quarters commenced, open
relations with the Bolsheviki followed and arrest and beatings became
common. The Russian officers formed a secret detachment of sixty men
so that they could defend themselves. However, in this detachment
disagreements soon sprang up between Lieutenant-Colonel M. M. Michailoff
and some of his officers. It was evident that in the decisive moment the
detachment must separate into factions.

We foreigners in council decided to make a thorough reconnaissance in
order to know whether there was danger of Red troops arriving. My old
companion and I agreed to do this scouting. Prince Chultun Beyle gave
us a very good guide--an old Mongol named Tzeren, who spoke and read
Russian perfectly. He was a very interesting personage, holding the
position of interpreter with the Mongolian authorities and sometimes
with the Chinese Commissioner. Shortly before he had been sent as
a special envoy to Peking with very important despatches and this