Croisière Jaune

Citroën's Central Asia Expedition was an astounding adventure that took place between April 1931 and February 1931. Forty men and fourteen halftracks tried to establish a link between the Mediterranean and the China Sea, following in the footsteps of Marco Polo over the "Silk Road" of old.

Barring the way were two fearsome obstacles: one vertical, The Himalayas, the other horizontal, the Gobi desert. On top of these difficulties came others: a revolution in Afghanistan, dissidence in the Sin Kiang, China at war. The Croisiére Jaune was split up into two groups, The "Pamir" group starting from Beirut, and the "China" group starting from Peking, with a rendezvous point set in the Sin Kiang, the expedition was to cover 7,500 miles, fighting every inch of the way.

From Srinagar on, the Pamir group really earned its name, three and a half months after leaving Beirut on April 14, 1931. The expedition had already covered 3,500 miles and after thirsting in the suffocating heat of Afghanistan (122 F in the shade), had to make a detour of 500 miles through the passes of the HinduKush to avoid the revolt of the Uzbeks to the North. At last a halt in the BamyIan Valley, a crossroads where, in times gone by India, Greece and the Sassanid Persians had met, a crossroads where awe-inspiring Buddhas, carved out of virgin rock, 1,500 years ago, watch over the orchards of this oasis. But it is here in Srinagar, over 4,000 ft. up that lay the expedition's cornerstone. Corner-stone? Rather a nightmare stone, for here came the highest peaks and passes on Earth: the Himalayas, "Roof of the World", raised its monstrous profile across the path. Only three ways across. Haardt made up his mind quickly. He decided on Ghilghit Road, a mule track really, with passes at over 13,000 ft.

Haardt was told, "With your cars, you'll never get through". But how could he step back before the challenge of nature after having vanquished that of mere man. Haardt had battled for two years in Paris, along with Citroën, to obtain all the authorization necessary for his project: a tremendous trek across Central Asia from Beirut to Peking. The eyes of the world avidly followed every step of the most modern caravan of the time across the world's oldest continent. Behind the Himalayas Range, behind the Karakoram Mountains, lay Kashgar, where the rendezvous with the China Group was scheduled.

The China Group had left Peking on the April 6, and from which no news had come in for several days. Haardt would have risked everything and much more than his own life, to be on time for the Rendezvous. Away he went on reconnaissance with his chief engineer Ferracci ... The group was sapped by unceasing rains, cut across by landslides, and the width between chasm and rock wall was hardly enough to allow the vehicles to creep through; in a number of places, the width of the track was a bare 4 ft 2 1/2 ins for a vehicle width of 4 ft 7 1/2 ins ... Ferracci pulled away at his pipe and nodded his head, saying, "Well, we may just make it...". Haardt decided to forge ahead. Thus began an heroic adventure for a handful of men

moved by some invincible will to get through. Overhanging ledges, sharp bends where the back of the vehicle had to be slewed round with jacks, 45 rickety bridges, rotten to the core, where nobody knew whether the first or the last across ran the greatest risk ... roaring, bloated torrents, one-in-two slopes where it took 10 hours to climb a bare 4 miles, rocks to be blown out of the way, harassing maneuvers under a broiling sun and 20 or more feet of snow in the passes, and such an icy wind as would freeze-dry the lungs of the hardiest, to boot. And yet, they got across! When their tiny pathway fell into the abyss, they rebuilt it. When the vehicles literally could not crawl another inch, they were dismantled (they were entirely screw-and-bolt assembled), carried across, and reassembled; across difficult stretches, they were guided with toggle ropes and secured with safety lines. During the accession towards the Bourxil pass (13,750 ft), the snow had to be probed at each step and a path dug through it for the half-tracks, which tended to skid towards the sheer drop.. Despite pre-heaters, fuel vaporization was poor and the engines lost power. On the way down, from Astor to Dashkin, the change of level was about 5,000 ft in 15 miles, the tracks slope was at the bare limit of possibilities and moreover cut across by unstable, stony landslides. Hanging on, crawling, sliding, hauled with block and tackle, retained by cables, the half-tracks wended their way. On August 2, the Upper Indus Valley was reached. On August 4, their paint scraped and scratched, their coachwork dented their engines running at full tilt for the last 1,200 hours, the half-tracks entered Ghilghit, and men of the Croisiére Jaune became part of the great Sagas.

While the Pamir group was at odds with the Himalayas, the China Croup were faced with the Gobi Desert. Both of these tests were at the limit of human endurance. For the China Group, headed by Victor Point, the first stretches were those of great patience; the Chinese forces of Chiang Kai Shek and of he Kuomintang undid one day what they had done the previous day, quite inopportunely forgetting their promises of authorizations and safe-conducts. But, once the Great Wall of China had been cleared, the China Group entered Mongolia, where it was greeted by Teilhard de Chardin at Kalgan. They were saddled with a delegation of eight Chinese scientists whose sole purpose seemed to be to hold up the caravan. Before them lay the rotten earth of a great desert with its ombre-hued rocks and deathly silence: the Gobi.

The vehicles were overloaded. They had to carry petrol (1,750 gallons), rations, equipment and kit to cover 1,250 miles. The hostile countryside, where only the odd skeleton was a witness to the fact that life had ever come this way, far from making the Europeans and Chinese come closer together, merely widened the gap between them. Chines soldiers confiscated from Teilhard all the stones he had gathered; irritated, he thereupon picked up all the stones he could, until his guards staggered under their loads. The crossing lasted

19 days, under a constant electric storm; raise your finger, and their was a spark to greet it. A single stroke of lightning would have been enough to fire the petrol-gorged vehicles! Everybody's nerves were on edge. Two sandstorms put them to a final test. The heat was such that petrol tanks started exploding. Finally the team manages to get through to Sou-Chow, and then into Sin Kiang.

Sin Kiang was at war; a dangerous game of hide-and-seek. a few frays without serious sequels, and the column reached Turfan. King, President of Sin Kiang, who had been promised three half-tracks by Citroën, was anything but happy, for his gift had been intercepted by bandits. No half-tracks, no passports. The China Group was directed on to Ourumtsi where Marshal King held up all the equipment, which he considered a redeemable token, should he not obtain satisfaction. Forbidden to use the wireless, how were they to get in touch with the Pamir Group. The crafty Frenchmen invented a public holiday, the Centenary of the Third Republic; they set up a flag staff stiff with pennants, hiding the wireless aerial. They sang, danced and howled, playing drumbeats on saucepans to cover the noise of the generator unit. Teilhard put "Parlez-moi d'amour" on the gramophone. The Chines guards were awestruck... and hoodwinked; the operator, hidden under a vehicle, frenziedly sent off a morse code message. The sloop "Regulus" got his SOS. Diplomatic wheels started fuming, thus freeing the China Group. Haardt, for his part, cleared the last pass on his route; that of Vakhdjir (altitude 16,700 ft). After seven months of struggle and untold feats, both groups came together at Aksou.

The way back ran through Urumtsi, where Marshall King was fuming under his turban. The passage money had not yet reached his coffers. So, once more, a forced halt. When at last the half-tracks were delivered, passports miraculously reappeared and, on December 2, all got aboard for Peking. Burning as it had been, the Gobi desert once more took the offensive, this time freezing everything that came its way. Finally on February 12, 1932, the half-tracks entered Peking. 7,527 hard earned miles on the clock!

But, the Genies of the Himalayas also claimed their tribute from the mission that had so disturbed their solitude. Georges Marie Haardt died in Hong Kong of double pneumonia. Citroën sent a distressed telegram: "the man is dead, but his work lives forever. I weep with you".