In the first month of the tenth year of the Qing Dynasty (1884 AD), the French army launched an attack on the Qing army stationed in Beining, the Qing Dynasty officially went to war with France because of its suzerainty, and the world called the "Sino-French Convention to Conclude the Treaty of Vietnam" because of the veteran general Feng Zicai's "Zhennanguan Great Victory", which was called "France is victorious without victory, and the Qing Kingdom is undefeated and defeated".
Who lost or won between the Qing Dynasty and France? The author will take you from the four major battles of the "Sino-French War", namely the Battle of Bac Ninh, the Battle of Mawei, the Battle of Taiwan, and the Battle of Zhennanguan, to review this historical dispute for you.
Sino-French War
Battle of Bac Ninh - Defeat of the Qing army in the first battle!
The Chinese people like to call "Vietnam has been a chinese vassal since ancient times", and they must know the following history: in the fifth year of Emperor Yuan Ding of the Han Dynasty (112 BC), the Western Han Dynasty destroyed the states of the South Vietnamese state and submitted, to the eighth year of Tang Dezong Li Shizhen (792 AD), the Tang Dynasty declined due to the "Anshi Rebellion", and Feng Xing rebelled to establish the Vietnamese Feng Dynasty, which was out of the actual control of the Central Plains Dynasty.
In the second year of Ming Hongwu (1369 AD), 573 years later, the Annam Chen Dynasty asked the Ming Dynasty to be vassal, and Zhu Yuanzhang included it in the "Imperial Ming Ancestral Training" as a country that was not conquered, but during the ming Dynasty (1406-1407), the Ming Dynasty Attacked Annam to destroy the Hu Dynasty and re-establish the Chen Dynasty, and the Vietnamese Lê Dynasty paid tribute from the second year of Emperor Ming Yingzong's reign (1473 AD) to the fall of the Ming Dynasty.
In the seventeenth year of Shunzhi (1660 AD), Annam paid tribute to the Qing Dynasty, but refused to hand over the seal given by the Ming Dynasty, but after the Internal and External Troubles of the Li Dynasty finally yielded, Kangxi accepted the Qing Dynasty's canonization of The King of Annam in the fifth year, Qianlong Fifty-three Years (1788 AD), the Nguyen clan expelled the Lê clan to establish a political power, and the "Battle of Annam" of Qianlong's "Ten Complete Martial Arts" broke out, and Nguyen Hui took the initiative to negotiate peace and became a vassal of the Qing Dynasty in name.
Qianlong Rong costume map
The Vietnamese Nguyễn Dynasty, after signing the "Vietnam-French Treaty of Friendship" with France in 1862 AD, was unable to suppress the Liu Yongfu department of the Black Flag Army stationed in Baosheng, so it tried to make the Black Flag Army and the French army fight for profit, and the Black Flag Army's "Paper Bridge Ambush Battle" killed 5 French troops, and Vietnam made Liu Yongfu the deputy governor of San Xuan, but signed the "Franco-Vietnamese Peace Alliance Treaty", and France enjoyed the rights of "conquest and suppression of thieves", "red river navigation" and "training vietnamese troops".
Vietnamese Emperor Nguyen Phuc was not willing to destroy the country, and the Qing Dynasty wanted to expand its rights and interests in Vietnam, in 1882 Liu Yongfu was recruited by Tang Jingsong, the Black Flag Army was organized into twelve battalions belonging to the Qing Dynasty, the Qing army entered Vietnam with the acquiescence of the Si De Emperor Nguyen Phuc, the French rights and interests were violated and wanted to expel the Black Flag Army, Liu Yongfu ambushed the French army on May 19, 1884, the French army and the Black Flag Army broke out the "Battle of Shanxi", the Black Flag Army was defeated and retreated to Zhennanguan.
"Battle of Bac Ninh" French army gathered elite, from March 8, 1884 AD, Fu Lang easily defeated the Qing army four battalions of troops, on March 12 rushed to defeat the Qing army two battalions shelling Beining, the Yue general Zhang Dengsi and the Huai army Huang Guilan and other routs, on March 19 the French front advanced to Langjia, immediately occupied all the important cities in the Red River Delta, the Qing army 69 battalions of nearly 20,000 troops, due to fear of war and military discipline and other factors suffered a crushing defeat.
Black Flag Soldier
Battle of Mawei - The Fujian Marine Division was completely destroyed!
During the Three Kingdoms period, the Eastern Wu Emperor Sun Quan, united with the Gongsun Yuan regime in Liaodong Province, and sent warships to Yizhou (Taiwan), because to avoid angering the Cao Wei regime, laying the foundation of Fujian shipbuilding technology, the Southern Song Dynasty lost the rich Central Plains, farming is difficult to maintain consumption, the government encouraged the expansion of overseas trade, "southern Song Dynasty Zhongxing Four Generals" Zhang Jun is good at business, commodities are exported to Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia, the property obtained to support the War between the Jin Dynasty and Mongolia.
The Qing Dynasty attacked the Longwu regime to build the "Fujian Water Division", Zheng Zhilong surrendered Shi Lang to the Qing Dynasty, was appointed as the Admiral of the Fujian Water Division, commanded the Qing army to attack Penghu and Pingtai, Qing Tongzhi thirteen years (1874 AD), two "Opium Wars" fiasco and coastal defense needs, the Governor of Liangjiang and Nanyang Minister Shen Baozhen founded the Fujian Shipping Administration, in 1879 the Qing government officially ordered the establishment of the Fujian Water Division.
In the tenth year of the Qing Dynasty (1884 AD), during the Conflict of the Northern Li Guanyin Bridge, the Qing Dynasty did not comply with the agreement to evacuate Vietnam, the commander of the French Expeditionary Force, Gu Ba, led the fleet to assemble at the outer port of Fuzhou on July 20, and docked at mawei Military Port in the name of "Travel", at 8:00 a.m. on August 23, the French army declared war on the Qing army and informed the British and American ships to withdraw, and the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, He Jing, sent ships to confront the French ships at The Rosen Pagoda, indicating that the French army was not plotting to sneak attack.
The Sino-French Battle of Majiang is also known as the Battle of Mawei
The "Battle of Mawei" French army seized the upstream array, according to the ultimatum 14 o'clock to launch an attack, the river battle lasted only 30 minutes, the tide change was not enough to affect the war situation, the Qing Dynasty and the French military gap is the key, Fujian Marine Division Mawei Military Port docked 11 warships, all based on wooden rib shell structure, the total displacement of about 9800 tons, transport ships 19 and 13 auxiliary defense ships, the weapons are simple and difficult to cause damage to the French ships.
The French fleet attacked Mawei Harbor, including the ironclad ship Triumph (4127 tons), the cruisers Dujusluin (3189 tons), Philus (2258 tons), Desdan (2236 tons), Wogada (1300 tons), auxiliary cruisers Viper (471 tons), Yishibi (471 tons), two torpedo boats and four small motorboats, with a total displacement of 14,000 tons, and weapons and equipment far exceeding the Fujian Marine Division.
The expeditionary fleet led by the French Lone Pull, a total of 5 ironclad ships, 15 cruisers, and 20 other ships, with a total displacement of 68,000 tons, the main force of the fleet blockaded the Fujian sea, and pinned down the Fujian marine division and the fort, at any time to reinforce the Mawei Port war, the French army destroyed the Mawei military port and Fuzhou shipyard, and demolished the forts along the Minjiang River, and the southeast coastal defense was completely lost.
French cruiser
The Battle of Taiwan - Military and Civilian Cooperation to Resist Foreign Enemies!
The three overlords of the European navigation era, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands, all arrived in the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty chose to cooperate with Portugal, so the military expelled the Dutch illegal occupation of Penghu, but the Ming Dynasty Liaodong war successively lost, so that the Netherlands occupied southern Taiwan in the fourth year of the Apocalypse (1624 AD), Spain occupied northern Taiwan in the sixth year of the Apocalypse (1626 AD), and the treasure island of Taiwan was temporarily separated from the jurisdiction of the Central Plains.
With the collapse of the Nanming Longwu regime, Zheng Chenggong vowed to oppose the Qing dynasty and swept through the southeast, capturing Xiamen, besieging Jinling, and annihilating the Qing army's water division, but Zheng Chenggong's army and people were tired of food and grass shortages, so they led the army and the army to march into The Dutch-occupied Taiwan, defeated the Dutch Navy and East India reinforcements continuously, besieged the city of Chikan and Zeelandia for several months, forced the Dutch governor to withdraw from Taiwan with a "peace talk", and 38 years later Taiwan returned to the embrace of the motherland.
In the twentieth year of Kangxi (1681 AD), the Civil Unrest of the Zheng Clan in Taiwan, the Qing Dynasty appointed Shi Lang as the Admiral of the Water Division, the Qing Army Sailors "Battle of Penghu", the Zheng Clan suffered 12,000 casualties, lost more than 190 warships, the elite and lost Taiwan's Zheng Clan tribute table please surrender, Kangxi Twenty-three Years (1684 AD), the Qing Dynasty approved the establishment of Taiwan Prefecture, under the jurisdiction of Fujian Province, the Qing Dynasty lifted the economic and trade restrictions on Taiwan.
Zheng successfully recovered Taiwan
Britain and the Qing Dynasty signed the "Treaty of Nanjing", the Xiamen and Fuzhou as treaty ports, the "Treaty of Tianjin" won the Taiwan Nantong merchant port, France's intended target is the northern part of Taiwan, in August 1884 Liu Mingchuan defeated the French army, the Fujian water division transported soldiers to transport materials, so that Taiwan's military defense was strengthened, the French army did not hesitate to offend the ally Britain, launched the "Mawei Naval Battle" to defeat the Fujian water division, isolating Taiwan's external assistance.
The Qing army originally had 20,000 garrisons in Taiwan, the entire campaign received about 8,000 reinforcements, recruited 5,000 Taiwan patriots, broke through the French blockade to get 60 steel guns, 9,000 rifles and 2 million rounds of ammunition; a total of 9,100 French (including only 7,300 expeditionary force marines and 1,300 reinforcements), blockade tactics dispersed the troops, each battle is as small as dozens or more than a thousand, and the fuel before seizing the Keelung coal mine needs to be replenished by britain.
"Battle of Huwei" is known as the "Great Victory", but the French recorded only 76 casualties, when the French advanced to the north bank of the Keelung River, the Qing army had an absolute superiority in strength, only resisted the French offensive but could not counterattack, as the French army invited the Japanese army to assist in the blockade, the situation in Taiwan became more and more critical, the Qing Dynasty finally negotiated the "Sino-French New Treaty", that is, mentioning the French army withdrawing from Taiwan and the Penghu Archipelago, the Qing Dynasty lost the city and lost land at most as a draw.
Administration of Taiwan at the end of the Qing Dynasty
Battle of Zhennanguan - defeat the French army and win the first victory!
In March 1874, the Vietnamese Nguyen Dynasty signed the "Vietnamese-French Peace Alliance Treaty", France became the Vietnamese government to recognize the "suzerainty", the Qing Dynasty suzerainty became the past tense, when the Qing Dynasty absorbed the Black Flag Army Liu Yongfu and sent troops to northern Vietnam, triggering the French protection mechanism against Vietnam, Liu Yongfu asked the French fleet commander Li Weili to fight, ambush tactics killed more than 200 French troops, and the Qing Dynasty fled south from the responsibility of "light start war".
The Qing army "Battle of Bac Ninh" was defeated miserably, retreated to Lang Shan to re-garrison, the problem is that Lang Shan belongs to Vietnamese territory, the French army holds the authorization of the Vietnamese government, the Qing army actually refused to hand over, and very bloody direct war, sneak attacks on the French garrison 11 times, with the "Battle of Mawei" The Qing Dynasty declared war on France, in mid-October, The governor of Yungui, Cen Yuying, commanded the 10th Battalion of the Black Flag Army and the 19th Battalion of the Dian Army, a total of more than 13,000 people to launch the "Battle of Xuanguang".
The Qing army captured Lintao, Qingbo and other places, but the "siege and reinforcement" tactics failed, the French army can still get external assistance, even if in December to conquer xuanguang city wall and fort, it is unable to conquer the city of full annihilation of the defenders, until March 1885 French reinforcements arrived at Xuanguang city, the Qing army withdrew to Lintao to build a defensive line, on March 4, the Qing army defeated hundreds of French pioneers, taking advantage of the situation to recover more than ten prefectures and counties such as Guangwei, known as the "Lintao Victory".
Feng Zicai and Zhennanguan Victory
Since 1885 AD, Li Hongzhang frequently met with envoys from Britain and the United States, the war consumption made it difficult for the Qing Dynasty to afford, the French Rufley cabinet was also questioned by the people, and the Qing Dynasty soldiers surrounded Xuanguang and the French army invaded Zhennanguan, hoping to win the bargaining chips.
The "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty" records that Pan Dingxin, the governor of Guangxi, "langened the mountain, retired from the division, asked for punishment for his own crimes, and made meritorious deeds with the crimes", which the people of the world often interpret as retreating without fighting, but Pan Dingxin is a fierce general in a hundred battles, how can he really be greedy for life and afraid of death? From the fall of Wenyuan Prefecture and the fall of Zhennan Pass, the French army used heavy artillery to smash the gate, and if Langshan was also smashed and closed, Pan Dingxin's original intention of retreating was to retain the elite of the Qing army, and the imperial court ordered him to make meritorious contributions.
More than 30,000 soldiers of the 60 battalion under the command of Feng Zicai will be properly distributed, take the initiative to attack The Seal and Wenyuan Prefecture, ensure the return of the Qing army in Vietnam, and provoke Colonel Nigri to lead more than a thousand French troops to take revenge, in the face of the French fierce artillery Qing army to hold the position, in the early morning of the 24th, the French army under the cover of artillery fire to approach the position, Feng Zicai led the crowd to launch a counterattack against the French army, and by the afternoon to repulse the French attack, defeating the French flank and reinforcements before the evening.
The French army ran out of ammunition and food and withdrew to Wenyuan Prefecture, Feng Zicai took advantage of the victory to lead the army to conquer Wenyuan Prefecture on the 26th, and immediately conquered the strategic place of Lang shan, reaching the north of LangJia in Vietnam, the rapid offensive was that the city was no longer protected, but the Qing army's logistical supplies were seriously insufficient, the French army consolidated the front cabinet collapsed, the Qing Dynasty and the French new cabinet were mediated by britain to truce, Feng Zicai "Zhennanguan Great Victory", became the biggest victory of the Qing Dynasty in the "Sino-French War".
Li
Summary: The local victory of "Zhennanguan Great Victory" is difficult to reverse the total defeat of the Qing Dynasty!
The four major battles of the "Sino-French War", the Battle of Beining was completely defeated, the Battle of Mawei was completely destroyed, the Battle of Taiwan was also in the ascendant, the Battle of Zhennanguan Qing army 30,000 against the French army 2,000, unexpectedly fought for two days and nights, the French army withdrew from the battle, and only more than a thousand casualties arrived at the Langjia French army.
The "Sino-French War" was so difficult that the Qing Dynasty's logistical support was difficult to support; the "Zhennanguan Great Victory" was unexpectedly won, which easily dragged the Qing Dynasty into the abyss of war; France won the overall victory and did not receive the Qing Dynasty's rights and interests such as reparations; the Qing Dynasty was able to sign the "Sino-French Treaty of Vietnam", which was the best ending of the Sino-French War.