"Today's China is no longer the China of the past, if you decide not to sign, you will only have to fight again, there is no room for negotiation" This is the warning of Wang Lihuan, commander of the 130th Division after the Sino-French Battle of Coastal Defense, the Battle of China Coastal Defense is the second war between China and France, which broke out in 1946, in this war the Chinese army killed and captured more than 3,000 French invaders at the cost of more than 30 years of casualties, sank and severely damaged three French warships, and snowed the national shame of more than a hundred years since the Opium War.
The Battle of Haiphong took place in the Indochina region, which had been a vassal state of China until modern times. During the Franco-Qing War of 1883-1895, Indochina was ceded to France by the corrupt and incompetent Qing government. After the outbreak of World War II, Japanese invaders landed from Haiphong and occupied the entire Indochina region. After Japan announced its unconditional surrender in August 1945, in accordance with the spirit of the Potsdam Proclamation, the Indochina region was divided into two by the Allied Command, with The Japanese troops in Taiwan and the Japanese troops in the Indochina region north of the 16th parallel surrender their weapons to the Chinese army, and the Japanese army in the Indochina region south of the 16th parallel to the British army. On September 28, 1945, Lu Han, commander-in-chief of the Chinese First Front, announced his acceptance of the surrender of the Japanese army at the former Vietnamese Governor's Palace, which was the first time since 1840 that China had surrendered to another country as a victorious country, and was regarded as an important symbol of the national shame of a hundred years. Although the british were required to surrender south of the 16th parallel, the British army in Southeast Asia was weak and could not exercise effective rule there, so the British invited the French to enter the South Vietnamese region together, and ignored the existing provisional government of Vietnam and announced that the French army would take over the entire South Vietnamese region. Soon after the French army entered the South Vietnamese region, it began to covet the North Vietnamese areas that were not under its control, hoping to restore colonial rule throughout Indochina. The French claim was supported by Britain and the United States, and the three countries pressed Chiang Kai-shek's government to agree to withdraw its troops from North Vietnam. Chiang Kai-shek already had the idea of fighting a civil war at this time, and the transfer of the First Front army from North Vietnam was in line with his plan. Although the surrender of North Vietnam to France violated his plan to "trusteeship Vietnam and assist it in its autonomy to independence", it could be exchanged for western support and assistance in fighting his civil war. Therefore, on February 28, 1946, the Nationalist government and France signed the Sino-French Agreement, stipulating that the Chinese and French troops would begin to hand over defense from March 1 to 15 and completely withdraw from Vietnam on the 31st. The defense handover will begin in Coastal Defense and continue until the defense handover of the entire North Vietnamese region is completed. It is worth noting that the agreement did not stipulate the time for the French landing.
Potsdam Proclamation
On March 5, 1946, the French consular representative Afsien brought a French newspaper to the 130th Division of the 53rd Army of the First Front of Coastal Defense. After meeting Wang Lihuan, the commander of the 130th Division, Avshin pointed to the newspaper about the Sino-French Agreement and asked the 130th Division to allow the French to land on March 6. Wang Lihuan knew that the Vietnamese people did not welcome the return of the French army, so he refused on the grounds that he had not received orders from Shangfeng. Afshin did not expect to be rejected by the weak Chinese army, and said to Wang Lihuan strongly that our fleet was almost at coastal defense, and in any case, the French army would land on the 6th, and then got up and left. What Avshin said was not a big deal, as a French fleet of more than a dozen warships had departed from South Vietnam and was expected to arrive at haiphong in the early hours of the sixth morning. The commander of the French Far East Corps completely despised the Chinese army and arrogantly declared that the Chinese army had no tanks, artillery, aircraft, and warships, and that it was poorly equipped and weak in combat effectiveness.
At 18:00 on March 5, 1946, Avshin again came to the headquarters of the 130th Division and informed Wang Lihuan that the French warship would land in Haiphong in the early morning of tomorrow (6). Wang Lihuan knew that the French army had hardened its heart to storm the coastal defense port, and after asking his superiors, he issued an order to prepare for battle. First, the city of Haiphong has been under martial law since 8 o'clock in the evening; second, the waterworks and other important facilities have been taken over by the military; third, all the ships in the port of Haiphong have driven into the inland river for 20 miles to take shelter; fourth, the French expatriate area has been blockaded and no one is allowed to enter or leave; fifth, the port of Coastal Defense has been closed and the lighthouse of the harbor has been closed. After arranging things properly, Wang Lihuan personally went to the Japanese concentration camp in Haiphong to meet with the director of the Japanese army's aftermath liaison, the former commander of the Indochinese garrison, Dohashi Yongyi, and demanded that the surrendered Japanese troops in the concentration camp change into the national army uniforms and participate in the battle when necessary.
At eight o'clock in the morning of March 6, 1946, the 1st Battalion of the 338th Regiment stationed at the dock of Haiphong Harbor reported to Wang Lihuan that it found that the French fleet was coming toward our port, and our army fired more than a dozen signal flares to make it indicate its intentions, but the other side did not respond. Wang Lihuan's secret forces prepared for battle, and shortly after eight o'clock, the French fleet came to the outskirts of haiphong port, and the port defenders fired warning them to stop advancing. Instead of stopping their advance as requested by the defenders, the French warships suddenly opened fire on the harbor, and the shells hit the arsenal on the docks, causing a large explosion, and all the houses around the arsenal were destroyed. The French fleet attacked the harbor in an offensive formation with one in front, two tailing, and six at the rear, and some warships outside the harbor providing shelling cover. As the warship approached the port, six mortars, two anti-aircraft guns, two heavy mortars, six light and heavy machine guns, and a flamethrower deployed in the harbor opened fire in unison. Although it did not deal a fatal blow to the French warships, it successfully repelled two French landing attempts. After the french fleet failed to make a forced landing, it chose to rest outside the port, and the two mountain artillery battalions of the 184th Division of the Nationalist 60th Army and the provisional 21st Division came to the port to support according to the orders of their superiors. The Chinese army's artillery has reached dozens, including more than 30 rocket launchers. After the French fleet was repaired, six of the warships divided into three echelons and launched another surprise attack on the port, and after the fleet entered the range of artillery, the Chinese army once again attacked fiercely. Although the guns of the French warships were powerful, they were not suitable for close combat, while the light and heavy firepower of the Chinese army was very suitable for defense. A French warship was hit by a shell and exploded and sank on the spot, and two warships were affected and severely damaged and caught fire. Other French warships, taking advantage of France's long-standing fine traditions, hurriedly fled outside the port, and the Chinese army shot at the soldiers left on the port warships with light and heavy machine guns, and the French soldiers were killed and burned, jumped into the sea and drowned countless times. The commander of the French fleet, Vice Admiral Abano, watched the Desperately Struggling French soldiers in the harbor as the Burning Warships on the sea gradually fell into despair, "Is this really the weak Chinese army?" ”
At 10:30 on March 6, the desperate Abanu chose to let the fleet raise the white flag and surrender, and the Sino-French Battle of Coastal Defense ended here, which took only 2.5 hours, the Chinese army killed and captured more than 3,000 French troops at the cost of more than 30 casualties, and the Japanese prisoners of war had not yet had time to participate in the war, and the war was over, so this war can be said to be a significant victory. At one o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, Abanoo, accompanied by a US lieutenant colonel, came to the headquarters of the 130th Division to negotiate, during which Abanu falsely accused the Chinese side of violating the Sino-French Agreement and demanded that the Chinese side be responsible for the matter. Wang Lihuan asked him why he was shelling our port after the Chinese army fired warning shots, and Abanu was speechless and had to agree to apologize. After that, Wang Lihuan showed him the "Gist of the Agreement between the Chinese and French Forces on Incident 3.6 in Haiphong". (1) On March 6, 1946, the French army sneaked into the Sea Defense Of the Chinese Army and was defeated by the Chinese Army, and the misunderstanding was purely the responsibility of the French Army. (2) The French army shall be responsible for compensating all losses for the lives and property of all residents of various countries in Haiphong City. (iii) The French army promised never to sneak into the sea defenses again in the future. (4) The sinking and injuring of the French warship was allowed to be salvaged and towed away under the supervision of the Chinese army, and the salvage was completed before 8 o'clock in the morning of the 7th. (5) The Chinese army unconditionally released the French prisoners on the same day, and both sides were responsible for their casualties.
National hero Feng Zicai
Abano did not approve of this document, in his view the signing of such a document is an insult to France, Wang Lihuan argued on the basis of reason, the French army from Saigon to sneak attack Haiphong, it is not glorious at all, 60 years ago Feng Zicai and Liu Yongfu defeated you, France used deceptive means to cut off Vietnam, today China is no longer the China of the past, and it is impossible to dream again, if you decide not to sign, you will only fight again, there is no room for negotiation. Abanu was speechless by Wang Lihuan's rebuttal and had to sign his name on the document. Although the Sino-French Battle of Coastal Defense was not a large-scale war, it had a very important significance, this war marked that the Western colonists' guns were no longer omnipotent weapons, the Chinese army had the courage and ability to say no to the Western invaders, of course, this war also showed that the French army was indeed vulnerable. In 1885, the first Sino-French War was lost to the Qing Army, in 1946 the Second Sino-French War was lost to the Nationalist Army, and in the Korean War it was lost to the Volunteer Army. Apart from taking advantage of britain, France did not win a single war against China. France's performance in World War II was even more ridiculed, resulting in the joke that it could not occupy Paris before France surrendered.