Liu Mingchuan, born in Feixi, Anhui Province, came from a poor family when he was young, but he was not poor. He once climbed the big submerged mountain behind the house and swore to the heavens: "The great husband should be born and die." ”
In 1862, Li Hongzhang recruited the Huai Army. Liu Mingchuan led Xiang Yong to join the Huai Army, known as the "Mingzi Battalion", followed Li Hongzhang in suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Twist Army, and achieved outstanding military achievements, and was soon promoted to the rank of general and an important general of the Huai Army.
In 1865, Liu Mingchuan was 29 years old, and he was directly subordinate to the Viceroy and a baron of the first class. It only took three years to achieve "birth and lordship".
In 1868, he was ordered to supervise the military affairs of Shaanxi, and was relieved of his armor and returned to the field due to overwork. Although he lived in seclusion in the countryside, he witnessed internal and external troubles, often stroked his sword and sighed, and did not forget the desire to repay the country.
In 1883, the Sino-French War broke out. Although Liu Mingchuan was a general promoted by Li Hongzhang, he opposed avoiding war and seeking peace. "In the event of a matter of accommodation, do not hesitate to relieve the army." In May of the following year, the French fleet invaded the isolated southeastern island of Taiwan. The Qing court urgently summoned Liu Mingchuan to supervise Taiwan's military affairs.
Liu Mingchuan, who had lived in seclusion for more than ten years, was ordered to cross the sea into Taiwan in the face of danger.
On July 16, Liu Mingchuan arrived in Keelung lightly. After some inspections, it was found that although Taiwan was on the verge of war, its defense was lax, its equipment was not refined, and its training was ineffective. Although it is said to be 20,000 garrison soldiers, its quality is extremely poor. Coupled with the fact that the marine division has no boats and the sea mouth is not congested, the situation is extremely urgent.
Liu Mingchuan played the imperial court to strengthen coastal defense, prepare for the construction of a navy, and purchase ordnance, while adjusting the deployment of Taiwan's troops.
On the seventh day of Liu Ming's arrival in Keelung, French warships shelled the Keelung Battery, and war broke out. In just half a day, the Keelung Battery was completely destroyed under the guns of the French ships. Liu Ming passed on the situation and used the technique of luring the enemy to order his troops to withdraw from the beach and hide behind the Keelung Mountains, "firmly planning a bloody battle."
The French generals were alone, mistakenly believing that the Qing army had routed, so they landed with a big swing. Liu Ming ordered all the units to attack on three sides, dividing and encircling the French army, which had no firepower advantage, and soon beat the French army to pieces.
The first battle was won. "There was one legal person who was captured, with no less than a hundred casualties, snatched up a flag, took advantage of the situation to break through its mountain fort, and obtained four cannons, dozens of tents, and many coats and hats."
In October, Gu Ba invaded Taiwan again. This time he learned his lesson and divided the fleet in two, one attacking Keelung and the other attacking Tamsui.
Liu Mingchuan was attacked on both sides, so he had to divide his troops into two routes, and he himself faced the lone battle in Keelung, and ordered the general of the Xiang Army, Sun Kaihua, to hold on to Tamsui. In view of the battlefield situation and the cunning of the enemy army, Liu Mingchuan adjusted his strategy in a timely manner and took the initiative to withdraw from Keelung, one is to win time to redeploy troops, and the other is to accelerate the more important strategic defense of freshwater.
Although the French army captured Keelung, it was in ruins and futile. After attacking fresh water again, there was no progress for seven consecutive days.
On October 8, the two armies fought a decisive battle. The French army landed under the cover of artillery fire, and Liu Mingchuan once again lured the troops deeper, and then divided the way to attack.
Sun Kaihua personally beheaded the leader of the French army who held the flag, captured the flag and entered sharply, and led his army to the coast. The French suffered three or four hundred casualties.
The tamsui victory fundamentally broke the French attempt to invade and occupy Taipei, and its arrogance was greatly frustrated.
In order to reverse the decline, the French army, with more than 20 warships and more than 4,000 people, blockaded all haikou in Taiwan, in a vain attempt to trap Liu Mingchuan and the whole of Taiwan.
At this time, the island had been fighting bloody battles for more than two months, and there were less than three thousand people who could fight. Liu Mingchuan "only desperately defends, and protects one day is one day", determined to fight to the end. At that time, the coastal provinces, especially the military and civilians of Fujian, tried every means to break through the French blockade and support Taiwan's resistance to the French.
Eight months later, the French general was exhausted and in a dilemma. Soon after, with the veteran general Feng Zicai winning the great victory of Zhennanguan, the war situation was reversed, and the French army withdrew.
After the end of the Sino-French War, the Qing court decided that Taiwan would no longer be subordinate to Fujian and would be established as a province, and Liu Ming would be appointed as the first inspector of Taiwan.