Black Flag Army"' past and present lives
In order to defend China's territorial integrity and safeguard national dignity, Liu Yongfu and the "Black Flag Army" under his leadership fought arduous and indomitable battles against the French and Japanese aggressors in the 19th century, established outstanding meritorious deeds, and became a famous national hero in China's modern history, which was admired and remembered by future generations. Moreover, isn't the life course and encounter of him and the generals exactly a copy of the heroes in "Water Margin"? Is it a coincidence that famous works have such a high similarity with the history of future generations or is it an arrangement of history and providence? Although the vast majority of the officers and men of the Black Flag Army are peasants and have a low level of education, they do not prevent them from becoming national heroes in a specific history and making important contributions to the country and the people.
The "Black Flag Army" was originally a peasant rebel army active in the border of Guangdong and Guangxi in China during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution, the leader of which was Liu Yongfu, who participated in the Guangxi Peasant Uprising in 1851 and led his troops to join the Tiandihui Rebel Army led by Wu Yazhong in 1865, aiming to overthrow the corrupt and incompetent Qing Dynasty government. After the failure of the Tiandihui uprising, some rebel armies held a flag sacrifice ceremony in front of the Ande Northern Emperor Temple in Guishun Prefecture (present-day Jingxi County), using the Seven Star Black Flag as the military flag, so it was called the "Black Flag Army". According to the "Liu Yongfu Historical Grass", in 1865, Liu Yongfu entered An li hao and Gao Binh Hao in Vietnam from Bodou in Guangxi, and then to Lu an prefecture through Zuo Da Zhou, and then developed his power to Bao Sheng on the Sino-Vietnamese border, and used Bao Sheng to Ha Duong as a base to operate in northern Vietnam.
Participated in the Sino-French War
On November 20, 1873, the French authorities sent An Yee to lead 180 troops and two gunboats to suddenly bombard Hanoi. Liu Yongfu saw the righteousness and courage, stood up to resist the riots, personally led an army of 2,000 people, crossed the Xuanguang Daling, traveled day and night, and went south to resist the Law. On December 21, the Black Flag Army went to war with the French army in Luo Chi on the outskirts of Hanoi, killing the French general An Ye, an invincible war maniac, and more than 100 of his subordinates also became ghosts under the black flag saber, and won the great victory of "luring An Ye and overthrowing his entire army". The French were forced to withdraw from Hanoi. This was Liu Yongfu's first battle achievement in defending the country's borders and supporting friendly countries in resisting the French. The King of Yue promoted Liu Yongfu to the position of Deputy Governor of Sanxuan, and gave him a letter with the inscription: "The heroic general seal of the deputy vice-governor of Shanxi, Xinghua, and Xuanguang." In order to show his merits, he ordered Liu Yongfu to guard the banks of the Red River.
In August 1874, he was awarded the title of leading officer in Xinghua and other places to help suppress Huang Chongying. The King of Vietnam officially allowed the Black Flag Army to set up customs in Baosheng to collect taxes to supplement the military. In October of the same year, the Vietnamese government attacked Huang Chongying and ordered Liu Yongfu quan to be the deputy governor of San Xuan and lead the four-way army.
In April 1882, the French attacked The North of Vietnam and looked directly into Yunnan, China. Liu Yongfu led the Black Flag Army of 3,000 people. The two armies met at Paper Bridge, west of Hanoi, and Liu Yongfu, seeing that the enemy had the superiority in weapons, decided to use ambush warfare and won a great victory at Paper Bridge. The King of Vietnam promoted Liu Yongfu to the rank of Viceroy of San Xuan and a Baron of the First Rank.
On the eighth day of the third lunar month in 1883, Comrade Tang Jingsong, as a "liaison officer" sent by the Qing Dynasty at that time, entered the "Black Flag Army" and became Liu Yongfu's military division to advise him -- it can be said that this was the beginning of the first step of the Black Flag Army from a Liukou to a regular army.
In 1883, the French Parliament appointed Li Weili as commander-in-chief, leading 2,000 French troops to capture Hanoi and Nanding successively. It then divided its forces into the Vietnamese capitals of Hue and Bac Ninh and Shanxi. Full of the ambition of "pingkou for Vietnam and screen for the motherland", Liu Yongfu led 3,000 black flag troops into Hanoi on May 6, giving full play to the advantages of close combat and night combat, luring the enemy to go deeper, so that the French soldiers were attacked by the enemy on their stomachs and backs, and fell into a heavy siege. In this battle, more than 30 officers under Lee Willy were killed, more than 200 French soldiers were killed, and countless ordnance and ammunition were seized. This is the world-famous "Battle of PaperBridge". In recognition of Liu Yongfu's military merits in the great victory of Paper Bridge, the King of Yue promoted him to the rank of Viceroy of Sanding and gave him the title of First Class Righteous Warrior Baron.
The Sino-French War broke out in 1884. Liu Yongfu's "Black Flag Army" cooperated with the Qing army on the western front to besiege the French army occupying Xuanguang City for 3 months, and the French army in the city was almost exhausted. But with the arrival of French reinforcements, Xuanguang was unable to conquer.
"Zhennanguan Great Victory". It is one of the battles with outstanding achievements in the history of China's modern anti-aggression war and occupies an important position in the history of Chinese war. At the beginning of 1885, the veteran general Feng Zicai was a pioneer, over seventy years old, but he personally commanded the horse, he led the troops from the eastern front to fight the French army, and showed a superb art of military use. He adopted the operational policy of treating the enemy in a solid defensive position and then turning to a counter-offensive, encouraging officers and men to kill the enemy bravely, and adopting such flexible and effective tactics as taking the initiative to attack, ambushing in front of the line, annihilating the enemy in close combat, night raids, encircling and detouring, and continuous pursuit; he always grasped the initiative on the battlefield, killed and wounded nearly a thousand elite enemy troops, captured a large number of guns and dry food, won the biggest victory since the sino-French war began, greatly boosted the fighting spirit of the chinese and Vietnamese soldiers and people, dealt a heavy blow to the arrogance of the French aggressors, and fundamentally changed the situation of the Sino-French war This is the famous "Zhennanguan Victory" at home and abroad. The news reached Paris, leading to the downfall of Joffrey's cabinet.
The "Black Flag Army" flag
The "Black Flag Army" was incorporated and given official positions
In August 1884, when the Qing government officially declared war on France and formally incorporated the "Black Flag Army", Liu Yongfu accepted the title of "Named Admiral" given by the Qing government and became an official of the Qing Dynasty. In 1885, in order to force Liu Yongfu to lead his troops back to China, the Qing government issued nine consecutive edicts within a month, adopting the methods of coercion and inducement, en-wei and both, granting Liu Yongfu the honor of "Yibod en Batulu" and "three generations and one pin seal", and ordered him to return to China to obey orders.
However, Li Hongzhang also regarded the Black Flag Army as a thorn in his eye and deeply resented it.
It turned out that Li Hongzhang had always maintained a sovereign and peaceful attitude in the Sino-French war, unwilling and afraid to engage the French army, and even disobeyed the order of the imperial court to send him to Guangdong to direct the battle. On May 11, 1884, Li Hongzhang was ordered to negotiate peace with the French representative Fluno and reached the Li Fu Agreement in Tianjin.
According to this agreement, all Qing troops were to withdraw from northern Vietnam. However, the Black Flag Army was not as obedient as other Qing troops, and they must resist the French army to the end. In this way, the war cannot be stopped. As a result, the Black Flag Army became a troublemaker in Li Hongzhang's mind. In Li Hongzhang's view, the resistance to France is small militarily, and the destruction and deliberation are large. He also didn't believe that they could resist the French army at all, "The law is self-assured, is it not sincere that it will eventually be hindered by Liu?" "Go to Dongke Shanxi, the Black Flag elite has been injured a lot, and has been seriously injured." This spring, Liu Yongfu raised 4,000 people to aid Beining, but he also collapsed without a fight, and his great enemy He Timid, the Chinese monopolized on making false noises, and they wanted to rely on the law, and the legal person was well aware of his incompetence. ”
Not only that, Li Hongzhang also sent a message to the imperial court, hoping to solve Liu Yongfu and avoid affecting the peace treaty: "At present, the peace talks have been concluded, the legal persons will not be repeated, the French troops will be gradually reduced, and the border defense armies of Yunnan and Guizhou should also be effectively rectified as soon as possible. Hearing about Liu Yongfu's troops, redundant harassment, and revenge with the Yue people, it is actually a border trouble. It is proposed to ask the governors of Yunnan and Guangxi to strictly restrain them, increase or subtract as appropriate, and make proper arrangements for pre-arrangement, so that there is no nuisance to the troubles, and there will be many conservators. ”
In August 1885, Liu Yongfu was forced to lead 3,000 people of the "Black Flag Army" from Baosheng in Vietnam into Nanxi, Wenshan County, Yunnan Province, and in October of the same year, Liu Yongfu led the "Black Flag Army" into the customs and returned to China, and the Qing government ordered that the "Black Flag Army" be cut by more than half, leaving only 1200 people. Since Liu Yongfu led the "Black Flag Army" from Annam to China in 1885, he has served as the commander-in-chief of Nan'ao and Shibei for nearly ten years, and has been suppressed and depressed. After the Black Flag Army was reduced year by year, only three or four hundred veterans remained, and many famous warriors left, and this heroic brigade was destroyed by the Qing government.
Portrait of Liu Yongfu
He was ordered to go to Taiwan to resist Japan
When the Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1894, the Qing army was defeated on land and water, and Taiwan was in danger, so the Qing government transferred this foreign army, the "Black Flag Army", to the danger zone. On July 26 of that year, Liu Yongfu was ordered to cross the taiwan, and he asked the governors of Fujian and Guangdong to allow him to return to western Guangdong and southern Guinan to recruit the old troops and rebuild the "Black Flag Army", but he was politely refused. Although Liu Yongfu was full of difficulties and was extremely sad and indignant, in order to defend the integrity of the motherland's territory and save Taiwan, he immediately replenished four battalions on the spot, recruited two battalions, and formed an army on August 1 and took a ferry to Shantou on September 2.
In early 1895, after Tang Jingsong was promoted to the governor of Taiwan, Liu Yongfu suggested that he join forces to guard the important places in Taipei, Tang guan government affairs, and Liu Guan military, but Tang Jingsong refused.
In April 1895, Li Hongzhang went to Japan to sign the Treaty of Maguan and cut off Taiwan. The people of Taiwan vowed to die and refused to secede from the motherland, and on May 25, they established the Taiwan Democratic State and retained Tang Jingsong and Liu Yongfu to preside over the War of Resistance. When Tang Jingsong received the great presidential seal, he knelt down to the north and prostrated his head nine times, crying loudly. Liu Yongfu's attitude was very different from That of Tang: When he was in the tainan army, he received the seal of the great general of the "Taiwan Democratic State" sent by Tang Jingsong, and immediately issued a notice to encourage the military and the people to jointly defend the dangerous frontier. He said: "Since the year will be sixty, there will be no resignation."
On June 2, the Qing government sent Li Jingfang to the Taipei Sea to submit a list of Taiwan cuts to the Japanese governor of Taiwan, Birchyama Ziji. On the third day, the Japanese landed outside the port of Keelung, and four days later occupied the capital of Taipei. Tang Jingsong fled in private, and the refugees flocked to Hsinchu. The area around Hsinchu and Miaoli has strong unity and automatic joint defense to protect the township. Qiu Fengjia's generals Wu Tangxing, Xu Jun, and Xu Shaozu led the rebel army and annihilated more than sixty Japanese Sakurai troops and nineteen horsemen of the enemy reconnaissance team in the triangle. The two sides held each other for more than a month, and there were victories and losses for each other, so that after the Japanese army occupied Hsinchu, they did not dare to rush south, and the military and civilians in Taichung and Tainan won time to prepare for battle.
After the fall of Taipei, the gentry of Tainan discussed the establishment of a democratic state again, welcomed Liu Yongfu into the capital city, and submitted the great presidential seal three times, but Liu Yongfu firmly refused. He said, "There is nothing that can be done about this seal." Calling on the people to pay, shoot and contribute is the most urgent task. Coastal governors Zhang Zhidong, Tan Zhonglin, and Bian Baoquan successively wrote to Liu Shuifu to stick to it and promised yuanyuan to receive food and equipment. Touched by the enthusiasm of the Taiwan people and with the support of the mainland of the motherland, Liu Yongfu presided over the overall situation in the name of being an assistant to Taiwan's military affairs. In June, thousands of soldiers and civilians gathered in Tainan, and Liu Yongfu led seventeen civilian officials to the stage to swear a blood oath, seventeen paragraphs of the covenant, and related matters such as war defense, finance, and rewards and punishments. In the Letter of Alliance, it reflects the patriotic and people-loving thinking of Liu Yongfu and other generals, the determination to defend the territory and resist the enemy, and the style of democratic unity. The military and the people promoted Liu Yongfu as military commander, and Tainan commander-in-chief Yang Shuhong as the sub-commander, commanding Taiwan's military. Seven members were elected to form a house of deputies to consult on government affairs and finances.
The establishment of the Tainan Anti-Japanese War Center faced a series of complex problems. As a result of the Qing court's edicts to various officials to cross the border, civil and military officials handed over their resignations to Liu Yongfu, the servants deserted, and the army was short of personnel. In line with the principle of voluntariness to stay, Liu Yongfu selected a group of loyal and courageous men to serve as the commanders and pipes of the Black Flag Army, the New Chu Army, the Zhen Navy, and the Taichung and Tainan Rebel Armies. A number of civilian officials who voluntarily remained in Taiwan were appointed as officials from eight counties in Taichung and Tainan. After rectification, the Taiwan military and people united around Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army, stabilized social order, and revitalized people's hearts. But the serious problem is the economy. Due to the loss of Taipei's wealth area, the arsenal, the Ordnance Bureau, and the arsenal were all out of the hands of the enemy, Taichung and Tainan were poor and insufficient to feed the war, and the salary and armaments had to rely on the support of coastal officials and civilians, but the Qing Dynasty issued a strict ban, and the Japanese ships intercepted them, and only a small amount of secret money could be provided. Liu Yongfu tried every means to raise funds on the spot, taking stock of more than 200,000 yuan of silver and issuing 250,000 yuan of banknotes, issuing thousands of stamps, and mobilizing Fengshan salt merchants to donate 110,000 yuan, a total of about 500,000 or 600,000 yuan. At that time, there were nearly 100 battalions of Taiwan garrisons and volunteers, and they needed to pay 170,000 taels per month, plus government expenses and miscellaneous expenses, and this money could only support two or three months.
In August, the three-nation intervention in the Liao dynasty ended, and Japan added 20,000 troops to Taiwan. One side sent warships to harass the ports in Tainan and pinpoint the "Black Flag Army" to the north. The main force marched south from Hsinchu to Taichung into Changhua, the city of Forced Capital. In order to cooperate with the military offensive, Birch Hill wrote a letter to Liu Yongfu, threatening him to stop the war and withdraw his troops, and Japan was responsible for returning the country with a ship. Liu Yongfu immediately wrote back to refute it, accusing Japan of invading Taiwan for no reason, saying that "Yu was ordered to garrison Taiwan and coexist and die with Taiwan." ...... Although the corner of Tainan is small, the dozens of battalions of Yusuo are all soldiers who dare to die in the front, and there are tens of thousands of righteous people, drinking blood and pillowing, and vowing to die to kill their former enemies. "Advise Huashan" to withdraw the Taipei local government. ...... Otherwise, Yu will pro-supervise the generals and march on the expedition. This letter is righteous and stern, showing lofty national integrity. After Liu Yongfu replied to the letter, he knew that a fierce battle was coming, and he strengthened the defense of the Tainan Marsh Sea, building forts, digging traps, and loading bamboo sticks to prevent the enemy from landing. At the beginning of the month, four battalions of black flag troops were sent to Taichung to reinforce, and even his pro-seven-star team and newly equipped dry thunder troops were also sent to the front line, stabilizing the chaotic situation in taichung.
The "Black Flag Army" fought a great battle with the Japanese army at Dajiaxi in the north of Changhua, and the Black Flag Army lived up to the expectations of the people, and this well-trained elite soldier showed skillful tactical actions and brave spirit, which made the enemy stunned and the friendly troops marvel. In this battle, the Japanese suffered heavy casualties and many were captured. The big defeat ran into the mountains. However, the main general Wu Pengnian took advantage of the victory to pursue, the Japanese army led the way with traitors, and on the 29th, they copied bagua Mountain, and the artillery company overturned and released, and the infantry attacked all over the mountain; The defenders did not retreat, fighting hand-to-hand one by one, the main generals Wu Pengnian and Wu Tangxing were killed, and all the Seven Star Teams were martyred. The traitors in Changhua City raised white flags, the Japanese army rushed into the city, and most of the black flag soldiers died in street battles; The rebel leader Xu suddenly broke through into the Alpine area and reorganized his troops.
The "Black Flag Army" lost all its elites in the decisive battle of Changhua, but it showed the tenacious spirit of defeat and discouragement. Liu Yongfu came to Chiayi, organized a counter-offensive in Changhua, with Xiao Sanfa and Wang Debiao as the main generals, recruited Lulin Jian Chenggong, Ye Yicheng, and Huang Rongbang to participate in the War of Resistance, surrounded and annihilated the Wuri Kou in Tali, and recaptured the county seat of Yunlin County, and the momentum was revived. The Japanese Kou originally wanted to take advantage of the threat of victory to form a broken bamboo trend, but when they encountered the mourning soldiers fighting desperately and fighting again, they were forced to shrink their troops and defend Changhua. At this time, Liu Yongfu implemented the Lianzhuang Law, "One Zhuang Lian Ten, Ten Zhuang Lian Hundred, from Tainan Lian to Taichung, from Taichung to Taipei." Overseas Chinese will cooperate in attacking overseas Chinese, and if they go back, they will strictly investigate bandits. Just wait for the grain and copper to be raised, that is, about Taipei at the same time. "Taiwan's War of Resistance has taken a turn for the better.
However, the financial situation continued to deteriorate, and in August the armies were running out of food, and by September there was no food. Liu Yongfu sent people to the coastal governor to cry for help, but none of them responded. He electrographed Zhang Zhidong and said: "If you are blessed to keep it for two months, Russia will come to the aid, and now that there are more than two months, Nanzhong is fortunate to be unharmed, and it has not been seen today, so why should it be defended?" Begging for the sake of the overall situation, crying bitterly and bleeding, begging for help, guarding life and death, and looking forward to the public's word. Zhang Zhidong called back and said: "The act of defending the platform comes from Your Excellency's righteous courage, and the contempt did not say a word." The saying that I came to the aid of the two months after the defense of Taiwan was actually a false rumor, and the contempt did not send this telegram. Go or stay, still please at your own discretion, despise people do not smell. Self-help and weapons, repeatedly obeying the decrees of the strict prohibition, do not dare to violate. The instigator of the Taiwan Defense Movement turned his face and reneged on his word for the sake of his black gauze hat. Liu Yongfu looked up at the sky and sighed: "The princes of the interior have misled me, and I have misled the people of Taiwan." The sea is flowing, showing more heroic nature. Xiao Sanfa summoned the generals at the front to discuss that instead of starving to death, it would be better to die in battle and sacrifice his life to seize Changhua in order to survive. This starving army, dressed in rags, attacked the city for two days, followed by former servants, Huang Rong's gang fell, and Lin Yicheng was seriously injured.
In early October, 50,000 troops and more than 30 warships were mobilized, and the strength was comparable to that of the Yellow Sea Naval Battle, and tainan was attacked by land and water. Overland from Changhua south, on October 9, the Tainan gateway to Chiayi fell, Xiao Sanfa was killed, and the commander of the Japanese Guards Division, Prince Nengjiu, was also killed. On the 10th, the second Japanese army landed in Budai Tsui, and on the eleventh day, the third Japanese army landed at Fangliao Harbor. The Japanese attacked Tainan and encountered stubborn resistance from the Black Flag Army and the local population. The Japanese exclaimed: "There are battles everywhere in the southeast, south, and northwest, and "It can be called brave soldiers who have not been seen since the Sino-Japanese War." However, the disparity between the enemy and our forces is very large, and the front line is gradually disintegrating. The invaders shouted: "Tainan has become an iron barrel on all sides, and no matter how strong Liu Yongfu is, it will be difficult for him to fly with his wings inserted."
On the 19th day of the hunger strike in Tainan City, Liu Yongfu moved to Anping Fort, still personally shelling the enemy ships, but his cronies had arranged an exodus plan for him. On the twentieth night of chaos in the city, Liu Yongfu was anxious to return to the city, and the generals said: "The army's heart is scattered, and the soldiers of all walks of life are so big that this city must not be defended, please go to the public." Gong Yue: "Why should I report to the imperial court, and why should I treat the People of Taiwan?" Push your chest up to the sky, crying and crying. General Chen Shunanri: "There are many troubles in the world, and I hope that the public will leave a useful body, and do not stay in connection." Left and right, Liu Yongfu got on the boat and sailed to Xiamen on the British ship Dalishi.
When Liu Yongfu fled, the remnants of the "Black Flag Army" and thousands of Taiwanese rebels still held on to the zengzhangxi line north and south of Taiwan, and under the full-scale onslaught of the Japanese army, Xu Ji, Bai Zhengcai, and Lin Yicheng were killed in a bloody battle, and Wang Delin and Jian Jingjing broke through, and without knowing the end, the whole army was crushed.