There was once a famous anti-British general of the Qing Dynasty, from a military background to a water master, who made great contributions to the sale of cigarettes in Humen, worked hard to resist the British army, and finally martyred the country, he was Guan Tianpei, a national hero in his sixties
Guan Tianpei
Guan Tianpei (1781-1841), a general of the late Qing Dynasty, was a native of Shanyang (present-day Huai'an), Jiangsu Province, from a Family of Xingwu. In 1834 (the fourteenth year of Daoguang), he was appointed as the admiral of the Guangdong Water Division. In 1839 (the nineteenth year of Daoguang), he supported Lin Zexu to implement a smoking policy, trained sailors, built forts, and repeatedly repelled British attacks. He is the author of "The First Collection of Raising the Sea".
In the early days, Guan Tianpei was only a low-ranking xingwu, and in the eighth year of Qing Jiaqing, he was admitted to Wu Xiucai and served as the general manager, and later he went all the way down the way, from the posts of general, thousand general, garrison, guerrilla and other positions to general. In 1834 (the fourteenth year of Daoguang), he was transferred to the Admiral of Guangdong Water Division.
After taking up his post, he personally surveyed the geographical situation, actively rectified defense, built forts, cast heavy artillery, built reefs, trained soldiers, and consolidated coastal defense. At the end of February and the beginning of August every year, Guan Zong led more than a hundred soldiers to Weiyuan, Zhenyuan and other places to conduct military exercises, and under his leadership, the maritime defense of Guangdong was very complete
Guan Tianpei's book "The First Collection of Raising the Sea"
In 1839 (the nineteenth year of Daoguang), the Qing government appointed Lin Zexu, the governor of Huguang, as the minister of Qincha, and went south to Guangzhou to carry out a campaign against smoking. As the governor, Guan Tianpei actively cooperated with the movement and dispatched sailors, first undertaking the important and arduous task of collecting and destroying opium. He also cooperated with Deng Tingzhen, the governor of Liangguang, in cracking down on opium smugglers and made great contributions.
In 1840 (the twentieth year of Daoguang), when China was facing the Opium War, the Qing government was forced to remove Lin Zexu from his post under pressure from the great powers, and the local officials in Guangdong also advocated the strategy of peace talks, but Guan Tianpei was not moved and still took the lead in the war. In early December, the British army had already captured Shajiao, known as the "first line of defense of the Guangdong Sea", and the defender Chen Liansheng was heroically killed.
Humen War
After Guan Tianpei learned of the intelligence, he led the remaining hundreds of soldiers to guard Humen and repeatedly asked Qi Shan, the commander-in-chief of the two Guangdong Provinces, for help, but Qi Shan had already been frightened by the British army's strong ships and cannons, and only two hundred people were dispatched to perfunctory under repeated urging. Guan Tianpei knew that he was powerless to return to heaven and was determined to repay the country with his death.
On the sixth day of February in the twenty-first year of Daoguang (1841), the British launched a general attack on the Humen Fortress, with 10 warships, 3 steamboats, and landing troops, and attacked the Jingyuan Fort guarded by Tianpei. The battle was extremely fierce, and Guan Tianpei ignored the British army's "abandonment of Humen" disc and still commanded the soldiers to fight tenaciously.
Roadmap for the British to attack Humen
At night, the British army invaded Humen, and Guan, who was more than sixty years old, personally fought with the enemy with a steel knife, and more than a dozen wounds still stood in front of the battlefield, and even personally fired cannons to shoot the British troops until they were shot. In order not to let the Admiral Great Seal fall into the hands of the enemy, Guan Tianpei urgently ordered his entourage to take the Great Seal away, and the entourage wept and tugged at his shirt and asked to be withdrawn together. Guan Tianpei snapped his refusal and insisted on commanding.
At that time, another running bullet attacked, and Guan Tianpei was unfortunately shot and killed. When he died in the line of duty, his eyes were closed and he stood upright. The British army was stunned to see it, and according to the record, "Guan Tianpei stood up like a life, and was terrified and servants" In the end, more than 400 soldiers who died at Humen were all killed.
The Jingyuan Fort guarded by Guan Tianpei
Afterwards, Lin Zexu personally wrote a letter for Guan Tianpei
"Six years of solid gold soup, asking who suddenly broke the Great Wall, desperately betting on the empty teachings;
Double loyalty and the same barrier, smell the different kinds and Qin Wei Festival, return to the soul to send each other like life"
He is a well-deserved national hero, and Lin Zexu's lian lian is also a high praise and summary of Guan Tianpei's achievements in resisting the enemy and defending the country and his national integrity.
Guan Tian Pei Temple