After Lin Zexu's ban on smoking in Guangzhou, he did not wait for the strength of the Qing Dynasty, but waited for the retaliation of the British. Twenty-one years after Daoguang, the British brazenly launched a war, and the British army attacked the Humen Fortress in the overall situation, using 10 warships and three steamboats as a cover to forcibly land. Guan Tianpei, the year of the Flower Armor, personally commanded the battle until the last moment, coexisting with the fort and dying. Let's step into the world of this national hero and look at the Humen War of that year.
First of all, a brief review of Guan Tianpei's resume, in the eight years of Jiaqing, he was admitted to the national martial arts, and then he won the Title of Wu Xiucai, was awarded the general (that is, the kind of person who managed the hundred and ten people under his command), served as a garrison general and a guerrilla general, and was later promoted to the admiral of the Guangdong Water Division after many meritorious achievements.
Soon after the anti-smoking campaign began, Guan Tianpei actively cooperated with Lin Zexu, the minister of Chincha, to crack down on opium smuggling, and dispatched sailors to intercept the opium hoarded by British and American merchants. Because Guan Tianpei had made great efforts in the anti-smoking campaign, and the place of smoking was in Humen, the British army regarded this place as a place of humiliation and vowed to regain face. Only then did the British army attack Humen in a big way the following year.
After the anti-smoking campaign, Lin Zexu was dismissed from his post and investigated, but Guan Tianpei was promoted to a higher level, which is really strange. In September 1840, the British army first sent troops to capture the gateways of Humen, Shajiao and Dajiao, and Guan Tianpei knew that the next stop of the British army was Humen, and rushed to ask for support from Qi Shan, the governor of Liangguang, but this big traitor, on the grounds that other places could not move troops at will, only sent two hundred scattered soldiers to perfunctory Guan Tianpei, Guan Tianpei knew that it was difficult to save the war, but still came to the front line to direct the battle. It is called recklessness, knowing the danger, understanding the nine deaths, the wind is cold and the water is cold, which is called courage. For the country, it is patriotism.
Within two months, the British army did indeed attack, and the threat was menacing, and the warships lined up on the river, driving full horsepower towards Humen. Guan Tianpei sold his property, all converted into silver, in the pre-war oath meeting, Guan Tianpei: Guan's life savings are here, the opportunity to make money comes, hit a British ship with a cannon, reward 50 silver, sink a warship, reward 500 silver. When the crowd heard this, they were full of energy. The Battle of Humen is on the verge of breaking out.
The battle lasted from noon to afternoon, and the scene was extremely intense. Guan Tianpei personally supervised the battle on the city wall and found that very few shells hit the enemy ships, but the enemy ships dropped each one into the Humen Fortress, which is why there is such a dialogue:
Guan Tianpei: What happened to your cannon?
Mr. Qian: Commander, our guns can't reach them.
In the face of such a situation, Guan Tianpei's heart was like a knife, but his will to fight was undiminished. Personally ignited fire and returned fire on the British. As the fighting continued and we suffered heavy casualties, the British issued an ultimatum to abandon Humen. Guan Tianpei ignored it until the British ship ran aground on the beach and launched a general attack, and the Qing army repeatedly repelled the British army until the sun was about to go down, which meant that the war was about to end. Finally the British climbed the city walls and occupied the fort. However, Guan Tianpei refused to surrender, and despite being wounded in many places on his body, he still held a sword and heroically killed the enemy. However, in the end, because he was outnumbered, he was unfortunately hit by a shell and died heroically, and when he was killed in the line of duty, his eyes were closed, he could not stand down, facing the enemy army. After sacrificing, we should not forget to continue to kill the enemy and defend national security.
British: They are extremely poorly armed, and I don't understand why they fight. Of course, you will not understand, this is the national integrity, the national righteousness is above all else, not comparable to one's own destiny, for the sake of national security, national security, you can abandon everything, this is the national spirit.