Verse 10: The Mystery of "Killing and Wounding the Orphans"
In the Qing-French War, it is particularly worth mentioning the public case of "killing the lonely puller". Gu Ba was the supreme commander of the French army in the Qing-French War, and if he was killed, it would undoubtedly be a huge victory for the Qing Dynasty. Perhaps, the Qing army was too eager to kill the commander-in-chief of the French Far East Fleet, so as soon as the Battle of Majiang ended, there were reports that Guba was hit by Nagato cannons; then, the French ships besieged Zhenjiang, and then the rumor was that the Cannon of Zhaobaoshan hit the French ship and injured Guba; finally, Guba died in Penghu, and the Taiwanese defenders did not say that it was the Taiwanese who killed Guba; so far, Majiang and Zhenjiang, each holding the same word, believe that they killed or injured Guba. However, looking back at that period of history, the theory that the Qing defenders hit or killed The Lone Puller was very suspicious.
The first time Gu ba was "wounded" or "killed" was at the Battle of Majiang in late August 1884.
At that time, the war newspaper published by the people, "Fuzhou War Report: The Great Victory of Luoxing Pagoda", said: On the first day, the Chinese and French soldiers started a battle at the Luoxing Pagoda, and on the first day, they sank three French ships and five Chinese warships, and the next day, "one french person was sunk and steered a ship, and Gobali died." In fact, after the French fleet completely annihilated the Qing warships under the Luoxing Tower, it took 3 days to steadily withdraw along the river road to Haikou, and all the way with the heavy naval guns of the 4645-ton heavy ironclad ship "Triomphante Triumph" and the 3479-ton "duguay-trouin Duju Tuluin" second-class cruiser destroyed the Qing fort along the coast that could not change the gun position, and successfully withdrew to the outside of Haikou. At this time, at the mouth of the sea, there was also the French 4645-ton ironclad ship "lagalissonniere La Galisannia" here to meet. The So-called Nagato Battery, which hit the French flagship, had long since been completely destroyed. Therefore, it is almost impossible to say that the main gun of this battery hit the French flagship Voodar, and the commander of the fleet was injured in the shelling. The "Map of the French Fleet Shelling the Forts Along the Minjiang River" drawn by the French army that year is a good proof.
However, chinese official publications still state this way: "The flagship 'Yangwu' quickly and accurately used its tail gun to fire back at the French ship 'Volta' (i.e., the Wodar), hit the bridge of the ship with the first shot, killing 6 French soldiers, and it is said that Guba was also injured."" "On this day, it was the French fleet that withdrew from Mawei Port at the mouth of the Minjiang River, and was blocked by the Chinese coastal battery, and the commander of the French Far East Fleet, Gu Ba, was killed in this battle" and so on. Suddenly, Luo Xingta was injured, and suddenly Ma Jiang haikou was killed.
The second "wounded" was the Battle of Zhenhaikou in early March 1885.
According to the French Lone Pull's officer Jia Tu's book "The Beginning and End of the French Invasion of Taiwan", two months after the Battle of Majiang, Lone Pull commanded the october invasion of Taiwan. In March of the following year, he led a fleet to surround and pursue the Nanyang Marine Division and attacked Zhenhai. Therefore, at least the Battle of Majiang "killed" and "wounded" the supreme commander of the French invasion of China, which was not convincing. Therefore, usually people take the theory that lone pulling is killed after being injured by coastal shelling at Zhaobaoshan in Zhenhaikou. For example, "Cihai" (1989 edition), Chen Xulu and other editors of the "Dictionary of Modern Chinese History" all said, "In March 1885, it invaded Zhenhai, Zhejiang Province, and was injured. Died in Penghu in June."
To put it simply, a lone pull, a battle, there are five kinds of "wounded" and "killed" lone pull:
First, Ouyang Lijian shelled it at the Jinji Mountain Fort. The Lord will be wounded in a boat... Afterwards, it was learned that the lord would be lonely and killed in service", this statement comes from the "Qing History Manuscript Ouyang Lijian Biography", in fact, Zhejiang Admiral Ouyang Lijian sat in Jinji Mountain, and the lonely ship was not under his artillery fire at all. Second, the guerrilla garrison Zhou Yuquan fired a cannon at the Hu squatting fort in Zhenhaikou and killed Gu Ba, but when the battle began in the Zhenhaikou Sea, only the forts were built at Zhaobaoshan, Jinji Mountain, Niwan Guan, and Xiaogang, and no forts were set up at Huquat Mountain; third, Zhou Maoxun fired a cannon at Zhaobao Mountain to return fire against the French ships and hit Gu Ba; fourth, Wu Jie, the garrison of Zhaobao Mountain, "personally opened fire and hit the French ship" and blew up the mast and injured Gu Ba; fifth, Wang Litang' deputy general, on April 9, "submerged eight rear breech wheel guns, ambushed under the Qingquan Ridge on the south bank, and suddenly fired the cannon after the fourth time." The commander of the French invasion of China fleet was lonely and seriously wounded. Died in Penghu in June", in fact, the French record only two masts were broken, and no one was injured. At the end of March, Lone Pull went to Penghu to start a war, how could he be shot at this time.
Looking at the five theories, in addition to the target of the blow, The lone pull is the same, the other, the time is different, the place is different, the character is different, and the link is not the flagship where the lone pull is located, and the statement is also different. All this shows that everyone is grabbing credit and cannot come up with convincing empirical evidence, so that these contradictory statements have been passed down to this day.
The third "death after being wounded" was at the Battle of Penghu at the end of March 1885.
On March 14, 1885, in order to get rid of the dilemma of the French army in Keelung, the French government stopped reinforcing the Keelung war and ordered lonely troops to lead the fleet to capture Penghu. After three days of attack, the French fleet fully occupied Penghutu on March 31. However, the French army, which had just landed in Penghu, received orders to prepare for retreat. It turned out that on the Vietnamese battlefield, the Qing army won the great victory of Zhennanguan. The news of the defeat of the French army at Zhennanguan reached France, causing domestic political turmoil, and French Prime Minister Rufeli was forced to step down, and the cabinet rejected the issue of additional military spending to the Chinese battlefield. On April 14, the French government unilaterally declared an armistice and ordered Gu Ba to lift the blockade against Taiwan. Between April and June, the French did not fight in Penghu, but the plague on the island caused a large reduction in the Number of French troops. According to French records, 997 French soldiers died of illness during this period. On June 11, 1885, the day after the signing of the Sino-French New Covenant, the commander-in-chief of the French Far East Fleet, Lone Pull, also died of fever on the French ship Paya, which was anchored in the port of Magong in Penghu.
The illustrated report "The Solitude of the French Admiral" published at that time in the "Dianshizhai Pictorial"
Relatively accurate, the report said that Gu Ba "Penghu suddenly got phlegm disease, this year's old disease re-written", the full text can be seen on the painting notes: "Gu Ba is a French Abby Ware, born in Taixi on June 26, 1827, when he was young, he went to the Military Department Academy to study, he abandoned school in the second year and boarded a military ship, trained as a sailor for a small soldier officer, promoted to a large military officer in 1856, first entered China and went to Cuba to investigate the incident, in 1873 the Fa Ting ordered to manage coastal defense affairs, and then rose to the governor to go to the Place of Galimaia. In September 1880, the deputy admiral of the water transfer division, and the French had a problem in Tokyo (Hanoi), so they were sent to Vietnam to handle the water division, the French rewarded the heir with the Big Treasure Star, general Milu arrived in Tokyo naishe Tokyo and went to China, last year attacked Penghu in Fujian suddenly got phlegm, this year the old disease was revived, and by June 21, the telegraph and the French peace agreement had been decided to be in Tianjin to draw the letter of detention, that is, he died late in the Penghu Water Division Boat, whoops, the Battle of Majiang said that he was a lone gun and died.
After Gu Ba's death, Lisbes acted as commander of the French Far East Fleet, and after the exchange of prisoners in Keelung, he withdrew from Keelung on June 21 and Penghu completely on August 4. This painting "Flagship Paya Carries orphaned body out of Penghu Magong Port"
It records the important moment when the French invading army left Penghu. The Bayard Bayard was the largest 5,900-ton ironclad vessel in the French Far East Fleet and the flagship of the voyage. The pet warship on the screen did not raise its sails, but slowly sailed away from The Magong Port in Penghu by steam power, and the background is the building of the Mazu Temple on the Magong Port. The painting was originally published in the French pictorial magazine Le Monde illustre.
Judging from the historical data of all parties, the lone pull should be suffering from fever and dying. To say that Gu Ba was injured many times and then killed in the invasion of China's ZhuhaiKou really lacks historical support.
By the way, magong in Penghu now has a cemetery with his hair buried. His body was transported back to France and was subjected to heroic mourning. Among them, an officer of the French fleet, pierrodi (who later wrote "Icelandic Fisherman", which won the Nobel Prize in Literature), wrote a eulogy for Gu Ba: "I have not seen the sailors shed tears with weapons, but the sailors who participated in the ceremonial team here wept quietly." This little hall is very simple, and this little black covering is also very simple, but when the body of the lieutenant general is transported back to France, there is no doubt that a funeral rite will be prepared ten thousand times more magnificent than here, in this whose bay. But what can people do for him, what can be made for him more beautiful than these tears..." The eulogy touched the French at the time and also established the image of the aggressor as a "national hero".
Figure 1: "The French Admiral Lonely Pull" was originally published in the "Dianshizhai Pictorial", this picture reported: Lonely Pull attacked Penghu in Fujian last year, suddenly got phlegm, this year's old disease resumed, to June 21, the telex of the French and agreed to be in Tianjin painting the letter, that is, died late in the Penghu Water Division Boat, whining, Majiang Battle said that the lone plucked gun was killed so far there are still doubtful case clouds.
Figure 2: "Flagship Paya carrying the remains of orphans out of Penghu Magong Port" records the important moment when the French army left Penghu, "Bayard Bayar" is the largest 5900-ton ironclad ship in the French Far East Fleet, the flagship of the attack on Zhenhai and Penghu, and the flagship of this time carrying the orphaned body back to sail.