In the early 1880s, China had its first direct geopolitical conflict with the Western powers (the two Opium Wars were more for trade), that is, in Vietnam, the French colonial powers that had occupied South Vietnam at that time invaded the north, and the Qing Dynasty did not want the frontier to be unstable on the one hand, and on the other hand, it also had the obligation to protect its own vassal states, so the famous Sino-French War broke out.
However, in addition to the main battlefield of the Sino-French War in northern Vietnam, there is also an important region - Taiwan! In the current Taiwanese Turkish language, there is such a historical term "Xizai anti", "Xizai" refers to France; "anti" tong "rebellion" is the general term for war turmoil in Minnan language. "Xizai Rebellion" refers to the second historical event of Taiwan's large-scale invasion by Westerners - from August 2, 1884 to June 13, 1885, the qing army and the French army fought fiercely in Taiwan.
How did the conflict in Vietnam hit Taiwan? In fact, from the tactical point of view, at the beginning, it was because France hoped to obtain Keelung coal mines to provide energy for warships in order to blockade the southeast coast of China and gain a war advantage, while the Qing army fiercely defended, thus causing a series of offensive and defensive battles; and from a strategic point of view, Taiwan Island has important value, France also hopes to occupy Taiwan, it can be expected that if France occupies Taiwan, Taiwan will be linked with French Southeast Asia. Poses a major threat to China's southeast coast.
On August 5, 1884, due to the breakdown of negotiations between the two sides, the Taiwan War began in Taiwan, led by lespes, commander of the French fleet in Tokyo Bay (this "Tokyo" refers to the northern region centered on Hanoi, Tokyo, Vietnam).
The French landed in Keelung
However, the Qing Dynasty's judgment of Taiwan was accurate, and it knew that there might be something going on in Taiwan, so it had already sent Liu Mingchuan, a former directly subordinate land admiral, to Taiwan to supervise the war as the inspector of Fujian and the minister of Chincha. In the First Battle of Keelung, the Qing army ambushed successfully, and the French Marines died two people and wounded ten people after coming ashore, and fled back (the colonial army was not much, and casualties were very important).
There are two main military leaders on the Taiwan side: Liu Mingchuan and Liu Huang. These two were both able ministers, but the camps were different (one was the Xiang Army and the other was the Huai Army), so they were not in harmony, but when the war came, their command was still appropriate.
However, the attack on Taiwan was unfavorable, France turned to attack the navy in the Fujian region, the fierce Battle of Majiang broke out, the Qing Dynasty Nanyang Navy was completely destroyed, and after the French Navy occupied the initiative at sea, Taiwan became an isolated land, and for Taiwan, it was quite difficult to get mainland support.
Sure enough, the French attacked Keelung (in fact, Liu Mingchuan's strategic retreat), but from October 7 to 8, when the French 800 Marines continued to attack Tamsui, they were severely attacked by Liu Mingchuan's troops, who had already deployed, according to French records, the French army killed 9 people on the spot, missed 8 people, and wounded 49 people, of which the commander of the 1st Company, Fontaine, was captured (and then beheaded along with the other two prisoners), and the commander of the 2nd Company, De Hotai, died in Saigon shortly after. This is the famous "Freshwater Victory".
After the defeat at the Battle of Tamsui, he thought he was unable to conquer northern Taiwan and instead blocked the coastline of Taiwan. On October 23, the Far East Fleet blockade of Taiwan began, extending the blockade line from the southern tip of Taiwan to the northeast of the South Cape (present-day Eluan Nose, Pingtung County) to the northeast of Wushi Nose, which made it quite difficult for the Taiwan side, the Qing army decided to counterattack, but it was not smooth, after all, the French combat effectiveness was far beyond the Reach of the Qing Army, for example, in the 300-meter toothed highland offensive and defensive battle on the southeast side of Shiqiu Ridge, the French army's strong firepower made the Qing army suffer a big loss, and the French army killed and wounded more than 300 Qing troops at the cost of 8 casualties.
However, the French army in fact did not have much offensive capability, in 1885 (Qing Guangxu 11 years) January 6, the French "Afrika Korps" 971 people arrived at the chicken coop, began to advance towards the warm (Qing-French position junction), the two sides of the decisive atmosphere is strong, January 10 due to gunfire, the two sides broke out the Battle of Bamboo Fort, about 14 dead, 34 wounded, 3 people missing.
At that time, the French commanders Gu Ba and Li Shi Pei both believed that a land war should not be launched on Taiwan, but the French government still demanded that Gu Ba win at least one victory and occupy the Chicken Coop Mine in order to increase the bargaining chips. On 20 January, about 1,000 Men of the French Foreign Legion arrived at The Coop, bringing the total strength of the land to nearly 4,000 men, enough to start a land battle, so the two sides continued to be anxious, but the French remained trapped on the north bank of the Keelung River and never crossed the Keelung River.
Therefore, the French army changed to Penghu, paid the price of 5 dead and 12 wounded, and on April 14, 1885, the two sides began to negotiate peace, the French government ordered Gu Ba to lift the blockade against Taiwan, and on April 15, the French army officially lifted the blockade. However, Penghu was occupied until the end of the peace treaty.
But the French still suffered retribution, between May and June Penghu epidemic plague, the French army died of many diseases, even the commander Lone Pull also suffered from red diarrhea, and quickly deteriorated into anemia, and then died of illness, of course, there is also a theory that he was wounded and killed by the Qing army.
In general, the Qing army won this battle, after all, the Qing army made it impossible for the French army to achieve its own strategic goals (the French government tried to use Taiwan as a chip to threaten the Qing Dynasty, followed by the occupation of Keelung, getting enough fuel, but the French did not occupy Taiwan, and although the Keelung coal mine was destroyed by the Qing army in advance), the defense was successful; however, Taiwan was also greatly damaged, the main export commodities tea and camphor could not go out of the port, and the officials constantly asked the vigilante groups to help the war, and economic production was destroyed.
After this war, the Qing government had a very clear understanding of Taiwan's strategic value, so it soon established Taiwan as a province, in addition, because the war was concentrated in northern Taiwan, Taipei's strategic value was highlighted and strengthened, so although the provincial capital was in Dadun City (present-day Taichung City) during the New Deal, Liu Mingchuan moved to Taipei City, and the New Deal was also concentrated in northern Taiwan, which made Taiwan's political and economic center move from Tainan to Taipei, and continues to this day.
In 2004, the 120th anniversary of the Sino-French War and the founding of Taipei, Taipei City enshrined the fallen soldiers of the Qing Army in the Sino-French War at the Taipei Martyrs' Shrine on September 3 of that year to commemorate the Qing soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country.
Author: Yun Fan