Meet the World Heritage | Shen Baozhen, a famous general in Shutai

Source: "Mindu Culture" Selected Edition "Character Volume"

Author: Zhang Yinghui

In both history and biographical works, writers refer to Shen Baozhen, the minister of shipping, as a grand marshal and a Confucian general, because he had two experiences in his life of leading troops to fight.

The first time was in the spring of 1856, when the imperial court appointed him as the prefect of Jiujiang, Jiangxi. By the time he arrived, most of the province had been captured by the Taiping Army, and only the five counties of Nanchang, Guangxin, Raozhou, Ganzhou, and Nan'an were in the hands of the Qing army, and the situation was extremely critical. At the critical moment of life and death, Lin Puqing wrote a blood letter to ask for help to solve the crisis, and Shen Baozhen risked death to break through and move troops. The couple desperately resisted, and finally repelled the attack of the Taiping Army and broke the siege under the city. Then, Shen Baozhen helped Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang to manage military affairs to raise grain and grass, and assisted the Xiang army led by Zeng and Zuo in fighting against the Taiping Army.

During his eight years in Jiangxi, Shen Baozhen led his troops to fight against the Taiping Army for a full eight years, and every battle was fought very beautifully, and his military ability to deploy troops and strategize was greatly exerted, and his reputation for resourcefulness, bravery, and good fighting did not go away, and even Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, and others who had experienced hundreds of battles had to look up to him.

The second time he led his troops to war was in May 1874, eight years after he became Minister of Shipping. Under the pretext of the "Ryukyu Refugee Manslaughter Incident" (also known as the Peony Society Incident) three years ago, Japan brazenly launched a war of "conquest and invasion of Taiwan" with the intention of occupying Taiwan and Ryukyu.

Twenty-three days after the Japanese landed at Langqiao, Taiwan, the Qing government, which was slow to move with information, panicked and hastily demoted Shen Baozhen to the post of "Minister of Coastal Defense and Minister of State Affairs of Various Countries in Handling Taiwan and Other Places in Chincha." As soon as Shen Baozhen received the holy will, he shouldered the important mission of defending Taiwan and safeguarding national interests. After a serious and objective analysis, he soberly realized that the reason why Japan dared to rush to raise troops to invade Taiwan before it was strong was because many people at all levels of the imperial court were conformist, stubborn, and arrogant in blindly underestimating the enemy. He opposed both "blindly fearing things, only trying to stay out of the matter, not afraid of the future," and also opposed "blindly talking high, showing righteousness and indignation and happiness, you may as well make a desperate bet." He advocated "self-improvement" after worrying about diligence and tindering. In light of the situation at that time, he wrote to the imperial court proposing a policy of struggle against Japan that combined "vertical and horizontal diplomacy" with "strength and preparation for war," and put forward specific measures for "joint diplomacy," "storing sharp weapons," "storing talents," and "passing on news."

On June 14, 1874, Shen Baozhen led the 15 ships built since the establishment of the Shipping Bureau, and brought Pan Xia, the minister of the association and the envoy of Fujian Province, and the foreign generals Ri Yige and Si Gongseg, who were good at naval and land warfare, to Taiwan.

Shen Baozhen decided to "salute first and then soldier." He personally drew up a righteous and stern note, ordering Pan Xia to lead the Taiwan prefect, Taiwan Bingbei Dao, and other civilian and military officials to Langqiao to negotiate with Lieutenant General Saigo Congdao, the japanese army invading Taiwan and the pseudo-"Governor of Taiwan," and ordering the Japanese army to withdraw unconditionally. Saigo was arrogant and arrogant, insisting that Taiwan is a "terra nullius island" and that whoever occupies it first will get it first. When Pan Xia and others put forward a large number of archival materials to prove that Taiwan had long been part of Chinese territory, The aggressors such as Saigo Congdao made unreasonable trouble and demanded that they should be paid enough to pay for troops before they could withdraw from Taiwan.

The negotiations ended in failure. Shen Baozhen realized that in order to recover the lost land from the Hands of the Japanese aggressors, it is impossible to rely solely on "reasoning," and it is necessary to "rely on force," and whether it is a political solution or a military solution to this war of "conquest and conquest of Taiwan," it must have the military strength to destroy the enemy. However, Taiwan's land defense was extremely empty, and the only troops who could fight were 1,000 of the battalions stationed in Taiwan and 1,000 Chu Yong, who had just been transferred from the interior. What is even more regrettable is that there is not a single available artillery on the thousand-mile terrace and in the hundreds of ports and terminals.

In the face of such an empty Taiwan defense, Shen Baozhen's method was action. He ordered that two battalions of Fujian Overland Admiral Luo Dachun and Chu Yong be transferred from Xiamen to garrison Taipei, Su'ao, and other places, especially the Jilong Coal Mine to prevent the Japanese from buying coal, in order to block its fuel source. He asked Ri Yige to hire foreign craftsmen Lu Fu and Paltuo, and foreign gunners Dubua and Labaode to come to Taiwan, and immediately started construction of the Anping Fort to defend the city and the rear road of Taiwan's defense. Then, the Donggang Battery and the Qihou Fort were built in fengshan county to prevent the ships from fighting dogs in the outer port of Fengshan (present-day Kaohsiung City) from entering the port; the Magong Fort was quickly rebuilt in Penghu and the new Dacheng North Battery was built, with the two batteries at each other's horns, just blocking the provincial (Fujian) and Taiwan maritime communication arteries.

At the same time, Shen Baozhen also urgently believed his good friend li Hongzhang, who was directly subordinate to the governor and minister of Beiyang in the same year, and requested that the Huai army be dispatched to aid Taiwan. As soon as Li Hongzhang received the letter of assistance, he ordered 6,500 brave men from the thirteenth battalion of the most elite and advanced Ming and Wu armies to travel south from Xuzhou and Suqian day and night to Guazhou to aid Taiwan by steamship under the leadership of his commander Tang Dingkui. Shen Baozhen also proposed borrowing 6 million taels of foreign debt to buy 2 ironclad ships to enrich the Strength of the Fujian Marine Division and strengthen the naval strength, as well as the plan to lay submarine and land cables from Taiwan to Xiamen and Fuzhou to "communicate with the news"... Under Shen Baozhen's strategizing, the heroic and warlike Huai army has arrived in Taiwan one after another, and the purchase of ironclad ships has gradually gained eyebrows, and the entire military situation is developing in a favorable direction for our side. But Shen Baozhen still did not dare to take it lightly. Considering that the Japanese army might jump the wall in a hurry to risk a decisive battle, he stationed six warships, including "Yangwu," "Feiyun," "Anlan," "Fubo," "Jingyuan," and "Zhenwei," to ensure the safety of Taiwan's defenses; he also ordered the "Fuxing" to be stationed in Taipei, the "Wannianqing" stationed in Xiamen, and the "Ji'an" stationed in Mawei to fix the portal; the "Yongbao," "Chenhang," and "Daya" transport ships, as well as the rented "Lingfeng", the "Sea Survey" supported by the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, or used to transport arms, grain and grass, or for the transmission of military reports between Taiwan, Fujian, and Shanghai.

The Japanese generals saw that the Chinese troops, who were three times their own, were rapidly assembling, and the blockade at sea and the situation in which their side was trapped in a corner of the Lang Bridge had also formed, and they could not help but panic and be afraid. Coupled with the harsh climate in Taiwan, the number of wounded and sick people in the Japanese army increased sharply, and in mid-July, a large number of sick numbers had appeared, and the nursing, doctors, and pharmacists in the hospital were also plagued by diseases. The number of hospitalized patients died every day ranging from two or three to four or five, and later it grew to more than a dozen people dying together, and more than 560 people died of illness in less than a month, accounting for one-sixth of the invading troops. A large number of soldiers were depressed, and war-weariness and family-weariness spread everywhere. From August 9, the Japanese army began to transport sick soldiers to the country, from the original daily transport of more than 100 to more than 200, a total of more than 2300 sick soldiers and migrant workers, a total of more than 2700 soldiers and migrant workers came to reinforce, the net increase is not enough to fill the number of deaths, sick and retired.

In order to get rid of the predicament, the Japanese army invading Taiwan and the commander Saigo sent people back to China to ask for help from the side of the road, and on the other hand held military exercises to bluff their voices to boost morale. Shen Baozhen still adopted the tactics of steadily advancing step by step to force the enemy to occupy the area, forcing the Japanese army to shrink to the area around The Turtle Boy Horn and not dare to show its head. In addition, the "pacification army" and "appeasement army" organized and trained during the war, with "Fan" Yong as the mainstay, often haunted the mountains and forests, and scattered behind the enemy's rear with sentry as a unit, which made the Japanese army's grass and trees frightened. The brave and tenacious Mingwu army took the opportunity to continuously launch a fierce offensive along the seashore, making the Japanese army and Saigo exhausted from the road and trapped in the city of Sorrow.

Shen Baozhen continued to gather his military strength and prepared to duel with the Japanese army. In light of the armament situation of the enemy and us, he and Nichigo and Skonzag drew up a battle plan for killing the enemy: Concentrate 12,000 troops on land and more than a dozen warships on the sea to gather and annihilate the Japanese troops shrinking on Langqiao and Kameyama Island; after seizing dozens of their warships and steam transport ships, the fleet transported the army to land on Ryukyu Island, and then use the island as a forward base, and use the guns on more than a dozen or twenty ships (including five or six Japanese warships that can be captured) to destroy the port of Nagasaki and block the outlet of Kagoshima Port The Army seized the Haikou Battery under the cover of naval artillery fire, ensured that the fleet rushed into Kagoshima Bay, completely annihilated the Japanese ships moored there, and forced Japan to conclude an alliance with us under the castle, and successfully ended the war provoked by the Japanese expansionists.

Saigo Congdao was also nervously sending people back to China for help. On the one hand, the Japanese side created public opinion and posed as if it wanted to fight a decisive battle with the Chinese side, and on the other hand, it sent heavyweight plenipotentiaries negotiator Okubo Ritsu to carry out diplomatic representations with the Qing government. When Shen Baozhen received this information, he immediately wrote an urgent letter to Li Hongzhang, submitting a letter to Premier Yamen and the emperor, pointing out that "the situation of the Wu camp is gradually timid," "the appearance of the Wu camp is a rectification, and there is a real possibility that it will not last forever," and "although it is reluctantly supported, it must not last long." It is believed that "the General Administration can be firm and persistent, and he sees that he is subservient, and if he wants to quickly accommodate it, I am afraid that the more he moves, the more he will become." He was lenient with a firm attitude: "Ministers and others are drawn to those who are preparing for war, not for Taiwan's first world war plan, but for the overall situation of the sea frontier, and I hope that the country will not hesitate to spend huge expenses at present, so as to prevent future troubles from being invisible." He saw that I had no gap to take advantage of, and he would go away from his ear", otherwise "he was anxious to sell his troops and turn into a man of encouragement" and would have endless troubles in the future.

Shen Baozhen resolutely opposed compromise, accommodation, and the attitude of taking the situation into custody, which strengthened Li Hongzhang's stand of counterattacking the Japanese invasion of Taiwan and also enhanced the confidence of the chief military minister, Yi Yi, in seeking victory. Therefore, when Ōkubo Ritsu went to Tianjin to threaten and intimidate, he was severely refuted by Li Hongzhang; when the Shangzong General Administration extorted the so-called "withdrawal fee", he was rejected and reprimanded by Prince Gong Wang Yeyi. Ōkubo Ritsu was not willing to return empty-handed, and with the secret support of the US Minister to China Ai Xinmin, he asked the British Minister to China, Wittoma, to conduct diplomatic mediation. On the one hand, Wittoma exerted pressure on the General Administration, claiming that if the negotiations broke down, there would be a war between Japan and China, which would be detrimental to anyone. On the other hand, he also suggested to Li Hongzhang that the whole of Taiwan be opened up to trade and gain new commercial benefits. The Qing government was not willing to unite with the European and American powers to open a knife against Japan, nor was it willing to add additional treaty ports such as Chicken Coop (present-day Keelung), Huwei, and Dagu (present-day Kaohsiung) to open up all of Taiwan's commerce, and was in a dilemma of fear of war and retreating for fear of harming national interests and dignity.

At the crucial moment, Wen Xiang, a university scholar, came forward to convey the emperor's edict, saying that it was the fortieth birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi, and the whole country was celebrating, and that the Sino-Japanese negotiations could not be allowed to spoil the festive atmosphere; coupled with Wei Tuoma's coercion and intimidation, the General Administration finally abandoned Shen Baozhen's opinion of "planning for the overall situation of the sea frontier" and went so far as to put an end to this crisis with the posture of "heaven and state" and "magnanimity," proposing to pay 100,000 silver as a pension fee and 400,000 taels to pay japan for the cost of setting up buildings in the Langqiao area. Okubo Ritsuru initially disagreed, but when Wittoma implied that "having written the words 'to protect the people's righteous deeds' in the clause, it means that the Qing Kingdom recognizes that the Ryukyu people belong to the Japanese, and the Ryukyu Kingdom belongs to the Japanese state", and Okubo Ritsuru agrees to "reconcile". On October 31, The Prime Minister, Prince Yoshiku, and the Japanese Secretary of State, Okubo Ritsu, signed the Beijing Treaty, offering China 500,000 taels of silver in exchange for Japan's withdrawal of troops from Taiwan. Although the 500,000 taels of silver was only one-tenth of the total cost of Japan's troops to taiwan, the first time Japan launched a war against China, it achieved the outcome of "victory without victory" and "undefeated and defeated by the Qing Dynasty.", so the whole country celebrated and greeted the triumph of Ōkubo Ritsu. However, the Qing government was addicted to the short-term "peace" exchanged for silver. Twenty years later (1894), Japan launched another war of aggression against China, the powerful Beiyang Marine Division was completely destroyed, the Qing government was defeated, and signed the Treaty of Maguan with Japan, which humiliated the country.

Shen Baozhen, who had long foreseen the outcome of raising tigers, was indignant and angry when he learned the news that the imperial court had actually used compromise and concessions to solve the Taiwan crisis, but he could not obstruct it. He only came to Langqiao with a complicated and tangled mood to handle the handover procedures. Here, he witnessed the landing of the Japanese sun flag, which had been flying over Taiwan for half a year, from the flagpole, and the blue dragon played the red pearl and yellow land of the Qing Dynasty rising, and he couldn't help but burst into tears with mixed feelings. Why did the establishment of a ship administration, the construction of warships, the skill of division and the long tassel in hand, and the anti-aggression war that can be won completely won, become "undefeated and defeated" in the blink of an eye? After pondering bitterly, he came to the conclusion that it was not enough to "master the master and the skill", but also had to carry out a fundamental transformation from the point of view of ideology and concept. Only with the spirit of unremitting self-improvement, establishing the nation's fortitude, and cultivating and strengthening the heroic bloodiness of Shang Wu, can we straighten the waist and support the backbone, and stand up to the heavens in the land of Shenzhou and the east of the world...