In early March 1885, Feng Zicai led the army to set off for the front line of Zhennanguan. Before leaving, Feng Zicai told his ancestors and instructed his family: "No country is no home." In case I encounter an accident, tell my children and grandchildren that I am a warrior, which can also be regarded as the last force for the country. After saying these words, Feng Zicai took his three sons and went to the battlefield together.
Feng Zicai
After arriving at the front line, Feng Zicai personally went to the only way for the French to attack the main city of Zhennanguan to survey the terrain. On the ten kilometers from the Zhennanguan Pass, Feng Zicai found that the two mountains here were facing each other, the mountains were stacked, the forests were deep and dense, the bushes were overgrown, and only a sheep gut trail snaked between the two mountains. Such a terrain environment, easy to defend and difficult to attack, Feng Zicai immediately decided, just here to deploy defenses and ambush the French army. More than ten days later, the warriors built a long wall here that was seven feet high, one foot thick, and three miles long.
Old photos of the town south of the pass
On the morning of March 11, 1885, the French army, which had been agitated for a long time, finally could not hold back. Under the cover of ten cannons, they poured out of their nests and marched towards the main city of Zhennanguan. Facing the long wall built by Feng Zicai, the French army launched a fierce attack with the advantage of artillery fire. At the moment of this thousand gunshots, Feng Zicai, who was nearly seventy years old, rushed out of the trench with his two sons and pounced on the enemy. Seeing this scene, the spirit of the soldiers of the whole army was lifted, and everyone shouted and killed together, and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.
At the critical moment, Feng Zicai turned the tide of the battle, and the French army left a large number of corpses and fled from Zhennanguan in a hurry. After the initial victory, Feng Zicai decided to take advantage of the victory to pursue. On March 21, Feng Zicai led a team to attack the French-occupied Wenyuan City at night, rushed to the center of the city at one point, and destroyed two enemy forts on the hill, killing many French troops defending the city, and greatly improving the morale of the Qing army.
Town South Pass Big Victory Map
Knowing that Feng Zicai led his army to fight the front line, more than a thousand local Zhuang, Yao, Bai, Yi, Han, and Vietnamese people also rushed to support. With the joint efforts of everyone, the French army threw away its armor one by one and collapsed into an army. Feng Zicai took advantage of the victory to pursue and recaptured Wenyuan City and Langshan in one fell swoop.
Despite the collapse, the French army was still doing the final struggle, and the flowering shells fired fell on Feng Zicai's side like raindrops. His son asked him to retreat a little, and he immediately roared, "What other battle is there for fear of shells?" I would rather die than retreat, and whoever said retreat would shake the hearts of the army! Under the leadership of Feng Zicai, all the generals of the army entered the enemy line together, and the French army was stunned and stunned, and the square inches were chaotic in a flash. In this battle, more than a thousand French troops were wiped out, and the leader of the French army, Nigri, was also seriously wounded and fled with his soldiers. The Battle of Zhennanguan was the largest battle since the beginning of the Sino-French war, which fundamentally changed the situation of the Sino-French war and turned China's defeat into victory.
The town of South Pass Victory
The news of the great victory at Zhennanguan spread, and the whole country was excited. Another person specially wrote a poem praising: "Dao Xian has not had such a victory since then, sweeping away the demon qi and destroying the leaves." There is no good way to break the robbery, but the ruler has integrity. ”
Contrary to the festive situation on the Side of the Qing Army, the French Headquarters in Vietnam was dead. In the book "History of the Sino-French War", it is recorded that Li Gundet, an officer of the French General Staff, reported to the French government after the Battle of Zhennanguan. He said: "From the beginning of the French commander-in-chief Courbet's light enemy attack on Zhennanguan, I realized that the situation had just changed and the Chinese army was ready to take the offensive. ”
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