In the 1880s, after 10 years of hard work and recuperation, the French Third Republic gradually regained its former strength and glory. Moreover, it was the second largest colonial empire after British Empire, with a colony area of 12 million More than one square kilometer, it is like a behemoth. Although it was suppressed by the emerging German Empire on the European continent, its right to speak in the world was far from comparable to the German Empire. At that time, it was recognized as the second most powerful country in the world. In order to revive the glory of France , and to expand the living space of France, the French Third Republic started a huge eastern colonial movement.
In 1884 AD, the French army had already controlled Cambodia, Laos, and the soldiers drove directly to Vietnam, at that time Vietnam was a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty. Big Brother, of course, can't sit idly by." So, Cixi dispatched Huai Army tyrants Pan Dingxin as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy, and Liu Yongfu as the vanguard general, went to Vietnam to participate in the war. Liu Yongfu repeatedly defeated the French army, but the French army was strong, and the Qing army's support was poor. In addition, the news of the annihilation of the Fujian Navy in the "Mawei Naval Battle" spread to Vietnam, and the morale of the Qing army fell to a low point. The Qing army collapsed, and the French army successfully controlled the entire territory of Vietnam. Together with Cambodia and Laos, France formed the "Indochina Federation", which was watching China's southwestern border. In particular, the French army took advantage of the chaos of the retreat of the Qing army and captured the important town of Zhennanguan (today called Friendship Pass ) on the Sino-Vietnamese border. The news reached Beijing, the capital of the Qing Dynasty, and Cixi, the actual ruler of the Qing Dynasty, panicked. Soon, Cixi ordered Pan Dingxin to be dismissed and brought to justice.And enable the veteran Feng Zicai as the Guangxi Admiral, control all the Qing troops in Guangxi, and look for opportunities to recover Zhennanguan.
Feng Zicai, born in 1818 in Shawei Village, Qinzhou Prefecture, Guangdong Province (now Shawei Village, Qinzhou, Guangxi), was originally a key member of the Anti-Qing Dynasty Fuming organization " Tiandihui", After being appeased, he became a warrior of the Qing army. In the strangulation of the Taiping Rebellion, he made great contributions to the Qing nationality. ) captured Tianjin (Nanjing), the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. This is a typical case of a high-level general who struggled from a small soldier. Feng Zicai, because of his humble background, paid special attention to his soldiers. He even paid the army himself to avoid corruption by the generals below, and the soldiers below were brave enough to work for him.
As soon as Feng Zicai arrived at the front line in Guangxi, he adjusted Pan Dingxin's previous deployment, and slashed the military discipline. At the same time, vigorously promoted the brave generals and commanders, especially re-used Liu Yongfu, replaced many new ordnance for Liu Yongfu's department, used good steel on the blade, and tried to build Liu Yongfu's department as an "assault force" in order to hope for the future. play an important role in combat.
Just as Feng Zicai was actively preparing for the battle to retake Zhennanguan, the French army began to strike first. The French army tried to take advantage of Feng Zicai's new arrival and unsteady footing to defeat Feng Zicai's Qing army, and then capture the entire territory of Guangxi. Because of Pan Dingxin's retreat before the battle, the French army greatly despised the Qing army, and they did not even have proper guards on the way. Feng Zicai took advantage of the French army's mentality and set up an ambush 30 miles outside Zhennan Pass. Entered the "pocket array" pre-set by Feng Zicai. After all the French troops entered the ambush circle, Feng Zicai commanded the Qing army to fight hard to kill, and Liu Yongfu's troops took the lead in breaking into the French army's position, disrupting the formation of the French army.The double strangulation together made the French heavy artillery unable to bombard effectively. In the end, Feng Zicai launched a general attack, which severely damaged the French army.
The news of the defeat of the French army reached Zhennan Pass. In order to avoid being completely wiped out by the Qing army, the French troops at Zhennan Pass had to abandon Zhennan Pass and retreat into Vietnam. Feng Zicai successfully recaptured Zhennan Pass. After that, when the French army was defeated, he quickly launched a pursuit, all the way to Lang Son, and his troops reached Hanoi . Just when the French army was in a state of panic, Cixi issued an order to "stop the attack and stick to the spot", so that the best time to drive the French army out of Vietnam was missed.
When the news of the French army's defeat at the Battle of Zhennanguan reached Paris, French parliament rejected the military spending supplement by 306 to 149 votes, and Prime Minister Jules Ferrisson resigned, led by Jules Ferriss The cabinet fell. This campaign has dealt a heavy blow to the arrogance of the French and destroyed the French conspiracy to conspire in the two regions. It is also the biggest victory of the Qing Dynasty in foreign wars since the Opium War in 1840. Since then, the foreign powers have changed their understanding of this eastern giant.
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