Chapter 35 Section thirty-fifth

In the early morning of August 20th, the French warships outside Danshuikou opened fire, no less than hundreds of rounds. Then 800 French marines, under the cover of gunfire and smoke, landed forcibly in small boats, with the purpose of occupying the fort. Sun Kaihua's third battalion was the first to bear the brunt. The two battalions in the middle and right were in the front, and the rear battalion supported them.The disadvantage of Sun Kaihua's troops was that the firearms were not as good as the French army, and it seemed that they could not resist it. However, when the noon tide rose, the French army with backup continued to pour in.

So the first battalion of Zhang Licheng, who was ambushing in the back mountain, was dispatched.The 500 men were divided into two teams. The first team of 250 men, dressed like savages, naked, spraying red foam from chewing betel nuts, lined up on the slope facing the water in front of the fort, lying down. Fell into the weeds that can reach the embryo, bent the right foot, rested the left heel on the right knee, spread the toes, and rested the gun barrel in the middle, waiting quietly. The back-up French army rode the tide uphill and charged straight up with their guns in hand.Zhang Licheng waited with bated breath, seeing that the distance was enough, and fired a shot into the sky. This was the "horn cannon". Two hundred and fifty guns were fired in response, and dozens of French troops fell immediately.Those who have not fallen do not know where the bullets will come from?While looking at each other in astonishment, another row of guns came from the bushes, killing dozens of people.

This time, the French army had to retreat.However, there was still an ambush, Zhang Licheng's other team, surrounded by two wings, approached directly.The French army snatched the boats and retreated. The tide was falling at that time, and many small boats stuck to the beach. Many of them died when they couldn't retreat. Sun Kaihua's subordinates, seeing this scene, their morale was greatly boosted, and they fought bravely, which moved the French army's position.Sun Kaihua took the lead, beheaded a French officer, captured the flag, and finally drove the French soldiers out of Danshuikou.

Outside the mouth, there was a warship led by Togo Heihachiro of the Japanese Navy watching the battle, and on the mountain, there were British merchants and civilians watching with binoculars.The battle was not bad, the French suffered heavy casualties and fourteen were captured, much to the applause of the British. However, the 14 prisoners of war were ordered by Sun Kaihua and witnessed by British merchants. They believed that the Chinese army violated the public laws of all nations and protested.Of course Liu Mingchuan ignored it, Feizhang won the victory, praised Sun Kaihua's military exploits, and asked for an exceptional reward.

When mentioning Zhang Licheng, there is only one sentence: "lead the team to attack", but the award is not without merit: "Zhang Licheng, a fifth-rank military merit, intends to make up for it with the defense first, and reward him with flower feathers, and add the title of Dusi". Twelve days later, Guba announced the closure of the port, from Suao in the north to Eluanbi in the south, a total of 339 nautical miles, and all ships were prohibited from entering or leaving.Navigation is limited to five nautical miles from shore. As a result, merchants and goods were cut off, literature and newspapers were blocked, and Taiwan's daily necessities, except for tea and rice, were all in short supply.Of course, the business of various countries was also greatly affected, especially the trade suspension of British businessmen, who suffered the most losses.

The imperial court was very anxious when they got the report, but they could only order the Nanbeiyang to select iron-clad fast boats with a strict decree, bring more soldiers and equipment, and rush to help at night.And there are only five five-cent-thick iron-clad ships in the North and South Oceans. How dare they break through?Even if you dare to break in, these small boats can't carry many soldiers.So Li Hongzhang decided to take this opportunity to force the court to change his mind and renegotiate peace.I just dare not say it clearly, and only use words like "find another way to solve this crisis" and make indirect remarks.

Therefore, when Liu Mingchuan's telegram forwarded from Xiamen arrived in Beiyang and passed it to the Prime Minister's Office, Li Hongzhang often added or deleted it, and made a big fuss about it.Haikou, Taiwan was only blocked for two days, so he sent a telegram like this: "Admiral Liu transferred the telegram from Xiamen on the third day of the lunar new year. On the second day of the second day, six more ships arrived, and there were no less than 20 in Taipei. On the 28th of last month, the French The four boats harassed Tainan and Penghu, and there was no trust in life and death. Many wealthy gentry fled with their families. Soldiers and warriors have recruited more than five thousand soldiers. They have no weapons and are not restrained. They cannot defend against the enemy. Death, there are less than 3,000 people who can fight. The enemy is very powerful, and there will be fierce battles within a day. If there is no electricity for ten days, the north will not be guaranteed. It is said that the soldiers of the same army are only desperately defending, and they are defending day by day. Now the gunpowder is running out. , There is no food and salt, the people are disturbed, the roads are also blocked, the Taiwan situation is unimaginable, I can cry bitterly, please transfer to the General Administration."

Li Hongzhang forwarded this telegram, saying that he was also "crying bitterly".In fact, he added a lot of obvious lies in the telegram, since the French blockade, "the wealthy gentry mostly fled with their families" and where did they escape?Liu Mingchuan himself said that among the officials and gentry, "those who are available should be courteous." Therefore, apart from Lin Chaodong who formed his own army and guarded Shiqiuling, Lin Weiyuan from Banqiao, Taipei, donated 200,000 taels of salary; Hsinchu gentleman Lin Rumei Two hundred people were recruited to practice bravery, and they raised their own food and salaries for two months to help guard Haikou; at the border between Keelung and Taipei, 300 people were donated by martial arts masters Wang Tingli and Zhou Yuqian to prevent and block them.In addition, there are many people who donate to the soldiers according to their means, and it is rare for the whole family to flee. If they escape, it is only from the front to the rear, from Keelung, which is occupied by the French, to Taipei.

Of course, Li Hung-chang was not the only one who wished for peace talks. Countries with trade interests in Taiwan also hoped that China and France would stop fighting for peace talks.Especially in the UK, because Taiwanese tea cannot be exported, they are dating the ambassador to the UK, Zeng Jize, and plan to mediate. There were four clauses in the British mediation, the main ones were to ask China to fulfill the Treaty of Tianjin, and to persuade France not to claim compensation and withdraw from Haikou, Taiwan.These terms are beneficial to China, but neither King Chun nor the Prime Minister dared to agree.As a result, eight countermeasures were put forward, including revising the Treaty of Tianjin; setting up officials outside the Zhennan Pass; requiring France not to protect the name of Vietnam; requiring the French army to withdraw from Keelung,...the last one is: "China does not claim money, if it is not allowed in accordance with the law According to the article, China should be compensated for its losses first.”

This is diametrically opposed, so naturally they cannot agree.At the same time, France put forward conditions to Britain as the mediator: China will fully implement the Tianjin Treaty, and the French army will occupy Taipei until China agrees to pay for the military expenses before withdrawing.This is of course even more irrelevant.