The Battle of Zhenhai in the Sino-French War | Today in History, there are wars in Zhaobaoshan!

Zhaobaoshan was once one of the main battlefields of anti-Japanese, anti-British, anti-French and anti-Japanese in the southeast coast of China.Today in history, the Battle of Zhenhai, which took place during the Sino-French War, is the only battle of complete victory in China's modern coastal defense, and it is the most commendable!

 

Campaign Background

 

In February 1885, the French army could not stop attacking Taiwan and changed to blockade Taiwan at sea. The Qing government sent five warships of Nanyang Navy to support Fuzhou and fled without fighting with the French army when they met in Dachenyang, Zhejiang. Kaiji, Nanchen and Nanrui fleed into the town harbor and became one of the fuse of Zhenhai campaign.

 

 

 

Battle through

 

On March 1, several armed ships of the French army anchored on the sea surface of Qili Island outside the town harbor. The French lieutenant-general went out alone in a small steamer to reconnoitre, was found opened fire by the Chinese garrison stationed in Zhaobaoshan, and fled hastily to the Newberry. Wu Jie commanded the batteries on the north and south sides to fire, hitting the head-mast and stern of the Newhili. After five hours of artillery battle between the two sides, the French ship left.

 

 

On March 2, the French ships came again and fired artillery shells at Zhaobao Mountain and Jinji Mountain. Prefect Ouyang Li saw that those who abided by the upper peak, such as the French army did not fire their own policy of not firing, did not order to fight back. Wu Jie repeatedly demanded the same attack as on March 1, but Ouyang Lijian used military law to suppress him and was not allowed to fight back.

 

 

On March 3, Wu Jie felt that he could not stand this absurd order and risked being dealt with by military law. He personally entered the North Shore Zhaobaoshan Fort to target the French flagship "Baya" and fired a cannon. Since the French warship had not been returned fire by the Qing army, it had entered the effective range of Zhaobaoshan Battery due to the light of the enemy. Wu Jie's shelling broke a crossbar of the main mast of the bow of "Baya", and then the French fleet withdrew from the battlefield.

 

 

Since then, there has been nothing wrong for more than ten days. On March 14, the French warship came again, but because they did not dare to approach the shore of Zhaobaoshan Battery, they only fired at a distance with artillery. The stalemate lasted until April 9, when lieutenant general Wang Litang led the death squads to secretly ambush eight new breech-loaded copper cannons on the north corner of Jinji Mountain on the south bank.

 

 

In the early morning of April 10, the French ship was still coming. Wang Litang unexpectedly fired a gun and five shells hit the French ship. At this point, the French warship saw that it could not gain benefits and left Zhenhai to end the battle.

 

Impact of Campaign

 

The Battle of Zhenhai achieved the only complete victory in the modern coastal defense battle, and it was a glorious page in the history of modern Chinese warfare. The Battle of Zhenhai effectively attacked the French invaders and defended the Chinese waters from invasion. It was one of the important battles for the Qing army to defeat the invasion of foreign enemies.

 

 

 

 

Now in Zhaobaoshan

You can still find

Zhenhai soldiers and civilians in the battle of Zhenhai

Historical witness of heroic resistance to foreign invasion

 

 

 

Sino-French War Victory Monument

 

 

At the foot of the mountain on the east side of Zhaobao Mountain, there is a monument commemorating the victory of the Battle of Zhenhai, which is magnificent, dignified and solemn. Zhang Aiping, former Minister of Defense, inscribed "Monument to Victory in the Battle of Zhenhai in the Sino-French War", and Sha Menghai, a contemporary calligrapher, inscribed "Wei Yuan Xiongfeng" on the cliff ".

 

 

The monument has a relief wall of anti-French generals, with flat granite storage surface, simple and dignified. The middle of the front is a 21-square-meter high relief of cast copper, engraved with the heroic images of then Zhejiang governor Liu Bingzhang, prefect Ouyang Lijian, Ning Shaotai Road Xue Fucheng and fortress guard Wu Jie.

 

Memories of history, in memory of the martyrs! To commemorate those thousands of martyrs who sacrificed to defend the country, let us cherish the hard-won life now!