ANNAM. 



of incessant firing the Chinese retreated to a 

 ridge farther back for a final stand. The bat- 

 tle-field was strewed with the dead bodies of 

 Turcoa, who formed the French front line in 

 Iht4 engagement, and with a larger number of 

 Chinese. From the height beyond the Chinese 

 an-* ered the rides of the Turcos, and the artil- 

 lery, |H*ted behind the latter, for an hour or 

 lunger, nnd then retreated. A fort was capt- 

 im-d with a bayonet - charge. The following 

 morning the French marched on to Langson. 

 The Chinese commander, Pao-Tchao, did not 

 attempt to defend the fortress and subject his 

 tn>ps uselessly to the terrifying and destruc- 

 tive 80-centimetre shells of the French. Spik- 

 ing or burying the guns in the citadel, the Chi- 

 nese crosMd the Song-ki-Knng river. At noon 

 on the 13th the French occupied the deserted 

 fortress. The Chinese ranged themselves in 

 order of battle under the Ki-Lua fort, 1,000 

 tards away, but a few shells caused their gaudy 

 Danners to disappear. The French troops then 

 took possession of the other fortress. In the 

 battle before Langson the French losses were 

 as great as in all the previous engagements 

 together. The strength of Gen. Pao-Tchao's 

 force was estimated at from 10,000 to 15,000. 

 The entire Chinese army on both the Bac-Le 

 and the Chu routes was variously estimated at 

 from 50,000 to 100,000. These successes placed 

 the French in possession of all the important 

 fortresses of Tonquin with the exception of Cao- 

 Binh and That-Ki. 



While the two generals were engaged in the 

 operations against the Quangsi army in the 

 north, the Chinese troops from Yunnan ad- 

 vanced from the west, overrunning the garri- 

 sons that were left there, and descended the 

 Claire river to the fortress of Thuyen-Quan, 

 which they entirely invested. Leaving Gen. 

 Negrier with a considerable force in Lang- 

 ton, the cominander-in-chief descended to Ha- 

 noi by forced marches over the Bac-Le road, 

 which was soon cleared of Chinese. On the 

 night of Feb. 24, Thuyen-Quan was furiously 

 attacked, but the Chinese were repelled with 

 considerable loss. At this time Gen. Briere 

 de 1'Ule was advancing to succor the hard- 

 pressed garrison. In the mean while Gen. Ne- 

 jfrier had attacked and dispersed the Chinese 

 beyond I^ngson, capturing some Krupp guns 

 and mitrailleuses, and occupying the frontier 

 town of Cua-Ai. In an engagement on Feb. 



. he took from the enemy a large quan- 

 tity of war material and ammunition, besides 

 other stores of all kinds. The relief came al- 

 too late to Thnyen Quan. During the 

 ciejare the losses of the garrison were 85 officers 

 and men. as officially reported. The relieving 

 oolnmn fonght their way through the Chinese 

 troops with a loss of 463 killed and wounded, 

 on the 2d and 3d of March. There were 

 to be 20,000 Chinese troops engaged in 

 tho two battles at Haomoc and before Thuyen- 

 Qunn. When the Algerian sharpshooters at- 

 tempted to storm a fort on the 2d, the Chi- 



nese exploded a group of immense mines under 

 their feet. Other mines were passed over on 

 the 3d, but the swiftness of the French charge 

 prevented the enemy from igniting them. After 

 these engagements, the Yunnan army raised the 

 siege, and withdrew in the direction of Thnan- 

 Quan. The remnants of the Qnangsi army 

 were gathered at Lang-Chan. Gen. Briere de 

 1'Isle, with the gunboats in Tonquin, established 

 a blockade of Pakhoi. In the middle of March 

 2,500 fresh troops arrived from Europe. The 

 commanding general prepared an expedition 

 against Thuan-Quan. The French army in 

 Tonquin was now 25,000 strong. Gen. Negrier 

 was re-enforced at Langson and along che delta 

 line. He had pushed a reconnaissance into 

 Chinese territory a few days before. At this 

 moment a fresh Chinese army advanced against 

 him from Quangsi. On the 24th of March a 

 severe engagement took place near the Chinese 

 frontier. The French troops fought with spirit 

 and vigor. Their own loss was reported to be 

 7 officers and 72 soldiers killed, and 6 officers 

 and 190 men wounded. The news of this check 

 gave the opponents of the Opportunist policy 

 of adventure an opportunity to attack the Chi- 

 nese policy of the Government. Their strong- 

 est argument was, that the ministry was not 

 frank and truthful, and that the worst was 

 withheld in the reports from Tonquin. The 

 consideration that French successes in Tonquin 

 were always barren victories, that the Chinese 

 Government could hurl against them horde 

 after horde of levies from the over-populated 

 provinces of southern China, while the losses 

 in the hospital and on the battle-field already 

 crippled the French army, and the cost of main- 

 taining a large force in Eastern Asia threatened 

 to mount up into the milliards, had due weight 

 only with a minority. "When M. Delafosse dep- 

 recated the loss of brave men in so senseless 

 and criminal an enterprise, M. Ferry challenged 

 him to propose the evacuation of Tonquin. On 

 an interpellation of M. Granier, the Chamber 

 sustained the Government with a majority of 

 259 to 209. A hopeful dispatch from Gen. Ne- 

 grier, which arrived opportunely, made it appear 

 as though the Chinese advance were effectu- 

 ally checked. The general telegraphed that he 

 needed no re-enforcements, and that his artil- 

 lery was sufficient. On the 25th he was with 

 the vanguard at the Chinese Gate, waiting for 

 the enemy to show themselves. The main 

 body of the brigade was concentrated at Lang- 

 son, whither the general returned on the 26th. 

 The day after the Chamber voted the order of 

 the day pure and simple on M. Granier's inter- 

 pellation, came news of the fall of Langson, 

 which swept the Ferry Cabinet from office. 



On the 27th of March the Chinese debouched 

 m great masses in front of the French position 

 at Ki-Lua, and, advancing in three columns, at- 

 tacked impetuously the French front. At an 

 early stage of the action Gen. Negrier was se- 

 verely wounded. The command" fell to Col. 

 Herbinger. That officer, dismayed by the great 



