From the eighties of the nineteenth century, in order to obtain economic benefits from overseas colonies and make up for the huge indemnities paid to Germany in the Franco-Prussian War, the French accelerated the pace of aggression and occupation of Annam.

On March 15, 1874, the French colonial authorities signed a treaty with Annan

The Franco-Vietnamese Treaty of Alliance, which provided for the French sovereignty and legal jurisdiction over the occupied territories, and the right of the French to establish embassies and garrison troops at each treaty port.

In France's view, the signing of this treaty meant that France had established a protectorate in North Nghi, Vietnam.

On April 19, 1875, the French Naval Colony Minister Mont

Tanak wrote to Foreign Minister Degas about the treaty: "Our present intermediary is to prepare for the protectorate system, and in the future the protectorate system must be clarified

The land was established and recognized. Now weakened, the kingdom of Annam admits that it is no longer able to make its subjects bow to it, so it has to accept it

The protection of a great power. The rights we have gained in Cochinchina do not allow us to influence Emperor Ide by forces other than us.

We have already paid a lot for laying the foundations of French rule in this country, therefore, we

We should continue our undertakings without taking risks or stray from our goals, especially if we do not turn back and lose all our achievements. ”

Montanac's remarks reveal the true policy of the French government towards Annam.

After 1874, the Governor of Cochinchina, in accordance with the provisions of the treaty,

He continued to send diplomatic officials and colonial troops to Hai Duong, Hanoi, Tay Son and other provinces in the north of Annam, and then used a small number of garrisons to gradually overthrow the ruling power of the Annam government in the local area and secretly gain control of the northern part of Annam.

The aggressive actions of the French gradually made the Annan government wary.

In order to prevent the further expansion of French colonial power, the Annam government was forced to respond by sending tributary troops to the mainland, reaffirming the suzerain-vassal relationship between the Manchus and Annam, and imploring the Manchu court to send troops to help when the French invaded the Annam region.

Internally, he successively sent cronies such as Hoang Yao, Nguyen Zheng, and Pei Yinnian to serve as governors of various provinces in the northern region, weakening the influence of pro-French puppet officials in the northern region.

In addition, after hearing the news that the Han State in South America had repelled the British expeditionary force, the officials of the Annam court unanimously believed that the Han State had a strong military strength and could win over the Nanyang Legion, which also belonged to the Han armed forces, and share the military threat of the French colonial army to the northern provinces.

Therefore, with the tacit approval and covert support of the Annam government, the Nanyang Army rejected the request of the French to set up embassies and send troops in Quang Ninh and Lang Son provinces.

As the Vietnamese government resisted, either explicitly or implicitly, the threat of military power from the Manchu court's apparent formidude,

Finding it difficult to implement the terms of the 1874 treaty, the governor of Cochinchina, Di Pere, sent a letter to the Minister of the Navy, Tson Orison, in 1876 to temporarily ease the anti-French sentiment of the Vietnamese government, suggesting that France retreat from the 1874 treaty. These recommendations included "the French government's assurances to the Vietnamese government that it harbors no idea of conquest; agreed not to set up garrisons in Quang Ninh and Lang Son provinces controlled by the Nanyang Corps;

Repeal the provisions that prohibit the Annan government from changing its current diplomatic relations with foreign countries;

France could only maintain the following: sovereignty over the six provinces of Cochinchina;

foreign trade with the ports of Tokyo; Preferential Christians. Later, Di Peret also advocated that France should not interfere with Vietnam's customary tribute to China, although this was a violation of the 1874 treaty.

The Governor of Cochinchina, Di Perre, temporarily compromised and retreated, bringing a few years of valuable peace to the northern part of Annam, but in 1879 the political situation in France changed dramatically, and the monarchy that sought to restore the monarchy came to an end with the ouster of President McMahon, who was succeeded by the republican cabinets of Gangida and Joufer.

It was two governments that fanatically advocated colonial expansion, and they replaced the Minister of Naval Colony with the more aggressive Ricchubury, a man who soon took office and was determined to turn his predecessor's paper plan to expand the invasion of the North into practical action.

On 1 October 1879, Liejuppelli replaced the conservative Di Pere and appointed Lu Mei as Governor of Cochinchina. And put forward a specific plan for Luo Feng to invade Beiqi: "In this way, it is necessary to carry out one expedition." And according to the information I received, this expedition was not only to conquer Tokyo, but also to stay there

Years. With 3,000 marines or other corps, 3,000 Annan troops, 12 gunboats, with these means of action, we can achieve our goals. ”

Guided by the aggressive strategy of the new President, the French colonial authorities repeatedly threatened the Annam government with force to fulfill the 1874 treaty and allow the Governor-General of Cochinchina to increase the number of troops stationed in the northern provinces.

In the face of the threat of the French, the Annam government used the suzerain-vassal relationship with the Manchus as a pretext, claiming that Annam was a vassal state of the Manchu court, and that if France wanted to increase the number of troops stationed in the northern provinces, it could only seek the consent of the Manchu court, and the Annam government could not bypass the Manchu government and agree to their demands alone.

The perfunctory reply of the Annam government did not satisfy the French, and at the same time that the French government ordered the minister in China to negotiate with the Manchu government on the issue of the Annam garrison, the Governor's Office of Cochinchina sent several groups of armed men to blatantly spy on the garrisons in the northern provinces of Annam in the name of expeditions, and in order to force the Annam government to submit,

At the end of 1880, the Governor of Cochinchina, Lu Mei, sent a telegram to the Minister of Naval Colony, Kluet, proposing to use a local war to defeat the military forces in northern Annam and clear the way for France to take full control of Annam.

Lu Mei's battle plan was recognized and supported by the other side, but considering that France was not yet ready for a full-scale invasion of Annam, the Minister of Naval Colony Clouer reminded Lu Mei that the scale of the war must be controlled within a certain range, and it must not turn into a full-scale war between France and Annam and the Manchus.

With Kluet's approval, the Governor's Office of Cochinchina quickly prepared the battle plan, and then all that remained was to find an appropriate excuse to carry it out.

If you want to add to the crime, there is no excuse, and the excuse for creating contradictions and conflicts is quickly found.

On February 17, 1881, Lu Mei reported to the French government that the French nationals had been stopped by soldiers of the Nanyang Legion in Quang Ninh Province: "I have received two letters from the French Consul in Hanoi today concerning the visit of two Frenchmen, Mr. Gooding and Mr. Villeroa, to Ha Long City

Affair. They had passports issued by the consulate and had planned to visit the Hongji Coal Mine as scholars. It didn't take long for the two residents to have to interrupt their trip since January

After being insulted while leaving Baohe on the 8th, they were attacked at a small castle about 40 miles from the Hongji Coal Mine, and a Malayan hired by them was shot in the thigh.

They were forced back to the provincial capital, where they had to retreat again in the face of the aggressive attitude of the Chinese soldiers, where a Chinese army of several hundred men had just arrived. Without the boatman and without the protection of the Annam authorities, the two Frenchmen had no choice but to keep going

Retreat to the confluence of the Blackwater River. According to the most recent sources, they were going to swim up another river. ”

Then, in order to expand the incident, Lu Mei applied to the French government to send a delegation of mining engineers, including Professor Fisch and Engineer Salassie and more than 20 people.

In early February, under the protection of the French colonial army, they again made a strong request to inspect the Hongji coal mine. But it was rejected by the Nanyang Legion,............

Located in the capital of Quang Ninh province, Hong Kai Coal Mine produces high-quality anthracite. The coal seam is thick and the topsoil is thin, which is conducive to open-pit mining. The mining area is more than 100 kilometers long, 15-20 kilometers wide, and has coal reserves of 2.25 billion tons. It is the most important coal base in Southeast Asia, and its proven reserves account for about 90% of the whole country.

In 1870, after the Nanyang Army discovered the area where the Hongji Coal Mine was located, it carried out full-scale mining in 1872, and the mined anthracite coal, except for a small part of it was transported back to the mainland for use, and most of it was transported to the southern part of the mainland, Thailand and other regions.

In 1874, in order to dispel the idea of the French seizing the Hongji coal mine, the Han side successively introduced Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, the United States, Spain and other influential Western countries in the Pacific region to become shareholders.

After Britain, Germany, the United States and other countries became shareholders, the mining capacity of Hongji Coal Mine increased substantially, and the high-quality anthracite mined every year was distributed to more distant areas through the colonies of Britain, the United States, Spain, the Netherlands and other countries.

On February 15, 1881, the French government sent a letter to the Vietnamese government under the pretext of the conflict, coercing the Vietnamese government to expel the Nanyang Regiment in order to ensure the safety of the French.

After the unreasonable demands of the French government were politely rejected by the Annam government, Lu Mei decided that the colonial authorities would send troops to settle the dispute.

He entrusted the task to Colonel Li Weiye, the new commander of the Cochinchina Naval Detachment, and Major Wei Yi, commander of the black African colonial army.

Born in 1827, Li Weiye entered the French Naval Academy in 1843, and served in the French Navy after graduation.

He was promoted only by seniority, and in his 50s, he received the rank of colonel. He also knew that his military career was coming to an end and that it was time to retire. While serving in the Navy, he was also engaged in literary creation, published a collection of poems, published many articles, and staged plays. In 1881, Li Weiye was appointed commander of the Cochinchina Naval Detachment. It's a and

An undesirable position, it was tasked with guarding the Indochina coast from Singapore to the Hainan Strait, as well as the rivers between Cochinchina and Cambodia. This is

Quite a tedious job, plus Europeans are not very accustomed to the local climate. So, in

Li Weiye had previously refused the appointment from two colonels, but Li Weiye accepted it without hesitation and, according to Lu Mei's urgent orders, arrived in Annam a year earlier than in history.

Since 1875, the French government has recruited black soldiers from Chad, Senegal, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Niger, French Congo and other colonies to Annam, Cambodia and Laos in the Indochina Peninsula. to get used to the hot weather there.

By the beginning of 1881, the number of black colonial troops in Indochina had reached more than 1,000, accounting for about half of the total number of French colonial troops (the French colonial army was composed of whites, Annamites and blacks, and whites only occupied a part, and the main force was a servant army composed of Annamite people. ）。

The French were more tolerant of blacks than Britain, Germany, Belgium and other countries, and in Africa, in order to facilitate rule, France vigorously pursued a policy of assimilation there. Politically, the French destroyed the original chieftaincy system and appointed governors to rule according to the French system; Culturally, French was made a prerequisite for further education, and the study of French was encouraged in the colonies. In order to co-opt the upper echelons of African tribes, the colonial elite was also actively encouraged to obtain French citizenship, and a small number of elite blacks were allowed to live in the country.

The Great Revolution of 1789 spread the ideas of democracy, freedom, and tolerance, and enabled some French people with fraternity ideas to bring these ideas to Africa.

In 1880, Major Wei Yi was recognized by the Governor as commander of the black colonial army, and in the face of the coming war, Major Wei Yi had full confidence in his soldiers.

"Lieutenant Bryant, I order you to be the commander of the forward troops, and as soon as the combat mission of His Excellency the Governor is issued, immediately take your company, according to the battle plan, first march in the direction of Ha Long, and when Colonel Li Weiye's army occupies Hanoi and Hai Phong, your troops must occupy the small town of My Lai within two days and block the connection between Kam Phu and Ha Long."

"Understand, Commander, my soldiers are all warriors of various tribes in the Congo (French Congo), and I promise to beat those yellow-skinned monkeys and not dare to turn back."

A tall black officer, grinning wide, showing a mouthful of white teeth.

"I believe in the courage of the Afrika Korps of the Republic, but this military operation is crucial, and you must restrain your troops and try to provoke as little as possible the small town of Annam on the march, so as not to delay the combat mission."

The military discipline of the troops in the colonies of European countries is generally loose, and most of the black troops under the French colonial army have not yet broken away from the primitive state of ignorance, and the military discipline and military regulations are much worse than those of the white colonial army.

If it weren't for the French colonizers' fear of intensifying the contradictions with the Annan government, causing armed resistance from the common people of Annan, and restraining the black soldiers, their destructive power would have been even greater.

"Commander, rest assured, before the combat mission is completed, my company will not take the initiative to provoke the villages of the Annan people."