The commander of the French fleet, Gu Ba, integrated eight warships in Chinese waters and four warships from Vietnam into the Far East Fleet, and drove mightily towards Mawei, Fujian, and sailed into the mouth of the Minjiang River in Fujian, each of which had a displacement of more than 1,000 tons, and a total displacement of nearly 20,000 tons, all of which were ironclad ships, 100 heavy guns, 3,000 officers and men, and were followed by two torpedo boats.

Zhang Peilun did not have any actual combat experience, but in the court of the Forbidden City, he was impassioned to meet the French ships and artillery. When I arrived at the front line, I saw the lonely fleet, and my face was as frightened as a frosted eggplant, and I realized how painfully: "The number of ships is slightly equal, and I am small and big, and I am brittle and strong, so what can I do?" ”

At that time, the Fujian Navy Division had 15 wooden warships such as Wan Nianqing, Meiyun, Fuxing, Fubo, Anlan, Zhenhai, Yangwu, Feiyun, Chaowu, Jingyuan, Zhenwei, Ji'an, Yongbao, Chenhang, and Daya, and purchased Haidongyun, Changsheng, and Jianwei from abroad, a total of 18 warships, but most of these 18 warships were wooden warships, each with a tonnage of about three or four hundred tons, and the tonnage added up was only half of the Guba fleet. This is equivalent to a boxing match, where a lightweight fights a heavyweight against a heavyweight, which is simply looking for death.

What's even worse is that the French [***] ship is equipped with large-caliber rifled guns, as well as Haqikaisi five-barreled rotary guns that fire 60 rounds per minute, and a total of 44 guns of the Fujian Navy Division, all of which are old-style smoothbore guns, and it takes half an hour to fill a shot. There is also a gap in the power of artillery, the French artillery can easily penetrate the wooden ribbed deck of the Fujian Naval Division, and the artillery of the Fujian Naval Division may not be able to hit the iron armor of the French fleet with seven or eight cannons.

That is, in terms of tonnage, protection capabilities, firepower, the French fleet has a clear advantage. After inspecting the coastal front line for several days, Zhang Peilun finally understood why Li Hongzhang insisted on negotiating peace again and again. But it was too late, and he had already boasted in the court that he wanted to teach the French a lesson.

Although Zhang Peilun had no combat experience, he was not stupid, and knew that this naval battle could not be fought at all, so he hurriedly telegraphed to the imperial court and asked for additional warships from the Beiyang Naval Division to be reinforced.

Empress Dowager Cixi asked the new Beiyang Minister Zhang Shusheng's opinion, Zhang Shusheng was not stupid, knowing that at this time to send a warship to Fujian must have no return, and refused: "Before Lord Zhongtang went home, he told me that the task of the Beiyang Navy Division is to protect the Bohai Sea and defend the Beijing Division. Besides, the Dingyuan ship and the Zhenyuan ship customized by the Beiyang Navy Division have not yet returned to China......"

The Empress Dowager Cixi was the most reluctant to hear about the history of blood and tears when the British and French forces entered Yanjing City, so she quickly interrupted Zhang Shusheng's speech impatiently: "Then forget it."

Zhang Peilun received a reply from the imperial court that Beiyang did not come to support, and was desperate, so he sent a telegram again, asking the Nanyang Navy Division to go for reinforcements. When Shen Baozhen, minister of Nanyang, heard this, he also shook his head: "A few days ago, Liu Mingchuan wrote to me that Taiwan needs warship support, and our Nanyang Naval Division has sent five ships to Taiwan to support. Besides, the ship of the Nanyang Navy Division is also a wooden boat, whether you go to Fujian or not, the result will be the same. ”

Shen Baozhen not only refused to support, but also gave a jail to the Empress Dowager Cixi, "I think my Nanyang Navy Division wanted to buy an ironclad warship back then, and the imperial court didn't support it." One million and 300,000 taels of silver were all in my account, and they were also allocated to the Beiyang Naval Division. ”

Zhang Peilun, who was isolated and helpless, came to his senses completely: it is better to rely on the heavens and the earth and the court than on himself! Naval warfare is not good, I can fight on land, so I hurried to the Mawei Fort to check, and the result made Zhang Peilun's heart completely "frozen": the Mawei Fort only has eight old-fashioned smoothbore guns with a caliber of 12 centimeters, and there are more than 1,000 Qing troops, and the weapons and equipment are all old-fashioned breech guns, and black smoke bills bills out as soon as they fire, and the firepower is not much stronger than that of the bird.

Zhang Peilun looked at the listless Qing soldiers around him, his eyes darkened, and he fainted suddenly. The Qing soldiers beside him hurriedly brought chili water or something to first aid, and the soldiers with ox forks unbuttoned their pants and prepared to use child urine for topping.

Zhang Peilun woke up in time, stood up, pushed away the soldiers who were supporting him, and looked around at Mawei Harbor. He was blowing the sea breeze and looking at the vast sea, where the waves were turbulent, just as he was feeling at the moment. He watched a round of blood-colored sun slowly sink to the bottom of the sea, and wanted to jump into the sea, but he was alive, but suddenly he had a flash of inspiration, and suddenly he had the "suspicious strategy" of a "genius". He was immediately as excited as a chicken blood, and ordered the Qing army to fill the entire port with various military flags, and when the military flags in the camp ran out, they went to the cloth village in the city to buy them.

It's a pity that this guy has learned the "Art of War" and completely ignores these [***] colored flags, and on the morning of the third day of the seventh month, Guba took the "Triumphant" warship and led twelve French ships straight to Mawei Harbor. He received the order of the French political axe to go to war, and immediately issued an ultimatum to Zhang Peilun: the Fujian Navy Division should withdraw from Mawei Port before five o'clock in the afternoon.

Zhang Peilun was very angry, Mawei Port belongs to us Chinese, why do we want Chinese ships to leave? Vexatious! Let's fight, he took the warship "Zhenwei" to fight alone.

Zhang Peilun didn't know who he had listened to to "don't fire first", so he led eleven warships to meet the lonely fleet, and he stupidly didn't fire the cannons. So Guba ordered the "Triumph" to concentrate its firepower and give the "Zhenwei" two shots.

"Zhenwei" was hit on the port side at once, the cabin began to enter the water, the ship began to sink, Zhang Peilun was very brave, ordered to return fire, the Qing soldiers and sailors began to slowly fill the old smoothbore gun with explosives, slowly aimed at the "Triumph", slowly fired, one shot hit! It's a pity that it was not the "Triumph" that hit, but the "Volda" next to it, which managed to kill five French sailors!

Before Zhang Peilun could order the "Zhenwei" to fire the second cannon, the "Triumph" made up two more cannons, and the "Zhenwei" immediately lost too much blood and was gameover!

The next scene, I can't bear to describe, the Qing soldiers are very brave and patriotic, but unfortunately no one commands them, the Fujian Navy Division's Fusheng, Yongbao, Jiansheng and other ten warships were sunk by the French artillery fire or torpedoes one after another, Mawei Shipyard was hit by artillery fire, the fire burned violently along the sea breeze, the raging fire engulfed the entire Mawei Port, Zhang Peilun's suspicious flags were also burned, billowing black smoke could be seen everywhere, and the Qing soldiers who were on fire and wailing on their bodies "plopped" and jumped straight into the East China Sea.

The war is over, Zhang Peilun didn't die, he climbed ashore with a piece of wood, he was soaked, his hair was scattered, his eyes were red, he was standing by the river with a broken command knife, looking at the corpses of the Qing army washed ashore by the bright red sea, he was full of tears, and his heart was full of infinite sadness.

In that battle, the Fujian Navy Division was annihilated, and the news reached the Qing court, and the government and the opposition were shocked. Zhang Peilun became the target of public criticism for a while, and everyone said that he could be killed! In the past, the officials who were brought down by him, the Qingliu who had low eyes, the gentry and the common people in Fujian, the families of the soldiers who lost their loved ones, and the scholars who had not experienced the war, jumped out one by one to scold Zhang Peilun for being an incompetent rat and bringing disaster to the country and the people. Zhang Peilun's stigma quickly overshadowed all the people he had scolded, and the wind stinked for thousands of miles, and the old, weak, women and children were all unheard.

At this time, there was only one person in the entire Qing Empire who bravely stood up and spoke for Zhang Peilun, and this person turned out to be: Li Hongzhang! He told the Empress Dowager Cixi a big truth: "The fault is not Zhang Peilun, whoever goes to Fujian will have the same result!" ”

Of course, Li Hongzhang was invited by the imperial court. Empress Dowager Cixi and Prince Gong forced Li Hongzhang to relieve the "Ding Worry", reinstate the official, and go to negotiate with the French again after his comeback.

Li Hongzhang's attitude at this time has taken a 180-degree turn: strive for the main battle!

Prince Gong was afraid that the French would hit Yanjing City again, so he asked Li Hongzhang to talk about it first.

As a result, as soon as the French minister to China, Delikau spoke: "Claim 80 million francs for the war reparations and pay it off within five years." Li Hongzhang looked serious, clenched his fists, and waved at Deligu in the face, leaving Deligu stunned and leaving without looking back.

Returning to the Prime Minister's Yamen, Li Hongzhang said to Prince Gong: Let's go all out to fight, China has a lot of land and resources, and it can engage in a protracted war with the French. Otherwise, I will go back to my hometown to keep filial piety for my mother.

Prince Gong played the decision of the Empress Dowager Cixi, the Empress Dowager Cixi heard that Li Hongzhang was going to fight, and her mood was suddenly very good, Li Hongzhang climbed out of the pile of dead people, rich combat experience, she has always trusted Li Hongzhang, since Li Hongzhang said that he could fight, then fight.

Li Hongzhang wanted full operational command, and the Empress Dowager Cixi didn't say a word, so he didn't have to report to Prince Gong's military aircraft department anymore, "You do things, I don't worry!" ”

Li Hongzhang immediately secretly ordered Song Xiaofei to bring 2,000 Huai troops into Taiwan to assist Liu Mingchuan in defense; The veteran Feng Zicai commanded 15,000 Qing troops to defend the "Zhennan Pass" in Guangxi, and the end of the French invaders was immediately in front of him!;