Edward Hobart Seymour (1840- 1929) is a British naval general. In the seventh year of Xianfeng in Qing dynasty (1857), he participated in the second opium war of aggression against China. In the first year of Tongzhi in Qing Dynasty (1862), he fought the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Army in Shanghai. Tongzhi returned to China for two years and was promoted to lieutenant general. From the 23rd year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (1897) to the 27th year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (190 1), he served as the commander of the fleet invading China, returned to China in the same year and was promoted to general. Seymour and his allies, accustomed to rampaging through China, thought that the railway from Tientsin to Beijing would facilitate their trip to Beijing. For a foreign army armed with foreign guns, this will be an immediate thing. Seymour said to his men, "This is a very smooth March. We can arrive in Beijing that evening and have dinner with the special envoy of Beijing. "
On the morning of June 10, Eight-Nation Alliance rushed into Tianjin Railway Station. When the railway authorities refused to change trains, they impounded the locomotives, which were driven by foreign employees. At 9: 30 am, the first train carrying more than 500 soldiers from Britain, America, Austria and Italy left Tianjin Railway Station. At about 1 1, the second train carried about 600 soldiers and then set out. In the afternoon, the third train carried the main force of the Coalition forces, followed by two supply trucks bound for Beijing. The train consists of buses and trucks, carrying rails and other road-building equipment, as well as several British engineers and drivers. At noon, the Coalition car passed Yangcun Station, but Nie Shicheng's troops stationed at the station did not stop it. But the railway ahead has been torn down by the Boxer Rebellion, and the telephone poles have been cut down, so we have to build roads to move forward.
On the afternoon of 1 1, the allies arrived at Lofa Station, which is 10 km south of Langfang, and were forced to stop near the big railway bridge east of Lofa Station to repair the railway. At this time, 2,000 Boxers ambushed on both sides of the railway, under the command of leader Ni Zanqing, charged the Allies on the train with broadswords and spears. The boxer shouted that after going to France, relying on the protection of the gods, they could be invulnerable and bravely rush to the enemy. Eight-Nation Alliance's rapid-fire gun and the machine gun on the front convertible immediately fired, and the bullets immediately rained down. However, the boxer made a hullabaloo about, waving broadswords and spears, and rushed to the allied train.
Wang Shan, the elder brother of Rong Ying Village, was very brave, wearing a white robe and carrying a red pagoda bag. He rushed left and right, waved a broadsword and went straight into the enemy line, grabbed the flag from the enemy and flew forward. He was about to slash at the deputy commander of the Coalition forces, McAgara, and was killed by a pistol. Liu Shun of Yuezhuang Village was killed before the charge. His son Liu Xi flew into a rage and killed the enemy without fear. Finally, he was shot. Boxer fighters braved the enemy's dense bullets and smoke, constantly rushing forward, wave upon wave, the more brave and fearless they became, and fought hand-to-hand with the Coalition forces. At this time, the American troops at the back came up to drive away the artillery bombardment, and the boxer suffered more casualties and retreated automatically.
More than 60 people died in the battle of Dongqiao, and Zhang Tingjie, the elder brother of Xi Ma Quan Village, and Guo Fenghua, the elder sister of Xia Ying Village, were seriously injured.
After the Boxer Rebellion retreated, the Allies seized Lofa Station and the powerful Wanxi coal pile nearby. In order to ensure contact with Tianjin, Seymour decided to leave 30 British troops to stick to Lofa Railway Station, under the command of Navy Major Curran, and the rest continued to build railways northward. Curran immediately built fortifications at Wanxi Coal Stack, nicknamed "American Fort" (from a warship).
Because of the serious damage to the railway, it is difficult for the allies to repair it rashly, and it takes several to crawl forward. On the morning of June 13, the invading army went near Dongxinzhuang, and a long section of railway was destroyed. When the Allies arrived, the Boxer Rebellion, which was pulling the railway, was resting at the Wang Yao Temple in Dongxinzhuang (the entrance of the Boxer Rebellion altar). When everyone heard the news, they all rushed to the railway angrily with broadswords and spears. When the Allies saw the Boxers rushing in, they immediately returned to the car and opened fire with intensive firepower. The two sides fought fiercely 1 for more than hours, and more than 50 people were killed or injured in the group. Zhou Gezhuang's brother Li Wanxiang died. The allies saw no hope of advancing and had to retreat.
13 night, the allies arrived at Langfang station. Langfang Station was built in the 23rd year of Guangxu (1897). This railway is one-way. There are more than 30 stations on the east side of the station, and there are more than 10 small merchants on both sides. To the west of the station are Caizhuang and Doufu (now merged into Caidouzhuang Village). On the east and west sides of Northwest Railway Station are Daguanzhuang Wharf. Just south of the pier are Cai Zhuang and Doufu, with a trench in the middle.
/kloc-on the morning of 0/4, the allied forces forcibly repaired the railway near Duntai Village. The boxer attacked the road-building Coalition, and the Coalition retreated to the train and returned to Langfang station to shoot. Thousands of Boxers in Dong 'an, Yongqing, Wuqing and other places heard the news and quickly surrounded Langfang Station, taking turns to attack the train. The Boxers suffered heavy casualties. It was summer, and allied trains were besieged, and water and food were gradually scarce. As a result, a train was sent back to Tianjin to get supplies and was trapped in Yangcun.
On June 15, a small group of allied troops slipped off the train, trying to grab food and drinking water from nearby villages, and were chopped by the Boxer Rebellion. Five Italian soldiers were killed on the spot, and the rest panicked and fled back to the car. At this time, the allies who stayed in Rogge were also attacked by the Boxer Rebellion, and they quickly sought help from the main allied forces in Langfang. Seymour quickly sent a train to transport the cannon back to Rogge for a rainy day.
On the morning of June 17, the allied forces discovered the activities of the Qing army in the northeast of Langfang, so they sent a small group of troops to conduct reconnaissance and fought with the cavalry of the Qing army. The two sides shot at each other and the Qing army took the initiative to retreat. This is the Dong Fuxiang Army, which was sent by the Qing government to "prohibit foreign soldiers from entering Beijing". On June 5438+08, more and more allied members besieged Langfang Railway Station, with thousands of people. Around the station, there are swords and shadows, flags like the sea and shouts like thunder. Dong Fuxiang, leader of Ganjun, ordered Yao Wang to lead more than 2,000 soldiers to ride horses in Wanzhuang, travel along the railway, bypass Zhai Zhezhuang, turn southwest, cross the railway in West Wu Cun, and drive to Beichang in the morning to discuss with the boxer leader * * * the plan to break the enemy. Later, it echoed the Boxer Rebellion, which was ambushed in the south pier of the railway, and became a horn.
At 2 pm on June 18, thousands of Boxers attacked Langfang Railway Station again. The sound of spiral trumpets, drums, shouts and the clash of swords and guns was earth-shattering, and the Boxers rushed to the station like a flood. Relying on advanced weapons, the allied forces got off and fired at the northwest to catch up. The boxers retreated like a flood when they saw the enemy get off the bus. Allies chased Duntai Village South, Caizhuang Village and Doufu Village North Field, and the short firearms of Gansu Army captains ambushed in trenches and trees opened fire together, which made the Allies reared their heads. At the same time, the Qing army in Daguanzhuang area also shot at the train. The boxer took advantage of the opportunity to kill people and started hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. The spears stabbed, the broadsword flew off and fell, and the knives were slashed, killing the allies and desperately fleeing back to the train. The Qing cavalry and the Boxers rushed out of the station, and the Allies took the railway station as a bunker. The machine guns, rifles and cannons in the car fired wildly at the Boxer Rebellion. Fengcun's brother was shot in the chest. He still put his hand over his chest, raised his broadsword and rushed forward for more than ten steps before he fell down. Under the joint attack of the Boxer Rebellion and the Gansu Army, the Allies suffered heavy losses and had to retreat in the direction of Tianjin.
The battle started at 2 pm and ended at 4 pm. More than 50 allied troops were killed and injured 100. More than 500 people were killed in the Boxer Rebellion, more than 200 people were killed in the Qing Army and more than 300 people were injured. Yao Wang, the general of the Qing army, was also injured. The soldiers killed in the Qing army were collectively buried in the cooking village, which was called "the tomb of the Qing army" by the people.
After the Seymour Coalition retreated to Yangcun, the railway to Tianjin was destroyed and had to camp at Yangcun Station. 18 night, under the cover of moonlight, the Boxer Rebellion sneaked into the allied camp, slashed the allied soldiers with knives, and immediately bloodied, killing more than 0/0 allied troops/kloc-0, but the Boxer Rebellion did not lose.
19, Seymour lamented that "the road to Beijing is poor" and "only the plan to return to Tianjin is feasible". So he abandoned the car and hijacked the ship, carried the wounded and abandoned the trench, and was retreated to Tianjin by the British, French and Italian Coalition forces along the North Canal, looting and burning five villages along the way, killing many civilians. Boxers and the Qing army followed suit and banned them everywhere. On the 22nd, the Allies arrived in Xigu, seized the Xigu armory, and held fast to the aid. On 26th, Russian and British troops arrived in Xigu and took Seymour's remnants back to Tianjin Concession.
Langfang triumph, from 10 to 18, lasted for 9 days, and 62 people were killed and 332 injured in Eight-Nation Alliance. Nearly a thousand people were killed or injured by the Boxers, the Qing army and civilians. Seymour recalled afterwards: "If the weapons used by the Boxers were modern guns, then the allied forces I led would be wiped out."