Engagement between. French and Chinese troops at Tumsui, Memorial from Ming-chuan, published in Manuscript Peking Gazette of November 11th 1884. Director of Affaire in Formosa, who holds His Majesty's Slave Liu Ming-chuan,
the brevet of Provincial Governor, humbly submits the following report, showing how the enemy's troops were larided and attacked Hu-wei, when our troops fought a sanguiary battle and gained a victory.
the Memorialist has already ro His Majesty the details of attack by different divisions of the French fleet upon Hu-wei, and of the energetic resistance that was offered by detachments of the Chinese troops selected as reinforcements for that place.
On the 4th of October the French fleet was reinforced by three vessels making a total of eight in all, and these opened fire from their heavy guns against the Hu-wei forts, the cannonade being kept up on successive days. So unintermittent and fierce was this fire that our troops were unable to maintain their ground, and Sun K'ai-hua, Chang Kao-yuan and Liu Chao-yn had no resource but to conceal their troops in the woods which skirted the shore, where the men remained on the alert, passing the nights in the open air afraid to take any rest whatsoever. At 5am, on the 8th the enemy's ships suddenly dispersed, and Sun K'ai-hua, feeling assured from certain indications that a force would be landed, directed Kung Chan-ao, the officer in charge of the right wing of the Cho Sheng regiment, to conceal himself in a place known as Chia Chiang, or "dummy creek," Li Ting-ming, who commanded the contra ivisionof thesamoregiment, having orders to lie in ambush in a place calle Ya-ch's K'ou, while Fan Hui-yi, officer in command of the rear division, was directed to hold himself in reserve in the rear. Chang Kao-yuan and Liu Chao-yn ensconced themselves with two battalions, each from different regiments, behind the hill at the back of the large fort in order to prevent the enemy from circumventing our forces, and a battalion of the hillman enrolled by Li T'ung-en, under Chang Lich'éng, were concealed' in a gully in the hill on the northern road.
These arrangements had just been completed when a lateral fire was opened by the enemy's ships, which discharged no less than several hundred rounds from their heavy guns, filling the sky with smoke and Hask flame, the shell falling round like hail. While this fire was going on, about a thousand of the enemy's troops were em= barked in launches and foreign boats and Ianded at three points on the shore, from whence they made a straight rush for the fort, their bearing being fierce in the extreme.
enemy were pressing close upon As soon as Leh Seen saw toe te. Stopped Geir advance ab different points
Wo'the attack from the northern road. The Ghaue Beaoy Li Soe ug ent Fan Hui-yuan: othersadvanci enemy's men were armed with weapons of precision and fought with all their might, the struggle lasting without intermission from 7 a.m. till noon, Time after time were they driven back, but they advanced again and again. Our men engaged them fiercely at close quarters, Chang Li-ching attacking them on the flank, while Sun K'ai-hua assailed them boldly in the front and killed a standard Doarer capturing the flag which he carried. The zeal of our men was increased when they witnessed the capture of the flag, @ simultaneous rush was made from every side upon the enemy, twenty-five of whom werebeheaded, amongst them two officers, exclusive of about three hundred killed by musketry fire. The enemy, being unable to hold their own, finally broke and fled, our men pursue ing them to the sea shore, where some seventy or more were drowned in the struggle to get to the boats. The enemy's ships while endeavouring to cover this retreat with their guns struck one of their own steam-launches, and a Gatling gun which had been left behind was captured by our men.
The two divisions under the command of *99" Sun K'aichua were the foremost to carry out his plans, and bore the brunt of the fight for a longer period than any others they had consequently the largest number of casualties, three lieutenants being killed and over a hundred privates. All the other battalions also suffered loss.
The above particulars of the victory were reported to the Memorialist by Sun K'ai-hua, and he would draw attention to the fierce attack made by the enemy's troops on this occasion upon the port of Hu-wei, when they landed their men with a fixed determination to gain the day, the intensity of their resolve to fight to the death being evidenced by the fact that their boats st out to seaas soon as the men had been landed, in order to cut off their retreat. After the destruction of the fort our men had no guns to protect them, and had to rely solely on their own muscle in the deadly struggle that took place. Though shot and shell rained down upon them their courage never failed them, nor did they once flinch, and in spite of the odds against them they managed to behead the standard-bearer and frustrate the fierce intentions of the foe, therein assuredly displaying energy of no ordinary kind.
The Memorialist then proceeds to mention certain of the most deserving officers, naming the form of reward which he sug-jonid be bestowed on each, Sun ai-hua heads the list, his name being 5 followed by that of the commanders of the battalions who led the van of the fight.
'A list of the rewards bestowed upon the most prominent of those officers will found in the Decree of 7th November, announcing the victory.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.