Chapter 175: The Allied Forces of the Eight Nations
Then the U.S. Army Department set up a military area in the Philippines. However, just when various countries were preparing to see how the Far East would respond, the Far East and Russia signed a number of secret naval agreements in Seoul, North Korea.
The toughness of the Far East and the alliance with Tsarist Russia made various countries feel strongly dissatisfied. Then they increased the pressure on the Qing government. On May 20, the foreign missions in Beijing held a special meeting, and then strongly demanded that the Qing government suppress it.
On the 21st of the Boxer Rebellion, the British, American, French and German ministers in China again sent a note to the Qing government, urging severe suppression of the Boxer Rebellion and punishment of officials who failed to suppress it.
The Qing government immediately ordered a strict ban on the Boxer Rebellion and sent many groups of troops to participate in the suppression. Thousands of Boxers set up an ambush in Shiting and killed Yang Futong. This was known as the Laishui Victory. This execution of officials shocked the Qing government, and subsequently Zhili
Along the Lubao Railway in central China, about 30,000 Boxers occupied Zhuozhou City. The prefect Gong Yinpei had no choice but to go on a hunger strike and wait for death. This was the first state city occupied and controlled by the Boxers. After that, the Qing government sent Nie Shicheng and others to participate in the suppression.
The Boxers fought many times, but at this time, the Boxer Movement in the Zhili area had already presented an invincible situation.
The rapid development of the Boxer Rebellion caused great panic in various countries. They all asked the Qing government to take measures to eliminate the Boxer Rebellion. Under the pressure of foreign forces, the Empress Dowager Cixi, who actually controlled the political situation, issued multiple edicts strictly prohibiting the Boxer Rebellion and organized troops to encircle and suppress it.
, but due to various reasons, it was difficult to extinguish the Boxer Rebellion for the time being. At the suggestion of Bishop Fan Guoliang of Xishiku Church in Beijing, which was the main church of foreign Catholics at that time, the major powers planned to send embassy guards into Beijing on May 28.
However, it was immediately rejected by the Qing government. Finally, it was forced to agree on May 31, but proposed that "20 to 30 people should be the leader." As a result, the great powers sent more than 400 people to Beijing, which greatly exceeded the restrictions of the Qing government. Later, the great powers
Seymour was sent to Beijing with 2,000 people. These actions posed a serious threat to the Qing government.
The foreign powers' forced march to Beijing and the Boxer Rebellion's resistance to foreign armies caused the Qing court's attitude toward the Boxer Rebellion to begin to change. Faced with the aggressive posture of the foreign powers, the differences within the Qing court between those who advocated peace and those who advocated war, and those who advocated suppression and those who advocated pacification became more serious. The Qing government
On June 5, Zhao Shuqiao and He Naiying were sent to Zhuozhou to "persuade" the Boxer Rebellion. However, gradually the Qing government began to recognize the Boxer Rebellion as a legal organization. This attitude directly led to a large number of Boxer Rebellion entering Beijing in early June.
In the early days, relations between the Boxers and foreigners in Beijing were tense, but no large-scale bloodshed occurred.
In this regard, while the Qing government continued to issue orders to suppress the Boxer Rebellion to eliminate the reasons for the great powers to send troops, it also mobilized troops to enter Beijing to prevent unexpected events. The Wuwei Rear Army (Gan Army) led by Dong Fuxiang, who was hostile to foreigners, was there.
On June 9, he was transferred to Beijing to garrison. On June 11, Japanese Secretary Sugiyama Bin went to greet the Seymour Allied Forces entering Beijing, but was killed by Gan Jun outside Yongding Gate. Afterwards, Minister Ronglu went to the Japanese Embassy to apologize in person.
On June 12, a fire broke out in the church outside Donghua Gate in Beijing, and many parishioners fled north. This was the first incident related to the Boxer Rebellion's entry into Beijing. Then the situation in Beijing deteriorated rapidly; on June 14, Klind led a group of sailors to
Ranked above the inner city, the Boxers were found practicing, and they immediately issued orders to fire, killing more than 20 people on the spot. On the 15th, the Boxers besieged the Xishiku Cathedral in Beijing. On June 17, the Eight-Power Allied Forces suddenly sent troops to capture the cathedral.
At Dagu Fort, the Far East announced that it had entered a first-level strategic situation that day. The five Army Field Armies and the Northeast Field Army stationed in North Korea were on standby at the Yalu River border.
All the naval fleet ships in the Far East have entered the designated controlled sea area. The army personnel are not strong, and the naval guns are not discharged. An unprecedented tense situation is about to break out. At this time, the Gengzi Incident occurred. Empress Dowager Cixi ordered the killing of all countries including
On the 21st, the Qing government declared war on all foreign powers, including ministers.
The Eight-Nation Allied Forces were the Empire of Japan, the United States of America, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the British Empire, the Third French Republic, the German Empire, the Kingdom of Italy and the Russian Empire. They each sent an army of 8,000 Japanese troops and 4,800 Russian troops.
There were 3,000 British troops, 2,100 American troops, 800 French troops, 53 Italian troops, and 50 Austrian troops.
There were about 50 warships and about 540 Marines, and the total number of troops dispatched was 23,540. Among the eight countries, Japan sent the largest number of troops, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire sent the smallest number of 75 symbolic troops. Japan became the main force of the Eight-Nation Allied Forces.
After receiving such news, Li Ningyu slapped the table on the spot and said something like this: "Okay! Little Japan, you are seeking death on your own, and I will completely destroy you on behalf of the descendants of Yan and Huang!".
At this time, Japan, after its defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, had received support from the United States, Britain, France, Germany and other countries, and its newly established combined naval fleet was already more superior than its original strength. However, this time they sent troops to Beijing.
To defend the Far East, no new combined fleet was dispatched, but this does not mean that they will be safe and sound.
At this time, the Far East already has three major naval fleets. Although they cannot effectively block various sea areas in terms of tonnage and strength, they are still very confident in dealing with small-scale fleets.
On June 21, after the Qing government declared war on all the major powers, the Far East representative and the Qing government representative Prince Gong signed an open military alliance agreement in Beijing, and then publicly notified the eight countries. Immediately, Tsarist Russia and Austria-Hungary withdrew from the eight-nation alliance.
, and also withdrew the naval fleet from the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea.
Regarding this sudden change in the Far East, various countries subsequently conducted secret negotiations. However, even if Tsarist Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire withdrew, the coalition still had 45 warships and 20,000 troops, but they also knew that they were facing 800,000 troops deployed on the Yalu River.
With an elite army in the Far East, they still didn't have much chance of winning, so they adopted a roundabout approach.
First, they continued to garrison at Dagukou, and then ordered the armies of each colony to advance into the Qing Dynasty. They seemed to be prepared to eat the Qing Dynasty in one bite, which also put immense pressure on the Qing government.
India, Vietnam, Myanmar and other places sent troops at the same time. The Far East also responded immediately. The Eighth Field Army originally stationed in Taiwan consisted of 150,000 people and a Taiwanese garrison, totaling 200,000 army soldiers. After consultation with the Qing government,
Escorted by the Far Southeast China Sea Fleet, it arrived at Hainan Island and was stationed there. It seemed that preparations were made to send troops to Vietnam and Myanmar at any time.
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