The Battle of Fuzhou
Shortly before the outbreak of the Sino-French War Zhang was appointed imperial commissioner with responsibility for the defence of Fujian province. His Fujian Fleet was defeated and almost annihilated by the French Far East Squadron, under the command of Admiral Amédée Courbet, at the Battle of Fuzhou (23 August 1884).
Zhang had made no serious attempt to coordinate the resistance of the Fujian fleet, and was demoted by the Empress Dowager Cixi on 19 September 1884 and replaced as Fujian defence commissioner by the veteran general Zuo Zongtang (左宗棠). He was then exiled to serve as a soldier in Zhangjiakou, a rural town in Northeast China.
Read more about this topic: Zhang Peilun
Famous quotes containing the word battle:
“The easiest period in a crisis situation is actually the battle itself. The most difficult is the period of indecision—whether to fight or run away. And the most dangerous period is the aftermath. It is then, with all his resources spent and his guard down, that an individual must watch out for dulled reactions and faulty judgment.”
—Richard M. Nixon (1913–1995)