The so-called Battle of Zhenhai (Chinese: 镇海之役) was a minor confrontation on 1 March 1885 between Admiral Amédée Courbet's Far East Squadron (escadre de l’extrême-Orient) and Chinese warships and shore batteries near the coastal city of Zhenhai, 12 miles downstream of Ningbo, during the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885). The 'battle' is of some interest because the French and Chinese sources disagree sharply on what happened. French source...
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The so-called Battle of Zhenhai (Chinese: 镇海之役) was a minor confrontation on 1 March 1885 between Admiral Amédée Courbet's Far East Squadron (escadre de l’extrême-Orient) and Chinese warships and shore batteries near the coastal city of Zhenhai, 12 miles downstream of Ningbo, during the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885). The 'battle' is of some interest because the French and Chinese sources disagree sharply on what happened. French sources treated the encounter as a minor incident, while Chinese sources celebrated it as a striking defensive victory. The 'battle of Zhenhai' is still commemorated in China as an important Chinese victory in the Sino-French War.
In early February 1885 part of Admiral Courbet's Far East Squadron left Keelung to head off a threatened attempt by part of the Chinese Nanyang Fleet (Southern Seas fleet) to break the French blockade of Formosa (Taiwan). On 11 February Courbet's task force met the cruisers Kaiji (開濟), Nanchen (南琛) and Nanrui (南瑞), three...
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