Page:Chinese account of the Opium war (IA chineseaccountof00parkrich).pdf/43

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Punishments, was ordered to Kiang Si Province to be in charge of the Commissariat. General Fang arrived, after audience, in March; but the English had already taken the Wáng-tong and Bogue forts on the 5th of the 2nd Moon [the 26th February], when Admiral Kwan was killed. Over 300 guns, together with the 200 or more of foreign guns purchased by Lin, had fallen into the enemy's hands. The thousand or so of men newly arrived from Hu Nan were at once sent by K’ishen to the front. The Cantonese fled the moment the engagement began; but the Hu Nan men fought as they retreated, and half of them wore drowned, together with their Commander Siangfuh.[1] There were only two places on the Canton River narrow enough to be defended, namely, Líptak and Ishámei[2] (20 li) by the east channel, and Tái-wong Káo[3] (15 li) by the south-west. Yang Fang sent Brigadier Twan Yung-fuh[4] with 1,000 men to occupy a temple, about three miles distant south-east from Canton, and two miles inland from the river. Another Brigadier, Ch’ang Ch’un,[5] was sent to occupy Phoenix Hill, about two miles behind Tái-wong Káo. In neither case were measures taken sufficient to stop the ships. At Líptak and Ishámei, though junks filled with stones had been sunk, there were no soldiers to prevent the ships from removing them. The English

  1. 祥福
  2. 二沙尾
  3. 大黄滘
  4. 段永福
  5. 長春