Lang Son Campaign

Part of the Sino-French War, Tonkin Campaign

Capture of Lang Son, 13 February 1885

Date	3 to 13 February 1885
Location	Lang Son, northern Vietnam
Result	French victory

Belligerents

France

French Colonies

Qing dynasty

Commanders and leaders

Louis Brière de l'Isle

François de Négrier

Laurent Giovanninelli

Pan Dingxin

Strength

7,200 combatants
4,500 coolies

20,000 men

Casualties and losses

The Lang Son Campaign (3 to 13 February 1885) was a major French offensive in Tonkin (northern Vietnam) during the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885). The Tonkin Expeditionary Corps, under the command of General Louis Brière de l'Isle, defeated the Chinese Guangxi Army and captured the strategically important town of Lang Son in a ten-day campaign mounted under formidable logistical constraints.

French strategy in Tonkin was the subject of a bitter debate in the Chamber of Deputies in late December 1884. The army minister General Jean-Baptiste-Marie Campenon argued that the French should consolidate their hold on the Delta. His opponents urged an all-out offensive to throw the Chinese out of northern Tonkin. The debate culminated in Campenon’s resignation and his replacement as army minister by the hawkish General Jules Lewal. On 5 January 1885 Lewal ordered Brière de l’Isle to 'capture Lang Son as soon as possible'.

Long-range planning for a campaign against Lang Son had been underway for several months, and Brière de l’Isle had already assembled large French forces at the French forward base of Chu on the Luc Nam River, which had been occupied by the French in the wake of the Kep Campaign (October 1884). On 3 and 4 January 1885 General de Négrier attacked and defeated a substantial detachment of the Guangxi Army that had concentrated around the nearby village of Nui Bop to try to disrupt the French preparations. De Nègrier's victory at Nui Bop, won at odds of just under one to ten, was regarded by his fellow-officers as the most spectacular professional triumph of his career.

Logistical arrangements for the Lang Son campaign were formidable. It would take the column around ten days to advance to the outskirts of Lang Son. The troops would be burdened with the weight of their provisions and equipment, and would have to march through extremely difficult country. The nights, in Tonkin in February, would be bitterly cold. Supplying the column with food and ammunition would tax the ingenuity of the marine infantry officers responsible for the mule trains and the coolies. It took the French a month to complete their preparations for the campaign, but by the end of January 1885, Brière de l’Isle had assembled an expeditionary column of just under 7,200 troops, accompanied by 4,500 coolies, at Chu.

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