·集结在天津大沽口外的联军舰队

        清光绪二十六年(1900)五月六日,八国联军24艘军舰,为了配合西摩尔侵略军进犯北京,加紧向大沽口集结。五月十日 (6月6日),各帝国主义国家的军舰,于大沽口外水域,增加到32艘。
        此日,侵犯大沽口的八国军舰的高级军官,在 “百人长”号舰上,策划镇压义和团、占领大沽炮台的阴谋。充当进犯大沽口主力的,是俄太平洋舰队司令基利杰·勃兰特中将率领的俄国舰队。五月十九日(6月15日),各国舰队司令在俄舰上举行联席会议,决定以“保护铁路和天津外侨”为名采取行动。会后,派300名日军,占领塘沽车站; 250名俄、法联军,去占领军粮城站。
        五月二十日(6月16日),各国舰队司令再次集会,决定夺取炮台。经过策划,密令停泊在内河的日、德、法舰艇,所谓的保护车站和海关,前移至塘沽车站附近,以接运外侨。同时,有德、意、日、奥等国组成的突击队900余人,乘暮色苍茫偷偷登岸,埋伏于北岸炮台后侧; 同一天,俄巡洋舰“科尔尼洛夫将军”号,从旅顺运来168名俄军,也被用驳船运到塘沽,与登陆的联军陆战队汇合,配合登陆联军夹攻炮台; 并由 “海狸”号舰长杜勃罗沃斯基,负责发布战斗信号。
        五月二十日 (6月16日)晚8时,各国舰队司令,在基利杰·勃兰特领衔下,共同签署向守卫大沽炮台的天津镇总兵罗荣光和直隶总督裕禄发出最后通牒,限令二十一日 (17日) 2时前交出炮台。罗荣光大义凛然,严词拒绝了联军的无理要求; 同时,饬令各营作好战斗准备,决心保卫炮台。
        五月二十一日 (6月17日)零点50分,在“最后通牒”规定时间之前,联军舰队悍然向炮台发动进攻。大沽口南岸各炮台由罗荣光和协副将韩照琦指挥,北岸炮台由管带封德胜负责防守。当敌舰开火后,炮台守军立即开炮还击,南炮台发出的头一发炮弹便击中了“高丽”号船身,使该舰起火燃烧。联军各舰受创,惊惶后退; 继尔,又集中炮火进行反扑。此时,早先登岸、埋伏在炮台后侧的敌人陆战队,也分左、中、右3路向北岸炮台逼近。黎明时,炮台守军发现了陆上进攻的敌人,便以枪炮进行阻击。
        激战中,日军指挥官服部中佐被击毙。而炮台守军也腹背受敌,弹药库被击起火,伤亡十分惨重。北洋水师的4艘鱼雷艇,未作有效抵抗就被英舰俘获,巡洋舰“海容”号,则被敌舰勒令熄火,监视停泊于内河不得移动。大沽船坞被俄鱼雷艇水兵占据。致使炮台孤立无援,至晨6时30分,大沽各炮台被先后攻陷。
        在历时6个小时的战斗中,共打死敌人23人,毙伤敌人130多名,击伤敌舰6艘。守卫炮台的万名清军,伤亡1000余人(其中战死300多人),协副将韩照琦受重伤,管带封德胜战死。身负重伤的罗荣光在炮台失陷后,率残部撤至新城(另一说又退回天津),并于天津城失陷前3天,自刎殉职。
        联军攻陷大沽炮台后,立即大批登陆,占据塘大地区各村镇,并由水陆两路大举向天津、北京进犯。而孤立于敌后的北塘炮台,在总兵李安堂驻守下,拒绝投降,坚持了3个多月,直到八月二十七日(9月20日)才被联军攻陷。
        联军侵占塘大地区后,大肆烧杀抢掠。据新编《塘沽区志》记载: 在大沽附近,枪杀了无数未及逃脱的居民; 在塘沽,举火焚烧了3昼夜,使这个原有“五万人口的大镇,转眼间变得无华人足迹” ; 原有1000多户人家的新河,被侵略军杀得只剩下300来户,而且是人走楼空。联军统帅瓦德西在日记中供认: “塘沽到天津间的所有村庄都被联军焚毁,整个白河已变成一片荒野。”联军在北塘疯狂屠戮老人和妇孺,以排枪射杀乘船逃难的民众,染红了蓟运河水。据俄军记者记述: “这个小镇的居民陷于绝望之中,一些奄奄一息的妇女身边还带着孩子,孩子仍然偎依在已经死去了的母亲怀里……” 当时流传着这样的说法: “塘沽一扫光,新河半拉子庄,北塘三排枪。”这是帝国主义侵略者,对天津人民犯下的滔天罪行。
        On May 6,1900 (the 26th year of Emperor Guangxu),the allied forces dispatched 24 warships to assemble atthe waters of Dagukou to co-operate with the invasionof Seymour to Beijing. A month later,the number ofwarships increased to 32.
        The main force was Russian fleet led by thecommander of Russian Fleet of Pacific Ocean. On June16,a united conference was held at a Russian warship.The commanders decided to launch actions in the nameof "protecting railways and expetriates in Tianjin." Afterthe conference,300 Japanese soldiers occupied TangguRailway Station; 250 Russian and French soldiersinvaded Junliangcheng Railway Station.
        On June 16,the commanders of the alliedforces held a meeting again,planning to attack theemplacements. The warships of Japan,Germany andFrance stationed in the inner river were ordered secretlyto sail to the waters near Tanggu Station. A commandoof 900 soldiers from Germany,Italy,Japan and Austrialanded and ambushed from the back of the emplacementat the north bank. A Russian cruiser carried 168 soldiersfrom Lvshun and joined the allied fleet.
        On June 16,commanders signed an ultimatumand sent it to Luo Rongguan and Yv Lu,who wereresponsible for the defense of the Dagu Emplacement.Luo refused the allied forces` requirement. He orderedhis soldiers to be prepared,determined to defend theemplacement.
        At 0:50 am,June 17th,the allied fleet attackedthe emplacement before the time set by the ultimatum.Luo and his assistant Han Zhaoqi commanded thesouthern ramparts. Guandai Liu Defeng took charge ofthe defense of the northern ramparts. The army of theemplacement fired with artillery. The first shoot from thesouthern ramparts hit the ship "Korea". The allied fleetfled at first,but later returned and continued to attackthe emplacement. At the same time,the enemy`s marine-corps that was hide in the back of the emplacementbeforehand,started to attack the northern ramparts fromthree directions. At dawn,the Chinese army detected theenemies on land and fired.
        In the fierce battle,the Japanese commander wasshot dead. Casualties of the stationed army were alsolarge. Its ammunition magazine was hit by the gunfireand caused fire. The four torpedo ship was captured bythe UK warships without effective resistance. The cruiser"Hairong" was forced to flameout and stayed in the innerriver. As Dagu port was occupied by Russian soldiers,the emplacement could not get any help and was lost tothe hands of the enemy at 6:30 am.
        In the six-hour battle,Chinese army totally killed23 enemies and wounded over 130. Six of the enemy`swarships were sunken. 300 or so Chinese soldiers losttheir lives,over 700 people got wounded. Han zhaoqiwas seriously wounded; Guandai Feng Desheng waskilled. Luo Rongguang,who was also badly hurt,led theleft army and retreated to Xin city after the emplacementwas lost,and committed suicide 3 hours before Tianjinwas lost to the enemy.
        After the emplacement was lost,the allied forceslanded and occupied towns and villages in the area.It began to march to invade Tianjin and Beijing. Theisolated Beitang emplacement,led by Director LiAntang,refused to surrender and fight for three moremonths. It wasn`t occupied by the allied forces untilSeptember 20th.
        The allied forces robbed and killed local peopleafter they occupied Tangda area. According to thenewly-compiled Tanggu Annals,lots of civilians werekilled and shot dead in the area. In Tanggu,the fire setby the allied forces lasted for three days and nights."The prosperous town with a population of 50 thousandpeople was desolated." Among the over 1000 families inXinhe,only 300 family survived the invader`s massacre.The commander-in-chief of the allied forces,A.G. vonWalsersee,confessed in his diary: "All the villages alongthe way between Tanggu and Tianjin were burned bythe allied army; Baihe area had turned into wilderness."In Beitang area,the civilians,old or young,women orchildren,were killed by the allied forces. Their bloodturned Jinyun River in red. A Russian journalist wrote:"Residents in this town were in despair. Women attheir last gasp caught the hands of their children. Somechildren still snuggled to their mothers who were alreadydead." A saying went like this,"Tabggy was flattened;Xintang was left with half of the villages; Beitang wasstill attacked by gunfire. All was done by the alliedforces." This is the unforgivable sin committed by theinvaders of the allied forces.

        

·西摩尔指挥的旗舰,英舰森特隆 “万人长”号,
        行驶在中国领海