鸦片战争浙东海上反击战考实——以侵华英军文献为中心

An Investigation of Naval Counterattacks in Eastern Zhejiang during the Opium War——Focusing on British Military Documents

1841年8月,英军发动鸦片战争第二次侵华行动,10月,英军相继占领浙江定海、镇海、宁波。清军计划于三地同日举兵以收复失地,但以岱山为策源地的浙东海上反击战未能如期展开,其因成谜。清人贝青乔在其《咄咄吟》一书中称驻岱山清军畏惧英军,不敢出战。此论对后人正确认识及评价这段历史造成较大影响。据英军文献记载,英军在侦知情报后,数次对岱山展开围剿,打乱了清军海上作战计划;但清军依旧在敌严密防范下展开各项准备,并于1842年4月14日发动大规模海上反击战,影响了英军进攻杭州的作战计划,彰显了中国军民反抗侵略的坚强意志。

In August 1841,the British forces initiated the second invasion of China during the First Opium War.By October,the British had successively occupied the cities of Dinghai,Zhenhai,and Ningbo in Zhejiang province.The Qing military planned to launch simultaneous offensives in these three areas to reclaim the lost territories.However,the counterattacks in the eastern Zhejiang region,with Daishan as the strategic hub,failed to commence as scheduled,leaving the reasons for this delay as a mystery.In his book Duoduo Yin,Qing scholar Bei Qingqiao claimed that the Qing troops stationed in Daishan were intimidated by the British forces and thus reluctant to engage in combat.This assertion has significantly influenced subsequent interpretations and evaluations of this historical period.According to British military records,the British,having gathered intelligence,launched several raids on Daishan,disrupting the Qing maritime forces’operational plans.Despite this,Qing forces continued their preparations under tight enemy surveillance and eventually launched a large-scale naval counterattack on April 14th,1842.This counterattack impacted the British forces’plans to attack Hangzhou and demonstrated the resolute will of the Chinese military and civilians to resist aggression.