Battle of Bang Bo (Zhennan Pass) - French and Chinese Forces

French and Chinese Forces

By the middle of March nine separate Chinese military commands were massed close up to the Tonkinese border around the enormous entrenched camps of Yen Cua Ai and Bang Bo. There were six main Chinese concentrations. The entrenched camp of Yen Cua Ai was held by ten battalions under the command of Feng Zicai (馮子材) and a slightly smaller force under the command of Wang Xiaochi (王孝祺). These two commands numbered perhaps 7,500 men in all. Two to three kilometres behind Yen Cua Ai, around the village of Mufu, lay the commands of Su Yuanchun (蘇元春) and Chen Jia (陳嘉), perhaps 7,000 men in all. Fifteen kilometres behind Mufu the commands of Jiang Zonghan (蔣宗漢) and Fang Yusheng (方友升), also 7,000 strong, were deployed around the village of Pingxiang (known to the French from its Vietnamese pronunciation as Binh Thuong). The commander of the Guangxi Army, Pan Dingxin (潘鼎新), lay at Haicun, 30 kilometres behind Mufu, with 3,500 men. Fifty kilometres to the west of Zhennanguan, 3,500 men under the command of Wei Gang (魏綱) were deployed around the village of Aiwa. Finally, fifteen kilometres to the east of Zhennanguan, just inside Tonkin, Wang Debang (王德榜) occupied the village of Cua Ai with 3,500 men.

De Négrier's 2nd Brigade numbered around 2,500 men. The brigade's order of battle in March 1885 was as follows:

• 3rd Marching Regiment (Lieutenant-Colonel Herbinger)
  • 23rd Line Infantry Battalion (Lieutenant-Colonel Godart)
  • 111th Line Infantry Battalion (chef de bataillon Faure)
  • 143rd Line Infantry Battalion (chef de bataillon Farret)

• 4th Marching Regiment (Lieutenant-Colonel Donnier)
  • 2nd Foreign Legion Battalion (chef de bataillon Diguet)
  • 3rd Foreign Legion Battalion (Lieutenant-Colonel Schoeffer)
  • 2nd African Light Infantry Battalion (chef de bataillon Servière)

• 1st Battalion, 1st Tonkinese Rifle Regiment (chef de bataillon Jorna de Lacale)
• 3 artillery batteries (Captains Roperh, de Saxcé and Martin).

Roussel's battery, of Giovanninelli's 1st Brigade, was also at Lang Son. The battery had lagged behind during the Lang Son Campaign, and Giovanninelli had left it at Lang Son when he set out with the 1st Brigade to relieve Tuyen Quang.

Not all of the 2nd Brigade was stationed at Lang Son and immediately available for action. The four companies of Servière's 2nd African Battalion were echeloned between Lang Son and Chu, guarding the vital French supply line up to Lang Son and labouring to improve the miserable paths over which the expeditionary corps had advanced in February into a surfaced wagon road.