In the meantime the Annamese court had been seeking to enlist the help of the Chinese in their contest with the French. The tie which bound the tributary nation to the sovereign state had never been entirely broken, and the present seemed an admirable opportunity for acknowledging the fact.
The king, therefore, despatched in 188o a special embassy to Peking, loaded with unusually costly offerings and bearing a letter as from an acknowledged tributary which the emperor after wards ordered to be published in the Peking Gazette. Riviere's death and the defeat of his troops left France in extreme diffi culty, and M. Ferry, who had become French premier in 1883, decided on a vigorous policy. Hanoi was still besieged by the "Black Flags" and the outlying garrisons had mostly to be with drawn ; reinforcements under Admiral Courbet and General Bouet could barely keep the native forces at bay, and only in the lower delta did the French make headway, seizing Hai-Duong and Phu Binh almost without a casualty. Dr. Harmand, commissary general, proceeded with Courbet and a naval force to the Hue river. After a feeble defence Hue city was taken and a treaty concluded with the king (Aug. 1883), in which the French pro tectorate was fully recognized, the king further binding himself to recall the Annamese troops serving in Tongking.
Though this treaty was exacted from Annam under pressure, the French lost no time in carrying out that part of it which gave them the authority to protect Tongking, and Bouet again ad vanced in the direction of Son-Tay. But again the resistance he met with compelled him to retreat, after capturing the fortified post of Palan. Meanwhile, on the determination to attack Son Tay becoming known in Paris, the Chinese ambassador warned the ministry that, since Chinese troops formed part of the garri son, he should consider it as tantamount to a declaration of war. But his protest met with no consideration. On the arrival of rein forcements an advance was again made, and on Dec. 16, 1883, after some desperate fighting, Son-Tay fell.
During 1884 the French made themselves masters of the lower delta. Throughout the campaign Chinese regulars fought against the French, who thus found themselves involved in war with China. In May 1884 M. Fournier, the French consul at Tientsin, signed, with Li Hung Chang, a memorandum by which the Chi nese plenipotentiary agreed that the Chinese troops should imme diately evacuate northern Tongking. A second treaty was signed at Hue confirming the French protectorate over Annam and Tongking, but hostilities did not cease. A misunderstanding over the date of the Chinese evacuation led to Col. Dugenne being
despatched to occupy Lang-Son. The expedition was badly man aged and 2 5m. from their objective the French entered an irregu lar engagement with the Chinese forces and were routed. An expedition, led by Colonel Donnier, against the Chinese garrison at Chu, about Iona. south-east from Lang-kep, was completely successful; and in a battle near Chu the Chinese were defeated.
In Jan. 1885 large reinforcements arrived and Briere de l'Isle, who had succeeded Millot as commander-in-chief, ordered an ad vance towards Lang-Son. The difficulties of transport greatly impeded his movements; still, the expedition was successful. On Feb. 6 three forts at Dong-Song, with large supplies of stores and ammunition, fell into the hands of the French. Three days' heavy fighting made them masters of a defile on the road, and on the 13th Lang-Son was taken, the garrison having evacuated the town just before the entrance of the conquerors. General Negrier, who commanded a division under Briere de l'Isle, pressed on in pur suit to Ki-Hea, and even captured the frontier town of Cua-Ai. But Briere de l'Isle had to hurry back to the relief of Tuyen Kwan, which was doggedly resisting the attacks of an overwhelm ing Chinese force, and Negrier was left in command at Lang-Son. The withdrawal of Briere de l'Isle's division gave the Chinese greater confidence, and, though for a time Negrier was able to hold his own, on March 2 2 and 23 he sustained a severe check between Lang-Son and That-Ke, which was finally converted into a complete rout. Briere de l'Isle reached Tuyen-Kwan, the garri son of which was commanded by Colonel Domine, on March 3 and effected its relief. The disaster at Lang-Son caused the down fall of the Ferry ministry (March 3o). Shortly afterwards Sir Robert Hart succeeded in negotiating peace with China. By the terms agreed on at Tientsin (June 1885), it was stipulated that France was to take Tongking and Annam under its protection and to evacuate Formosa and the Pescadores. (For further his tory, see INDO-CHINA.) See J. Dupuis, Le Tong-kin et l'intervention francaise (1898) ; C. B.