Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms: Volume 80

General Treatise on Maritime Defense IV

In the inner reaches, a survey of the provincial river The Pearl River reveals that twenty li Approximately 10 kilometers to the east, there is a strategic pass called Liede. Nearby are two locations at the tip of Ersha original: "Ershawei" 二沙尾, both of which are equipped with forts. The river surface at this point is approximately two hundred zhang Approximately 640 meters wide, with a water depth of over two zhang.

Furthermore, fifteen li to the southwest of the river lies another strategic pass called Dahuangjiao, which also possesses forts. There, the river is one hundred and seventy zhang wide, and the water depth exceeds three zhang.

If these two locations had been earnestly blocked and stationed with heavy troops earlier, the rebel barbarian warships original: "ni yi bing chuan" 逆夷兵船 — referring to the British Royal Navy. would have found it extremely difficult to break through to the provincial capital. We could have "slept soundly on high pillows" A Chinese idiom meaning to be free from worry or threat.; why then would there have been any need for a state of emergency?

However, since we delayed and missed our opportunity in the past, regret is now of no use. Currently, the barbarian ships are positioned directly across these two strategic passes, creating a blockade that prevents us from controlling our own vital points. It is very much like a fishbone stuck in the throat. Our only remaining course of action is to secretly instruct those officials who have recently been engaged in negotiations, alongside the foreign merchants original: "yang shang" 洋商 — specifically the Cohong merchants of Canton who acted as intermediaries., to first use persuasive words to entice the barbarian ships to withdraw from these two strategic passes.