官涌之戰概要 A Brief Summary of the Kwun Chung Battle
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1839年9月4日中午，中英開戰，名為九龍海戰，歷時一個半小時，英軍用盡彈藥，敗走尖沙嘴。 1839年11月4日至13日，英軍先後六次進攻官涌山清軍陣地，英軍均戰敗，史稱官涌之戰。 九龍海戰後，林則徐為了加強防務，增建尖沙嘴砲台(懲膺砲台)，和官涌砲台(臨衝砲台)。
琦善到廣州後，以「二台海外孤懸，不足禦侮」為由，令官涌兵炮撤到新安縣城。 1841年3月23日，英軍佔據兩砲台。五月，官涌砲台被炸毀，尖沙嘴砲台則被拆卸，磚石運往港島，用作建築材料。 官涌一名至今尚在，區內有官涌街與炮台街，均為歷史痕跡；但砲台遺跡已沒。 In the afternoon of 4th September 1839, there was a battle at Kowloon, for about 1.5 hours, and the British was forced back to Tsim Sha Tsui. This is known as the “Kowloon Battle”.
Then, from 4th to 13th November, 1839, there were six battles in 10 days at Kwun Chung, Kowloon, and the British was said to be defeated by the Chinese officials. This is known as the “Kwun Chung Battle”.
After the Kwun Chung Battle, the Chinese Commissioner Lin Zexu decided to reinforce the defence in Kowloon, by building two batteries at Kwun Chung and Tsim Sha Tsui, they are named as the Linchong Battery and the Chengying Battery, respectively. The Kowloon Walled City was also then built.
However, the two batteries were destroyed by the British on 23rd March 1841, and there is no relics remain in the Kwun Chung site, but just two streets’ names: Kwun Chung Street and Battery Street.
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