·集結在天津大沽口外的聯軍艦隊

清光緒二十六年(1900)五月六日，八國聯軍24艘軍艦，為了配合西摩爾侵略軍進犯北京，加緊向大沽口集結。五月十日 (6月6日),各帝國主義國家的軍艦，于大沽口外水域，增加到32艘。
此日，侵犯大沽口的八國軍艦的高級軍官，在 “百人長”號艦上，策劃鎮(zhèn)壓義和團、占領大沽炮臺的陰謀。充當進犯大沽口主力的，是俄太平洋艦隊司令基利杰·勃蘭特中將率領的俄國艦隊。五月十九日(6月15日),各國艦隊司令在俄艦上舉行聯席會議，決定以“保護鐵路和天津外僑”為名采取行動。會后，派300名日軍，占領塘沽車站； 250名俄、法聯軍，去占領軍糧城站。
五月二十日(6月16日),各國艦隊司令再次集會，決定奪取炮臺。經過策劃，密令停泊在內河的日、德、法艦艇，所謂的保護車站和海關，前移至塘沽車站附近，以接運外僑。同時，有德、意、日、奧等國組成的突擊隊900余人，乘暮色蒼茫偷偷登岸，埋伏于北岸炮臺后側； 同一天，俄巡洋艦“科爾尼洛夫將軍”號，從旅順運來168名俄軍，也被用駁船運到塘沽，與登陸的聯軍陸戰(zhàn)隊匯合，配合登陸聯軍夾攻炮臺； 并由 “海貍”號艦長杜勃羅沃斯基，負責發(fā)布戰(zhàn)斗信號。
五月二十日 (6月16日)晚8時，各國艦隊司令，在基利杰·勃蘭特領銜下，共同簽署向守衛(wèi)大沽炮臺的天津鎮(zhèn)總兵羅榮光和直隸總督裕祿發(fā)出最后通牒，限令二十一日 (17日) 2時前交出炮臺。羅榮光大義凜然，嚴詞拒絕了聯軍的無理要求； 同時，飭令各營作好戰(zhàn)斗準備，決心保衛(wèi)炮臺。
五月二十一日 (6月17日)零點50分，在“最后通牒”規(guī)定時間之前，聯軍艦隊悍然向炮臺發(fā)動進攻。大沽口南岸各炮臺由羅榮光和協副將韓照琦指揮，北岸炮臺由管帶封德勝負責防守。當敵艦開火后，炮臺守軍立即開炮還擊，南炮臺發(fā)出的頭一發(fā)炮彈便擊中了“高麗”號船身，使該艦起火燃燒。聯軍各艦受創(chuàng)，驚惶后退； 繼爾，又集中炮火進行反撲。此時，早先登岸、埋伏在炮臺后側的敵人陸戰(zhàn)隊，也分左、中、右3路向北岸炮臺逼近。黎明時，炮臺守軍發(fā)現了陸上進攻的敵人，便以槍炮進行阻擊。
激戰(zhàn)中，日軍指揮官服部中佐被擊斃。而炮臺守軍也腹背受敵，彈藥庫被擊起火，傷亡十分慘重。北洋水師的4艘魚雷艇，未作有效抵抗就被英艦俘獲，巡洋艦“海容”號，則被敵艦勒令熄火，監(jiān)視停泊于內河不得移動。大沽船塢被俄魚雷艇水兵占據。致使炮臺孤立無援，至晨6時30分，大沽各炮臺被先后攻陷。
在歷時6個小時的戰(zhàn)斗中，共打死敵人23人，斃傷敵人130多名，擊傷敵艦6艘。守衛(wèi)炮臺的萬名清軍，傷亡1000余人(其中戰(zhàn)死300多人),協副將韓照琦受重傷，管帶封德勝戰(zhàn)死。身負重傷的羅榮光在炮臺失陷后，率殘部撤至新城(另一說又退回天津),并于天津城失陷前3天，自刎殉職。
聯軍攻陷大沽炮臺后，立即大批登陸，占據塘大地區(qū)各村鎮(zhèn)，并由水陸兩路大舉向天津、北京進犯。而孤立于敵后的北塘炮臺，在總兵李安堂駐守下，拒絕投降，堅持了3個多月，直到八月二十七日(9月20日)才被聯軍攻陷。
聯軍侵占塘大地區(qū)后，大肆燒殺搶掠。據新編《塘沽區(qū)志》記載： 在大沽附近，槍殺了無數未及逃脫的居民； 在塘沽，舉火焚燒了3晝夜，使這個原有“五萬人口的大鎮(zhèn)，轉眼間變得無華人足跡” ; 原有1000多戶人家的新河，被侵略軍殺得只剩下300來戶，而且是人走樓空。聯軍統帥瓦德西在日記中供認： “塘沽到天津間的所有村莊都被聯軍焚毀，整個白河已變成一片荒野?！甭撥娫诒碧怜偪裢缆纠先撕蛬D孺，以排槍射殺乘船逃難的民眾，染紅了薊運河水。據俄軍記者記述： “這個小鎮(zhèn)的居民陷于絕望之中，一些奄奄一息的婦女身邊還帶著孩子，孩子仍然偎依在已經死去了的母親懷里……” 當時流傳著這樣的說法： “塘沽一掃光，新河半拉子莊，北塘三排槍?！边@是帝國主義侵略者，對天津人民犯下的滔天罪行。
On May 6,1900 (the 26th year of Emperor Guangxu),the allied forces dispatched 24 warships to assemble atthe waters of Dagukou to co-operate with the invasionof Seymour to Beijing. A month later,the number ofwarships increased to 32.
The main force was Russian fleet led by thecommander of Russian Fleet of Pacific Ocean. On June16,a united conference was held at a Russian warship.The commanders decided to launch actions in the nameof "protecting railways and expetriates in Tianjin." Afterthe conference,300 Japanese soldiers occupied TangguRailway Station; 250 Russian and French soldiersinvaded Junliangcheng Railway Station.
On June 16,the commanders of the alliedforces held a meeting again,planning to attack theemplacements. The warships of Japan,Germany andFrance stationed in the inner river were ordered secretlyto sail to the waters near Tanggu Station. A commandoof 900 soldiers from Germany,Italy,Japan and Austrialanded and ambushed from the back of the emplacementat the north bank. A Russian cruiser carried 168 soldiersfrom Lvshun and joined the allied fleet.
On June 16,commanders signed an ultimatumand sent it to Luo Rongguan and Yv Lu,who wereresponsible for the defense of the Dagu Emplacement.Luo refused the allied forces` requirement. He orderedhis soldiers to be prepared,determined to defend theemplacement.
At 0:50 am,June 17th,the allied fleet attackedthe emplacement before the time set by the ultimatum.Luo and his assistant Han Zhaoqi commanded thesouthern ramparts. Guandai Liu Defeng took charge ofthe defense of the northern ramparts. The army of theemplacement fired with artillery. The first shoot from thesouthern ramparts hit the ship "Korea". The allied fleetfled at first,but later returned and continued to attackthe emplacement. At the same time,the enemy`s marine-corps that was hide in the back of the emplacementbeforehand,started to attack the northern ramparts fromthree directions. At dawn,the Chinese army detected theenemies on land and fired.
In the fierce battle,the Japanese commander wasshot dead. Casualties of the stationed army were alsolarge. Its ammunition magazine was hit by the gunfireand caused fire. The four torpedo ship was captured bythe UK warships without effective resistance. The cruiser"Hairong" was forced to flameout and stayed in the innerriver. As Dagu port was occupied by Russian soldiers,the emplacement could not get any help and was lost tothe hands of the enemy at 6:30 am.
In the six-hour battle,Chinese army totally killed23 enemies and wounded over 130. Six of the enemy`swarships were sunken. 300 or so Chinese soldiers losttheir lives,over 700 people got wounded. Han zhaoqiwas seriously wounded; Guandai Feng Desheng waskilled. Luo Rongguang,who was also badly hurt,led theleft army and retreated to Xin city after the emplacementwas lost,and committed suicide 3 hours before Tianjinwas lost to the enemy.
After the emplacement was lost,the allied forceslanded and occupied towns and villages in the area.It began to march to invade Tianjin and Beijing. Theisolated Beitang emplacement,led by Director LiAntang,refused to surrender and fight for three moremonths. It wasn`t occupied by the allied forces untilSeptember 20th.
The allied forces robbed and killed local peopleafter they occupied Tangda area. According to thenewly-compiled Tanggu Annals,lots of civilians werekilled and shot dead in the area. In Tanggu,the fire setby the allied forces lasted for three days and nights."The prosperous town with a population of 50 thousandpeople was desolated." Among the over 1000 families inXinhe,only 300 family survived the invader`s massacre.The commander-in-chief of the allied forces,A.G. vonWalsersee,confessed in his diary: "All the villages alongthe way between Tanggu and Tianjin were burned bythe allied army; Baihe area had turned into wilderness."In Beitang area,the civilians,old or young,women orchildren,were killed by the allied forces. Their bloodturned Jinyun River in red. A Russian journalist wrote:"Residents in this town were in despair. Women attheir last gasp caught the hands of their children. Somechildren still snuggled to their mothers who were alreadydead." A saying went like this,"Tabggy was flattened;Xintang was left with half of the villages; Beitang wasstill attacked by gunfire. All was done by the alliedforces." This is the unforgivable sin committed by theinvaders of the allied forces.

·西摩爾指揮的旗艦，英艦森特隆 “萬人長”號，
行駛在中國領海