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The Kép campaign (2 to 15 October 1884) was an important campaign in northern Vietnam during the opening months of the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885). A force of just under 3,000 French troops under the command of General François de Négrier defeated a major Chinese invasion of the Red River Delta launched by Pan Dingxin's Guangxi Army in successive engagements at Lâm (6 October), Kép (8 October) and Chũ (10 October and 11 October).
General Millot, whose health was failing, resigned as general-in-chief of the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps in early September 1884 and was replaced by General Louis Brière de l'Isle, the senior of his two brigade commanders. Brière de l'Isle's first task was to beat off a major Chinese invasion of the Red River Delta. In late September 1884 large detachments of the Guangxi Army advanced from Langson and probed into the Luc Nam valley, announcing their presence by ambushing two French gunboats of the Tonkin Flotilla, Hache and Massue, on 2 October. Although French casualties during this ambush were relatively high (1 officer killed and 32 men wounded), the attack deprived the Chinese of strategic surprise. Subsequent French reconnaissances identified three main Chinese concentrations. The Chinese right wing was deployed around the village of Kép on the Mandarin Road, the Chinese centre was at Bao Loc, and the Chinese left wing was at Chu, in the upper valley of the Luc Nam River. Brière de l'Isle responded immediately, despatching General de Négrier to the Luc Nam valley with nearly 3,000 French soldiers aboard several vessels of the Tonkin Flotilla. De Négrier's mission was to attack and defeat the Chinese detachments before they could concentrate.Huard, 432–9; Lecomte, Lang-Son, 44–53 and 102–3; Thomazi, Histoire militaire, 96–7
In essence, the French plan succeeded. However, not everything went according to plan. Donnier successfully established a bridgehead at Lam on 6 October, close to the Guangxi Army's defences at Chu, and on 8 October de Négrier inflicted a bloody defeat on the Guangxi Army's right wing at Kép. On 9 October de Mibielle's column joined Donnier in front of Chu. On 10 October de Négrier's column left Kép and marched back to Phu Lang Thuong, where a flotilla of gunboats was waiting to ferry the men up the Luc Nam river to join Donnier and de Mibielle in front of Chu, to complete the French concentration for the final stage of the campaign.
All Donnier had to do at this point was to wait patiently until de Négrier's arrival. On 10 October, however, his column was drawn into a costly and premature two-day battle at Chu with the Guangxi Army's left wing. In the event, Donnier won his battle, and on 13 October de Négrier joined him with the Kép column and began to scout the Guangxi Army's defences around Chu in preparation for an assault by the united French forces. The attack was never made. The Chinese, discouraged by the heavy losses they had suffered on 10 and 11 October and by the rout of their comrades at Kép on 8 October, abandoned the entrenched camp of Chu on 19 October and fell back to Bắc Lệ and Dong Song, to protect the approaches to Lạng Sơn.
At Kép, on 8 October, de Négrier defeated the Guangxi Army's main body in a bloody engagement. The battle was marked by bitter close-quarter fighting between French and Chinese troops, and de Négrier's soldiers suffered heavy casualties storming the fortified village of Kép. The exasperated victors shot or bayoneted scores of wounded Chinese soldiers after the battle, and reports of French atrocities at Kép shocked public opinion in Europe. In fact, prisoners were rarely taken by either side during the Sino-French War, and the French were equally shocked by the Chinese habit of paying a bounty for severed French heads. French casualties at Kép were 32 killed and 61 wounded. The French estimated Chinese casualties at 1,600 killed (including the entire Chinese garrison of Kép) and around 2,000 wounded.Huard, 442–6; Lecomte, Lang-Son, 67–86 and 103–4; Vie militaire, 53–69
At Chu, on 10 October, a morning outpost skirmish precipitated by an over-zealous Foreign Legion officer, Captain Cuvellier, escalated into a full-scale afternoon battle in which Donnier's bridgehead at Tray Dam was violently attacked by the Chinese. The French eventually drove off the Chinese attacks, though their rifle fire was less effective than usual. Much of the French ammunition, stored carelessly during the heat and humidity of the Vietnamese summer, had become too damp to fire, and one French unit suffered a misfire rate of 50%. Fortunately for the French, the Chinese never got close enough to take advantage of their vulnerability. On the night of 10 October Donnier ordered trenches to be dug to cover the approaches to Tray Dam. The Chinese resumed the battle on the morning of 11 October, massing their forces for an attack on Donnier's right wing. The attack had no chance of success. The French and Algerians, sheltered in their trenches, had dried out their powder in the hot morning sun. Concentrated, aimed French volleys inflicted heavy casualties on the dense Chinese attack columns and eventually put them to flight. After the failure of this attack, the Chinese broke off the battle. Donnier was content to hold his positions until de Négrier joined him with the Kép column, on 13 October. French casualties at Chu were 21 killed and 92 wounded.Huard, 446–51; Lecomte, Lang-Son, 87–105
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