In the late 1850s, Nie was in the service of Yuan Jiasan (the father of
Yuan Shikai) against rebel forces in the
Nian Rebellion, under whom he was commissioned as a
lieutenant and then in the
Huai Army in the suppression of the
Taiping Rebellion, at the end of which he was promoted to general. During the
Sino-French War of 1885, Nie was sent with reinforcements to
Taiwan, where he participated in combat operations against the French. After the war, he was sent to
Lushunkou, where he was assigned to command the newly constructed base for the
Beiyang fleet. During this time, he came into contact with numerous foreign military advisors hired by Beiyang commander
Li Hongzhang. After the success of China's first imperial
naval review in 1891, he was reassigned to command troops in
Tianjin. During this period, he was active in the suppression of various minor revolts against the Qing dynasty, for which he was awarded the title of
taiyuan (brigadier general) in 1892. In 1893, at the request of Li Hongzhang, Nie conducted an inspection tour of the
Manchurian borders with
Russia and
Korea, with the aim of planning strategies for potential combat operations.
First Sino-Japanese War In April 1894, Nie was recalled from Manchuria due to the worsening situation in Korea vis-à-vis the
Empire of Japan. By order of Li Hongzhang, he landed with a detachment of 800 soldiers in
Asan, Korea on 9 June 1894, where he constructed fortifications and made forays to suppress the activities of the
Donghak rebels in the surrounding provinces. He was noted for implementing strict discipline in his forces to prevent looting and violence against the local civilian population. Reinforcements brought his command to 3800 troops; however, the Japanese had occupied
Seoul and
Incheon by the end of July with approximately 30,000 troops. On 27 July, after receiving information about the
Battle of Pungdo, and realizing that neither reinforcement nor retreat would be possible by sea, Nie decided to withdraw his forces by a circuitous route to
Pyongyang to avoid becoming trapped at Asan. However, on 29 July, a Japanese combat brigade led by General
Oshima Yoshimasa attacked his positions in the
Battle of Seonghwan. Nie lost approximately 500 men in the engagement, along with his artillery and most of his stores, but the remainder of his forces escaped to Pyongyang. Using his good relations with the local population, he was able to avoid the bulk of the Japanese army during his escape. On 3 September, after reviewing the defenses of Pyongyang, Nie departed for Tianjin on an unsuccessful mission to request reinforcements. Ordered back to Pyongyang, he was still travelling when he received word of the Chinese defeat at the
Battle of Pyongyang. Nie was subsequently in the
Battle of Jiuliancheng, where his forces were assigned to the Chinese flank at the village of Hushanqian (), which bore the brunt of the Japanese assault of 24 October. His forces mostly deserted their posts, and Nie escaped with the remnants to
Dandong and then to
Fenghaungcheng. He burned the city on 30 October rather than to let it fall into Japanese hands, and moved north to block the path of the Japanese advance towards
Mukden. He was promoted to the rank of
captain general for his efforts. On 12 February 1895, he was withdrawn to
Shanhai Pass, the critical point in the route to
Beijing, and took no further combat role. After the war, in 1899 his army was restructured and renamed as
Wuwei Front Division, trained by Russian military advisers and equipped with German and Russian weaponry, it was considered the most modern of the Qing armies of the time.
Boxer Rebellion In general, Nie was not an active participant in the political intrigues of the Qing court, but was considered politically conservative and supported
Empress Dowager Cixi against the
Hundred Days' Reform. In his suppression of the
Boxer Rebellion, Nie was in an ambiguous position. On one hand, as a general in the Qing army, he pursued a vigorous offensive against rebel guerilla forces in early 1900. Condemned by the pro-Boxer faction of the imperial court, Nie achieved impressive success inflicting large numbers of casualties during the year. On the other hand, he could not accept the invasion of China by the
Eight-Nation Alliance so he fought against the Alliance forces. Because Nie's forces killed so many Boxers, it was
Dong Fuxiang's
Kansu Braves who instead allied with the Boxers to oppose the
Seymour Expedition, a multinational force of over 2,000 men, in its march to
Beijing. On 9 July 1900, while personally leading a counterattack against Russian forces under the command of General
Anatoly Stessel in the
Battle of Tientsin, Nie was fatally wounded when an artillery shell exploded nearby. In the Nankai District of
Tianjin in present-day China, a "Nie Shicheng Martyrs Monument" is located in the area, to General Nie Shichen who died in battle in the Boxer Rebellion at the
Battle of Tientsin. ==References==