Collaboration of Senovilla
If any of us want to indicate that something is very far or far away, we use the well-known saying «it is in the Conchinchina «.
The Spaniards always loved expanding throughout the world and reached the Conchinchina , this time it was with a missionary presence since there was a time when evangelization was a weapon of conquest to expand markets and communication networks with other peoples.
Historical documentation tells that the Dominicans were there from the year 1678 carrying out a great religious work but not managing to open any market, something that the French of the time did manage to do on the Asian coasts.
These are the stories of the Spanish that usually go unnoticed until unforeseen events manage to remove that caste of which we can proudly boast.
It all began with the martyrdom and beheading of Fray José María Díaz Sanjurjo in the month of July of the year 1857, which was the trigger for the Spanish government to consider 
take action on the matter, the distances and decision-making at that time were slow and more were happening murders such as that of Fray Melchor García Sampedro which was horrible since they say that his limbs were disjointed and tied to stakes to later be cut with a blunt axe, those who saw him recounted that numerous blows had to be given to his arms and knees to cut them, then he his womb was opened and his head was cut off, it was the year 1858 and the massacre against the missionaries by the Kingdom of Annam continued. and his emperor Tu-Duc .
There were many Christian missionaries who, without interfering in political issues in those lands, ended up being martyrs and beatified by the church, they were certainly heroes who suffered the hardships of walking barefoot through the jungle, camouflaged among the peasants to carry out their evangelizing work in secret. But the Spanish were not going to sit idly by and the opportunity arose to intervene.
This patriotic ardor that ran through the blood of the Spaniards was soon to be demonstrated since he had his opportunity thanks to the fact that Louis Napoleon III of France had decided to go to the Kingdom of Annan to demand protection for the French in the area and wanted the Spanish fleet accompany him.
So Spain and France agreed to send a maritime expedition on August 31, 1858, called the punishment expedition, where the Spanish would be commanded by Colonel Bernardo Ruíz de Lanzarote with a single ship called Elcano which had two cannons and 75 crew members .
Spain made a great effort and this ship was soon replaced by the steam Jorge Juan which had six cannons and 175 crew members and the Corbeta Narváez and the Schooner Constancia also joined this fleet. , an infantry regiment, two companies of hunters, three artillery platoons, and an auxiliary force made up of 1,650 peninsulares and tagalogs.
Thus began a very distant adventure, so far that our soldiers went to Conchinchina, an inhospitable country where its monsoon climate would make the battle even harder.
And as always, our soldiers measured up as expected, it was on the Fai-Fo river. where they showed their courage and skill, to bring down the conchinchina fortifications one by one that was on both banks of this river.
During the tense battles that took place there, it was always remarkable to see the value of the Dominicans that sword in hand they fought hand to hand like the best of the experienced soldiers of our army.
But not everything is so beautiful when history tells us how these battles were, Colonel Carlos Palanca himself he is horrified when he sees that our passed through the Conchinchina it's dramatic since our army is losing men and Spain does not replace these casualties, being a scandal that was transmitted to the Spanish government because it was shameful that no supplies or money were received to continue with the expedition.
They were years of sacrifice in lands so far away for our nation to make a shameful retreat , but it is part of the decline of that great empire that was the Spanish, long gone were those days when the Sun did not set .
The religious purpose was achieved for Emperor Tu-Duc to allow religious freedom and the deaths of the missionaries ceased, but the great beneficiary without a doubt was France, which with greater conquering aspirations saw in those lands a place where they could get a good slice of it, leaving Spain out of this cake.
But our soldiers were brave and heroes on the battlefield, who knew how to withstand siege and vicissitudes of cruel battles and serious illnesses, with no other reward than having a new destination at the end of the expedition:the Philippines.
Our history books illogically omit the national episodes where the Spanish soldiers gave everything and the governments that commanded them were inexperienced, but here it is reflected that we were there, in the farthest place on the planet, we were in the Conchinchina and even today there is talk of the Spaniards who gave their lives to achieve the freedom of religion that they have today .
