Chapter 35 The Beiyang Fleet was completely wiped out

After capturing Luda, the Japanese army prepared to carry out the Battle of Weihaiwei. However, because the frontal fortification of Weihaiwei Military Port was very strong and difficult to capture, they decided to land in Rongcheng Bay, where the Qing army had weak defenses, and seize Weihaiwei from the rear.As for the Qing army, due to the defeat of the Liaodong Peninsula, the Qing government blamed Li Hongzhang for his ineffective rescue, issued an edict to dismiss him and stay in his post, and ordered him to go to Dagu, Beitang and other places for inspection and deployment.At the same time, more troops were transferred to Liaoning and Shenyang, while Shandong Peninsula was ignored.As a result, there were more than 200 battalions in Kyoto, with nearly 100,000 people, while the enemy's attack on the key Shandong Peninsula was only more than 40 battalions, with less than 20,000 people.Especially in the direction of Rongcheng, the force is the weakest, with only more than 1,400 people in the fourth battalion.In view of Weihaiwei's weak rear troops, Dai Zongqian, the guard general, once suggested to Li Hongzhang to take the strategy of deploying close positions, but still suppressing external dangers, and preferring to fight hard to survive rather than sit and wait for difficulties. However, Li Hongzhang still insisted on pure defense The policy made the land and shore defenders have to wait for the enemy to attack, and the naval ships were reduced to active fortresses or auxiliary forts, completely losing the mobility of the fleet, which provided conditions for the Japanese army to wipe out the Beiyang Fleet.

On February 2, 1895, Weihaiwei fell.Commander Ding Ruchang has already made preparations to live and die with the Beiyang Fleet.After the Battle of Toshima, he kept his son Ding Daixi by his side, and his daughter-in-law Zhang and grandson Ding Xushan returned to their hometowns.Before leaving, he told Mrs. Zhang: My life has been handed over to the country, you must take good care of my grandson!After the defense of Liugong Island began, Ding Ruchang said to Li Hongzhang: The only thing is that the boat is empty!Ding Ruchang sent people to deliver opium to the ship in case he would commit suicide by taking poison if he could not die in battle.In order to prevent the injured warship from falling into the enemy's hands, Ding Ruchang sank the stranded Jingyuan warship with torpedoes from the Guangc warship, and then loaded gunpowder in the middle of the Dingyuan warship to blow it up.The Dingyuan fleet leader took Liu Buchan to commit suicide by swallowing opium, fulfilling the oath of the death of the fleet.The last day Ding Ruchang promised to the officers and soldiers finally came.In the evening, Ding Ruchang received a telegram from Li Hongzhang, which stated that the reinforcements were unlimited!

The last hope was dashed.In the middle of the night, more than 10,000 people from land and sea soldiers begged him to live.Ding Ruchang sighed and said: It is my duty to live and die with the warship.But my death could save yours.He hinted to everyone that he could surrender to the Japanese army in order to survive after his death.He also asked his subordinate Niu Changbing to destroy the admiral seal of the Beiyang Navy.Ding Ruchang swallowed the opium prepared in advance, and died of exhaustion the next morning. Niu Changbing and others recommended Yang Yonglin to negotiate with the Japanese army about the surrender.Yang Yonglin sternly refused on the spot, chanting that no one dies in life since ancient times, leaving his heart to follow the historical poems, walked into the cabin, and died after drinking a bomb.Zhang Wenxuan, the commander of the guards, committed suicide at the same time.The American Haowei proposed to surrender in the name of Ding Ruchang, and Niu Changbing stamped the admiral's seal on the surrender letter.Several people pushed the responsibility to Ding Ruchang.Poor Ding Ruchang was humiliated after his death, his family property was confiscated, and his descendants were displaced.Until the second year of Xuantong (1910), at the joint proposal of Weihai merchants and people, Yuan Shikai played a memorial to rehabilitate him.

The surviving ten ships of the Beiyang Fleet and the military equipment of the forts on Liugong Island were all captured by the Japanese army. On February 17, 1895, the Japanese fleet slowly sailed into Weihai Port.Ten Chinese warships, including Zhenyuan, Jiyuan, Pingyuan, Guangbing, Zhendong, Zhenxi, Zhennan, Zhenbei, Zhenzhong, and Zhenbian, raised the Japanese flag.Only the Kangji ship still flew the Yellow Dragon flag, carrying the coffins of Ding Ruchang, Liu Buchan, and Yang Yonglin.At one o'clock in the afternoon, all ten Chinese warships were incorporated into the Japanese fleet.At four o'clock, the Kangji ship left Weihai sadly under the wailing sound of its siren, braving the cold rain.

At this point, the Beiyang Navy, which Li Hongzhang had operated for more than ten years, was wiped out.At this time, Li Hongzhang also ended the days when he was in power. Not only did the court no longer favor him, but his prestige among civil and military officials and even the common people plummeted.In the First Sino-Japanese War, the entire Beiyang Navy was wiped out, which was the end of Li Hongzhang's pursuit of Westernization. The Beiyang Navy started to be built in 1875 and formally formed in 1888. Unfortunately, it was completely destroyed by the Japanese Navy in the First Sino-Japanese War. Li Hongzhang's efforts were in vain, and at the same time, China lost command of the sea.The destruction of the Beiyang Fleet can be partly attributed to the passive defense strategy adopted by the Qing government and Li Hongzhang, but some shortcomings of the Beiyang Navy itself cannot be ignored.First of all, the system is ambiguous: the Beiyang Navy is nominally subordinate to the Beijing Navy Yamen, but in fact it is under the control of Li Hongzhang.At this time, Li Hongzhang had become the leader of the governor of the country, integrating internal affairs, foreign affairs, foreign affairs, and coastal defense.In the late 1880s and early 1890s, he was too busy dealing with the political problems he encountered every day to pay more attention to the many problems of the Beiyang Navy; For coastal defense, Ding Ruchang is in charge of the Beiyang Navy.But Ding Ruchang had no formal naval training, so he was often underestimated by his subordinates, most of whom graduated from the Chinese Naval Academy.In addition, some foreign officers in the Beiyang Fleet are arrogant and conceited, demanding too much.The relationship between these foreign officers and Chinese officers was tense, and conflicts occurred from time to time, which led to further decline and corruption of the Beiyang Navy; third, insufficient funding was a serious problem: the initial budget for coastal defense was 2 million taels per year, but it was never the same amount Collect all.After the Beiyang Navy was subordinated to the Navy Yamen, the annual budget of the fleet was reduced to less than 1.3 million taels.

The worst thing was in April 1891, when the Ministry of Finance proposed to stop the purchase of cannons on ships and reduce the number of naval personnel.These proposals were approved by the court.This made it impossible to update the fleet and its equipment.The above-mentioned weaknesses of the Beiyang Navy itself and Li Hongzhang’s consistent policy of defense during the Sino-Japanese War of 1895-1995 led to the complete annihilation of the Beiyang Fleet by the Japanese army during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895.