After the Japanese government received the diplomatic documents sent by the Qing Dynasty, it simply felt like pie had fallen from the sky.
Japan has been actively planning to expand over the years, but because there is no chance, and the Qing Dynasty is nearby to fight against it, it has been holding back these years.
Originally, there was unrest in North Korea some time ago, and Japan also got the news. They had long been preparing to enter North Korea.
However, according to the agreement they signed with the Qing government in 1884, they could not send troops to North Korea without the permission of the Qing government. Now that the Qing government has given them diplomatic documents, they naturally have an opportunity to take advantage of it.
At that time, the voice of the Japanese army to send troops to Korea was very high, especially the deputy chief of staff Soroku Kawakami, who held military power, was particularly active. When the chaos in Korea first broke out, this person ordered the Japanese military attaché in Korea to start collecting intelligence.
Before the Qing Dynasty received North Korea's request for help and had not reacted, this person had already made predictions in advance. Soroku Kawakami suggested to Ito Hirobumi in the name of Chief of General Staff: "The banditry of the Tohak Party is very rampant.
The Korean army is unable to suppress it, and the current trend is to request reinforcements from the Qing Dynasty, and the Qing government will eventually accept this request. If we want to protect the subjects in Korea and maintain the power of the empire, I also have the need to send troops."
In the face of such a rising atmosphere of violence in Japan, Ito Hirobumi, who has always remained calm, is also a little excited.
But after all, this was a war related to Japan's national destiny. Ito Hirobumi did not dare to make a decision easily, so he reported the matter to Emperor Meiji.
After receiving the report, Emperor Meiji could not make up his mind. After all, this war looked good, but if he was not careful, it would turn into an abyss. So he convened an imperial meeting and invited Japan's big bosses to discuss the war.
down policy.
In addition to the members of the Japanese cabinet who attended the meeting, the meeting also included the Chief of Staff of the Japanese Army, Prince Arisugawa Chihito, and the Deputy Chief of Staff, Soroku Kawakami, as well as the Chief of the Navy, Saigo Yumichi.
At the beginning of the meeting, Deputy Chief of Staff Soroku Kawakami bypassed Ito Hirobumi and addressed the emperor directly.
"Your Majesty, the current turmoil in North Korea is the time for our country to send troops to North Korea to stabilize South Korea and then move towards Manchuria."
However, Navy Chief Saigo Yomichi directly rejected Kawakami Soroku's suggestion, "Your Majesty, although the time is very good now, I think it is not the right time for the decisive battle of the Qing Dynasty."
When Kawakami Soroku heard someone refute him, he immediately became angry and said to Saigo Congdou: "The Empire of Japan is going to expand its territory. The soldiers of the army are ready to shed blood. Has the navy now become
Is this cowardly?"
Saixiang ignored this communist element from the fundamental point of view, but directly advised the emperor: "Your Majesty, the Qing Dynasty now has not only the Beiyang Navy, but also the Nanyang Navy. If there is only one navy, our navy still has
They have the opportunity to fight decisively, but what if they form a combined fleet? The strength is far superior to our Japanese navy? In my humble opinion, should we wait for a while? Wait until the two battleships built in the UK return to China? Only then can we be absolutely sure.
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When Kawakami Soroku heard that he had to wait, he felt that the day lilies would be cold by then, so he slammed the table and stood up and cursed at Shigeo Saigo: "You national traitor? Now is a God-given opportunity? If you wait any longer for the opportunity,
Has it passed? Even the Western powers will never allow us to start another war."
At this moment, a chamberlain knocked on the door suddenly. The emperor glanced at the attendant next to him. The attendant immediately exited the conference room. After a while, he handed a telegram to the emperor.
The emperor's expression changed as soon as he read the telegram? Then he asked someone to deliver the telegram to Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi without expression.
Ito Hirobumi picked up the telegram and looked at it. He didn't know whether he was happy or worried. It turned out that the telegram had made it clear that the Qing Dynasty had sent Yuan Shikai to invade Seoul, North Korea.
After Ito Hirobumi read it, he passed the telegram to other cabinet members, as well as important officials in the War and Navy Ministries.
Seeing that everyone had finished reading the telegram, the Emperor said with a sullen face: "Now that the Qing Dynasty has entered Korea? According to this situation, the rebellion will be put down soon. What can the armies do?"
At this time, Ito Hirobumi had no choice but to speak, so he knelt down and said: "If the Qing Dynasty indeed sent troops to North Korea, regardless of the name, our country must also send a considerable number of troops to North Korea to prepare for it.
to prevent unexpected events and maintain the balance of power between China and Japan in North Korea."
Emperor Meiji of Japan still trusts Ito Hirobumi. Now that he has made such a judgment, Emperor Meiji no longer hesitates.
"The Qing Dynasty's unauthorized entry into Korea posed a huge threat to our country, and we had to respond. Now I order the Japanese army to enter Korea immediately to safeguard the empire's interests in Japan."
After hearing this, everyone knelt down on the ground and shouted yes in unison.
Next, Japan began to discuss the specific matters of sending troops to Korea this time. During the discussion, it was agreed that if Japan sends troops, it will inevitably confront the Qing troops. The Qing army should not exceed 5,000 people, and Japan must be in a position to win.
, six thousand to seven thousand troops are needed. If China further increases its troops, Japan will also have to send an additional division. Therefore, preparations should be made for sending out a division, and first a mixed brigade will be sent.
While Japan was actively preparing for military intervention, Liu Hai in Nanjing was also paying close attention to the situation in North Korea. However, Liu Hai did not act rashly and was just quietly waiting for the opportunity to come.
As the Qing troops entered North Korea, Dong Xuedao's uprising soon came to an end, and the Japanese could not wait any longer. They were afraid that once the uprising was over, they would have no reason to enter North Korea.
On June 7, 1894, Arakawa, the Japanese consul in Tianjin, came to see Li Hongzhang with a telegram from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The unrest in Korea had obviously harmed the interests of Japanese immigrants in Korea, so the Japanese Empire would send troops to Korea.
After Li Hongzhang received the notice from the other party, he was immediately shocked. He did not expect Japan to have such ambitions. His previous contempt for Japan seemed to be wrong.
So Li Hongzhang flatly refused Japan's request, but the Japanese consul ignored Li Hongzhang's words and left the Zhili Governor's Office directly.
Then the Prime Minister's Office in Beijing also received a notice from Japan. Naturally, the Prime Minister's Office could not agree to such a thing. If the Japanese were allowed to go to Korea, the last vassal state of the Qing Dynasty would be gone. So the Prime Minister's Office also categorically rejected Japan's proposal.
, and lodged a strong protest against Japan's unprovoked interference in North Korea.
But the Japanese ignored your constant protests. On June 9, the Japanese fleet sailed into Incheon Port.
At this time, there were six Japanese warships in Incheon Port: Matsushima, Chiyoda, Yaeyama, Chikushi, Yamato, and Akagi, while the Qing Dynasty only had three ships, Jiyuan, Yangwei, and Pingyuan. The Japanese naval power was far superior to the Qing navy. .
At this time, the Qing Dynasty still had no fundamental understanding of the upcoming war. Even Li Hongzhang thought that this was just Japan creating conflicts and wanting to gain some more benefits in Korea, so he did not make fundamental preparations for war.
But Japan is in a different situation. After the cabinet made the decision to send troops to North Korea, on June 10, more than 7,000 people from Japan's Oshima Brigade landed in North Korea.
As Japan pressed closer and closer, the Qing court became increasingly aware of Japan's conspiracy to launch a war.
The generals stationed in the Qing court asked the Qing court to increase their troops and prepare for war. Because they had defeated the Japanese army twice, they were actively taking the lead in the war, and the domestic public opinion was also taking the lead in the war. Gradually, a group of people were formed in the court, including the Guangxu Emperor and the Imperial Master Hubu Shangshu. The main fighting faction headed by Weng Tonghe and others.
In order to preserve the strength of his direct lineage Huai Army and Beiyang Navy, Li Hongzhang attempted to reconcile.
In fact, this is not entirely due to Li Hongzhang. Although he has some personal selfishness, from a fair point of view, he now understands the gap between China and Japan. In order to reduce the losses of the Huai Army and Beiyang, he disagrees. Start a war.
Another reason is that the most powerful factions in the Qing Dynasty now include Li Hongzhang and Liu Hai from the south.
If he suffered heavy losses in this war, wouldn't it clear the way for Liu Hai to control the Qing Dynasty?
In addition to the above reasons, there is also the fact that the Empress Dowager Cixi is about to celebrate her 60th birthday. She does not want to have a military disaster on her birthday, so she pins her hope on the intervention of the great powers.
As a result, these powers did not intervene at all, and even Britain still favored Japan in its language. However, Russia and other countries wanted to profit from it and put forward excessive conditions to the Qing Dynasty.
After the Japanese government understood the internal situation in the Qing Dynasty and the attitudes of the great powers, it immediately became bold.
They also did not consider the Qing government's idea of suing for peace.
In the early morning of July 23, 1894, the Japanese army suddenly launched a raid on the Seoul Palace of North Korea, kidnapped King Gojong Yi Xi of North Korea, and announced the dissolution of the pro-China North Korean regime. The king's biological father, Heungseon Daewonjun Yi Gang, should come to power and cultivate pro-Japanese The puppet government of Jin Hongji was established. Japan persuaded the Korean government to sever relations with the Qing Dynasty, and made ridiculous excuses to "entrust" the Japanese army to expel the Qing Dynasty garrison.
At this time, the Qing Dynasty was still unwilling to declare war with Japan, so it could only continue to increase its troops in North Korea. They wanted to use this method to force Japan to withdraw from North Korea.
But what these gentlemen thought was too simple. How could a wolf spit out the food that had reached its mouth?
On July 25, 1894, the Qing government dispatched the warships "Jiyuan", "Guangyi" and "Caojiang" of the Beiyang Navy, and rented the British merchant ship "Gaosheng" to transport reinforcements. These ships landed in Asan, North Korea, and unloaded After disembarking more than 4,000 officers and soldiers, they were preparing to return home when they were attacked by the First Guerrilla Force of the Japanese Combined Fleet off the coast of Toyoshima, North Korea.
The Beiyang Navy "Caojiang" was forced to surrender, and the "Gaosheng" was intercepted by the Japanese warship "Naniwa". The officers and soldiers on the ship would rather die than surrender.
As the commander of the First Guerrilla Fleet, the captain of the "Naniwa" Togo Heihachiro actually ordered the "Kosho" to be sunk. Of the more than 950 officers and soldiers on board, only more than 200 survived, and the rest were martyred. Although the Beiyang Navy fought back angrily
, but the Japanese warships had great advantages in terms of ship size, speed and artillery, and the Japanese army was well prepared. The gunboat "Guangyi" suffered heavy damage, its hull tilted seriously, withdrew from the battle, ran aground and set itself on fire;
The "Jiyuan" ship was fiercely pursued by the Japanese ship "Yoshino", and there were casualties at the beginning of the battle. Since the ship had little actual combat experience, it could only counterattack with its tail gun while retreating westward at full speed, and finally retreated to Weihai.
By this time, both sides had no room for maneuver, and the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894 officially broke out.