After receiving the clear sales list from the Chilean government, Li Hongzhang immediately reported to the court and recommended that all be purchased.
After weighing the matter, Emperor Guangxu ordered Li Hongzhang to immediately inquire about the price and prepare to purchase it. He also decided that if the price offered by the other party was too high, some models with slow speed and older ships could be discarded.
While Li Hongzhang was raising money for the purchase of ships, the Beiyang Navy even formulated a surprise attack plan on the Japanese mainland.
The specific combat plan was to form a surprise attack fleet of newly purchased ships, under the name of the Australian Business Group, and in the name of protecting the caravan, go north from the Philippines to directly attack Nagasaki and Tokyo, Japan. The British consultant of the Beiyang Navy recorded this in his personal memoirs.
Matter: Purchasing a new cruiser from Chile, it is the fastest ship in the world... I will use this ship to disrupt the enemy's rear land and sea.
However, not long after the Qing government decided to purchase new ships, bad news came one after another. First, a fierce battle broke out between a squadron of the Beiyang Fleet and the Japanese Navy at the mouth of the Yalu River, resulting in heavy losses. Then the Chilean government suddenly went back on its word, regardless of the Qing Dynasty.
No matter how much Ting offers, the warship will not be sold.
After Li Hongzhang investigated the matter, he found that Japan was in the way. Japan not only blocked the Qing government's procurement plan, but also took the initiative to purchase Chilean cruisers. There was only more than a month between the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War and the Chilean government's default, which shows that Japan "eradicated
"The Beiyang Navy couldn't wait any longer and would not allow this "big trouble" to become too powerful to deal with.
After Liu Hai heard the news, his impression of Chile as a country dropped to the lowest level, and he hated its betrayal in his heart to the point of deep hatred. He thought that there is nothing he can do to you now, and he will let you pay back the money with interest in the future.
Although Liu Hai was ready for war, he was still not ready to go north. He wanted to wait for the Beiyang Navy to be wiped out, and then appear as a savior to turn the tide.
Only in this way can he get the maximum benefit.
As time went by, the Beiyang Navy became infested with spies near its base at Weihaiwei.
In particular, the Japanese spies were even more arrogant and had almost found out everything about Weihaiwei.
But what is the court doing at this time? They are all preparing for Empress Dowager Cixi's 60th birthday.
At this time, the old Buddha is still thinking about her 60th birthday, regardless of whether those on the front line win or lose. If the court does not lose the battle, then there is something wrong.
The neighboring Japanese Empire did not care about the birthday of the Empress Dowager Cixi. Instead, it regarded it as a God-given opportunity. Although the Japanese army and the Japanese government had won the land battle at Pyongyang in Korea, as well as the Toshima and Yellow Sea naval battles, they had not yet eliminated the main force of the Qing Dynasty, especially the main force of the Qing Dynasty.
It is the remaining strength of the Beiyang Navy.
Therefore, the Japanese government planned to open the Beiyang gateway first and prepare to attack the Liaodong Peninsula from the land route. Before the attack, they also conducted a round of public opinion propaganda, threatening to attack the Manchu Qing Dynasty directly in Beijing, so that the Qing emperor would "beg for surrender in front of him" and launched a psychological attack.
propaganda war.
The Battle of the Yalu River began on October 24, 1894. It was the first defense battle of the Qing army against the Japanese attack. At that time, there were about 28,000 Qing troops deployed on the north bank of the Yalu River. The Qing government appointed Song Qing as the president of all armies to control all armies.
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The Japanese offensive force was the First Army commanded by General Aritomo Yamagata, including Lieutenant General Katsura Taro's Third Division and Lieutenant General Nozu Michizuki's Fifth Division? A total of 30,000 people.
The military strength of both sides is evenly matched. However, since the defeat of Asan and Pyongyang in North Korea, the Qing Army's morale has been low, and many generals have no determination to resist the enemy. Although Song Qing has the reputation of controlling the armies, the Qing armies are actually unsatisfied. While the Japanese army is
Is it high morale? Ambitious.
The Japanese army first successfully swam across the Yalu River at the mouth of the Anping River upstream of Jiulian City. That night, the Japanese army set up a pontoon bridge in the middle reaches of the Yalu River near Hushan, but the Qing army was not aware of it.
At 6 o'clock in the morning on the 25th, the Japanese army crossed the floating bridge and launched an attack on the Qing army's position in Hushan. The Qing army defenders Ma Jinxu and Nie Shicheng led their troops to resist. Due to the situation alone, they suffered heavy casualties and were forced to withdraw from the position. The Japanese army then occupied Hushan.
Mountain. When other Qing troops heard that Hushan had fallen, they fled without fighting.
On the 26th, the Japanese army occupied Jiulian City and Andong County (today's Dandong) without firing a shot. In less than three days, the Qing Dynasty's Yalu River defense line, which was heavily garrisoned by nearly 30,000 troops, collapsed.
The Battle of Jinzhou and Lushun also started on October 24 and ended with the fall of Lushunkou on November 22. This was a key battle between China and Japan during the Sino-Japanese War of 1884-1894.
On the same day that the Japanese First Army attacked Lushun and the Qing defense line on the Yalu River, 25,000 men of the Second Army commanded by General Dashanyan, under the cover of Japanese ships, began to land at Huayuankou on the road behind Lushun. In fact, the information about the landing location had been earlier
It was collected by Japanese spies and played an important role during the war. Since Li Hongzhang was determined to protect Port Arthur, the Qing army did not set up defenses here.
The Japanese landing activities lasted for twelve days, but the Qing army sat silently. Only local farmers spontaneously resisted the Japanese army, temporarily delaying the Japanese army's actions.
On November 6, the Japanese army defeated the Qing army's Lianshun, Xu Bangdao and other troops and occupied Jinzhou (today's Jinzhou District, Dalian City, Liaoning Province).
On the 7th, the Japanese army attacked Dalian Bay in three directions. Dalian defender Zhao Huaiye fled upon hearing the news, and the Japanese army captured Dalian Bay without a fight. After resting in Dalian Bay for ten days, the Japanese army began to advance towards Lushun.
At that time, the Qing army in the Lushun area had seven commanders. Taoist Gong Zhaoxuan was the former general office of the enemy's camp affairs office and was known as the "hidden commander". He had jurisdiction over a total of 33 battalions with about 13,000 people.
On the 18th, the Japanese advance marched into Tuchengzi, and Xu Bangdao's guard troops resisted tenaciously. The next day, Gong Zhaoyu ignored all the troops and fled to Yantai in a torpedo boat.
On the 19th, three commanders, Huang Shilin, Zhao Huaiye and Wei Rucheng, also absconded one after another.
On the 21st, the Japanese army launched a general attack on Lushunkou. The next day, Lushun, known as the "First Fortress in East Asia", fell into the hands of the Japanese army.
After the Japanese army captured Lushun, they immediately committed the Lushun Massacre, massacring more than 20,000 Chinese residents within four days.
On the 22nd, Lushun fell. The Japanese army caused the Lushun Massacre in Lushun. The Liaodong Peninsula fell completely, and Beijing and Tianjin were in danger.
With the war going like this, she could no longer turn a blind eye. Cixi finally couldn't sit still and invited Prince Gong, who had been deposed by her, to reach a peace agreement with the Japanese through Yixin's experience in dealing with foreigners. However, at this time, Liu
The prince is already sixty-two years old. Ten years of snow hiding has weakened his sharpness. The world has also undergone earth-shaking changes. Guiziliu, despite all his efforts, is unable to recover.
Therefore, although Prince Gong Yixin kept running between the embassies of various countries in Dongjiaomin Lane, he did not produce any effect.
Finally, the British did not want the Qing Dynasty to lose too badly and damage their interests, so they notified Japan and hoped that they would negotiate with the Qing Dynasty.
Perhaps God wanted to leave a memory of the Qing Dynasty's murder this winter, so the Japanese side rejected He Tan's request on the grounds that the official's position in the peace negotiation was too low.
What Japan is thinking now is, what has it done so far? This arrow is already on the string, how can it not be fired?
Here the Japanese government and military decided to take advantage of the remaining power and continue to march towards the Weihai Naval Base. After prior investigation, in order to protect the Weihai Naval Port, the Qing government had densely deployed a large number of forts around Weihai, so it instructed the Japanese frontline to avoid the real situation and avoid the weak.
Landed from Rongcheng Longxu Island, not far from Weihai.
At the same time, the rested company and fleet were dispatched to blockade the sea outside Weihaiwei.
On January 20, 1895, the Japanese Second Army commanded by General Oyama Iwa, including the Second Division of Lieutenant General Sakuma Mata and the Sixth Division of Lieutenant General Kuroki Moraki, totaled 25,000 people. On the 23rd
Under the cover of Japanese ships, all the troops landed on Ryusu Island.
On the same day, Japanese spies in Weihaiwei also launched a surprise attack on Weihaiwei's arsenal. Fortunately, the Qing soldiers who were guarding the gunpowder warehouse discovered and stopped this raid in time. Otherwise, once the gunpowder warehouse exploded, the Beiyang Navy would probably
There will be no ammo available.
On the 30th, the Japanese army concentrated its forces to attack Weihai Wei Nanbang Fort. The Qing army stationed at Nanbang Fort only had 3,000 troops from the Sixth Battalion. Battalion officer Zhou Jiaen urgently reported to Li Hongzhang to request support. However, the Daqing water and land armies belonged to different organizations and requested the army.
The support required the consent of the local governor. Unfortunately, the battalion officer Zhou Jiaen was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the reinforcements, so he had to lead his troops to defend the Motianling position to resist tenaciously, and was eventually annihilated.
However, the Japanese army also suffered heavy casualties due to the desperate resistance of the Qing army. Its left wing commander, Major General Odera Yasumi, was killed by Qing artillery shells. He was the only Japanese general killed in the war. However, due to the disparity in strength, the Nanbang Fort was eventually destroyed by the Japanese army.
Capture. On February 3, the Japanese army occupied Weihai Acropolis. All land in Weihai was occupied by Japan, and Liugong Island, where Ding Ruchang was commanding, became an isolated island.
The commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Ito Yuhiro, wrote a letter and sent people to the island to meet Ding Ruchang and persuade him to surrender. Ding Ruchang sternly refused the Japanese's persuasion to surrender on the spot.
But Ding Ruchang also knew that the current Liugong Island was an isolated island without any reinforcements. If this situation continued, the Beiyang Navy would definitely be wiped out, so he hurriedly wrote a letter and sent it to Li Hongzhang.
The content of this letter is that Ding Ruchang requested Li Hongzhang to agree to dispatch the entire Beiyang Navy to fight the Japanese Combined Fleet off the coast of Liugong Island.
Unexpectedly, after receiving the letter, Li Hongzhang not only failed to agree to Ding Ruchang's suggestion, but instead ordered the Beiyang Navy not to go to war.
After Ding Ruchang saw Li Hongzhang's password, he could already see the end of Liu Gong Island. At that time, he looked up to the sky and sighed. He wanted to kill the thief but was unable to save the day. But he could only order to hold on.
After the Japanese Combined Fleet received no news of the surrender of Beiyang Navy Ding Ruchang, they immediately concentrated all their artillery on the Beiyang Navy.
The Beiyang Navy did not hesitate at all against the Japanese attack, and immediately launched a heroic resistance with its remaining defeated troops.
In the early morning of February 5, the flagship Dingyuan was struck by a mine and ran aground. The officers and soldiers of the ship were unyielding and still used the Dingyuan ship as a "water fort." On the 10th, the Dingyuan ship ran out of ammunition. In order to prevent the Dingyuan ship from falling into
In the hands of the Japanese, they personally sank a warship and then committed suicide.