November 6, 1894, the ninth day of the first month of October in the old calendar. The Guangxu Emperor telegraphed that the Japanese army was approaching Jinzhou, and the defense of Lushun was extremely critical, and its landing was in Piziwo, and there must be Japanese ships moored. Li Hongzhang immediately ordered Ding Ruchang, Liu Butou, and others to lead the ships of the Beiyang Navy to cruise and intercept and block their rear roads.
The Guangxu Emperor
Since Lushun has only one large dock, only one warship can be accommodated in the dock for maintenance at a time, while other warships can only wait at this time. Based on the calculation of one month for each warship to be docked for repair, it takes at least half a year for all warships to be repaired in sequence. This is completely unthinkable in the context of the increasing urgency of the war situation. Gong Zhaojie, general office of the Lushun Dockyard Bureau, had no choice but to arrange for the most seriously injured "Laiyuan" to dock first, and the other ships docked at the dock, temporarily repairing only the damaged parts above the waterline, so as not to delay the time.
However, what was even more fatal was that not only was the dock repair inferior to the battleship, but also the craftsmen were very scarce, and because the war was about to burn to Lushun, they fled to save their lives.
Lushun Dockyard
On November 6, Ding Ruchang, who was impatient, sent an urgent telegram to Li Hongzhang, saying that the craftsmen in Lushun had fled one after another and that there was a threat of suspension of work, and reported that the Beiyang Navy currently had three difficulties in Lushun: First, once Dalian Bay was lost, the enemy soldiers would attack the back road of Lushun, and our division's ship was in the mouth, and it could not be used, and it was powerless. Second, the enemy ships came to attack, the mouth gate was narrow, and the whole team could not come out, and the "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" ironclad ships had to wait for the tide to be able to leave the port, and if they encountered an emergency, it was not easy to rush out. Third, there are too many enemy ships berthed outside the mouth, and when they come to attack at night, our ships are especially less quick guns, and it is particularly difficult to guard against.
Li
Li Hongzhang immediately called back to Ding Ruchang, telling him that the enemy's trail was several miles away from Lushun, which was originally the port of the Beiyang Navy, and if the dock was lost, the ship could not be completely destroyed. If there are enemy ships outside the mouth, it is necessary to find out the situation and then set a stop, so as not to panic and be timid.
On the same day, Zuo Shuzi Dai Hongci played, in order to save jinzhou Lushun to defend Fengzhi, asked for the assistance of the Beiyang Navy to cruise around Dalian Bay to intercept the Japanese ships.
Dai Hongci, the son of Zuo Shu
Dai Hongci, known as "knowing the new" and "daring to speak out", claimed to have the Qing Dynasty Guangdong "the first person to enter the picture by military aircraft", was the highest official among the Guangdong officials in the Qing Dynasty, the first government of the Qing Empire, and the first minister of justice in Chinese history (Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice)
On the same day, Jin Denggan, director of the London office of China Customs, reported to the General Tax Department That Jardine Matheson & Co. boss Ke Xi said Chile had refused to sell Qing warships.