On December 17, 1888, in the 14th year of Guangxu, the Beiyang Marine Division was established in Liugong Island, Weihai. The Sino-Japanese War in which the Beiyang Marine Division participated was an important turning point in the fate of modern China, and some historians even believe that the Qing Empire did not die in the Xinhai Revolution, but in the Sino-Japanese War.
Beiyang Marine Division Military Flag
Before the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing Dynasty carried out decades of foreign affairs movement, promoted the modernization of national defense, achieved initial results, and established a modern navy in terms of national defense. Beginning in 1875, Li Hongzhang sent people to Britain and Germany to buy warships on many occasions, including more than a dozen warships purchased from Britain and Germany, plus domestic warships and torpedo boats of the Fuzhou Shipping Bureau. Beginning in 1877, the Qing government sent outstanding cadets trained by the Fuzhou Ship Administration School to Britain to learn ship piloting and manufacturing techniques, and in 1888, Empress Dowager Cixi promulgated the Beiyang Naval Charter, marking the official formation of the Beiyang Fleet.
The Beiyang Marine Division was the only highly modernized armed force in China at that time. The officer group is mainly composed of professionals trained by the new-style academy, and there are leaders with experience in Western naval schools, which can be called world-class admirals who are proficient in foreign languages. Soldiers are also very different from the army, not only to carry out special education, but also to be tested layer by layer to gradually be competent for the work of warships on the sea. In its heyday, the navy was known as the first in Asia, with many ships on the world's list, including the Dingyuan class, the largest ship in Asia.
However, in the Battle of the Yellow Sea on September 17, 1894, the Beiyang Fleet lost 5 warships, 1 warship was severely damaged, lost the power of the Yellow Sea, and returned to Weihaiwei and was completely destroyed. Why?
The Purpose of the Qing Government in building a modern navy was to defend the country and defend against foreign invasion. After the establishment of the Beiyang Marine Division, the imperial court believed that the construction of the Beiyang Marine Division was in place and there was no need to invest financial resources, and in 1892, the Guangxu Emperor explicitly asked the Qing Dynasty to take over the top two years of the first priority for the next two years to celebrate the birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi. As a result, the Ministry of Households, which was in charge of finance, announced that the Navy would suspend the purchase of ships for two years. This is undoubtedly a major obstacle to the sustainable development of the Beiyang Marine Division.
At this time, Japan's main task was to expand its armaments, and the Japanese government continued to expand its naval expenditure in accordance with the emperor's orders. The Yoshino, a 2.73 million yen main warship of the Japanese Navy, was purchased at that time. On the eve of the Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese Navy already had 32 warships and 24 torpedo ships, while the Beiyang Navy had 25 official warships and dozens of auxiliary warships. Most importantly, the Beiyang Marine Division had two major weaknesses, one was that there were no new ships, and all the ships were old warships built before 1888, which were inevitably depreciated over time; and the second was the slow rate of fire of shells. The Japanese fleet is mostly new ships built after 1888, and the warships are equipped with rapid-fire guns, which are light in weight, have a long range and a high rate of fire. This determined the inevitable defeat of the Qing Dynasty in the Sino-Japanese War.
Before the outbreak of war, the Deployment of the Japanese Army had become fully modernized, and the Japanese Navy was also ahead of China, becoming the first in Asia. In this situation, the Chinese Beiyang Navy began a vicious war with the Japanese Navy. In the end, it had to sign the Treaty of Maguan with Japan, which humiliated the country.
Every time I see this history, there is always a feeling of hating iron not steel. The deep roots of feudalism made them tend to be conservative and happy. Standing still, you can only live in the whirlpool of history; update and iteration can walk in the forefront of the times.
On December 17, 2019, China's second aircraft carrier "Shandong" has been officially delivered to the Navy, and the Majesty of the Chinese Navy today is enough to comfort the spirits of the Beiyang martyrs in heaven.
END
Thank you for reading, if you think the article is good, you can click the bottom right corner [Like + Watch] and share it with more friends, hereby wish you and your family good health, family fun, happiness and happiness.