Liu Gongdao's sentiments
Song Haifeng
The chill of late autumn could not stop me from going to Liugong Island to receive a profound patriotic education. Because Liugong Island, as an important symbol of modern history, has already rippled in my mind countless times. Although I learned about LiugongDao as a modern Chinese Beiyang Navy in textbooks and on television, I never got to be immersed in it, so that I did not know it deeply and did not feel strongly.
Liugong Island is located in Weihai Bay, east of Weihai City, 2.1 nautical miles from the city, with an area of 3.15 square kilometers. Because Liugong Island and the tip of the Liaodong Peninsula Lushun strangled the throat of the Bohai Sea, "arms embracing the sea, an island locking the door of the country", like the gateway of Beijing and Tianjin, it is known as "East Corner Ping Domain" and "unsinkable warship". After inspecting the islands throughout the country, Li Hongzhang chose Liugong Island as the anchorage of the Beiyang Navy and its fleet.
I have long been fond of Liugong Island, and when I set foot on its land, there was infinite bitterness and sadness. Liugong Island is an unsinkable warship, full of patriotic feelings of Beiyang soldiers, guarding the ancient sea of China... The sky didn't seem to be beautiful, and on our way to the docks, a few drops of rain sprinkled on us on the overcast day. Sitting on the boat to Liugong Island, I was thinking that this might be providence, and God was tearfully telling the tragic history of the Beiyang Navy!
With the roar of the motor, the ferry chopped waves on the surface of the sea, creating a long water mark, stirring up countless crystal waves. Looking up, the peaks are stacked, lush, the blue sky, the turquoise sea, a mountain light and water color, Wei Bay is like a blue agate, under the sunlight, sparkling, deep blue. Looking west from the fence, the mountains are full of shadows and high-rise buildings; the eyes are far away, the water and sky are colorful, and the smoke waves are vast. After more than 20 minutes of boat travel, the beautiful Liugong Island comes into view, only to see the lone peak standing tall and the blue waves haunting. The ancient trees and pavilions on the island are scattered; the island peaks are full of clouds and mist, and the shadows of gulls are dotted; the islands are full of trees and flowers, and the water is babbling.
I admired the beautiful scenery, but in my heart churned the wolf smoke of the Sino-Japanese War. In the second half of the 19th century, the Qing government was worried about the frequent intrusion of the ships and cannons of the great powers, so a group of foreign affairs factions advocating "the strength of the division" such as Li Hongzhang, the minister of beiyang, focused on preparing for the construction of China's modern navy, with the aim of establishing a maritime barrier for "closing the country to the outside world." In 1888, the "Beiyang Marine Division" was established, and its strength ranked first in Asia at that time. At the same time, after the Meiji Restoration, Japan also expanded its navy, keeping a close eye on Chinese mainland and Korea. In January 1894, Japan took the opportunity of the Korean peasants to launch an uprising, while instigating the Qing government to send troops to suppress it at the invitation of the King of Korea, and on the other hand, it preemptively sent troops to Korea to form a siege of the Qing army. On July 25, the three troop carriers that had escorted the Qing army into Korea returned from Asan and sailed to the surface of Toshima Sea, where they were suddenly attacked by the artillery fire of three Japanese fast cruisers, thus opening the prelude to the Sino-Japanese War and leaving the Chinese nation with a wound that will never be healed.
Accompanied by my friends, I climbed up the bluestone steps and stepped over the tall threshold into the Sino-Japanese War Museum, which displayed wax figures of heroes who heroically resisted the Wokou in the Sino-Japanese War and more than 1,000 precious historical pictures, as well as more than 300 war relics salvaged from the seabed, which made us truly feel the tragic and magnificent course of the Beiyang Marine Division from its establishment to its defeat, felt the cruelty and intensity of the war, and saw the ugly face of the Qing Dynasty government. Thinking of this, my heart skimmed a wave of bitterness, like salty seawater... The narrator is explaining, and the three-dimensional naval battle demonstration composed of sound, light, model, etc. tells people the tragic story of the hero of Jia Wu. In 1895, Japan went to war without declaring itself, and secretly attacked Weihaiwei to launch the Sino-Japanese War. For a time, the originally calm sea surface roared with thunder and fury, the waves rolled, the smoke filled the air, and the fire soared into the sky.
The Jiawu Naval Battle Hall is like several ships colliding with each other suspended on the sea, with a magnificent momentum and a peculiar shape. Directly above the Naval Battle Hall is a tall statue of Deng Shichang, a national hero of modern China and a general of the Beiyang Marine Division, who wears a flower plume, wears a battle robe, holds a telescope, and looks solemnly at the vast sea. You see, in the Battle of Jiawu, when Deng Shichang's "Zhiyuan" ship ran out of ammunition, Deng Shichang resolutely decided to drive full horsepower and die with the Japanese ship "Yoshino". "We are born Chinese, and smoked to death is the soul of the sea!" "At full power, rush to 'Yoshino'!" When the ship was wounded and bombed, Deng Shichang's "Zhiyuan" resolutely rushed to the Japanese ship "Yoshino" in thick smoke and flames, vowing to die with it, and unfortunately hit the enemy torpedo. Deng Shichang and the ironclad ships he had brought back from the West sank into the horizon together. Looking at the statue, I seem to be thinking, how can the Chinese nation die if it has such an indomitable hero! Strong patriotism and national hatred made me burst into tears in an instant... On February 17, 1895, the Japanese fleet set sail from the anchorage of YinShankou and sailed to Liugong Island in Weihai, finally completely destroying China's Beiyang Marine Division and casting the century-old shame of the Chinese nation! A great war that was originally evenly matched, but because of the corruption and incompetence of the Qing government, the Beiyang Naval Division, which was known as the most powerful naval fleet in Asia, was completely destroyed, and the Qing government was forced to sign the "Treaty of Maguan", which humiliated the country. Ah, the humiliating past turned page after page, evoking the pain in my heart, and my grief and indignation could not be suppressed, and I burst into tears.
I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes and walked out of the Naval Battle Hall with my friends along the side of the cobblestone road by the sea to explore the reasons for the defeat in the Battle of Jiawu. Friends said that the history books wrote a well-known important reason: Empress Dowager Cixi embezzled naval funds to build the Summer Palace. However, if Empress Dowager Cixi had not embezzled that money, would the Battle of Jiawu have been won? I say that from the Qianlong Emperor's "Edict to the English King" written to the British king in 1793, we can see how it is a kind of arrogance that ignores the outside world and is full of heavenly consciousness. Mr. Yu Qiuyu once lamented: "Qianlong reprimanded foreign emperors at the summer resort, and even the old people of history will not listen well." This garden is already mixed with some kind of evil omen. It can be said that the defeat of Jia Wu and even the death of the Qing Dynasty were already doomed in Qianlong's words. No one can win a war that is destined to lose, and no one can save a dynasty that is bound to perish.
The smoke of the Sino-Japanese War has long since dissipated. I stood on Liugong Island, looking into the distance, the sea was wide and the sky was high, and the fishing boats were like shuttles. It is said that many Japanese tourists come to Liugong Island and have to mourn and bow in front of the statue of Ding Ruchang – is this a national confession? The Japanese have not forgotten the Battle of Jia-Wu, so what about Chinese? At this time, I remembered Mr. Lu Xun's words: "Tragedy is the destruction of valuable things in life for people to see." "Yes, it takes courage to show historical tragedies, and it takes courage to accept historical tragedies, they will make people face bloody pain and cruelty, and they will also give people reflection after painful thinking. We must not let the tragedy of history repeat itself, and we must let the heroic souls of martyrs rest in peace. After all, that war is history; after all, China is no longer the sleeping lion that was slaughtered more than a hundred years ago.
The water birds are still chirping, the waves are still lapping at the reef, Liugong Island, my feeling is the history teacher.