The Sino-Japanese War was the last important naval battle in modern China, and it is very necessary for the people of the world to uphold a serious historical attitude, conduct in-depth study of historical facts, or analyze the combat experience in this naval battle. Although the reason for the defeat in the war has always been said to be the corruption of the Qing government, this is only one of the factors that led to the defeat and cannot be generalized.
So, how did the Battle of Jiawu lose? What's the hidden secret?
The Battle of the Yellow Sea was a naval battle fought by the main naval forces of the two sides in the northern waters of the Yellow Sea during the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War. After the Battle of the Yellow Sea, Ding Ruchang began to command the Beiyang Navy and fought bravely. The entire campaign lasted nearly five hours, and although it did not end in the victory of the Qing army, it did not end in the defeat of the Qing army. Because both sides of this campaign suffered heavy blows, including some Japanese warships that were shelled by the Chinese side.
So, why is this the case?
Let's first look at the combat configuration of the Qing army: 18 warships and 4,000 army escorts, but the Japanese army has only 12 warships. When the two sides were facing each other, the Japanese warships lined up in a one-line formation, with the flagship "Matsushima" as the center, and wanted to carry out a complete blockade of the Qing army.
At this time, Ding Ruchang, the admiral of the Qing army, issued an order, and he ordered the "Dingyuan" as the vanguard warship, and the other warships were arranged in human shapes in turn. In the early stage of the engagement, the Qing army's "Dingyuan" first began to shell the Japanese warships, originally the Qing army had a great advantage, but after several rounds of confrontation, the inferior Japanese warships immediately changed their formation.
They formed an encirclement offensive against the Qing warships from the rear. In the face of the front and rear attacks of the Japanese warships, the Qing warship formation was greatly affected. In addition, the Japanese army found that the Qing general Ding Ruchang was directing the battle on the "Zhiyuan", so they launched a crazy attack on the "Zhiyuan".
The Japanese concentrated the fire of all the battleships and began to attack the Zhiyuan, and successive shelling hit the battleships of Admiral Ding Ruchang. Eventually, the Zhiyuan sank.
However, there are many opinions on the reasons for the sinking of the "Zhiyuan".
Some people say that it was Ding Ruchang who, in order to pursue the Japanese "Yoshino" at full speed, planned to die with it, and finally, after hitting the "Yoshino", it sank. In fact, this statement needs to be examined, because at that time, the naval strength of the Qing Army was still in its infancy, and the speed of the "Yoshino" was completely above that of the "Zhiyuan".
Therefore, to let Ding Ruchang's "Zhiyuan" catch up with the very fast "Yoshino", it is still a bit contrary to the principles of science and technology.
In addition, even if the Yoshino was shelled, causing its speed to slow down, the Zhiyuan did not necessarily have the intention of ending up with it. Imagine that Ding Ruchang, the commander-in-chief of the entire campaign, had just started the war on the "Zhiyuan", and the Qing army still had a clear advantage in the early stages; although the change of formation of the Japanese army in the later period was unfavorable to our army, it would not immediately have the intention of ending up together.
Therefore, the reason for the eventual sinking of the "Zhiyuan" should be that it was gradually sunk after being hit.
After the sinking of the "Zhiyuan", the Qing army lost its commander-in-chief, resulting in no one commanding the operation, in addition, other warships were also shelled to varying degrees, and in desperation, both sides withdrew from the battle, and the war ended. In this battle, five warships of the Beiyang Navy sank, four of the Japanese warships were severely damaged, and one was sunk. As a result, it is also a draw.
Therefore, the Battle of the Yellow Sea cannot be said to have ended in China's defeat.
However, the Army of the Qing Dynasty was very disappointing. Just after the Japanese army occupied Dalian and Lushun one after another, they attacked the maritime warships of the Beiyang Navy on the coastal fort, causing the Beiyang Fleet to suffer from the enemy. This made the Beiyang Navy encounter a double attack at sea and land, and it can be said that it is really a teammate in the strength pit.
So, why was the qing army so weak? This may have a lot to do with the military system of the Qing Army.
In the Qing Dynasty, many soldiers were forced to become soldiers, especially in modern China, the Chinese people, especially men, were deeply poisoned by opium, and their physical fitness and mental state were not very good. As a result, one by one, after going to the battlefield, they are like walking dead, seeing that the enemy first releases the gun, and after the bullets are released, it is to escape, and this kind of combat effectiveness is difficult to be undefeated.
In addition, although the Japanese warship was hit by the Beiyang Navy, it did not sink, which is because Ding Ruchang was from the army and was not very familiar with maritime combat, and did not have more experience in maritime warfare. What's more, the shells carried during the Sino-Japanese War did not have explosive power at all, and although they were hit, they did not have the function of exploding, resulting in the Japanese battleships being severely damaged but not sinking.
In the Sino-Japanese War, although the Beiyang Navy made stubborn resistance, the army's combat capability was very poor, which eventually led to unimaginable results.
Then, what is the real situation with regard to the fact that Empress Dowager Cixi occupied the naval military funds in order to repair the Summer Palace?
The answer is no.
Empress Dowager Cixi's repair of the Summer Palace did not occupy the naval military expenses at all, in fact, in order to raise the silver for repairing the Summer Palace, Empress Dowager Cixi only used the naval military funds to make a pretext. In fact, the silver for the repair of the Summer Palace was all the money given to Empress Dowager Cixi by the governors of the provinces, and the officials in Beijing were like crazy and tried their best to get money in order to send a generous gift to Empress Dowager Cixi and win the empress's favor. Even, Empress Dowager Cixi donated her own three million taels of private money for the navy's military expenses.
Historically, the reason why Empress Dowager Cixi appropriated naval military expenses was actually because Liang Qichao and Empress Dowager Cixi had very different political views, so Liang Qichao deliberately slandered Empress Dowager Cixi and really blackened Empress Dowager Cixi.
Eventually, the war disrupted Cixi's birthday celebration plans. Cixi, who was not in the mood and did not have a big face, had to issue a decree on September 25 to cancel the celebration at the Summer Palace and the "point view" project along the way. Shi Zai, on November 7, 1894 (that is, the tenth day of the first month of october in the lunar calendar), Cixi's 60th birthday was only spent in the Ningshou Palace.
The results of the Sino-Japanese War brought an unprecedentedly serious national crisis to the Chinese nation and greatly deepened the degree of semi-colonization of Chinese society. From ancient times to the present, if you do not want to suffer aggression from foreign enemies, you must be strong, and only if you are strong enough to not be bullied by others. Regardless of whether the Sino-Japanese War was successful or not, no matter whose fault it was after all, as a world, we must learn from it.
Resources:
[Modern and Contemporary Chinese History," "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty," "Political History of Japan"]