To be precise, the so-called Sino-Japanese Naval Battle was only part of the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, and the Beiyang Fleet at that time was only used to escort soldiers, but it did not expect to encounter the Japanese Navy that had been preparing for a long time, and the result was a complete defeat. The biggest defeat of the Qing court was actually on land, which was the main reason for the Qing court's surrender.
Let me give you a general idea of how many battles were fought in the Sino-Japanese War, but only on a large scale.
North Korea
At that time, the Lee dynasty in Korea was also corrupt, which made the people very dissatisfied, so the famous "Dongxue Party Uprising" broke out. Like the Qing court, the Korean government was also weak in suppression, so it asked the Qing court to help suppress the Dongxue Party uprising, and the Qing government sent troops to Korea and stationed in Asan. Japan also took the opportunity to invade Korea and instigated the pro-Japanese faction of Korea to sever ties with the Qing court. Soon, the North Korean government reached a compromise with the Dongxue Party. The Qing government ordered the troops entering The Korean Army to assemble at Asan and prepare to withdraw, while demanding that the Japanese withdraw their troops. Japan refused to accept it and subsequently provoked armed conflict in an attempt to control Korea by force.
In 1894, in the first year of the Chinese lunar calendar, the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War officially broke out.
Battle of the Windy Island
In July of that year, when the warships "Weiyuan," "Jiyuan," and "Guangyi," which were preparing to return to China, sailed to the southwest waters of Toshima, the mouth of Asan Bay, they were suddenly stopped by the first guerrilla cruisers of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Yoshino, Wave Speed, and Akitsu-chau. The Chinese warships were not fully prepared, and the naval side suffered heavy losses, and the cruiser "Guangyi" and the chartered cargo ship "Gaosheng" were sunk; the cruiser "Jiyuan" was severely damaged; and the gunboat "Caojiang" was captured by the Japanese side.
At the same time, on the night of July 28, the Japanese army attacked the Qing army in Asan, and a fierce battle broke out, and the Qing army was not supported and retreated to Pyongyang. On August 1, China and Japan officially declared war.
At that time, the Qing court army troops stationed in Asan, Korea, were also attacked by the mixed brigades of the Japanese army, and Ye Zhichao and Nie Shicheng moved to Chenghuan and Gongzhou in the east of Yashan because there was no danger to defend asa. The Battle of Sunghhuanyi began, but the Qing court was defeated again, and from then on, Japan completely cut off China's shipping route to the west coast of Korea.
Battle of Pyongyang
On August 21 and 28, Ye Zhichao and Nie Shicheng successively led the remnants of Cheng Huan's defeat into Pyongyang, and then the Japanese army divided into four routes to Pyongyang, adopted a combined attack, and surrounded Pyongyang on all sides, and the Battle of Pyongyang began.
The final result was also not unexpected, the Qing army collapsed, could only retreat, retreated to Shun'an, and was stopped by the Japanese army, with heavy losses. During this period, the main general Ye Zhichao ran more than 500 miles and became the laughing stock of history. The Japanese controlled all of Korea through the victory over the Qing army, fully grasped the initiative of the war, boosted morale, and burned the war to the Yalu River to further invade China. The Chinese forces were expelled from Korea because of this battle, and caused great damage and collapse, and then the land battle was almost consecutively defeated, resulting in a total defeat in the Sino-Japanese War.
Later, the Qing Navy, the Beiyang Fleet, was defeated by the Japanese Navy in the Yellow Sea, followed by the loss of the Yalu River.
Battle of the Yalu River
Pyongyang fell, and the Qing army's hope of stopping Japan was along the Yalu River, where the first major point was Tiger Mountain. The battle was so fierce that the Qing army lost 70% of its casualties, lost Hushan, a strategic military stronghold, and the Japanese tore a huge opening in the Yalu River.
Immediately afterward, another important place, Jiulian City, was directly abandoned by the Qing army, and the Japanese army was within reach. This is where the Japanese army has reached the Border between China and North Korea. In this war, the Qing army was undermanned, under-equipped, demoralized, and disciplined. At the same time, the supply is not good, the manager is incompetent, and the generals will not be satisfied. Set the tone for the ensuing war.
Lushun bloodshed
After the Battle of the Yellow Sea, the Qing Beiyang Fleet was seriously injured, so in October it secretly landed from the Dalian Huayuankou area, trying to capture Jinzhou and cut off the Lushun rear road, but the Qing army neglected to prevent it, allowing the Japanese army to land smoothly from the Huayuankou, in early November, the Japanese army surrounded Jinzhou, and jinzhou was lost in mid-november. The only good news was that the Qing generals Xu Bangdao, Cheng Yunhe, and Jiang Guiti led an army to block the Japanese invading army and won the victory in the Tuchengzi Blockade Battle.
However, the brief defeat did not stop the Japanese, and they immediately launched an attack on Lushun, which was located at the southernmost tip of the Liaodong Peninsula, across the sea from Weihaiwei, and strangled the gateway to the Bohai Sea. As a result, more than 20 forts on the Lushun Peninsula were all occupied by the Japanese army in one day, and the Qing army killed about 2,000 people, and the Japanese army lost only 280 people. After the Japanese army captured Lushun, it robbed and slaughtered the city for 4 days and 3 nights, which is the infamous "Lushun Massacre"!
After the fall of Lushun, the Japanese planned to march into Shanhaiguan and push straight into the Plains, seeking a decisive battle with the Qing army, threatening Beijing and Tianjin, and forcing the Qing government to completely surrender.
Weihai Defense Battle
After the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing government focused its defense on the three eastern provinces and did not pay sufficient attention to the strategic position of the Shandong Peninsula, but the Japanese seized this, and in mid-December, the Japanese army decided to land near Longsu Island in Rongcheng Bay and march into Weihaiwei.
The Battle of Weihaiwei was the most tragic battle in the Sino-Japanese War, fought for nearly 3 months, and finally the famous generals Liu Butou and Ding Ruchang committed suicide and martyrdom, and the Qing army was forced to surrender!
At this time, in the Liaodong region, the Qing army was also defeated. The military stronghold of Niuzhuang was lost, which directly led to the capture of Yingkou and Tianzhuangtai. Since then, Japan has had a base in Tohoku.
Later, because Japan's national strength could not support a war of such a scale, the two sides began negotiations under the interference of other countries, which lasted for nearly three months, and at 11:40 a.m. on April 17, 1895, Li Hongzhang signed the treaty of Maguan with Japan on behalf of the Qing government and Japan at the Maguan Chunfan Building, which officially entered into force on May 8.
The successive defeats of the Qing court at sea and on land were the main reason for the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War. In fact, since the end of 1894, peasant riots have broken out in many parts of Japan, and social unrest has broken out, and if the Qing court stubbornly resists, it may not have good results. However, under the intervention of the Qing court lords and factions, especially Cixi, they did not feel like fighting this war at all, especially after the war burned to China, their so-called "Land of Longxing" was occupied by the Japanese, the Bohai Bay was also opened, and Beijing and Tianjin were exposed. In their hearts, the interests of the country are nothing, the people can carry it, and their own rule is the most important.
The defeat in the Sino-Japanese War marked the defeat of the foreign affairs movement that lasted for more than thirty years, and the achievements of modernization were wiped out, breaking the pursuit of national rejuvenation by the Chinese people in modern times. It marked that the invasion of China by the great powers had entered a new stage and greatly deepened China's semi-colonization. The Sino-Japanese War directly led to the upsurge of the movement of the Chinese people to save the nation from peril, and the spontaneous resistance of the Chinese people to resist aggression.