If the naval battle of Jia Wu was still quite fierce, and there were many opinions about victory and defeat, the land battle of Jia Wu was undoubtedly a very bad defeat for the Manchu Qing. Li Hongzhang carefully prepared a defensive posture for Korea for several months, and in Pyongyang it collapsed completely in just one day, and the Qing army ran all the way back to the other side of the Yalu River, losing the whole of Korea.
As mentioned in the previous article, the Qing Army's army deployed in Korea was the most elite, and although the Japanese Army was generally superior, it was limited to logistics and other factors, and there were not many troops invested in Korea. It should be said that the Chinese and Japanese armies in Pyongyang were evenly matched, and the Qing army also relied on the fortifications in Pyongyang City, and should not have been defeated so quickly.
Li Hongzhang could not be said to be unsatisfied with the Sino-Japanese War, and all the troops transferred to Korea were able to fight. The total strength of the Qing army deployed in Korea reached more than 17,000 people, including 13,000 in Pyongyang, equipped with 38 artillery pieces. Pyongyang's walls were able to withstand rifle shells and small artillery, and the Qing army built 27 forts and saved up a month's worth of food.
The total number of Japanese troops landing in Korea was 20,000, and 16,000 people were put into battle in Pyongyang, equipped with 58 75 mm mountain guns. The Japanese army divided into four routes and attacked from multiple directions. On September 15, the Japanese began to attack, exchanging fire with the Qing forces.
The First Japanese attacked the Bridge, where there were 5,400 Japanese troops and only 2,100 Qing troops. However, the Qing army relied on the fortress and favorable terrain to inflict a large number of casualties on the Japanese army. When the battle was fierce, there were even hand-to-hand combat between the two sides. After the Qing army put in reinforcements, it not only repelled the Japanese attack, but instead launched a counter-charge and won the battle.
The main direction of the Japanese army was Xuanwumen and Mudantai in the north of Pyongyang, and the defender here was President Zuo Zheng of Bongjun. More than 6,000 Japanese troops launched an onslaught, destroyed multiple forts with artillery, attacked the Mudantai position at 8:30 in the morning, and then began shelling Xuanwumen.
Zuo Precious was a pioneer and insisted on directing the battle at the forefront of XuanwuMen, but unfortunately he was hit by Japanese artillery and martyred. The Qing army fell into chaos and was seized by the Japanese army to occupy Xuanwumen. However, the Japanese army also suffered heavy losses, and seeing that there were a large number of Qing troops in the city, they did not dare to go deeper and withdrew to the highlands north of the city.
There was also a way that the main force of the Japanese army had just arrived in the southwest of the city, the attack on the Qing army fortress was not successful, and the Qing cavalry launched a counterattack, and there were not many results. As a result, the two sides were deadlocked outside the city and did not continue fighting.
So far, the battle situation has not been divided into victories and defeats, the Qing army's left precious general was martyred, there were certain losses, but the main defensive line did not waver, the western front also won a victory, and the 6,000-man reserve was not used. In other words, the battle still had to be fought, and the Japanese army did not take much advantage.
However, the commander of the Qing army, Ye Zhichao, after summoning the generals for consultation that night, decided to abandon Pyongyang. At eight o'clock in the evening, the Qing army began to retreat in the heavy rain, and was hit by Japanese fire. The next morning, the Japanese marched into the city of Pyongyang, and the battle of Pyongyang ended.
The Qing army suffered about 2,000 casualties, and 683 were captured. The Japanese suffered 180 casualties and 506 wounded. Three-quarters of the Qing casualties and almost all of the prisoners were caused by the retreat. Ye Zhichao escaped the Yalu River in one fell swoop, losing the whole of North Korea.
Judging from the comparison of the battle process and casualties, the Japanese army in the Jiawu period did not have absolute superiority, and the Qing army still had the ability and courage to fight with it. However, the greed of the generals for fear of death made the sacrifices of Zuo Precious and the vast number of soldiers disappear.
After the war, a Japanese newspaper published a captured letter from Ye Zhichao's family, in which Ye's wife advised Ye Zhichao not to take the lead. After this letter was known to the imperial court, it became evidence of Ye Zhichao's greed for life and fear of death. The imperial court ordered Ye Zhichao to be dismissed from his post and convicted, and he was sentenced to be beheaded and imprisoned, and eventually escaped the death penalty. Wei Rugui was beheaded on charges such as retreating from the battlefield. Zuo Precious, who was martyred, was posthumously awarded the title of Prince Shaobao.
The Battle of Pyongyang fully exposed the weaknesses of the Qing army, first of all, it was ill-prepared, more than 13,000 people gathered here, but the ammunition reserves were seriously insufficient, and after a day of fighting, it was found that it was not enough to maintain a long battle.
Secondly, the generals' military quality is insufficient, and they will only stick to being beaten and do not dare to fight in the field. The total strength of the Japanese army is not much, and after dividing into several roads, it is even more insufficient. The Qing army had 6,000 reserves, which had the ability to concentrate forces to annihilate the Japanese army along the way and open up the situation to turn defeat into victory.
The third and most important point is that the Qing generals are greedy for life and afraid of death, except for a few people such as Zuo Precious, most of them have no determination to fight a bloody battle to the end, and when they encounter a slight setback, they ignore the overall situation and only think about how to escape, causing the morale of the whole army to be demoralized and completely collapsed.
Li Hongzhang's Huai Army started with military merit, and several generals who went to the DPRK also had experience in previous bloody battles, but after many years of peace, corruption was not corrupt, and everyone bought a lot of family property, so they had long lost the blood courage of that year. In the face of fierce fighting, they left the duties and glory of soldiers behind.
[References: "Sunken Jia Wu", "Re-disk Jia Wu"]