On September 17, 1894, China and Japan broke out a large-scale naval battle in the Yellow Sea field, in which the Beiyang Marine Division lost, which caused the control of the Yellow Sea to fall into the hands of Japan, and the balance of victory in the war was tilted to the Japanese side.
At this time, China had a cattle man who formulated a plan for a surprise attack on the Japanese mainland, and even the required military expenses and ships were prepared, but two people ruined the good deeds, making this plan stillborn.
This cattle man was called Song Yuren, when the Sino-Japanese Naval Battle broke out, Song Yuren was in England, serving as the counselor of the Chinese Minister to Britain, and when Song Yuren learned that China had lost the Battle of the Yellow Sea, he thought of a surprising way to win. He intended to buy five British warships and ten torpedo boats to sell with Argentina and Chile, and recruited two thousand Australian sailors to form a naval division, entrusted with an Australian caravan, and in the name of protecting the caravan, from the Philippines north to attack Tokyo, Japan.
This method may seem whimsical, but it is feasible to a large extent, first of all, warships have the right to protect the merchant ships of various countries, and if the British flag is flown on the merchant ship and goes directly to Tokyo, Japan, it will not make the Japanese suspicious. Moreover, at this time, the main Japanese warships were still encircling the Beiyang Fleet, not on the Japanese mainland. Although the Beiyang Fleet lost the Battle of the Yellow Sea, the main force still existed.
If the Japanese combined fleet returned to Tokyo, the Beiyang Marine Division could take advantage of the situation to reverse the unfavorable war situation, and it could also attack the Japanese fleet left and right with newly purchased warships, and if this battle could be successful, it could completely annihilate the Japanese combined fleet, and even turn Japan into a province of China.
On the one hand, Song Yuren played this plan to the imperial court, and on the other hand, he obtained the support of the feudal officials Zhang Zhidong and Liu Kunyi. It was even agreed with Greenmir, the manager of the Condecott Bank in the United Kingdom: a loan of two million pounds. And raised a million pounds. After a series of efforts, the warships and personnel were all prepared and were preparing to be led by The Beiyang Admiral Lang Weili.
They were all going to succeed, but what did Cixi and Li Hongzhang say? Li Hongzhang resolutely opposed Song Yuren's approach, while Empress Dowager Cixi believed that Song Yuren was "causing trouble in vain", and under repeated delays, the main force of the Beiyang Marine Division was completely annihilated by the Japanese at Weihaiwei. The Qing government also made up its mind to negotiate peace with the Japanese and ordered Song Yuren to return to Beijing.
In April 1895, the Qing government signed the Treaty of Maguan with Japan, which humiliated the country, and Song Yuren was sad for a long time when he "wept privately and sighed" on the way back to China. After returning to the capital, Song Yuren was also confiscated by the imperial court and demoted to the rank of four-pin official.