"Sino-Japanese War" and "Galeries Lafayette's Birthday Party".
In 1894, there was an accident in Korea, and the Dongxue Party revolted!
The Dongxue Party is a radical non-governmental organization, its intention is to oppose the West, so it calls itself "Dongxue", and its situation is very similar to that of Korea in the period of the Boxer Rebellion that occurred in China later, the North Korea in the period of the King's Death, the King was dimwitted, The Concubine Min was in power, the officials were corrupt, the bandits were rampant, the people were exhausted, and there were no pedestrians. An elephant of subjugation! Under such circumstances, it should be normal for the Dongxue Party uprising to break out in North Korea.
To say that the Dongxue Party uprising is also a big thing, but if it is compared with the subsequent events caused by this incident, it is a small witch.
According to the agreement between the two countries and North Korea, China and Japan simultaneously sent troops to quell the chaos.
On the side of the Qing army were two armies led by Li Hongzhang's subordinates Ye Zhichao and Nie Shicheng, and after the Qing army arrived at Asan in Korea, it informed Japan that the Qing Empire would also send troops according to the previous agreement that "after the invasion of Korea, we must notify each other". Before japan could reply, the Qing army heard an unbelievable news: the unarmed rabble-rousers of the Dongxue Party took the initiative to break up after learning the news of the troops sent by China and Japan!
White is coming, and since it's all right, get ready to go home. The Qing army was planning to withdraw, but the Japanese did not think so, after the Japanese army drove to Korea, there was no sense of leaving, so Yuan Xiaosi (mentioning Yuan Xiaosi, everyone may not know much, but when it comes to his real name, we should still be familiar with his name yuan shikai, the word consolation court. Yuan Shikai is short in stature, bloated, or a thick neck, and the three indicators of "high wealth and handsomeness" have failed two at once. Find the Japanese: Now that the rebellion has been quelled, according to the agreement, the two countries should withdraw their troops immediately!
Leader of the Beiyang warlords
The Japanese replied to Yuan Xiaosi: The situation is still unclear, in order to protect the interests of the mainland people, we cannot withdraw our troops for the time being, or you Qing troops will also stay and help Korea reform its internal affairs together... Do you go back and think about it first? In the days that followed, the Japanese army was still heavily stationed in strategic locations, and it continued to increase its troops.
Yuan Xiaosi was a man of understanding, and he could see it at a glance: after several years of accumulation, Japan was ready for all-out war. Yuan Xiaosi immediately told Li Hongzhang the news of Japan's refusal to withdraw troops and his own judgment, and also asked Li Hongzhang to send more troops into the DPRK to deter Japan. Li Hongzhang reported the matter to the Soon-to-be-bankrupt Daqing Clique. The board had a heated discussion about "whether to fight or to fight."
Guangxu, as a hot-blooded young man, could not see that the Japanese were so rampant in their small lives, and he very much wanted to teach the other side a lesson, after all, daqing did not lose in the Sino-French war, not to mention the small days that seemed to be far behind France.
However, Cixi's old man was about to celebrate her sixtieth birthday this year, and she did not want the war to delay her birthday celebration.
Strictly speaking, Cixi's "big birthday" in recent decades has not been very happy. In 1875, the year of her fortieth birthday, just in time for her own son to be sick and dying, of course, the mother was sad, where there was a mood to live.
In 1885, the year of her fiftieth birthday, China and France went to war, and the good mood was stirred up again. It's 1894, and it's about to be the sixtieth birthday, so it's time to have a good time, but unfortunately, a war will soon break out between China and Japan to determine the fate of the country!
Since she bowed to the government, pacified the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, twisted the army, and recovered Xinjiang, the Sino-French war is not a loss, the foreign affairs movement has also been successful, known in history as "Tongguang Zhongxing", and she Cixi is not the "Lord of Zhongxing" of the Qing Dynasty? Therefore, as 1894 approached, Cixi Lafayette began to think about giving himself a decent sixtieth birthday.
Therefore, Cixi only wanted to negotiate peace and did not want to fight. She thought that if she took a step back from the sea and the sky, the Japanese would not get into trouble, and she could prepare a birthday party well, but she did not know that Japan had already hardened its heart to fight.
Yuan Shikai's class returned to the dynasty
What is strange is that this time, Li Hongzhang, the "father of the Beiyang Water Master", actually sided with Cixi. He said: At this time, Japan's war strength has surpassed that of the mainland. We should take the initiative to withdraw our troops from North Korea and buy time through international mediation. If we avoid this battle, the mainland can get a period of strategic opportunity, and it is not too late to confront Japan after it has sufficient strength.
Li Hongzhang actually supported the settlement of the Korean crisis through international mediation, did he not have confidence in the troops he created, or was he foolish enough to obey Cixi's orders? He did not have the confidence to win the victory, and it was completely at odds with the idea that the Qing Empire would easily kill little Japan in a second.
Later, I learned that Li Hongzhang believed that the broken house of the Great Qing had been shaken by the wind and rain and was difficult to continue to maintain. He said: In the military changes in the first thirty years of the Qing Dynasty, Lafayette gave him propositional compositions, giving him extremely limited space for free play, he never really and freely did things, always subject to various constraints, so things are not very reliable, like the navy is a paper tiger, it is not enough to defeat Japan. Therefore, Li Hongzhang was unwilling to consume the strength he had accumulated so hard in such an uncertain decisive battle, and he felt that he should wait a little longer, do his best to strive for a peaceful environment for development, and put the economy up.
Of course, since these remarks were made by Li Hongzhang after the end of the war, the suspicion of being an afterthought is not ruled out.
In fact, it doesn't matter what Guangxu and Li Hongzhang think, as long as Cixi, the chairman of daqing, doesn't want to fight, then he can't fight, and Daqing naturally won't send troops.
Yuan Shikai, who had been waiting for reinforcements from the imperial court, was finally disappointed.
Yuan Shikai's situation at this time was very difficult: on the one hand, the Dongxue party members wanted to assassinate Yuan Shikai, who enslaved them; on the other hand, the pro-Japanese faction in Korea also wanted to kill Yuan Shikai; on the other hand, the Japanese also wanted to take the opportunity to remove Yuan Shikai' roadblock.
At such a critical moment, Yuan Shikai's martial arts and cautious precautions from childhood played a role, and he successfully escaped many assassinations.
Yuan Shikai understood that not only would there be no point in continuing to stay in Korea, but his own life would not be guaranteed. So he began to report to the imperial court and applied for a transfer to return to China, on the grounds that he was dizzy, feverish, and had to return to China to recuperate. Such a reason for seeing the devil, fortunately, Li Hongzhang gave him face, and he was approved.
In early July 1894, Yuan Shikai left the mess of Korea to his little brother Tang Shaoyi, who was very moralistic, and stepped on the return ship In early July 1894, Yuan Shikai left the mess of Korea to his little brother Tang Shaoyi, who was very moralistic, stepped on the deck of the return ship, looked at the ship slowly retreating to the shore, and there were tears in Yuan Shikai's eyes: Goodbye, my lost youth! Goodbye, the place I struggled for twelve years!
In the days that followed, the Japanese Army launched an offensive against Ye Zhichao and Nie Shicheng, who were stationed at Asan in North Korea. The two outnumbered men retreated in the direction of Pyongyang, but Ye Zhichao lied about his achievements in order to be promoted, such as "How many people in our army heroically annihilated the japanese army... Regardless of the gains and losses of one city and one place, make strategic retreats" and other such nonsense, so that the imperial court made a wrong judgment on the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army.
The Japanese, naval and land armies attacked, attacked the Qing army, and fought undeclared.
Cixi and Guangxu no longer have any room for maneuver, and they have to fight even if they don't fight. A week later, Guangxu declared war and officially declared war on Japan! This year is the year of Jia Wu, so this all-out confrontation between China and Japan is also called the Sino-Japanese War.
The strategy of the Qing army was:
1. The Beiyang Naval Division should hold the mouth of the Bohai Bay and cover the army's entry into Korea.
2. Assemble the Army in Pyongyang and then attack the Japanese Army from the south.
In a word, the strategy of the Qing army is that the water division is the main defense and the army is the main attack.
And what about Japan's strategic plan?
Little Japan's plan was simple: first defeat the Beiyang Naval Division, win a naval victory, and seize sea supremacy, then the navy would cover the landing of the army in Bohai Bay, and finally seek a decisive battle with the main Qing army in the Zhili Plain.
Little Japan's strategy was the opposite of that of the Qing army. At the heart of their strategy is naval victory. Therefore, the Japanese Navy has been searching for the main force of the Beiyang Navy on the sea in an attempt to fight a decisive battle.
On September 15, the first battle of the escalation was fought in Pyongyang, and the Japanese army was superior.
The commander-in-chief of the Qing army was Ye Zhichao, who lied about his military merits and promotions, Feng Sheng'a, Wei Rugui, Ma Yukun, and Zuo Zhen were each responsible for defending one direction of Pyongyang City, and Nie Shicheng was responsible for protecting the Qing army's retreat. And the western part of the city, where the Japanese army mainly attacked, this most dangerous place, the command of the Qing army was the most capable left precious.
A day later, Zuo Was outnumbered and died heroically, and the west of the city was breached.
Ye Zhichao, who heard the news of the Japanese army entering the city, did not think of dispatching reinforcements, let alone personally going to the battlefield to block the Japanese army, but kept in mind the spirit of "letting the leaders go first", without saying a word, running away! There is no military professional ethics at all. Also, what can you hope for a person who lies and takes credit?
Don't be afraid of god-like opponents, only pig-like teammates!
The Qing army lost valuable fighters, lost the Qing army commanded and coordinated by the commander, was defeated by the Japanese army, and Pyongyang was lost.
A week later, the Qing army all retreated across the Yalu River, and the Japanese took complete control of Korea. On September 17, the day after Pyongyang's fall, the Japanese Navy, which had taken the initiative to search for warplanes, finally found a target in the Dadonggou area of the Yellow Sea: the Beiyang Naval Division.
Two of the most powerful navies in Asia at the time engaged each other: ten ships of the Beiyang Naval Division versus twelve ships of the Japanese Navy. Here I would like to talk about a man who showed the most heroic and fearless performance in war, his name is Deng Shichang. But the battle that Deng Shichang sacrificed was fought very bravely, far more than most pipe belts.
The "Zhiyuan" ship he commanded was on fire, and he drove full horsepower to try to end up with the opponent's absolute main force and the most lethal "Yoshino" (some historical sources believe that it was "Langsu" and try to pull a cushion back. Although in the end he did not succeed, but his own ship was destroyed and killed, but it was still very heroic and tragic.
Although the Beiyang soldiers like Deng Shichang, who were brave enough to fight and were not afraid of sacrifice, were the majority and the mainstream, there were still many people who were greedy for life and afraid of death, such as Fang Boqian, the pipe belt of the "Jiyuan" and Wu Jingrong, the pipe belt of the "Guangjia", who fled at the height of the battle. Fang Boqian was beheaded after the war, the "Guangjia" hit the reef and self-destructed, and Wu Jingrong fed the fish. However, an ordinary officer named Li Yuanhong on the "Guangjia" actually escaped with his life, and he created a legend in the near future.
More than five hours later, the Battle of the Yellow Sea was over.
In the Yellow Sea Naval Battle, the Beiyang Marine Division suffered nearly a thousand casualties, sank five ships, and lost half of its combat effectiveness. The Japanese suffered fewer than five hundred casualties and were severely wounded by five ships.
The Japanese army won and gained control of the Yellow Sea.
Both the land and sea armies were defeated, and Li Hongzhang changed his strategy in time: in view of the fact that the weaknesses of the Beiyang Marine Division in the Yellow Sea Naval Battle were exposed--the firepower was weak, the rate of fire was slow, the speed of navigation was even slower, and the ship support was not given by Japan, the Beiyang Naval Division should focus on defense, and the camera should go to sea for a decisive battle.
The land and navy armies of the two countries fought from the Liaodong Peninsula to the Shandong Peninsula and from Lushun to Weihai, and the Qing army was defeated. In addition to Nie Shicheng, Li Hongzhang's Huai army, which Li Hongzhang started, was almost completely destroyed; in the Battle of Weihaiwei, the Beiyang Marine Division killed Liu Butou in battle, the commander Ding Ruchang committed suicide, and the Beiyang Navy, which Li Hongzhang painstakingly managed, was completely destroyed.
This humiliating battle officially ended in April of the following year.
Sold the country again
Later, as everyone knows, Li Hongzhang, on behalf of Cixi and Guangxu, betrayed the country once and signed the "Sino-Japanese Maguan Treaty." (The Treaty of Maguan was signed between the Qing Empire and the Empire of Japan on April 17, 1895 (March 23, 21, 2001, meiji 28, Japan) in Akama-seki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan (present-day Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture), formerly known as the Maguan New Covenant, also known as the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Peace, known to Japan as the Treaty of Shimonoseki or the Treaty of Nissin Talks)
In Maguan, Li Hongzhang experienced the most humiliating time of his life. When he left the land after more than half a month with gunshot wounds and humiliation, he fell into a long period of loneliness and resentment. Mr. Li vowed not to set foot on Japanese soil as a way of protesting. However, Li Hongzhang can be a coward, a bad person, or a corrupt official—according to Liang Qichao, his family property is worth more than 10 million taels of silver, as if he has gray income, but he cannot be a traitor. The reasons are explained later.
Shortly after the treaty was signed, it was the case that Ito Hirobumi feared. After Li Hongzhang returned to China, the nature that greeted him was not flowers and applause, but scolding from the people and the court: Kill Li Hongzhang to thank the world!
Li Hongzhang should be depressed, but Li Hongzhang knows that he can't just care about depression, he should use the little time left to do something more meaningful.
Don't look at Japan's victory over the Qing Dynasty, in fact, Japan's national strength reserves for many years have also been almost consumed by this war, and now it is very weak and cannot afford to fight the second war. Therefore, the Japanese can only agree. But it has a condition —you have to exchange thirty million taels of silver for it. What options can the Qing Dynasty have? Only money can be redeemed to the Liaodong Peninsula.
The Liaodong Peninsula is coming back, and poor Taiwan did not let the imperial court take it seriously!
Rely on the sky and the earth, but also rely on yourself! You are the only one who can decide your destiny! The Taiwanese military and civilians resisted spontaneously, fought hard for May, and finally failed to twist their arms over their thighs, or did not do a colony for half a century, until Japan was defeated and surrendered in 1945.
The Battle of Jiawu was lost like this, and at this time in the Forbidden City, Cixi still lived her sixtieth birthday unmoved, and the bureaucrats still shouted long live the mountains and sang and danced. Such a scale and such a celebration satisfied Weng Tonggong, the main organizer of the celebration.
The Qing Dynasty is not dead, where is the heavenly reason!