Ding Ruchang was the admiral of the Beiyang Naval Division, equivalent to the supreme military commander of the Beiyang Navy, at that time there were four major water divisions in the late Qing Dynasty, namely the four major water divisions of Beiyang, Nanyang, Fujian and Guangdong, and the Beiyang Marine Division was the strongest, and when the Battle of Jiawu broke out, the other three water divisions stood idly by and did not play any role at all.
On the other hand, the Japanese marine division slammed the Beiyang Marine Division in the form of a combined fleet, so that it caused the final defeat of the Beiyang Marine Division.
After the Beiyang Marine Division retreated to The Liugong Island in Weihai, the Japanese ships pressed forward step by step, and the commander-in-chief of the combined fleet, Ito Yuheng, sent a letter to persuade Ding Ruchang to surrender, and Ding Ruchang refused to surrender and committed suicide by poisoning himself.
However, after his death, the Guangxu Emperor ordered that his descendants should not be buried, and ordered three iron locks to be added to his coffin.
Why was Ding Ruchang treated like this? It is also a martyrdom, why is Deng Shichang's treatment so different from his treatment?
Ding Ruchang
The historical evaluation of Ding Ruchang is mixed, and the good people say that he was martyred in the Battle of Jiawu and that he was as respected as Deng Shichang.
The derogatory people said that he was at a loss of command during the Battle of Jiawu, timid as a rat, fearing the enemy like a tiger, committing suicide because of the depth of the crime, and had to do it in order to protect himself from being exterminated. In this article, we will talk about this problem.
Ding Ruchang, formerly known as Ding Xianda, was born in the sixteenth year of Daoguang, that is, in 1836, a native of Shizhen, Lujiang County, Anhui Province.
Ding Ruchang was originally a general of the Taiping Army Changmao, but later surrendered to the Qing court in defeat and became a subordinate of the Huai general Liu Mingchuan.
Later, Li Hongzhang wanted to form the Beiyang Marine Division and wanted to transfer Ding Ruchang as his subordinate, and Li Hongzhang appreciated his talent. However, at this time, there was a contradiction between Ding Ruchang and his old superior Liu Mingchuan, and the relationship between Li Hongzhang and Liu Mingchuan was very ironclad.
Li Hongzhang was afraid of offending Liu Mingchuan, so he gave Ding Ruchang an idea to study at the British Naval School and then serve in the Beiyang Naval Division after graduation.
Ding Ruchang thought that this curve was a good idea to take office, and went to the British Navy to study according to the plan.
Li
In 1880, after graduation, Ding Ruchang went to the Beiyang Water Division, he began to work hard from the pipe belt, and spent 14 years to become the admiral of the Beiyang Water Division.
Some people once said that the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War was caused by Ding Ruchang's lack of professional knowledge and Li Hongzhang's nepotism.
In fact, this argument is untenable, Ding Ruchang is a junior college student at the British Naval School, should have certain professional knowledge, in addition, Li Hongzhang to establish the Beiyang Marine Division must use his own people, if Ding Ruchang is not capable, he can not afford the position of naval commander. Even if Li Hongzhang is nepotistic, the premise is that this person must be capable.
If Ding Ruchang is a perfect person, this is not true. The outbreak of the Sino-Japanese Naval Battle was because the Qing government helped Korea to come out, and the Korean court was in civil unrest, so it asked the Qing government to help quell the chaos, and at this time Japan also wanted to take the opportunity to intervene, so the Sino-Japanese Naval Battle broke out.
At the beginning of the Sino-Japanese Naval Battle, the Japanese sailors were only used as troop ships to Korea, and the four major water divisions of the Qing court did not leave the port. At this time, the Guangxu Emperor was anxious, and he did not dare to order Li Hongzhang, but directly ordered Ding Ruchang to escort the Yellow Sea.
Without preparation, Ding Ruchang did not dare to disobey the emperor's orders and took the Beiyang Marine Division to the Yellow Sea.
At that time, Li Hongzhang meant to avoid the conflict between China and Japan as much as possible and to save several large ships of the Beiyang Marine Division.
Coincidentally, the Japanese combined fleet completed the escort mission, and then found trouble for the Beiyang Marine Division in the Yellow Sea, so the artillery battle began.
At this time, Ding Ruchang rushed to the battle without being prepared for war. In the first round, the watchtower on Ding Ruchang's command ship was destroyed by the gunfire of the Japanese ships, the command flag was all burned, and Ding Ruchang's scalp was also injured, losing his command ability, so the Beiyang Fleet fought separately.
Think about it, can a fleet without unified command have combat effectiveness? The Beiyang Marine Division was eventually defeated by the Japanese and withdrew from the battlefield.
On the way back, Ding Ruchang was deposed by the enraged Guangxu Emperor on the spot, which means that there is no more suitable candidate, you command on your behalf, if you defeat and win, it is possible to restore your original post. It can be seen from this that Ding Ruchang is not an incompetent person, if there is really a general who is stronger than him, will the Guangxu Emperor not use it?
At this time, the Guangxu Emperor was a little annoyed and angry, he had not commanded the battle, he commanded once but was defeated, he wanted to give Li Hongzhang a dismount but he ate it himself.
To tell the truth, don't say Ding Ruchang on such an emperor, even the most capable person is unable to return to heaven.
The Guangxu Emperor
Realistically speaking, Ding Ruchang did have the responsibility for commanding defeat in naval battles, and he lost his command ability as soon as he entered the battle.
Then again, if the emperor did not allow him to escort the Yellow Sea with his sailors, perhaps the Sino-Japanese War would be postponed, and it would not be too late to fight when the Qing government was ready, but history did not assume...
Sometimes it is still necessary to come, and it is impossible to hide.
Assuming that the Sino-Japanese Naval Battle is postponed, I estimate that the Beiyang Marine Division cannot win, because the military expenses of the Beiyang Naval Division have long been diverted by Cixi as funds for the construction of the Summer Palace.
At this time, the Beiyang Marine Division became a face project, and the mighty army could be strong, but it was not possible to fight a war. The Guangxu Emperor and those Qingliu Imperial Party did not know the details, and they were full of confidence to put the water master to use, and the result was very humiliating.
The emperor couldn't do anything with Li Hongzhang, who called people cixi's red people? So Na Ding Ruchang exhaled.
Ding Ruchang was not discouraged after being deposed and retained, and still devoted himself to his work, repairing the damaged ships and deploying the base camp Weihaiwei ...
The ships had just been repaired, the combined fleet of the Japanese army landed in Rongcheng, Shandong, Ding Ruchang led the Beiyang Fleet to meet the battle, and the 40 warships of the Japanese army were lined up in a row, and the firepower was incomparable. The Beiyang Fleet had no strength to fight back, so it had to wait for the support of other fleets while fighting.
Deng Shichang
After the artillery battle stopped, the commander of the Japanese combined fleet, Ito Yuheng, sent a letter to persuade him to surrender, but Ding Ruchang was unmoved and determined to repay the country with his death, saying to his family on the same day: "I have promised the country and will never surrender." As a sign of his heart, he forwarded the letter of surrender of the Japanese army to Li Hongzhang.
However, Ding Ruchang did not wait for foreign assistance after all, and then the Japanese Navy and Army joined hands to shell the base camp of the Beiyang Marine Division, Ding Ruchang's command ship was sunk by enemy artillery fire, he wanted to emulate Deng Shichang and sank with the ship, and was desperately saved by his subordinates.
More than a dozen people drifted to an isolated island, and Ding Ruchang once again refused the persuasion of the Japanese army, determined to die and martyr the country. That night, he committed suicide by his men at the age of 59 without paying attention to opium.
Afterwards, Ding Ruchang's body was sent back to his hometown, but the Guangxu Emperor decreed that "no burial is allowed because of his family property." Ding Ruchang's descendants were forced into exile.
It was not until 1910, the second year of Xuan Reunification, that After Sa Zhenbing, Zai Xun (the Prime Minister of the Navy) and others wrote to argue, the Qing court did not oppose Ding Ruchangping.
Subsequently, the generals raised funds to establish the Ding Gong Ancestral Hall on Liu Gong Island, the base camp of the Beiyang Marine Division, which enshrined Ding Ruchang's tablets and portraits, and later Ding Ruchang became a hero like Deng Shichang.
Text/Reading Spring and Autumn by Candle