In the summer of the twentieth year of Guangxu, marked by the Battle of Toshima, the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War broke out.
The Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War was an all-out war, with both large-scale land and large-scale naval battles. Among them, naval warfare occupies a very important position, which greatly affects the trend and outcome of the war.
One
The Chinese army that participated in the naval battle was the Beiyang Marine Division founded by Li Hongzhang. The commander of the Beiyang Marine Division was Ding Ruchang from Lujiang, Anhui. Ding Ruchang,also spelled Yuting (禹亭), was born in 1836 and joined the Taiping Army in his early years, and later joined the Shunxiang Army with Cheng Xueqi. After Li Hongzhang formed the Huai Army, Ding Ruchang joined the Huai Army. In 1879, Li Hongzhang was ordered to supervise the affairs of Beiyang coastal defense, and in a shortage of manpower, he transferred Ding Ruchang to serve as the admiral of the Beiyang Marine Division.
Ding Ruchang
Realistically speaking, Ding Ruchang did not come from the navy, nor did he systematically study modern naval knowledge, which can be regarded as a layman. Therefore, when Ding Ruchang entered the Beiyang Water Division, Liu Butou, Lin Taizeng, and other senior generals of the Beiyang Water Division once doubted his military command ability. "Shame is almost courageous." After Ding Ruchang served as the admiral of the Beiyang Marine Division, he worked hard to learn the knowledge of the modern navy through various means, gave himself "make-up lessons", and gradually became an expert who was familiar with the modern navy, and the fleet business was handled in an orderly manner.
At one point, 10 tons less coal was shipped to the Beiyang Marine Division. 10 tons is not a large amount, but Ding Ruchang did not perfunctory, but pursued 5 times, until the other party made up 10 tons of coal.
Therefore, no one should try to fool Ding Ruchang in the fleet business.
After the Beiyang Marine Division was officially formed, Ding Ruchang twice led the fleet to visit Japan. Ding Ruchang found that the Japanese Navy was developing rapidly, and many new warships were added, and the combat effectiveness vaguely surpassed that of the Beiyang Marine Division. Ding Ruchang expected that Japan would become a hidden danger to China, and after returning to China, he asked the imperial court to buy new warships for the Beiyang Marine Division to prevent foreign invasion.
Beiyang Marine Division
Unfortunately, Ding Ruchang's proposal was not accepted by the Qing court. Therefore, after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, the officers and men of the Beiyang Marine Division could only use the old warships of more than a decade ago to fight against the new warships of the Japanese Navy.
During the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, the Beiyang Naval Division and the Japanese Navy fought a total of three naval battles, namely the Battle of Toshima, the Battle of the Yellow Sea, and the Battle of Weihaiwei. Ding Ruchang did not participate in the Battle of Toshima, and participated in the last two naval battles.
Two
Before the war, the Guangxu Emperor and the ministers of the main war faction placed too high a high idea on the Beiyang Marine Division, thinking that after the outbreak of war, the Beiyang Marine Division would definitely attack the Japanese Navy head-on and teach them a good lesson. Unexpectedly, after the Battle of Toshima, 1 battleship of the Beiyang Marine Division was sunk and 1 battleship was captured, with a total of 1100 casualties, while the Japanese Navy was unscathed and there were no casualties. This greatly annoyed the Guangxu Emperor. The Guangxu Emperor sent several telegrams to Ding Ruchang in succession, emotionally questioning why the Beiyang Marine Division had not achieved results, accusing him of "cunning and avoiding the enemy."
The Guangxu Emperor
Not only that, the Guangxu Emperor also issued an edict: "Ding Ruchang, the admiral of the navy, will be dismissed from his post immediately." "When the Sino-Japanese War was in full swing, wouldn't it be strange that the Guangxu Emperor wanted to dismiss the supreme commander of the Beiyang Marine Division from his post and question him?
Fortunately, Li Hongzhang was Ding Ruchang's superior, understood Ding Ruchang's difficulties, and withstood great pressure Li Hongzhang submitted a copy of the "Fold of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy" to defend Ding Ruchang. The Guangxu Emperor gave Li Hongzhang face and issued another edict: "Ding Ruchang is temporarily exempted from punishment." That is to say, although Ding Ruchang can still command the fleet to fight in the capacity of the Admiral of the Beiyang Marine Division, he is already a sinner and may be dismissed at any time.
Li
The Guangxu Emperor was always uneasy about Ding Ruchang. After the Japanese army captured Lushun, the Guangxu Emperor ordered Ding Ruchang to be stripped of his title of Shangshu, stripped of his top, and removed from his post. After the Beiyang Naval Division retreated to Weihaiwei Port, Ding Ruchang, in order to prevent the Japanese army from using the land battery to bomb the Beiyang Marine Division in the port, suggested that he be prepared to blow up the land fort, but was misunderstood by Dai Zongqian, the defender of the Weihaiwei Beigang Fort, for "collaborating with the enemy and misleading the country", and the Guangxu Emperor ordered That Ding Ruchang be handed over to the Punishment Department for punishment. Under the extreme argument of Li Hongzhang and Ma Gelu, the Guangxu Emperor allowed Ding Ruchang to wait until Ding Ruchang had finished the matter at hand before being released from the Punishment Department.
Three
However, even if Ding Ruchang had great ability, he could not stop the destruction of the Beiyang Marine Division. The Beiyang Marine Division lost successively in the Battle of the Yellow Sea and the Battle of Weihaiwei. Especially during the Battle of Weihaiwei, the Japanese army occupied the Weihaiwei Nanbang Battery and the Beibang Battery, turned the gun ports to attack the Ships of the Beiyang Marine Division moored in the port of Weihaiwei, and staged a tragic and magnificent scene. What Ding Ruchang was worried about finally happened.
Battle of the Yellow Sea
When the Beiyang Marine Division was about to be completely destroyed, the commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Yuheng Ito, sent a letter to Ding Ruchang urging him to surrender. Ding Ruchang forwarded the letter to Li Hongzhang and replied that he had refused Ito's persuasion to surrender. On February 12, 1895, Ding Ruchang abolished the Beiyang Navy Admiral Yin Jiaojiao, committed suicide by taking opium, and repaid the country with his life, at the age of 59.
The death of Ding Ruchang was mourned by the whole country. The commander of the Japanese combined fleet, Yuheng Ito, was impressed by Ding Ruchang's sacrifice and approved the return of Ding Ruchang's body to China. Therefore, on February 17, the training ship Kangji gunboat of the Beiyang Marine Division carried the remains of Ding Ruchang, Liu Butou, Dai Zongqian, Yang Yonglin, and Zhang Wenxuan, and left Weihaiwei Port in the drizzle and sailed sadly toward Yantai.
Yukyo Ito
In the Sino-Japanese War, many Qing generals were killed, and almost all of them received favors from the imperial court. Only Ding Ruchang did not receive any favors. The Guangxu Emperor said in his edict: "Ding Ruchang, the admiral of the revolutionary navy, and the president of the navy have always been in charge of affairs, and after being questioned by the former emperor, he was very heavily blamed, and although he was defeated and killed in this battle, he still has no sympathy." ”
Some articles say that the Guangxu Emperor once had Ding Ruchang's family property and was not allowed to be buried, which is pure fiction. In fact, the Gunboat Kangji carried Ding Ruchang's body to Shanghai, handed it to his family, and transported it back to his hometown in Anhui. Since no suitable burial place was found for the time being, it was temporarily buried in accordance with local customs (not to be buried for the time being), and a few years later it was buried in the plum blossom land of Wuwei Xiaoji Mountain in Anhui.
In addition, Ding Ruchang's coffin has 3 copper hoops, which is also a local burial custom, not a punishment of the Guangxu Emperor.