At 4:10 p.m., the Yellow Sea fight entered the fourth round, which did not end until 5:30 p.m., and the fight lasted for 80 minutes. After nearly 4 hours of fierce fighting, both sides were exhausted, and the final tiebreaker finally came. Although the Beiyang Fleet suffered heavy losses, it still had the opportunity to counterattack and turn the tide of defeat, and the Combined Fleet, although its flagship was heavily damaged, still had the opportunity to continue to expand its results, and the prospects were still confusing.
After Songdao led the team to escape to the southeast, Liu Buyun and Lin Taizeng commanded Dingyuan and Zhenyuan to pursue at full speed.
The morale of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan was high at this time, the fiercest artillery battle in the Yellow Sea War began, Zhenyuan fired 48 shells, Dingyuan was not far behind, the two ships poured out the pent-up anger that had been suppressed for a day, the combined fleet was hit hard again, the flagship Matsushima was injured and the situation worse, the deck facilities were completely destroyed, and it became a bare ruin, the steel armor of the guns was also shattered, several bullets were shot below the waterline, and a group of officers and soldiers were killed and wounded, and the rest of the ships were also traumatized to varying degrees.
Under the powerful blows of Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, the combined fleet was in constant danger, and the balance of the battlefield began to tilt in favor of the Beiyang Fleet.
At around 5 o'clock in the afternoon, an exciting scene appeared again: Jing Yuan and Lai Yuan came back together. Ye Zuqi and Qiu Baoren backed the coast, and with their geographical advantages, they extinguished the fire, repaired the loopholes, and restored their combat effectiveness, and then hurried to rendezvous with Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, and at this time they just joined the pursuit sequence.
At this moment, a casual suggestion once again made the tide of the battle continue in favor of the Beiyang Fleet. Liu Guanxiong, deputy captain of the Jingyuan, proposed to the captain Ye Zuqi that he raise the commander's flag, issue orders on behalf of the flagship, and organize troops to attack the combined fleet.
Without the explicit authorization of the commander, raising and displaying the flag without authorization is suspected of exceeding its authority, and after the Dingyuan signal device was destroyed, no one in the Beiyang Fleet has ever hung up the flag of commander, and I am afraid that this is a very important reason. If you win, it's okay to say, but if you lose, you can't eat and walk around.
Captain of the Jingyuan ship, Ye Zuqi
Humility is a traditional Chinese virtue, but it is also not conducive to Mao's self-recommendation. The consequence of having a general and not being a commander is to fight for each other, and the consequence of fighting for each other is that everyone is done playing, and the blind battle without the backbone should be stopped.
What is the name of one person?
Raise a flag!
Thinking of the overall situation of the decisive battle, thinking of the annihilation of the Japanese ships, and thinking of those comrades-in-arms who sacrificed bravely, Ye Zuqi no longer hesitated, he resolutely raised the handsome flag, ordered the fleet to change formations to attack the combined fleet, and at the same time ordered all ships at the mouth of the Yalu River to go to sea to help in the battle.
The Beiyang Fleet assembled in formation was huge and imposing, Ito Yuheng was dumbfounded, and the Beiyang Fleet that ran through Changhong made him realize that you can defeat him with such a fleet, but you can't despise him, otherwise the results of your hard work may be wiped out in an instant.
Time passes exceptionally fast in the heat of battle. At 5:30 p.m., the sun was sinking in the west, the twilight was vast, and the vast sea was about to be swallowed up by the boundless darkness. Ito Yuheng looked at the scarred Combined Fleet, and then at the Beiyang Fleet, which was desperately stance, and finally made a very face-hurting decision again. In order to avoid misunderstanding, this time he did not hang the signal flag of "Freedom Movement" again, but directly hung the flag of "Stop fighting", which means "Hurry up"!
The Beiyang Fleet continued to chase at full speed, and after chasing for a few nautical miles, the combined fleet's speed advantage was once again displayed, and although the Beiyang Fleet desperately pursued, it still failed to catch up in the end, and could only watch the combined fleet run farther and farther, and the shadow became smaller and smaller, and gradually disappeared on the edge of the sea.
Count the ammunition, there are still 3 shells left in Dingyuan, there are still 2 rounds left in Zhenyuan, the ammunition of the Beiyang Fleet has been insufficient, and the shelling just now almost wiped out the family, since you can't catch up, then let you go.
It is a fact that the Beiyang Fleet was defeated in the First Battle of Dadonggou, and it is also a fact that the Combined Fleet was the first to withdraw from the battlefield, and this is the attitude of history, but Japan is unwilling to admit this in the "Records of the Sino-Japanese War".
In the book, it is said that the combined fleet has been chasing the Beiyang Fleet all the way to Weihai!
This made a big joke, the Beiyang Fleet did not go to Weihai that night, but went to Lushun, and the Combined Fleet had no idea about the whereabouts of the Beiyang Fleet, so it had to make arrangements for the Beiyang Fleet on its own initiative.
It can be seen that habits are really hard to break, whether good or bad.
The main team of the combined fleet ran extremely fast, and the first guerrilla group actually caught up with them until 6 o'clock. At 7:15 a.m., the frightened Ito ordered the fleet to stop and ordered Matsushima, who was seriously injured, to return to port for repairs.
The decisive battle of Dadonggou, which lasted nearly 5 hours (280 minutes), finally ended, Ding Ruchang returned with his whole team, Dingyuan and Zhenyuan opened the way first, and the rest of the ships followed and sailed towards Lushun. Ding Ruchang's mood was very heavy, when he came out, there were 18 large and small warships, and when he went back, there were only 12 left, the sea was vast, the night was deep, everyone was silent along the way, and their faces were solemn.
The most worrying thing may not be Ding Ruchang, nor the officers and soldiers who returned home, but Li Hongzhang, who did not participate in the battle, who was anxiously waiting for the Beiyang Fleet to return safely. Fang Boqian bumped into the muzzle of the gun at this time.
Why did Fang Boqian go back first?
Now that the Battle of the Yellow Sea is over, it's time to reveal the secrets. Next, we will uncover the secret that has been sealed in the dust for more than 100 years based on the original historical materials.
According to the convention, after the battle, it is a reward and punishment, the promotion of those who should be promoted, the reduction of those who should be reduced, the reward of those who should be rewarded, and the killing of those who should be killed. After the Battle of the Yellow Sea, the first person to be held accountable was Fang Boqian.
The result of the investigation was to kill Fang Boqian, not one, but the only one.
Let's do a simple combing of the process of killing Fang Boqian in chronological order. For the sake of rigor, we will quote some original historical materials below, and friends who are interested in historical research can read them carefully. Friends who are troublesome, or who are not interested in research, can skip these historical materials, which will not affect the reading.
We also have to start with the telegram that Fang Boqian dictated to Li Hongzhang after returning to Lushun. The report will be sent after the ugly hour (1 o'clock to 3 o'clock) on September 18. In this message, Fang Boqian explained why he commanded Jiyuan to return to Lushun first:
The ship (referring to Jiyuan - author's note) lost seven people in battle, suffered many wounds, the bow of the ship cracked and leaked, and the cannon could not be fired, and sailed back for repair. The remaining ships are still fighting.
The Complete Works of Li Hongzhang on August 19, 20th Year of Guangxu
As we mentioned at the beginning of Chapter 6, it was Li Hongzhang who forwarded the telegram sent to him by Fang Boqian to the Translation Agency, which was the Prime Minister's Yamen. Fang Boqian meant that Jiyuan was injured in many places, the bow of the ship was broken and flooded, and the cannon was all damaged, so I couldn't open it, so I drove it back for repair. This means affirming that he is not fleeing, but retreating tactically, because Jiyuan not only loses his combat effectiveness, but also has the danger of sinking, and only by driving back to Lushun can he save the warship.
On the afternoon of the same day (18 September), Li Hongzhang, who was very worried, received a second telegram from the war report.
The telegram was sent by Ding Ruchang. He did not explain why Fang Boqian returned to Lushun first, but after reporting that the ships Dingyuan, Zhenyuan, Laiyuan, Jingyuan, and Pingyuan had returned to Lushun, a very strange sentence suddenly came out: "Jiyuan also returned to Lushun." ”
These short 5 words, seemingly careless, are actually meaningful, and seem to be a snake to add to it, but in fact there are no silver three hundred taels here. Why did Ding Ruchang bring up Jiyuan alone, what is called "also"? This strange sentence aroused Li Hongzhang's suspicions, so he asked a very tricky question:
This battle is very evil, why did Fang Boqian return first?
- "Sending Lushun Ding Admiral to August 19 of the 20th Year of Guangxu - The Complete Works of Li Hongzhang"
Ding Ruchang, tell me, this battle is so fierce, why did Fang Boqian come back before you? What's going on? Obviously, Li Hongzhang didn't believe Fang Boqian's words, and he asked Ding Ruchang to give an explanation.
But Ding Ruchang couldn't say this question clearly at the time. Fang Boqian went back to Lushun first, he knew this, but apart from this, he didn't know anything else. After Ding Ruchang returned to Lushun, he learned that Fang Boqian came back when he was ugly, that is, between 1 o'clock and 3 o'clock, and Ding Ruchang himself came back at about 9:30 a.m., and other warships also came back at this time. In other words, Fang Boqian returned to Lushun at least 6 hours earlier than Ding Ruchang and them, but why Fang Boqian came back first and how he came back, he didn't know, and he didn't have time to ask.
During the Battle of the Yellow Sea, the smoke of gunpowder was full and the visibility was low, Ding Ruchang was injured and was sitting on the deck of Dingyuan, where did he know what the situation of Jiyuan was, and besides, the battle was so fierce at that time, even if he was not injured, he couldn't keep staring at Jiyuan, so he had to do an investigation first.
After four days of investigation, on September 22, 1894 (please pay attention to this time), Ding Ruchang officially submitted a detailed report on the battle situation to Li Hongzhang, and gave a clear answer to Fang Boqian's case:
Since Zhiyuan charged and sank, Jiyuan Guan took Fang Boqian to flee back first.
The Complete Works of Li Hongzhang on August 23, 20th Year of Guangxu
Ding Ruchang answered very clearly, after the Zhiyuan charge was sunk, Fang Boqian was the first to flee back to Lushun. This is the qualitative character, according to his statement, Fang Boqian is a deserter, and he is the first to escape. This indirectly answered Li Hongzhang's question: because Fang Boqian was the first to escape, he was the first to come back.
Next, Ding Ruchang talked about his handling opinions:
Jiyuan retreated first, led the team into chaos, and Guangjia fled, if he did not severely punish and participate, he would not be able to set an example in the future, and he hoped to cheer up.
- "The Complete Works of Li Hongzhang on August 23, 20th Year of Guangxu"
Ding Ruchang believed that Jiyuan was the first to escape, not only disrupting the formation of the Beiyang Fleet, but also taking away Guangjia, if Fang Boqian was not severely punished, the Beiyang Fleet would not be able to fight in the future. In the message, he also said a very fatal sentence:
Jiyuan returned to the brigade first, and it was said that the bow of the ship was cracked and leaking, and the cannon could not be fired, which was suspicious.
- "The Complete Works of Li Hongzhang on August 23, 20th Year of Guangxu"
This means that, according to Fang Boqian, the reason why he came back first was because the bow of Jiyuan's ship leaked, and all the cannons were destroyed, so he couldn't shoot, but I think this matter is questionable. The implication was that he suspected that Fang Boqian was lying. After receiving the report, Li Hongzhang forwarded the Fang Boqian incident to Premier Yamen in the form of a telegram, put forward his own opinions on how to deal with it, and asked Premier Yamen to make a ruling on his behalf:
According to Ding Ruchang, after the sinking of Zhiyuan, the pipe leader Fang Boqian fled first, which was really a retreat from the battle, and the deputy general should be ordered to immediately carry out the law to enforce military discipline. Wu Jingrong, the garrison of the Chenghai Battalion with Guangjia Pipe, also fled to the reef halfway with Jiyuan, and deserved it, but people still understood that it could be built, and whether they could be dismissed and stay in the camp to see the after-effects.
- "The Complete Works of Li Hongzhang on August 23, 20th Year of Guangxu"
Li Hongzhang gave Fang Boqian a charge of retreating from the battle and fleeing first, that is, Fang Boqian was a deserter, and he was a deserter who took the lead. His handling opinion is: Fang Boqian is the principal offender, and he will be punished heavily, sentenced to death, and immediately executed; Wu Jingrong was an accomplice, and he was dismissed from his post and placed on probation (similar to retaining his student status and staying on probation).
At the same time, Li Hongzhang sent a telegram to Ding Ruchang, asking him to immediately remove Fang Boqian from his post and send someone to watch him and wait for the verdict of the holy decree. The post of captain of the Jiyuan ship was taken over by Lin Guoxiang.
Everyone should remember that this Lin Guoxiang, the captain of the Guangyi ship, once saved Fang Boqian in the Battle of Fengdao, when Lin Guoxiang fought bravely to kill the enemy, Fang Boqian abandoned him and left, but today he took his place, which can be regarded as a kind of compensation.
On September 23, the decree came down with the following approval:
On the 18th of this month (September 17, here is the 18th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar - author's note) when the war began, since Zhiyuan charged and sank, Jiyuan Guan led the deputy general Fang Boqian to flee first, causing the fleet to be disrupted. Wu Jingrong, who was garrisoned by Guangjia Guan, retreated to the reef halfway with Jiyuan, and was dismissed from his post and stayed in the camp to see the after-effects.
- "The Complete Works of Li Hongzhang on August 24, 20th Year of Guangxu
Obviously, this judgment adopted Li Hongzhang's suggestion.
On September 24, Fang Boqian was beheaded.
The above is the whole process of Fang Boqian's killing 7 days after the Battle of the Yellow Sea. In fact, it took only 3 days to kill Fang Boqian, the conviction on the 22nd, the imperial court instructions on the 23rd, and the execution of Lushun on the 24th.
Here's the moment to uncover the truth.
Two counts
Regardless of whether others think that Fang Boqian is wronged or not, one thing is certain, that is, Fang Boqian must feel that he is wronged, because he thinks that he is not running away. The warship has lost its combat effectiveness and is in danger of sinking, so the purpose of driving the warship back to Lushun for repair is to keep Jiyuan, this is just a tactical evasion, does it have to be sunk by the enemy? Didn't you Li Hongzhang say that you want to avoid the enemy and protect the ship, I will resolutely implement it! So not only does he consider himself innocent, but he is also a hero.
Until the day he was sent to prison on September 22, Fang Boqian still thought so, and he did not think that the court would sentence him to death. I did the same thing in the Battle of Toshima, didn't I have nothing at all, why not this time?
There are four reasons why he is so optimistic.
Article 1: The Qing Dynasty rarely had a precedent of "correcting the law" of the general army. Although his position is that of a lieutenant general, he has the title of chief soldier. According to the past practice, at most, it is just a dismissal, and it can make a comeback in the future, even if it cannot be reinstated, the monthly salary is a few hundred taels of silver, and the pension is not a problem, not to mention that he still has so many houses and beauties, and his life will still be very good.
Article 2: Jiyuan's guns and armaments were all damaged, the warship lost its combat effectiveness, and the evidence was conclusive, and it was difficult to determine the crime of retreating from the battle and fleeing first.
Article 3: He has a relatively iron relationship with the two leaders, they will not make fun of their own people, and the ugliness of the family should not be publicized. Besides, he is not the only one who has left the battlefield, can't he kill them all?
Article 4: The senior generals of the Beiyang Fleet are both old comrades-in-arms and old classmates with him, and if the imperial court shows their swords to kill people, they will definitely stand up and intercede for themselves.
Isn't it enough to have these 4 points?
Of course not enough. Li Hongzhang and the imperial court gave him the answer: Even if there are 400, it is not enough.
There is only one reason not to kill a person. To kill someone, you only need one reason.
In fact, there was not one, but two reasons for killing Fang Boqian. Both of these can be found in the historical sources cited above.
Rule 1: Retreat and flee first.
Article 2: Disrupt the formation.
In light of the Yellow Sea War mentioned earlier, let's take a look at whether these two charges are established, and first look at the first one.
When Ding Ruchang reported to Li Hongzhang on September 22, he once said: "Jiyuan returned to the brigade first, and it was said that the bow of the ship was cracked and leaked, and the cannon could not be fired, so the situation was suspicious." "This sentence is actually problematic, it's nonsense to say it ugly, suspicion is suspicion, you come up with evidence. Ding Ruchang: You didn't show evidence, which is called no evidence, "suspicious". To put it mildly, this can be called a false accusation, or it can be called a false accusation.
However, Ding Ruchang could not find evidence, which does not mean that future generations could not find evidence.
What is certain is that Jiyuan did not lose its combat effectiveness at that time, and many experts and scholars (such as Mr. Qi Qizhang) have already made detailed arguments on this, so I will not instigate it here. In addition to this, there are two sets of data that are also very revealing.
Next-generation model of the cruiser Jiyuan
Group 1: Number of hits.
According to post-war statistics, Jiyuan was hit by 15 bullets, how many large and small artillery pieces are there? The answer is 18 doors. Let's do a math problem, even if the enemy misses a cannon with a single shot, there will still be 3 cannons left, and it will not be "impossible to cast all the cannons", not to mention that the combined fleet is not a sharpshooter. In addition, 15 bullets itself also shows the problem, according to post-war statistics, the main ships of the Beiyang Fleet were more than 100 bullets, and Zhenyuan and Laiyuan were as high as more than 200 rounds, which just shows that Fang Boqian did not fight long before he ran away.
Group 2: Number of rounds.
According to post-war statistics, Jiyuan consumed more than 150 shells in the Battle of the Yellow Sea, which was basically at the same level as Dingyuan and Laiyuan. But we know that Jiyuan stayed on the battlefield for about 3 hours, and the combat time was two hours less than Dingyuan. This is paradoxical: since the cannons were all broken, how did so many shells get out? Even if the artillery is intact, according to the normal firing speed, it will not be able to shoot so many shells for 3 hours without stopping! This is a new version of the story of spear and shield. It seems that it is still necessary to learn mathematics well, otherwise it will be full of loopholes even if it is a lie.
Dingyuan's deputy director, the Englishman Dellier, later revealed the secret. He was ordered by Ding Ruchang to go to the Jiyuan ship to check the injuries, and concluded that Jiyuan's artillery did not look like it was injured by artillery fire, but it looked like it was smashed by a hammer.
You may ask, was it smashed by a Japanese spy lurking in Jiyuan? Also, where did the shells on the Jiyuan ship go?
Think about it, you should be able to think of it.
In fact, the crack in the bow of Jiyuan's ship was damaged when it hit Yangwei, and the injury was not as serious as Fang Boqian said. Think about it, Jiyuan ran all the way from Dadonggou to Lushun, since he ran so far and didn't sink, why couldn't he stay and stick to the battle? It obviously doesn't make sense to avoid the enemy and protect the ship.
How should I be sentenced for retreating? The Beiyang Fleet did not formulate a separate military law, but it was stipulated in the "Beiyang Navy Regulations": refer to Article 40 of the military regulations of the Yongzheng Dynasty. There are two military laws in the military regulations of the Yongzheng Dynasty on "retreating from the battle", and the handling opinions are all one word "beheading". Therefore, the sentencing was not excessive, and it was not unjust to kill Fang Boqian.
Some people also said that the first to run was Wu Jingrong, the captain of the Guangjia ship, who did not kill Wu Jingrong, but killed Fang Boqian, which was wronged. Fang Boqian was the first to run, this has been demonstrated by many experts, and I don't want to bother with it. Taking 10,000 steps back, even so, killing him is not unjust, and not killing Wu Jingrong can only say that law enforcement is unfair and cannot be the basis for overturning the case. Is it because one person has escaped the net, it is necessary to release all the other criminals?
Concluding remarks: Fang Boqian deserves his crimes, and this case is not an unjust case. Speaking of which, it looks like the case can be closed. Why do you want to add the word "seem"? If it were that simple, I wouldn't have wasted so much ink.
Now that the truth is out of the way, let's uncover the secrets behind the truth, and the secrets behind the secrets. Unraveling the secrets of this chain is the most anticipated and exciting climax.
To be continued