From persuasion to surrender
Although the Combined Fleet's attack on 7 February was unsuccessful, it still dealt a great blow to Liugong Island, and in addition to the escape of torpedo boats, Ridao was also lost. At that time, it was the future famous naval commander Sa Zhenbing who assisted in the defense of Rijima.
Navy Commander Sa Zhenbing
Sa Zhenbing, a native of Fujian, was born in 1859 and was one of the top students in the second phase of the Fuzhou Shipbuilding School. Among this group of international students, only he and Lin Qiying are in the second phase, and the rest are in the first phase. Later, Lin Qiying served as the captain of the Weiyuan ship, and he served as the captain of the Kangji ship, both of which were practice ships. The top students of the first phase.
During the First Sino-Japanese War, Sa Zhenbing held the post of guerrilla with the rank of adjutant general, which was equivalent to the rank of major. At that time, he was only 36 years old, and he was considered a young Zhuang faction in the captain class. Judging by the photo, this person is a handsome guy. Guerrilla is a staff general, equivalent to a lieutenant colonel. The adjutant general is the adjutant general, which is equivalent to a colonel. The captains of the capital ships are all colonels, and Deng Shichang is the colonel. The deputy general is the general soldier, which is equivalent to a major general, and Liu Buyun and Lin Taizeng are two major generals. The Beiyang Fleet had only one vice admiral - Admiral Ding Ruchang.
There are four main sources of middle and high-ranking generals in the Beiyang Fleet: first, students trained by the Fuzhou Shipbuilding School, second, students sent to the United States by Li Hongzhang, third, outstanding officers and men promoted from warships, and fourth, generals who have been transferred from traditional naval divisions. The largest proportion is the group of undergraduate students from the Fuzhou Shipbuilding School, followed by the students from the United States on public assignment, Cai Tinggan, the captain of Fulong Boat, and Shen Shouchang, the first mate of Jiyuan who died in the Battle of Fengdao, all of whom are public-funded students studying in the United States. There are relatively few self-taught people on the ship, and Yang Yonglin, the chief officer of Zhenyuan who later succeeded Lin Tai and served as the captain of the Zhenyuan ship, is the most outstanding representative. The least proportion is the fourth category, and the most typical representative is known to everyone, that is, Admiral Ding Ruchang.
Sa Zhenbing was sent by Ding Ruchang to the Japanese Island Fort. This battle was fought very bravely and beautifully. The cattle are gone, you are the cattle people. Later, when the Qing government rebuilt the navy, he became the commander of the navy.
On this day, the casualties among the officers and men were also very heavy, more than 300 people, and the morale of the army began to waver. At night, some sailors openly disobeyed orders to go ashore because they could not bear the shelling, while some army troops disobeyed orders and boarded warships in the hope of escaping from the sea, and the officers and men on the batteries began to leave their posts without permission.
Ding Ruchang was faced with a situation of internal and external troubles, the protracted consumption was getting bigger and bigger, the food and ammunition on Liugong Island were beginning to run out, and the morale was gradually declining, and the Japanese offensive became more and more difficult to resist.
On 8 February, the Combined Fleet shelled outside the harbor and the batteries on the south bank shelled behind the harbor, causing more than 40 casualties in Jingyuan, causing serious damage to the facilities on the island and increasing casualties. That night, the Nankou mine dam was torn open by the Japanese army with a gap of more than 400 meters, and the torpedo boats came and went more freely, and they could not be prevented.
The morale of the army continued to waver, especially in the army. They threatened not to fight again, some gathered under the breakwater, some gathered in small boats, and some ran onto warships and asked to go to sea by ship, which meant to either flee or surrender. They begged Ding Ruchang and said, "Please give us a way to live!" Ding Ruchang could only comfort him with kind words, and promised that in another 3 days, if there are no reinforcements to save him, he will definitely give you a way to survive at that time.
Why was it promised for 3 days?
Ding Ruchang is not open-mouthed, nor is he casually perfunctory, he said this for two reasons.
First, he received news that more than 20 battalions and more than 10,000 reinforcements from various places were rushing over to Weihai, including Chen Fenglou, the chief soldier of Xuzhou Town, and Li Zhanchun, the chief soldier of Wannan Town, and others, and as long as Weihai lasted until 11 February, they would be able to rush over and rescue you. Liaodong is fighting fiercely, and there are no troops to adjust in the near area, so they can only rely on distant water to save their lives.
Second, he sent a message saying that reinforcements must arrive in Weihai before February 11, otherwise Liugong Island and the Beiyang Fleet will be suspended. Liu Gongdao wanted to think of coming back to life, except for a large number of reinforcements to break the encirclement of the Japanese army, there was no other way, so Ding Ruchang and Zhang Wenxuan and others jointly wrote letters to Liu Hanfang for help many times. Liu Hanfang is a member of the Shandong Denglai Youth Army, a position equivalent to the commander of the special army division on the Shandong Peninsula, stationed in Yantai, very close to Weihai. The Weihai wire had long been cut by the Japanese army, and it was no longer possible to contact the outside world by telegraph, except for the original communication method of sending a letter to Liu Hanfang, no one else could contact him, so he could only send a letter to him first, and then send the news out by telegram.
On the evening of 8 February, he wrote two more letters, one to Liu Hanfang, telling him that if reinforcements could not arrive by 11 February, neither Liu Gongdao nor the Beiyang Fleet would be able to save it. The other letter was handed over to Chen Fenglou, the chief soldier of Xuzhou Town, and also told him to arrive before the 11th. After the letter was written, Ding Ruchang found a soldier with good water skills to smuggle into Weihai, and then sent the letter to Yantai by land. Due to the strict investigation by the Japanese army, the postman did not deliver the letter until the evening of February 10, when there was only one day left before Ding Ruchang's three-day period.
Everything that should be done has been done, and what should have been fought for has been fought for, and there are still 3 days, and I hope that a miracle can happen. Ding Ruchang thought to himself that if the reinforcements could not arrive within 3 days, there would be no need to come.
In addition to the soldiers, some generals and foreigners were also putting pressure on Ding Ruchang, and the soldiers stopped for the time being, and they continued to play.
On the evening of February 8, not long after Ding Ruchang's distress letter was issued, the first round of persuasion to surrender began to be staged. The first to agitate for surrender were three foreigners, one was the Englishman Deller (also translated as Taylor), the deputy captain of Dingyuan, the Englishman Krk, a medical officer, and the other was the German Renel, an artillery instructor.
At two o'clock in the morning, Dale and Renel found Ding Ruchang and persuaded him to surrender. They say that there is only a dead end in the fight anyway, so why go to the dead end? They also came up with a lot of beautiful reasons, saying that the officers and soldiers don't want to fight, so you don't want to fight, and besides, you also have to think about the soldiers and people on the island, so why let them suffer?
In the face of these high-sounding rhetoric, Ding Ruchang was unmoved, he categorically rejected this request, and expressed his attitude in a righteous and stern manner: I know that sooner or later there will be this day, you can surrender if you want, unless I die, I will not watch you surrender!
It is understandable that these foreigners want to surrender, they have no patriotic obligation and believe in the principle of the supremacy of life. In their values, there is no shame in surrendering, and life is the most precious. Although there were martyrs of the Battle of the Yellow Sea among the foreigners, on the whole, they did not think there was a shame in surrendering.
These foreigners don't know Admiral Ding too well, if he wants to surrender, it will be your turn to persuade him? Ito's offer is so generous, do you have to wait until now to surrender?
The foreigners left with disappointed expressions, but they didn't give up, it's okay if you don't surrender, but you can't stand in our way. Compared with the later ones, this persuasion was relatively polite.
Engaging in conspiracy and trickery, standing in front of the stage and making trouble are all instructed, and the real masterminds are often the bigwigs who hide behind the scenes to manipulate and make decisions. Dale and Renel are both small soldiers, and there are actually other people who are really planning this persuasion. An even more shameless and worse forced surrender operation is brewing, and what awaits Ding Ruchang will be a more severe test.
In the Battle of Weihai, Japan's most desired result was the surrender of the Beiyang Fleet, so the Combined Fleet used non-stop attacks to break the will to resist on Liugong Island.
On February 9, the first day of the three-day period, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, it was the Lantern Festival when all families were reunited, and the Combined Fleet launched its sixth attack. The South Shore Fort and the North Shore Fort also came to join in the fun. More than 100 people were killed or wounded on Liugong Island and the warship, and Jingyuan was also hit. The captain of the ship, Ye Zuqi, was about to die on the ship, but fortunately he was rescued by his subordinates. After Ye Zuqi came ashore, he let out a long sigh, God, why didn't you up on the ship?
February 10, the second day of the three-day period, is the sixteenth day of the first lunar month. Heavy snowfall. Ito ordered the Combined Fleet to launch the seventh attack. Ding Ruchang led the Beiyang Fleet to fight for three hours, damaging many Japanese ships, and the attack of the Combined Fleet was once again crushed. However, the two largest 240-mm Krupp guns of the Donghong Fort on Liugong Island were destroyed, and Ding Ruchang had no choice but to lead the ships to anchor in the western part of the harbor to avoid the rain of bullets from all directions.
Yuhiro Ito
This was a naked war of attrition, and the Beiyang Fleet had been trapped on an isolated island for eight days, with only 11 ships left in the harbor, serious casualties among officers and men, and little food and ammunition left, almost to the point of exhaustion. But Ding Ruchang is very determined, even if there is only a glimmer of hope, he must persevere. Liu Gongdao stood in the midst of the enemy's encirclement, like a brave warrior with an unyielding chest, exuding an admirable and heroic spirit.
However, not everyone thinks like Ding Ruchang, as the danger approaches, the mastermind hidden behind the scenes finally can't hold back, and desperately jumps out to have a head-to-head confrontation with Ding Ruchang.
There are two real masterminds, one is Ma Gelu and the other is Niu Changyu.
Let's start with the person Maglu.
After the Beiyang fleet was transferred to Weihai, Li Hongzhang asked the imperial court to come forward to order reinforcements from the Nanyang naval division, but in response to Zuo Zongtang's prophecy, Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang, and Zhang Zhidong, the minister of Nanyang, one categorically refused, and the other politely refused. There are a total of 3 foreigners who are favored by him. One of them is Ma Gelu, Li Hongzhang made him the deputy commander of the Beiyang Navy, according to Li Hongzhang's meaning, this position is at most a general adviser, not even an assistant to the commander, but Ma Gelu is very immodest, he is the self-proclaimed deputy admiral of the Beiyang Navy, is the second leader of the Beiyang Fleet after Ding Ruchang, and thinks that the captains must obey his command. This person was recommended by the American De Xuanlin, and his characteristics can be
It can be summed up in 8 words: no learning and no skills, one drunkard. The only person who has anything to do with the Navy is that he used to be a tugboat captain.
The other two foreigners, one is named Yan Rude, and the other is named Haowei (also translated as Hao Wei). They were all recommended by Li Hongzhang's foreign consultant Bi Dege, Bi Dege said that these two people are very capable, Li Hongzhang became interested as soon as he heard it, and said to Ding Ruchang, you should interview and inspect it first, and use it as much as you can.
During the interview, Yan Rude and Haowei made wild remarks, claiming that they had ten skills, which could sink enemy ships or capture them alive, and they could also complete the improvement of the battery in one day and convert the merchant ship into a cruiser. What's more, they can perform stealth skills like Sun Wukong, using warships to transport troops to land, directing warships to pass by enemy batteries, and driving torpedo boats close to enemy ships, and the other party can't see them. It is estimated that they have watched "Journey to the West". Then they made an offer, saying that if they wanted to hire them, they would have to pay a deposit of $10,000 first. This cowhide is too unreliable, of course Ding Ruchang doesn't believe it, so he asked Li Hongzhang to make a decision. Li Hongzhang was very generous and told him that money was a small problem, and if he hired them first, maybe it would come in handy at a critical moment. Li Hongzhang was half right, they did help at the critical moment, but they were all unhelpful.
When these two foreigners arrived in Weihai and took the money, Ding Ruchang asked them to have a simulation exercise first to show off their stunts, so as to open everyone's eyes. These two foreign liars have any stunts, when the matter is approaching, they have to fool everyone and fool everyone first. They said that it was okay to do the drill, but there was still a shortage of some medicines, and when we had all the medicines, we would say that we would perform a small stunt first. So they installed a water jet at the stern of the boat, and when the boat started, a fountain would come out, which was what they called a stunt, and in terms of technical content and viewing effect, it was not even magic.
He is good at interacting with foreigners and likes to learn from foreigners, which is Li Hongzhang's outstanding feature. At that time, most of the foreigners who were hired to work in the Beiyang Fleet performed well, such as the longest-serving chief instructor, and the Englishman Lang Weili, who later resigned, and did a good job back then. It is a pity that this person is too addicted to official duties, and the Beiyang Fleet did not properly handle the relationship, and as a result, he resigned and left after the flag-raising incident, which affected the training work. In the Battle of the Yellow Sea, 8 foreigners participated in the battle, 2 were killed and became foreign martyrs, and 4 were wounded, and they performed quite bravely, and they were all good. Li Hongzhang was also very interesting, and afterwards he specially applied for a pension for them. However, this time, the three foreigners he got from the doctor in a hurry have problems, probably the kind of charlatans who can't get along in China, so they come to China to swagger and cheat, eat and drink.
Li Hongzhang is a shrewd person, he values these three foreigners so much, thinking about it, I am afraid that he does not really believe that they have any special functions, but wants to get some foreigners with complex components to be placed in Weihai, in case the Japanese army comes in, so that they can have some scruples. In fact, this trick did not work for the Japanese, and the Gao Shenghao tragedy has long shown this. Besides, these foreigners are not fuel-efficient lamps, and when Japan attacked Weihai later, Yan Rude saw that the situation was not good, and he rolled up the high-rated gold and ran away without a trace. Not only was he a good wine, but he was also a very poor character. It seems to be kind, and the Haowei who volunteered to stay is not a good thing. The reason why the Beiyang Fleet ended later was that these two foreigners played a very negative role in it, and at the last critical moment, they both resorted to the so-called "stunt".
The first to surrender was the drunkard Maglu. He drank from the siege of Weihai and has been drinking until now, but this guy is not drunk, and the last time Dale and Renel persuaded him to surrender, he was instructed by him.
Let's introduce Niu Changyu again, this person is the dispatch officer of the Weihai Camp Office, who is responsible for managing the deployment of logistics materials in Weihai. The official rank is not too high, but the real power is very large, and there is a lot of oil and water. It is estimated that he has made a lot of money over the years, he doesn't want to work hard and embezzle all his life, but in the end, the bamboo basket is empty, he wants to leave this little life to enjoy the fruits of these years. The persuasion on the night of 8 February was conspired by him and Maglu.
In view of the failure of the last persuasion, on February 10, they decided to change their strategy this time, and they didn't want to be as polite as they were two days ago, otherwise Ding Ruchang would not give in. They believe that intrigue is not a dinner party, and sometimes it is better to be violent.
They instigated some soldiers to find Admiral Ding Ruchang, and then Ma Gelu forcibly pulled Zhang Wenxuan, the commander of the Liugong Island Protectorate, and forced him to put pressure on Ding Ruchang, shouting that he wanted to surrender. Niu Changyu then arrived, he pretended not to know in advance, and only then did he hear the news and rushed over, and proposed to convene a meeting of foreigners to listen to everyone's opinions.
When Ding Ruchang came, he didn't know that someone was making trouble behind his back, and he hadn't yet seen through the conspiracy of Niu Changyu and his gang; Second, he thought that he would have a meeting and take the opportunity to do everyone's ideological work and stabilize the morale of the army, so he agreed to this proposal.
Thus began a meeting to decide the future of the Beiyang Fleet. It was the gun in the mastermind that spoke first. Renel first complained that now the soldier's heart has changed, and it is impossible to do anything, don't fight anymore, or surrender. Niu Changyu also showed his true face at this time, and shouted loudly, the hearts of the people are rebellious, and they cannot be reused! After speaking, they set their eyes on Zhang Wenxuan, the commander of the protectors, hoping that he would speak to support it, but Zhang Wenxuan was not part of their group, and sat there without saying a word.
The commander didn't speak, so he had to send small soldiers out. At their signal, several sailors began to shout: Ding Junmen (Qing Dynasty's honorific title for the commander or commander of the commandery), you should show mercy, don't fight anymore, or surrender, let us live!
Ding Ruchang finally understood at this time, it turned out that this was a naked surrender! Ma Gelu and Niu Changyu are the masterminds behind the scenes.
This matter is not only related to one's own reputation and integrity, but also related to the future and fate of the Beiyang Fleet. Ding Ruchang reminded himself that it was better to handle it safely and carefully, not only to stabilize the mood of the officers and soldiers to prevent them from mutiny, but also to expose the conspiracy of these scum so that they could not succeed. So he first reassured the soldiers and said that in one more day, reinforcements would come, otherwise I would definitely give everyone a way out of life at that time!
After that, he turned to Ma Gelu and Niu Changyu, and said sharply with an awe-inspiring expression, If you want to hold me hostage, kill me quickly with a knife, and it is not a pity to die in the next person!
It's over, and the conspiracy has become a conspiracy. Admiral Ding, you're too direct!
Ma Gelu and Niu Changyu were as if they had been stripped of their clothes, and they were very embarrassed to freeze there, their faces were red and white for a while, and they looked embarrassed, so they had to retreat in a huff.
Although Ding Ruchang had a glimmer of hope for reinforcements, no one could guarantee whether the reinforcements would arrive on time. It's hard to say whether it's useful or not, and he knows that since Ma Gelu and Niu Changyu have shown their hole cards, this matter will never stop there. He had to prepare for the worst, and he had to be prepared for both, so he made a painful decision again.
In the afternoon of the same day, Ding Ruchang sent the torpedo boat Guang Bing to blow up and sink the stranded Jingyuan ship. At this time, the only remaining capital ships in Weihai were Zhenyuan and Jiyuan, as well as the stranded Dingyuan, as well as the two old cruisers Pingyuan and Guangbing. Ding Ruchang didn't want to leave a grain of grain for the devils, if the reinforcements didn't come, then they could only blow up all these warships, including Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, and the explosives were ready.
The batteries are gone, the torpedo boats are gone, the warships are almost gone, the food and ammunition are almost gone, the mountains are poor, the water is exhausted, and all that is left is courage and faith. But Liu Buyun didn't want to wait any longer, he decided to take a step first.
The third person: Liu Buchan
If you can't force down, you won't sleep tonight.
In addition to Ma Gelu and Niu Changyu, there is naturally Ding Ruchang.
This night, Ding Ruchang spent in a mixture of hope and despair, and this was his last night in the world. In the middle of the night, he suddenly heard a loud noise outside, and when he came out to take a look, he saw that Dingyuan was shrouded in fire and was slowly sinking to the bottom of the sea.
It turned out that Liu Buyun personally blew up and sank the first ship in the Far East, the Dingyuan.
In fact, as early as 5 days ago, Liu Buyun already had suicidal thoughts. At that time, the Japanese torpedo boat hit Dingyuan, and Liu Buyun fell into deep self-blame. He said that as the captain of the ship, he was really guilty of dereliction of duty to be so derelict in his duties, and he is the only one to thank him for his death! Ding Ruchang hurriedly comforted him and said, this is my responsibility, it has nothing to do with you, you must not think so.
To be honest, Dingyuan Zhonglei, Liu Buyun and Ding Ruchang do not have much responsibility, it is not that they are at fault, but that the devil is too insidious. According to Li Hongzhang, the losses caused by such non-human control reasons are not held responsible. Liu Buyun is not afraid of punishment, he is too painful in his heart, Zhenyuan has been injured, and now Dingyuan is not good, what can he do to fight the Japanese?
His mind is the same as Lin Taizeng's, and he believes in the same creed of "the ship is in the people, and the ship is dead", and since the day he became the captain of the Dingyuan ship, he has been one with this ironclad ship and is inseparable. Now that the battleship has been destroyed, what's the point of him living alone?
The only thing he regretted was probably not being able to sink a Japanese ship with his own hands. As the captain of the ironclad ship, he would rather die at sea and die on the way to the charge, just like Deng Shichang. The journey of the navy is at sea, and dying in the war and dying in the sea is the best destination for a navy general. In order to defend Liugong Island, in order to protect the Dingyuan ship, in the past 5 days, he temporarily waved away the idea of suicide, and fought side by side with Ding Ruchang to fight against a strong enemy, but now the general trend has gone, the defeat has been decided, and the daytime forced surrender seems to be just the beginning, rather than letting Dingyuan fall into the hands of the Japanese army, it is better to blow it up with his own hands!
Dingyuan was burning, illuminating the dark sea.
Liu Buyun committed suicide and martyrdom in the skylight at the age of 43.
Like Lin Taizeng, he fulfilled his solemn promise back then: Lose the ship, sink with the ship! Lin Taizeng, I'm here. In the past, we fought side by side on the battlefield, and in the future, we will walk together on the Huangquan Road, and you will no longer be alone.
Some people may think, since Lin Taizeng and Liu Buyun are so not afraid of death, why don't they learn from Deng Shichang, drive a warship to fight with the Japanese, sink one is enough, and sink two ships to make money, wouldn't it be happy?
Of course, this is a happy revenge, the problem is that Zhenyuan and Dingyuan have been disabled, they can't get out, and they don't even have the capital and opportunities to work hard, this is the most embarrassing place.
To be continued