War is often a decisive battle related to the fortunes of the country, and behind the hideous smoke of gunpowder, there are cold strategies and tactics. The Battle of the Yellow Sea in 1894 undoubtedly decided the fate of the two neighboring countries, the Qing Dynasty and Japan. In this magnificent naval battle, the Qing army's Beiyang Fleet could be attacked, retreated and defended, the formation was intricate, and the strategic layout emerged one after another, but in the end it ended in defeat. What is it that makes the Beiyang Fleet, with its great firepower, still fall short? Are there fatal flaws in their formation?
The rough waves in the Dadonggou area of the Yellow Sea, and the windward wind set off layers of stormy waves, which seemed to indicate that a fierce battle filled with gunpowder was about to begin. At that time, the Beiyang Fleet was already on standby, and its morale was high. But no one expected that this Beiyang Naval Division, which had once dominated the storm and convinced all the soldiers at home and abroad, would be defeated and retreated in this battle, and finally the whole army was wiped out.
The past is vivid, and it can't help but make people think deeply. To explore the loopholes in the formation of the Beiyang Fleet, we cannot but start with the equipment strength of the fleet itself. Since its establishment, the Beiyang Fleet has always been the backbone of the Qing Dynasty's maritime forces, and has repeatedly established a strong reputation in foreign wars before the Sino-Japanese War. However, with the passage of time, the equipment of this fleet has gradually become obsolete, the introduction of new weapons has been hindered, and the firepower is obviously insufficient.
Especially during the Russo-Japanese War, Japan continued to purchase advanced ships and equipment from foreign powers, and the gap with the Beiyang Fleet continued to widen. Even the main ironclad ships "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" of the Beiyang Fleet, although their main guns were advanced 305 mm Krupp breech guns at that time, the rate of fire was slow, and the technology was far surpassed by the Japanese ship-based rapid-fire guns. As for the remaining old wooden-clad ships, they were even weaker in this modern naval battle.
In addition to the lack of firepower, the Beiyang Fleet also lagged far behind the Japanese fleet in speed. The speed of the capital ship "Dingyuan" was only 14.5 knots, and the speed of the rest of the old ships was even slower, which was far less than the high-speed sprint capability of the Japanese guerrilla cruiser fleet of 20 knots, which greatly reduced the overall maneuverability of the Beiyang Fleet. In the face of the fierce attack of the Japanese army's high mobility, the Beiyang Fleet was overstretched in defense and could not get rid of the passive situation.
In the early morning of the confrontation between the two fleets in the Yellow Sea, the drums of war suddenly sounded. After careful questioning of the planners, it turned out that the Japanese fleet launched the attack first. The Beiyang Naval Division, which was looking at the Celestial Empire's sea frontier, naturally couldn't be afraid of the formation, and immediately adjusted the formation to meet the attack.
At first, the Beiyang Fleet adopted a defensive form of "horned fish through the formation". The so-called "horn fish through the formation" means that the two capital ships are used as the "horns", and the rest of the ships are lined up behind them in turn, forming a kind of cone-shaped depth formation. The biggest advantage of this formation is that it can more effectively defend against the frontal breakthrough of the enemy fleet, and the firepower of the "horns" on both sides of the formation can form a fork-like flanking attack on the enemy ships that come to attack.
Ding Ruchang ordered the ironclad battleships "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" to play the key role of "horns", and although the second ship was slower, its powerful firepower was enough to resist the fierce attack of the Japanese fleet. The rest of the main forces of the Beiyang Fleet, such as the "Jingyuan" and "Zhiyuan" ships, built a defensive line behind the second ship. For a time, the formation of the Beiyang Fleet was solemn and calm, which was intimidating.
Unexpectedly, the Japanese fleet turned out to be cunning, which made the Beiyang Fleet's "horned fish through the array" passive. The strength of the enemy's mobility was unexpected. The first to advance was the Japanese 1st Guerrilla Force, consisting of four advanced armored cruisers. Although these ships do not have strong firepower per ship, they are full of power, extremely fast, and equipped with a large number of advanced rapid-fire guns. Like a few dexterous swimming fish, they quickly outflanked them and formed a pincer offensive against the "horns" of the Beiyang Fleet.
In the face of the sudden attack, Ding Ruchang saw the opportunity to make a decision and ordered the Beiyang Fleet to immediately change its formation to a "horned goose marching formation". This change of formation seems to have no flaws, but it hides a mystery. The "Horned Goose Formation" borrows from the traditional "Wild Goose Formation", so that the fleet as a whole presents a trapezoidal distribution, so that each ship can give full play to the role of fire coverage and mutual support, and prevent it from being broken alone.
However, in the process of changing the formation, there was a serious mistake. Due to the lack of clarity in the temporary instructions for changing formations, the entire fleet was in a chaotic formation, and the formations of various ships were chaotic. The old wooden ships "Yangwei" and "Chaoyong" were too slow, far behind the vanguard ironclads, and the formation began to scatter. This undoubtedly added many opportunities for the Japanese attack.
In this chaotic situation, the elite guerrillas of the Japanese army leaned down and pounced, first concentrating their fire on the two isolated antique ships. In an instant, the two old ships were crushed under heavy artillery fire, and were soon beaten to the point of infighting and crashed into the sea. As a result, a prominent gap appeared in the Beiyang Fleet, and the entire right formation was completely overwhelmed.
Just when the formation of the Beiyang Fleet began to collapse, a glimmer of life gradually emerged. Although the two backward old wooden ships "Yangwei" and "Chaoyong" were sunk, the main forces of the Beiyang Fleet were still holding their positions, and the ironclad ships "Dingyuan" and "Zhenyuan" were always ready for battle. As long as these two capital ships can continue to contain the onslaught of the Japanese army, the Beiyang Fleet may be able to turn the tide of the war with its numerical superiority.
However, everything did not go as Ding Ruchang expected. Under the indiscriminate bombardment of the Japanese guerrillas, the formation of the Beiyang Fleet soon fell into an even more chaotic situation. Although the capital ship has not yet been sunk, it has lost the ability to effectively control and coordinate operations. The confusion in the chain of command is one of the important reasons.
At that time, the communication system of the Beiyang Fleet was outdated and outdated, and it was impossible to transmit signals and orders between the commanders and the ships without hindrance. In the smoke of fierce fighting, all orders were invariably subject to serious delays and deviations. Each ship can only act on its own judgment, and cannot obtain unified and effective command.
To make matters worse, the quality of the Beiyang Fleet's crews varied, ranging from battle-hardened veterans to new recruits. In the face of the fierce offensive of the Japanese army, the morale of some of the crew began to waver. Some of the young crew members had personally experienced the defeats in the Sino-French War and the First Sino-Japanese War, and their psychological shadows were difficult to erase and their will to fight was not strong.
It was precisely under the attack of all kinds of internal and external troubles that the combat effectiveness of the Beiyang Fleet rapidly declined. The "Zhenyuan" that was frantically attacked was soon buried alive at the bottom of the sea, and lost cooperation with the "Dingyuan". The only capital ship could only fight alone, unable to escape the doom of being surrounded by Japanese guerrillas.
The next scene made all those who witnessed it sigh. The Japanese guerrillas adopted a novel tactic and launched a longitudinal fire on the "Dingyuan" ship. A large amount of artillery shells fired from rapid-fire guns rained down on the "Dingyuan" like a waterfall, extinguishing all the planes that had been prepared to return fire. The firelight illuminated the sea, and it was clear that the crew of the "Dingyuan" ship was struggling to defend it, but they were outnumbered. After a fierce battle, the battle-hardened "Dingyuan" ship was finally overwhelmed and scarred by this new tactic of longitudinal firing.
Just when the last hope of the capital ship was also slim, the veteran "Jingyuan" of the Beiyang Fleet was the first to fall, becoming the first ironclad capital ship to be sunk. Immediately afterwards, the ship "Zhiyuan" suffered the same fate. The Japanese army's tactics of assault in depth achieved unprecedented success, and the Beiyang Fleet was already seriously damaged and in danger......
The main forces of the Beiyang Fleet were sunk one after another, putting the entire battle situation in an extremely critical situation. With victory in sight, the Japanese guerrillas immediately turned the target of their attack to the remnants of the Beiyang Fleet.
At this time, the remaining combat power of the Beiyang Fleet was running out. In addition to the general's flagship "Jingyuan", the only remaining capital ships are "Seven Provinces" and "Jiangnan". In the face of the fierce offensive of the Japanese army, these remnants of the ships were unable to return to the sky and retreated.
The Japanese fleet adopted a tactic similar to land guerrilla warfare to carry out a deep assault on the Beiyang Fleet. First, the fast guerrilla fleet was the first to break through the defense line of the Beiyang Fleet and inflict heavy losses. When the firepower of the Beiyang Fleet began to weaken, the main fleet of the Japanese army took the opportunity to join the battle group and launch a general attack.
The defense system of the Beiyang Fleet was in jeopardy under such an offensive. Although the "Jingyuan" was still resisting stubbornly, its firepower gradually became insufficient, and it was no longer able to provide shelter for other ships. Soon, the gap that was broken through became bigger and bigger, and even the two capital ships of the "Seven Provinces" and the "Jiangnan" were also encircled.
In order to protect their main fleet, the Japanese did not hesitate to sacrifice all available weapons. In addition to shipborne artillery, the most advanced torpedo weapons of that time were massively dropped. Torpedoes are flying underwater at high speed and can deliver devastating blows once they hit their targets. The old ships of the Beiyang Fleet are simply helpless in the face of this new weapon.
In the end, the "Seven Provinces" was hit by two torpedoes and sank on the spot; Immediately afterwards, the "Gangnam" suffered the same fate. From the backbone of more than 10 ships at the beginning, the Beiyang Fleet was left with only the capital ship "Jingyuan" fighting alone.
Even so, Yang Gennian, the commander of the "Jingyuan", still had no intention of surrendering. The last capital ship of the Beiyang Fleet was in full swing, firing frantically, and seemed determined to die together. A shocking scene ensued: a Japanese torpedo swam at high speed against the surface of the water, hitting the side of the hull of the "Jingyuan", causing huge damage.
Subsequently, Japanese artillery fire rained down on the "Jingyuan". In just a few minutes, the ship's sharp weapon was smashed to pieces. Seeing that the "Jingyuan" was powerless, the Japanese turned their artillery fire to the last wooden ship, the "Pingyuan", and quickly sank it......
The Battle of the Yellow Sea, in which the Beiyang Fleet was completely annihilated, marked the end of the Qing Dynasty's maritime power. This fiasco not only meant a complete defeat for the Qing dynasty in maritime power, but also a sign that this once powerful dynasty was coming to an end.
Looking back at the course of the entire campaign, the defeat of the Beiyang Fleet can be described as doomed. From the pre-war preparations, to the contingency during the war, to the final downfall, the causes of defeat are clearly visible.
First of all, the equipment is outdated and the firepower is backward. There are only a few ironclad ships in the capital ships of the Beiyang Fleet, and most of them are still wooden hulls. Even the range and rate of fire of the ironclad ships were far behind the new equipment of the Japanese army. This doomed the Beiyang Fleet to be at a disadvantage in the contest of firepower.
Second, the chain of command is in disarray. The Beiyang Fleet lacks a unified and efficient command system, and all ships cannot obtain timely dispatch and support. The frequent confusion of the formation greatly reduced the combat effectiveness of this fleet, and it became a skirmish in hand-to-hand combat.
Again, the quality of the crews is uneven. Due to the long-term war, the Beiyang Fleet lacked excellent officer commanders and elite crews, and its morale was low. In contrast, the Japanese crews were well-trained and decisive in battle.
Finally, the ability to innovate tactically is insufficient. The Beiyang Fleet was stuck in the old and stubborn, and it was difficult to resist the Japanese guerrilla formations, assaults, torpedoes and other emerging weapons. On the other hand, the Japanese army not only has advanced ships, but is also good at pushing through the old and bringing forth the new, giving full play to its own advantages to launch attacks.
All this contributed to the complete defeat of the Beiyang Fleet in the Battle of the Yellow Sea. Ding Ruchang personally supervised the battle, but he was still powerless, and in the end he could only witness the collapse of the steel navy he had built.
However, the defeat of the Beiyang Fleet was not for nothing. After this heavy blow, the Chinese finally realized the importance of modernizing their naval forces. Although Ding Ruchang has died on the battlefield, his lifelong efforts to revitalize the Chinese navy have not been interrupted.
In fact, in the aftermath of this fiasco, both the Beiyang government and later the warlord regime worked hard to make up for the shortcomings of the navy. They spared no expense in purchasing new equipment, hired foreign officers to train the fleet, and worked hard to improve the overall quality of the crew. Although the final results were not ideal, this determination to improve oneself and save the world is still worthy of admiration.
To this day, the shadow of this battle still haunts the Chinese Navy. People of insight called for drawing lessons from the lessons, building a modern naval force, and revitalizing the heroic division of China. There is a long way to go, and we need persistent efforts and reforms in order to finally realize this millennium dream......