On the night of February 19, 1861, at the most critical moment in the Battle of Anqing, a Taiping Army garrison general Cheng Xueqi led more than 300 soldiers out of Anqing City overnight and fled to the Xiang Army camp.
Among the 300 soldiers was Ding Ruchang, who later became the admiral (commander-in-chief) of the Beiyang Marine Division.
One
Ding Ruchang,Ziyu Ting (Chinese: 丁汝昌; pinyin: Dīn Đồng Ding Ruchang's father, Ding Canxun, was an authentic farmer who worked as a farmer and could not afford Ding Ruchang to study. Therefore, although Ding Ruchang studied very diligently, he still only studied for 3 years in private school, then suspended his studies, went to help people herd cattle, ducks, ferries, etc., and later went to a tofu shop as an apprentice.
Ding Ruchang
In 1851, due to a serious disaster in Lujiang County, his parents died of illness, leaving 15-year-old Ding Ruchang. In 1854, a Taiping Army unit came to Lujiang County, and Ding Ruchang enlisted in the Taiping Army, becoming a general of Cheng Xueqi and following him on his southern expedition to the Northern War.
After Cheng Xueqi surrendered to the Xiang army with Ding Ruchang, he turned his gun on his former comrade-in-arms taiping army. Initially, Zeng Guofan and Zeng Guofan did not trust them, and they were stationed at the forefront of the Xiang Army's positions to resist the Taiping Army's offensive. Many generals of the Xiang Army even asked Zeng Guoquan to kill them to avoid any trouble. Cheng Xueqi and Ding Ruchang had to fight the Taiping Army more courageously.
On August 1, 1861, Cheng Xueqi and Ding Ruchang led their troops to rush into Anqing City, which dispelled the concerns of Zeng Guofan and Zeng Guoquan.
Zeng Guofan
In 1862, due to the Taiping Army Li Xiucheng, Chen Yucheng and other units attacked the Jiangbei camp and the Jiangnan camp, and attacked Into Zhejiang, Jiangsu and other places with a single blow. Zeng Guofan sent Li Hongzhang to raise an army to Shanghai and gave Li Hongzhang 10 battalions, including Cheng Xueqi's "Kai" 2 Battalion. Ding Ruchang joined the Huai army with Cheng Xueqi.
Two
If Cheng Xueqi's "Kai" 2nd Battalion was the fiercest army in the Huai Army, then Ding Ruchang was the general who could fight the most vicious battles under Cheng Xueqi.
In August 1862, when Liu Mingchuan, a general of the Huai Army, led an army to fight the Taiping Army at the mouth of the Four Rivers, Ding Ruchang was ordered to cooperate in the battle. Liu Mingchuan saw that Ding Ruchang was fighting so fiercely and admired it, so he made a request to Li Hongzhang, hoping to transfer Ding Ruchang to his "Ming" camp. Li Hongzhang agreed, and Ding Ruchang became Liu Mingchuan's subordinate again.
Biography of Liu Ming
Some people say that Ding Ruchang was able to become the admiral of the Beiyang Marine Division because he was a close confidant and right-hand man of Li Hongzhang. This statement is not true. After Ding Ruchang entered the Huai Army, his status was not high, and his immediate superior was Liu Mingchuan, who was too far away from Li Hongzhang. At best, he can be said to be Liu Mingchuan's right-hand man, but he cannot be said to be a close confidant. Because when Liu Mingchuan was in trouble, the first person he wanted to clean up was Ding Ruchang.
In 1874, the Qing court, with the Taiping Army and the Twist Army already pacified, decided to adopt the practice of disarmament and saving wages in the Huai Army in order to fully support Zuo Zongtang's use of troops in the northwest. Since it is disarmament, of course, it is necessary to cut off those "miscellaneous" troops. Liu Mingchuan's intention to lay off Ding Ruchang's 3rd Battalion provoked Ding Ruchang's dissatisfaction. Ding Ruchang wrote to him in protest. Liu Mingchuan was furious and wanted to kill him for "disobeying orders."
HuaiJun
When Ding Ruchang heard about it, he immediately escaped from the military camp and returned to his hometown in Anhui without stopping, avoiding a killing disaster.
Three
Ding Ruchang lived in seclusion in his hometown for several years and spent a comfortable and stable life. However, at the age of thirty or forty, the most energetic stage of his life, Ding Ruchang was unwilling to throw his good time on the "wife and son hot kangtou", so he left his hometown again and went to Tianjin to find Li Hongzhang, who was already the governor of Beiyang and the minister of trade and commerce in Beiyang.
Li
Li Hongzhang did not have much contact with Ding Ruchang, but he had heard of Ding Ruchang's name very early on and learned that he was very brave in fighting. However, at present, the country is basically calm and quiet, and there is no place to fight, what to do? After thinking about it, Li Hongzhang decided to leave him in Tianjin and arrange him into the Beiyang Marine Division that was being prepared.
At this time, Zuo Zongtang, who was using troops in the northwest, heard the news of Ding Ruchang's comeback and asked the imperial court to transfer Ding Ruchang to the northwest to assist him in the war. Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang had been fighting secretly for decades, and of course they refused to let Ding Ruchang go to help his political enemies, so he asked Ding Ruchang to pretend to be ill and pushed off the errand to the northwest region.
In the following years, Li Hongzhang successively purchased a number of ships from Britain and Germany, and built the basic framework of the Beiyang Naval Division. After Li Hongzhang asked the imperial court for approval, he let Ding Ruchang serve in the Beiyang Marine Division.
Beiyang Marine Division
On September 9, 1888, the Prince of Alcohol, Yi Zhen, promulgated the Beiyang Naval Regulations, which meant that the Beiyang Naval Division was officially formed. Four days later, on September 13, at the nomination of Li Hongzhang, Ding Ruchang was appointed as the admiral of the Beiyang Marine Division for the imperial court, and was soon rewarded with the title of Shangshu.
Since then, the Four Modern Navies of the Qing Dynasty, the most powerful and largest Beiyang Naval Division, have their own commander-in-chief.