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| the forgotten hero of the Sino-Japanese War, Zuo Precious / Updated every Friday / Lian Kefei (written) |
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<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="8" > Chapter 13: Wokou provocations repeatedly broke off</h1>
After Nie Shicheng arrived in Jeonju, it was already July 10, and then he issued a notice, the basic meaning of which was to hope that the people of the whole prefecture would abide by the law and abide by the law, live in peace and prosperity, and share the blessings of peace. Subsequently, Nie Shicheng returned to Asan to report to Ye Zhichao that the statewide incident had been fully handled, and suggested withdrawing the team and returning to China. It is said that it is a very normal thing for the whole state to calm down and withdraw the team to return to China, but Ye Zhichao and Li Hongzhang have been hesitant on this matter, which is a long story, and we must go back to June to look back at this matter again.
In fact, when the victory of the Dongxue Party rebel army was still developing, the Japanese side, especially the expansionists, took the opportunity to create public opinion and prompt the government to send troops. Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu also saw this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Japan to expand its power in Korea. However, from a diplomatic point of view, "the division must be famous, and if the name is not correct, it is not smooth," therefore, Mutsu Zongguang hoped that after the Qing government sent troops, Japan would wait for an opportunity to act and dominate Korea. The chief of staff, who wielded military power, was particularly active, sending people to collect intelligence on North Korea and secretly mobilize for war.
Mutsu Muneko
When Japan learned that the Korean government had asked the Qing government to send reinforcements, the Japanese government was ecstatic. The Japanese Prime Minister at the time was Ito Hirobumi, who was in crisis at the moment, and the problem it faced was that either he and his cabinet would either resign or dissolve the parliament; Moreover, he himself has decided to resort to the latter approach.
But this sudden upheaval in North Korea not only made it possible for the government to rule out both of these tactics, but also provided an excellent opportunity to turn domestic contradictions abroad. Therefore, the members of the cabinet did not agree with the plan and proposition of sending troops to Korea. As a result, Ito immediately sent someone to convene a meeting of cabinet members and made a secret decision on the issue of sending troops to Korea. Ito then entered the palace with this secret resolution, played it on the Meiji Emperor, and was judged.
That night, the Japanese side made a decision: Japan's troops will inevitably confront the Qing soldiers. China's army should not exceed five thousand, and Japan needs six thousand to seven thousand troops to be in a victorious position, and if China further increases its strength, Japan will also send an additional division. Therefore, preparations should be made for the dispatch of a division, starting with an independent mixed brigade.
After the Meiji Restoration in Japan, the Japanese army comprehensively studied the West, especially with reference to the old German army, and ingeniously built a system of formation of detachments, squads, squadrons, brigades, brigades, and divisions, which were the most basic tactical corps in Japan. An independent mixed brigade is a kind of brigade formation of the Japanese army, not subordinate to a certain division, performing independent combat campaign tasks, equipped with cavalry, artillery, engineers and other units, equipped with light infantry weapons, as tactical units, convenient for mountain combat.
Emperor Meiji soon approved the dispatch of a mixed brigade to Korea and issued an order to expand the number of troops. A dozen days later, the vanguard of the mixed brigade arrived in Inchon, at this time, Seoul was very calm, and the Japanese turbo army pressed the border, which was quite eye-catching. The ministers in Seoul were all surprised by Japan's move and disagreed. Under the pressure of this diplomacy, Keisuke Otori, the Japanese ambassador to Korea, took the initiative to discuss with Yuan Shikai the withdrawal of troops from both sides. A few days later, the negotiations entered a substantive stage, that is, there was agreement on the issue of the phased withdrawal of troops, leaving only the exchange of official documents between the two sides.
But this is all an illusion, everything is an illusion. In fact, two days earlier, Keisuke Otori had received a telegram from Mutsu Munemitsu, not only opposing the withdrawal of troops from Korea, but also making it clear that "the Japanese government is forced to take a tough approach to the future policy toward Korea." ”
On the fifth day of the withdrawal negotiations, Japan threw out a plan to settle the internal affairs of the DPRK, that is, China and Japan would jointly reform the INTERNAL AFFAIRS of the DPRK. At this stage, both Li Hongzhang and Prime Minister Yamen rationally refuted the Japanese proposal. Li Hongzhang believed that neither China nor Japan should interfere in the internal affairs of the ROK, but should be clarified by the ROK itself, and Prime Minister Yamen also warned Japan: "The DPRK has its own right to be independent and must not interfere indiscriminately in its internal affairs." "It is undoubtedly correct to preserve the peace situation through struggle in negotiations and to adhere to the principled position. However, Li Hongzhang did not fully estimate Japan's determination to provoke war. Instead of strengthening his war readiness to preserve peace, he used appeasement to seek peace, and the result could only be counterproductive. Li Hongzhang, having realized that Japan harbored a "conspiracy of encroachment," did not make full military preparations in order to stand in an invincible position, and wanted to rely on diplomatic intransigence to preserve the peace situation, which of course could only be an illusion. By June 22, the Japanese government issued its first letter of renunciation, forcefully stating: Even if it contradicts what your government has seen, I will not withdraw my troops stationed in Korea.
In North Korea, Yuan Shikai's negotiations with Keisuke Ohtori have ended, while in the far-flung capital, Beijing, negotiations between Prime Minister Yamun and another Japanese ambassador, Shotaro Komura, are ostensibly still ongoing. They held two talks, and in both meetings, the Chinese side used the pretext of avoiding the dispatch of troops from other countries, stressing the need for the withdrawal of troops from the two countries. What the Japanese side needs is only a provocative pretext, not a reason that can make it change its position, and the result is not difficult to predict.
By July 14, Shotaro Komura, the acting Japanese minister in Beijing, sent a note from the Japanese government, which was Mutsu Munemitsu's so-called "second letter of renunciation." Among them, they not only categorically rejected China's legitimate demand that the two sides jointly withdraw their troops, but also beat a rake backwards and pre-emptively pushed the blame for provoking the war to China.
In fact, during the negotiation process, Nie Shicheng, who was stationed in North Korea, once sent a telegram, and the central meaning of the telegram was to advocate retreat. Why did this general, who was praised by the Japanese as "often known for his bravery in planning and strategy," advocate retreat? This is because the military is impermanent, and it is necessary to gradually change from passive to active militarily, and the only way to do so is to adopt the "strategy of avoiding the real and making the virtual" as the art of war says. This is actually a positive strategic retreat. In the case of a military failure, it should be said that the implementation of strategic retreat is the only practical and feasible way. If Nie Shicheng's opinion is adopted, China will not only be able to change its disadvantage militarily, but also take the initiative in political and diplomatic terms. For Japan's plan to launch a war of aggression, it must be a heavy blow.
However, Li Hongzhang failed to make a decision at the moment, and once again lost the good opportunity to withdraw his troops. Instead of strengthening combat readiness and winning the initiative militarily, we cannot withdraw our troops in a timely manner and strive for the initiative politically, and we can only blindly postpone and indecisively, and we will become more and more passive. If the Chinese army were to leave the DPRK at once, japan would not only be more diplomatically isolated, but also its plot to hold the Qing army back would inevitably go bankrupt, and its carefully planned so-called joint reform of Korea's internal affairs would not be put forward. Of course, although Japan still plays all kinds of tricks, it is difficult to rely on provoking provocations.
On July 14, after Japan submitted the "Second Letter of Renunciation", Guangxu issued a decree that Ye Zhichao, who was stationed at Asan, choose favorable terrain to go to the battlefield. On the other hand, Li Hongzhang was ordered to hurry up preparations for the war and send troops to Korea to support Ye Zhichao's troops.
After receiving the holy decree, Li Hongzhang still believed in the so-called "national laws of all nations," and he warned Ye Zhichao that although Japan was doing its best to prepare for war and defense, we did not start a war with them first, and I believe that they certainly could not act first. Therefore, sending a small amount of troops to support is just a show. It was on the basis of this thinking that Li Hongzhang sent only two thousand reinforcements to Asan, and fearing that the sea route would be dangerous, Li Hongzhang chartered three foreign merchant ships, the three merchant ships were The Airen, the Flying Whale, and the Gaosheng, and the three merchant ships transported the soldiers to Asan in batches.
Troop carrier High Lift
When the three merchant ships were carrying troops to the DPRK, in fact, the Japanese military had already received the news, on the day of the rise of the Gaosheng, the timetable for the Japanese government to move toward war had been accurately formulated, and the Japanese combined fleet moored in the harbor could attack the Beiyang Fleet just by waiting for an order from the base camp, the first naval battle between China and Japan was about to begin, and the calm Yellow Sea was about to usher in a war filled with gun smoke, and this war directly affected the course of national fortunes of the two countries, one prosperous and one declining, one strong and one weak, and the national fortunes of a hundred years. And so it began.
END
The image comes from the Internet
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