The Qing government paid insufficient attention to Beiyang Navy, which gradually declined. At the beginning of its establishment, Beiyang Navy ranked far ahead of Japan in the world. With the passage of time, Beiyang Navy also introduced major ships with strong combat power, such as Zhenyuan and Zhiyuan, from Germany and Britain. In addition, in terms of weapons, the Beiyang Navy has also been continuously enhanced, becoming one of the strongest naval forces in Asia. After 189 1 year, the Qing government drastically cut funds, which was an important part of territorial defense. After the lack of funds, beiyang fleet was undoubtedly deprived of its wings, and the strength of Beiyang Navy was continuously weakened. The Japanese side continued to strengthen new warships, and the maritime combat strength between the Qing government and Japan became increasingly disparity. In the end, Japan was a little ahead of Beiyang Navy in warship tonnage and some weapons and equipment. It is worth mentioning that although there is a certain strength gap between the Beiyang navy of the Qing government and the Japanese navy, the war often changes rapidly, with no absolute overwhelming advantage and no crushing strength.
At the beginning of the war, beiyang fleet actually gained the upper hand. In the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, beiyang fleet adopted the flying geese tactics. Many people say that this strategy has great shortcomings. If beiyang fleet doesn't take this way of fighting, there is a high probability that it won't lose the battle. But in fact, after the confrontation between China and Japan, several Japanese fleets lost their combat capability because of heavy artillery bombardment by beiyang fleet. Generally speaking, in the initial tactical contest, beiyang fleet, which had a certain gap in equipment with the enemy, still gained the upper hand in the confrontation.
Party struggles and factional struggles weakened the strength of Beiyang Navy, and the internal friction of the Qing government was divided into different interest groups. The contradiction between the Westernization School represented by Li Hongzhang and the factions around the emperor was sharp, and Li Hongzhang was suppressed everywhere, which led to very serious management problems in Beiyang Navy. It is precisely because of management problems that the internal corruption of Beiyang Navy is pervasive, and beiyang fleet's combat capability is further weakened.
Lack of detailed strategic planning After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Japanese army's strategic goal of seizing sea control and annihilating Beiyang Navy was obvious. The Beiyang Navy did not have a clear operational strategy, as if it was just step by step, which directly led to the gradual loss of fighters after the war broke out.
As far as the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 is concerned, there is a certain strength gap between the Beiyang Navy itself and the Japanese fleet, which is only a very small part, and the larger part involves factional struggle, command and so on. If Beiyang Navy has a strong leader to direct the war, and if the Qing government can give Beiyang Navy greater support when encountering foreign enemies, there are still many uncertainties about the outcome of this battle.