Togo Heihachiro

Togo Heihachiro Togo Heihachiro (January 27, 1848 - May 30, 1934, that is, December 22, Honghua 4th year - Showa 9th year), Marshal of the Japanese Navy, Admiral, Marquis, and Nogi Nogi of the Army are also known as the "Military God" of Japanese militarism. He led the Japanese navy to defeat the Russian navy in the Battle of Tsushima Strait, which became a precedent in modern history for the Eastern yellow race to defeat the Western white race, earning him the reputation of "Nelson of the East". Togo Heihachiro was born on January 27, 1848 in Kajiyacho, Kagoshima, Satsuma Domain. His childhood name was Nakagoro, and he changed his name to Heihachiro Minoru when he was in Yuanfu at the age of fifteen. His father, Togo Kichizaemon, was enthusiastic about the navy and had a great influence on Togo Heihachiro.

Table of Contents

Satsuma Boy

Captain Naniwa

Commander of the Combined Fleet

Fierce Battle at Port Arthur

The Great Battle of Tsushima

The Togo Chronicles Battle against the Shogunate

The Battle against China

The Battle against Russia

Later Years

Others

Satsuma Boy

Captain Naniwa

Commander of the Combined Fleet

Fierce Battle at Port Arthur

The Togo Chronicles Battle against the Shogunate

The Battle against China

The Battle against Russia

Later Years

Others

Expand and edit this paragraph Satsuma Boy

Tōgo Heihachiro Togo Heihachiro studied literature and martial arts since he was a child, and later he concentrated on artillery. In 1863, he participated in the Sa-British War against the British. The gunner who fired the cannon at the fort that day was Marshal Oyama Iwa, the commander-in-chief of the Manchuria Army who later defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. Besides Togo Heihachiro, there was also an even more awesome man who carried the cannonballs. , Yamamoto Gonbei, the father of the Japanese Navy. In 1866, the Satsuma Domain established a navy, and Togo Heihachiro joined the navy and began to enter the military.

During the civil war, Togo Heihachiro supported the emperor, advocated unification, and established an imperial government. In early 1868, as a naval officer, he boarded the battleship Haruta of the Satsuma Domain and had a decisive sea battle with the battleship Kaiyo of the shogunate's naval commander Takehiro Enomoto at Awa Oki. The Battle of Awa Oki was the beginning of battles between Japanese and European warships, and it was an important page in the history of Japan's civil war. Togo Heihachiro followed the Springfield on an expedition to Hokkaido and fought in various places, making his first military exploits for the Meiji government.

Tōgohei when he was studying in England. In 1868, Emperor Meiji, who was only 15 years old, took over the power of the country from the shogunate. In the following years, the Meiji government boldly innovated and became fully Westernized. Learning to introduce science and technology from Western countries, and reforming domestic political institutions to adapt to and promote the development of productive forces, Japan quickly embarked on the path of capitalist development and doubled its national strength. At the same time, Japan's Meiji government clearly decided to take foreign aggression and expansion as its highest national policy, and formulated a "mainland policy" that would first target China and North Korea. Revealing the ambition to conquer the world by force.

On May 4, 1870, the Ministry of War of Japan formulated the "Plan for Enlarging the Navy", which specifically emphasized: "The soul of a warship is the officer. Without officers, the sailors cannot develop their strengths; If the sailors cannot exert their talents, the ship will become a pile of scrap metal..."Educating naval officers is the top priority in building the navy." In February of the following year, the Japanese Navy ranked among all young officers, including military academy cadets. Twelve of the best officers were selected and sent to the United Kingdom to study abroad. Togo Heihachiro was selected. Togo stayed in the United Kingdom for eight years. He was refused admission to the Naval Academy by the British government and transferred to the Merchant Marine School. During his internship, he was also from the lowest level. Sailors get started. But the British did not bully the Japanese, saying it was a merchant marine school. In fact, a considerable number of graduates entered the navy, where merchant marine crews were trained according to the standards of naval officers. Originally, the British Empire's merchant fleet and fleet were inseparable. In order to ensure commercial sea routes, the Royal Navy's purpose was to "attack the enemy when it sees it", no nonsense. Later, he was ordered to supervise the construction of warships ordered by the Japanese Navy at a British shipyard. When Togo Heihachiro personally drove the cruiser "Hiei" back to Japan after an absence of 8 years, he had become a senior expert in all naval operations such as warship construction and driving.

Edit this paragraph Captain Naniwa

After Togo Heihachiro returned to China, Togo Heihachiro served as the captain of many warships in just a few years. In 1881, Togo Heihachiro was promoted from Navy Captain to Navy Major, and in 1889 to Navy Colonel. During this period, he was once transferred to the Chief of Staff of the 2nd Naval District to cultivate the comprehensive ability to organize and command a considerable naval force.

Before the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, Admiral Togo Heihachiro served as the captain of the cruiser "Naniwa". In the future, Togo Heihachiro became famous only when he became the captain of the Naniwa, but he became the captain of the Naniwa. It was a fluke, because Dongxiang almost got fired. In 1892, Yamamoto Gonbei, the father of the Japanese Navy, carried out his first action to reform the Japanese Navy with the support of Navy Minister Saigo Nomichi, rectifying the naval organization and laying off those naval officers who had no longer adapted to the situation. Yamamoto asked his subordinates to collect a list of eight generals starting from lieutenant general and 89 assistant officers and lieutenants, and discuss it with Saigo. Saigo was a little embarrassed: "These are all heroes since the Satsuma-British War. The generals alone are half of the current generals. They are all colleagues and fellow villagers of Satsuma. Can you do it?" Yamamoto Gonbei answered very firmly: "It's enough to give them medals for their meritorious service. There is no reason to retain official positions. As for the relationship between Satsuma's hometown, it has been severely attacked by the Congress. Some of these people don't even understand steam warships. They are from the era of sailing warships. Fossil, with these people in the navy, the navy cannot progress." Saigo supported Yamamoto Gonbei. With a dagger on his desk, Colonel Yamamoto met the officers on the list one by one and announced to them his decision to be laid off. Regardless of whether it was the roar of "rebellion" or the pleading, Yamamoto remained unmoved and completed the first "downsizing operation" in the history of the Japanese navy with an iron heart. But Yamamoto hesitated on one name, and asked Minister Saigo to discuss: "Is there a problem with this name?" That was Togo Heihachiro, chief of staff of Wu Zhenfu. "I know this man is taciturn and unobtrusive. He did not graduate from the navy. He has been in the UK for a long time and has no friends at home. Should we give him another chance?" Dongxiang and Xixiang are both from Takujiya Town. Yes, of course Yamamoto too. Saigo could not come forward to intercede, but now Yamamoto said: "Okay, Naniwa is short of a captain, let Togo see it on trial." In this way, on the eve of the Sino-Japanese War of 1898-1894, the Japanese Navy lost no time in updating its organization and placed a group of the most capable officers in suitable positions.

Sinking the Gaosheng in early 1894, Quan Junzhun led a peasant uprising in Gufu County, Jeolla Province, and the King of Korea asked the Qing government for help. In early June, China dispatched its navy and army to North Korea to assist in the suppression. At the same time, Japan also sent troops to land in Inchon, North Korea. Soon, its total military strength exceeded that of the Chinese army in North Korea. On July 17, the Japanese army base camp held an imperial meeting and decided to launch a war against the Qing Dynasty. On the 24th, Rear Admiral Kozo Tsuboi, commander of the First Guerrilla Force, led the three ships "Yoshino", "Naniwa" and "Akitsusu" to Asan Bay, North Korea, and attacked Qing ships by the way.

At 6:30 in the morning on July 25, a Japanese warship encountered two cruisers, the "Jiyuan" and the "Guangyi" of the Qing Navy's Beiyang Fleet. At 7:52, when the warships of the two sides were 3,000 meters apart, the Japanese warship suddenly opened fire and attacked the "Jiyuan" ship without declaring war. Soon, the "Guangyi" ship with a displacement of only 1,030 tons was seriously injured, the hull tilted, and was forced to retreat to the shore and ran aground before setting itself on fire; the "Jiyuan" ship was even more outnumbered and retreated westward, and the Japanese ship "Yoshino" Chasing after him.

While the "Jiyuan" ship was retreating rapidly to the west, the British merchant ship "Gaosheng" and the Qing transport ship "Caojiang" hired by the Qing government to transport troops to North Korea sailed into the warring waters. Seeing the situation, General Wang Yongfa, who led Caojiang, hurriedly turned to the west to escape and was captured by the Japanese ship "Akijinzhou". At 9:30, Togo Heihachiro drove the cruiser "Naniwa" to approach the "Gaosheng" carrying more than 1,100 Qing troops. He issued a flag and ordered the ship to "drop anchor and stop sailing" and fired two rounds of air cannons. Then, he ordered The "Gaosheng" and the Qing soldiers it carried were to be captured and returned to Japan. At that time, Gao Shanji and Jiang Zikang were commanding the Qing officers and soldiers on the "Gaosheng". Gao thought the ship was a British merchant ship and the Japanese ship did not dare to be embarrassed, so he rejected the Japanese ship's unreasonable request.

Togo Heihachiro immediately ordered the red signal flag indicating danger to be raised on the mast of the "Naniwa", and drove the ship to about 150 meters away from the "Tōsho". He fired a torpedo from the torpedo launcher at the front end of the starboard side, and at the same time used The six cannons on the starboard side launched a fierce salvo at the "Gaosheng". The "Gaosheng" sank at 13:30. Except for the British captain, first mate and another British crew member, Togo Heihachiro did not save anyone. By the next day, a passing French warship rescued about 200 people. This was a small-scale naval battle, but it was an unforgettable naval battle for both China and Japan. The Battle of Toshima left the question of the sinking of the British merchant ship Koshin. The Japanese government only learned of this incident on July 28. At first, Ito Hirobumi and Mutsu Munemitsu did not want the British to take the opportunity to interfere. Mutsu Foreign Affairs Ministry summoned the British Acting Minister to Japan Wajit the same day, claiming that the Japanese government was investigating and "if the Naniwa's behavior is unfair, the Japanese government will pay a considerable amount of compensation." The British government also announced on August 3 Hyuga summoned the Japanese Minister to the United Kingdom Shuzo Aoki and issued a note saying: "The Japanese government should be prepared to take full responsibility for the sinking of the Kosho." However, during the British naval maritime trial held in Shanghai, the commander of the British Far East Fleet, Philmantle, testified that Togo's behavior was justified. In addition, Dr. Holland, an authority on British international law and a professor at Oxford University, also issued a statement that Togo Heihachiro did not The article, which violated international law, calmed some anti-Japanese public opinion in the UK at the time.

On September 17, in the waters southwest of Dalu Island in the northern part of the Yellow Sea, the Japanese combined fleet encountered the main fleet of the Beiyang Navy, and the famous Battle of the Yellow Sea broke out. The cruiser "Naniwa" commanded by Togo Heihachiro also participated. This battle. The Beiyang Fleet suffered heavy losses in the naval battle. In early 1895, the Japanese navy and army jointly launched a powerful offensive on the Shandong Peninsula aimed at annihilating the Beiyang Fleet. The Beiyang army was completely wiped out. In April 1895, Togo Heihachiro was promoted to rear admiral. In May, Togo Heihachiro became the commander of the Japanese Navy's Southern Fleet and led the fleet to escort Prince Meiji's younger brother Prince Kitashirakawa Nohisa and the Army Guards Division to take over Taiwan. In 1898, Rear Admiral Togo Heihachiro was promoted to Vice Admiral.

Edit this paragraph Commander of the Combined Fleet

In 1900, Togo Heihachiro served as commander of the Japanese Navy’s Standing Fleet and led the fleet to participate in the Eight-Power Allied Forces’ war of aggression against China. A series of battle operations increased Togo Heihachiro's status in the Japanese Navy. Japan's goals at that time were North Korea and Northeast China. Due to Russia's obstruction, Japan failed to obtain the Liaodong Peninsula, which made Russia gain the advantage, which was quite unwilling. In 1902, Britain and Japan formed an alliance. After seven or eight years of preparations for war, plus China's two huge indemnities during the Sino-Japanese War of 1998 and Xinchou, Japan's strength increased greatly. At that time, Russia occupied Northeast China, and the Japanese spoke boldly on behalf of China, asking the Russians to withdraw their troops immediately.

On the eve of the Russo-Japanese War, Navy veteran Yamamoto Gonbei changed his generals before the battle, and appointed Togo Heihachiro, the commander-in-chief of Maizuru Fort, who was ready to retire, as the commander of the combined fleet. The commander-in-chief of the standing fleet at that time was Hidaka Hidaka, a fellow Satsuma fellow who was the same generation as Yamamoto Gonbei Kaihei. Yamamoto Gonbei did not use Hidaka not because he doubted Hidaka's ability, but because he was afraid of Hidaka's ability. Going to war with Tsarist Russia was a much bigger gamble than the Sino-Japanese War. Therefore, the whole country of Japan must work together, unite the government and the army, unite the land and sea, unite the top and bottom, and never allow any mistakes. And Hidaka is a guy who is not afraid of anything. No one can guarantee whether he will be absolutely consistent with the Navy Ministry and the Military Command at critical moments, so Yamamoto chose Lieutenant General Togo Heihachiro who surprised everyone. Dongxiang is a short man, speaks weakly, and only looks at his toes when walking. He doesn't look like a soldier, let alone a general. But Yamamoto took a fancy to Togo Heihachiro's reticence and obedience. And when Emperor Meiji asked in confusion why Togo was replaced by Hidaka, Yamamoto Gonbei's answer was actually: "Togo is lucky" - since it is gambling, isn't it natural to find someone with better gambling luck? ? In fact, if you look carefully at Dongxiang's chronology, you really can't see that Dongxiang had any good luck before the Russo-Japanese War. If there was, it would be that before the Sino-Japanese War, when he was about to be fired, someone suddenly remembered his place of origin. That’s all.

In order to ensure that Togo was obedient, Yamamoto Gonbei found two more people to serve as Togo's chief of staff and first staff officer. Shimamura Hayao was the architect of the Japanese Navy's preemptive strategy, and Akiyama Makoto. He was a direct disciple of Alfred Thayer Mahan, the author of The Treatise on Sea Power, and the architect of the tactics of the combined fleet.

Edit this paragraph Fierce Battle at Port Arthur

At 19:15 on February 5, 1904, Japanese Prime Minister Baron Yamamoto Gonbei issued a sortie order to the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Togo Heihachiro. written order. Japan issued an ultimatum to Russia on February 6, 1904, and announced the severance of diplomatic relations between Japan and Russia.

In the early morning of February 6, the Combined Fleet held an emergency officer meeting on the flagship "Mikasa". After conveying the order of Marine Minister Yamamoto Gonbei, Commander Togo Heihachiro issued the first order of the Combined Fleet. Order No. 1: "Our combined fleet will immediately sail to the Yellow Sea from here to annihilate the enemy fleet at Port Arthur and Incheon Port. ... This battle is indeed related to the safety of the country, so you must work hard."

Togo and Nogi in the front row At this time, the Russian Navy had 252 ships with a total of more than 800,000 tons; of which the Pacific Fleet had more than 60 ships with a total of 190,000 tons. The Japanese Navy only has 138 ships, totaling about 260,000 tons, which is obviously at a disadvantage in terms of scale. However, the Japanese fleet launched a pre-emptive strike without declaring war. On February 6, the Japanese naval combined fleet quietly sailed out of the Sasebo military port and assembled and anchored 40 nautical miles away from the Lushunkou military port at the southern tip of China's Liaodong Peninsula where the Russian fleet was stationed. Late at night on February 8, Togo Heihachiro commanded the ships of the Japanese Combined Fleet and began a raid on the Russian fleets in Port Arthur and Inchon, continuously damaging the Tsarist Russian battleships "Chaisalevich", "Levijan" and cruisers "Palada" and "Varyanga". At the same time, the Russian warships Valiyag and Koretz were also attacked in Incheon, North Korea. The Russian ships were forced to withdraw from Incheon and retreated to the Lushunkou military port. It was not until February 10 that Japan and Russia officially declared war.

In March 1904, Vice Admiral Stepan Osipovi Makarov took over as commander of the Russian Pacific Squadron. Both Japan and Russia laid large-scale mines to attack and defend Lushun. Unexpectedly, on April 12, the Russian battleships "Petrovnovsk" and "Babieda" hit a mine and sank, and Russia's best naval admiral Makarov died in battle. This Dongxiang is really lucky. Then the Japanese Combined Fleet Hatsuse and the battleship Yashima hit mines and sank, and the lucky Togo was not on the ship. When the bad news came, Chief of Staff Nagashimamura Hayao was a little uneasy, while Akiyama Masayuki looked solemn and said nothing. However, the short old man Togo Heihachiro, who had been somewhat looked down upon by his subordinates since taking office, acted unexpectedly. When the two captains who got into trouble came to report to the commander with a calm face, Dongxiang calmly brought out a plate of chicken cakes and poured two glasses of whiskey for the two captains who got into trouble: "Thank you for your hard work, you two." Before the captain woke up, Dongxiang added: "Don't give up, the battle will continue."

The British military attachés present were a little dizzy, because they could not figure out whether this was the demeanor of a general or a nerve. But one thing is clear, that is, Dongxiang is telling his subordinates: No matter what happens, this battle must be fought. This is determined by the self-esteem of soldiers.

There is another thing with better luck. On August 10, a fierce battle broke out between the Japanese and Russian navies in the Yellow Sea. The Russian fleet under the command of Admiral Vitigev attempted to break out, but Dongxiang was preparing for the Russian army to retreat. Port Arthur, the maritime deployment was full of mistakes. With these two big turns, the distance between the Japanese and Russian fleets increased to more than 15,000 meters. These beautiful evasive maneuvers by the Russian fleet successfully confused Togo Heihachiro, who had always had a preconception that the Far East Fleet must return to Port Arthur. He successfully passed through the interception of the combined fleet and saw that the Russian army was about to run away. At 5 p.m. , a stray bullet from the Japanese ship hit the Russian flagship. The Russian fleet commander and the bridge officers and soldiers were all killed. The Russian ship was in chaos and fled in defeat. After this battle, the Japanese army completely controlled the Yellow Sea. In September of the same year, the Tsarist Russian Army retreated.

After the Japanese naval combined fleet gained control of the sea, the Japanese army successively landed in large numbers from the Korean Peninsula and China's Liaodong Peninsula. Subsequently, the Japanese navy and army launched a large-scale and long-term land and sea attack on the Russian army in Lushunkou, causing almost all Russian naval naval vessels stationed in the Lushunkou area to be lost. The Qing government claimed "outsider neutrality."

On January 2, 1905, General Stessel, commander of the Russian Army's Lushunkou Fortress, led the remaining Russian army to surrender.

Edit this paragraph The Battle of Tsushima

The Z-shaped battle flag At this time, the Tsarist Russian government has decided to transfer ships from the Baltic Fleet to form the Second Pacific Squadron and go to the Far East for reinforcements. . This huge fleet consisting of 38 warships and 13 auxiliary ships, after eight months of turbulence and a journey of 18,000 nautical miles, was surrounded by soldiers all the way. It thought it had encountered a Japanese warship in the North Sea near the United Kingdom. The British fishing boats were sunk, and due to British intervention along the way, they were unable to receive supplies from the coast. Finally, at the end of May 1905, we exhaustedly sailed to the Sea of ??Japan.

While the Russian reinforcement fleet was still on its long voyage, the combat staff of Akiyama Masayuki formulated an extremely bold and unconventional "turn back in front of the enemy" tactic, which cost the combined fleet a certain amount of casualties. First, they seized a favorable position in the "T" shape to attack the ship, and then took advantage of the naval gun to carry out broadside attacks parallel to the enemy fleet. Dongxiang approved the plan and conducted arduous training for it. He put forward a famous military training purpose-"A cannon with one hundred shots and one hit is better than a hundred cannons with one hundred shots and one hit."

Togo Heihachiro was under command. In the early morning of May 27, a Japanese reconnaissance ship sent a telegram to the Combined Fleet flagship "Mikasa", reporting that it found that the Russian reinforcement fleet was heading towards the enemy that Commander Togo Heihachiro had expected. Horse Strait direction. Just two hours later, the flagship "Mikasa" on which Togo Heihachiro was riding played the Japanese naval march, with a "Z" battle flag hanging high on the mast, and sang "The empire will rise and fall only in this battle, and all the soldiers will fight bravely to kill the enemy." "With the battle flag, he led the fleet out of Zhen Bay and pounced on the tired Russian fleet.

At 14:00 on the 27th, two huge naval fleets of Japan and Russia began to exchange fire, and the world-famous Battle of Tsushima broke out. In this battle, Togo Heihachiro was equipped with sixty-three mine ships alone, while the Russian Second Pacific Fleet commanded by Admiral Rozhestvinsky had nine warships of the same type. Commander Togo Heihachiro, who was proficient in maritime maneuver tactics, divided the warships of the combined fleet into two major tactical groups to intersperse, divide and outflank the Russian fleet sailing in columns. After a day and night of fierce fighting, Togo Heihachiro's combined fleet finally achieved extremely brilliant results: the Russian Pacific Second Squadron was almost completely annihilated, 21 of its 38 warships were sunk, 9 were captured, and the total tonnage was as high as 200,000 tons; 4,830 Russian officers and soldiers died and 6,106 were captured. The Japanese Combined Fleet only lost 3 torpedo boats totaling 300 tons, and another 117 people were killed and 583 injured. The fledgling Japanese navy defeated the European powers that had begun to move towards the sea since the time of Peter the Great.

The reason why the Japanese navy was able to defeat the weak in the great battle in the Sea of ??Japan was that they were fully prepared and decided quickly; they attached great importance to seizing and mastering sea control, and planned to attack the enemy in advance; and they correctly selected fighter planes, landing areas and main attack directions. , at the same time, flexible and mobile operations, coordinated operations by land and sea; high morale, brave combat, internal unity, unified command; well-trained commanders, Togo Heihachiro's cautious and cunning command of operations are indispensable.

Bronze Statue of Togo Heihachiro The success of this naval battle in the Sea of ??Japan commanded by Togo Heihachiro determined Japan’s final victory in the Russo-Japanese War. In September 1905, Japan and Russia signed the Treaty of Portsmouth. According to this treaty: Northeast China became the spoils of the Russo-Japanese War, and Japan became the master of Northeast China and Korea.

The outcome of the Great Battle of the Sea of ??Japan also shocked general public opinion in the West. The "Yellow Peril" theory that had been circulating since the end of the 19th century has finally come to a conclusion. Everyone can see clearly that the only one who can challenge world hegemony is Japan cannot be China!

The Russo-Japanese War greatly invigorated the national spirit of Japan, which was on the rise. Togo Heihachiro's domestic reputation quickly rose to its peak. In recognition of his "war exploits", Emperor Meiji issued imperial edicts to him as many as 10 times. In December 1905, Togo Heihachiro was appointed as the Minister of Naval Command and a member of the Admiralty Council, becoming the fourth head of the Japanese Navy. He was granted the title of an earl and classified as Chinese. In 1913 during the Taisho period, he was awarded the title of Imperial Marshal. The following year, he served as the president of the Togiya Imperial Academy.

In 1934, shortly after Togo Heihachiro was promoted to the title of Marquis, he died of illness in Tokyo at the age of 86.

Edit this section of Dongxiang Chronicle

Fight against the Shogunate

In 1863, he joined the Satsuma Domain and participated in the Satsuma-Bing War (the war against Britain). In 1866, he joined the newly established navy of Satsuma Domain.

During the Boshin War in 1868, as a naval officer, he participated in the Battle of Awa Oki on the Satsuma Domain's battleship Haruta, and the decisive battle against the Shogunate's battleship Kaiyo.

From 1871 to 1878, he studied military affairs in England and later became the construction supervisor of a light cruiser. Among them, in 1877, students from the Satsuma Domain who were studying in England were discouraged from returning to China to participate in the Southwest War against the Meiji government (see Saigo Takamori).

Fighting against China

In 1884, he served as captain of the "Amagi" ship and went to Shanghai, Fuzhou, Keelung and other places to observe the situation of the Sino-French war.

On July 25, 1894, on the eve of the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, during the Battle of Toshima, as the captain of the "Naniwa" ship, he sank the Qing Dynasty troop transport "Gaosheng", and more than 700 people were martyred. .

On September 17, 1894, during the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, he commanded the "Naniwa" ship in combat. When Japan invaded Penghu in 1894, he commanded the First Guerrilla Group to support the infantry landing with firepower.

In 1895, he was promoted to Vice Admiral and served as President of the Naval University. In 1900, when the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China, he was the commander of the Japanese Standing Fleet.

Fight against Russia

Served as commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet during the Russo-Japanese War. On February 8, they raided the Russian fleet in Port Arthur, China. Japan quickly gained control of the sea. In April, Admiral Makagov, commander of the Russian Pacific Fleet, was killed in action.

Promoted to admiral on June 6, 1904. On August 10, 1904, he organized the Battle of the Yellow Sea and defeated the Russian navy's breakout in Port Arthur.

On May 27, 1905, he commanded the naval battle of Tsushima Strait and annihilated the Second Pacific Fleet reinforced by Russia. This battle determined Japan's final victory in the Russo-Japanese War.

In December 1905, he was appointed as the Minister of Naval Command and a member of the Admiralty Council. He became the fourth head of the Japanese Navy and participated in the formulation of Japan's militaristic foreign expansion policy.

Later years

In 1913, during the Taisho period, he was awarded the title of Imperial Marshal. In 1934, when he was critically ill during the Showa era, he was granted the title of Marquis. He died of illness in Tokyo on May 30 at the age of 86.

Others

Like his fellow countryman Saigo Takamori, Togo Heihachiro was deeply influenced by Yangming Studies. According to Yao Yexin's "Famous Towns in Yuyao", a seal carried by Dongxiang Heihachiro was engraved with the seven words "bow down and worship Yangming throughout his life".

After the victory in the Battle of Tsushima Strait, a US ship was visiting Japan. At the celebration banquet prepared for Togo Heihachiro in Japan, several visiting American sailors invited Togo Heihachiro to have a drink, and Togo Heihachiro agreed to their request. One of the American sailors was Chester William Nimitz, later commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.