After the war between the two sides, the Qing army followed Li Hongzhang's instructions in tactics and implemented "defensive defense" and "protecting the ship against the enemy." Li Hongzhang emphasized that beiyang fleet should defend Haikou and both capital city, and restrict beiyang fleet's operations everywhere. Before the Toshima naval battle, Ding proposed to send a brigade to escort, but Li Hongzhang refused. As a result, only two troop carriers, Jiyuan and Guangyi, were escorted. Under the sudden attack of three main warships of the first guerrilla unit of the Japanese fleet, the Jiang Cao was captured and the Goldman Sachs was sunk. "Guangyi" ran aground, and only "Jiyuan" escaped, with extremely heavy losses. Before the Yellow Sea naval battle, China and Japan declared war. The task of the Japanese fleet was clear, and it was to find beiyang fleet for a decisive battle, while beiyang fleet's task was only to escort the ships carrying the Qing army. As a result, beiyang fleet was obviously inferior to the Japanese joint fleet in operational preparation, tactical application and organization and command, and suffered heavy losses, with 5 warships and more than 800 casualties. Wei's defense is more passive, and there are different opinions inside and outside the Qing court. In the hesitation of "fleet attack", "desperate battle" or "land and water depend on each other" and "sticking to help", all opportunities were lost, which eventually led to the annihilation of the whole army.
In the Sino-Japanese War, the fear of the enemy and death of the Qing generals was also closely related to Li Hongzhang's army management. Ye Zhichao, the president of the Qing army in South Korea, led it, but in the defending battle of Pyongyang, where the Qing army was dominant, he put up a white flag, stopped resisting and ordered the whole army to evacuate. I ran 500 miles for fear of death and escaped from the Yalu River. The soldiers who were ambushed by the Japanese army and fought fiercely with the enemy stayed behind in panic, resulting in the death of nearly 2,000 Qing troops and the capture of more than 500 people, which ruined the whole Korean War.
Zhao Huaiye, the commander of Dalian Bay garrison, turned war preparation materials into silver and private wealth. Ignore Golden State and sit back and watch it drop. Before the Japanese army arrived in Dalian Bay, Zhao Huaiye had already fled, and voluntarily abandoned Dalian Bay, leaving Dalian Bay with six artillery batteries, 120 cannons, 2.46 million artillery shells, more than 600 new German rifles, 338 1000 bullets and unopened field fast guns, grain, horses and bank accounts. To the Japanese army These equipments became the material guarantee for the Japanese army to capture Lushun. Dalian Bay Wharf became the logistics supply station for the Japanese army to attack Lushun. According to the mine distribution map left by Zhao Huaiye's department, the Japanese army accurately cleared the mines in Dalian Bay.
When the Japanese army had not yet arrived in Lushunkou, the Qing army was still stubbornly fighting against the Japanese striker. Gong, the former general manager of the enemy camp in Lushun (actually led by the president of Lushun Army), ignored the war situation and all the troops and fled to Yantai by torpedo boat. Later, Huang Shilin, Zhao Huaiye and Wei Rucheng also fled one after another, making Lushun fall easily. Nine forts and 78 heavy guns in Lushunkou, together with many grain, ammunition, munitions and military port equipment, were all captured by the Japanese army.
The Japanese army attacked Liaodong, with more than 70,000 Qing troops and only 20,000 Japanese troops. Moreover, the supply line is elongated and the back road is in danger of being cut off. If the Qing army can hold the enemy with superior forces, and the Japanese army has no reinforcements and lacks food, it will be difficult to persist. It was an opportunity to turn defeat into victory, but the Qing army had no fighting spirit and could not resist the Japanese attack. It was defeated from the east bank of Liaohe River in less than 10 days. Luo, Li Hongzhang's aide, described the battle like this: "The Japanese often say that China is lying like a dead pig and being slaughtered by others. It is really a sight now."
Liu Chaopei, commander of the garrison on the south bank of Ahava, abandoned the war and fled to Liu Gongdao by boat, and then fled to Yantai. Due to the instability of the main commander's escape and the lack of unified command and dispatch, all the batteries on the south bank of Weihai Port have fallen one after another. Company commander Jiang was ordered to station in Yingkou. When the Japanese attacked, he was afraid of the enemy and death. He led his 5 th battalion to escape without authorization, which halved the garrison troops, leaving only more than 3,000 people guarding the fort in Yingkou, making the enemy's strength even more unequal. Before the main rescue of the Qing army, Yingkou quickly fell.
In the whole campaign command, there are countless examples of Li Hongzhang acting according to his own subjective absurdity. After the Yellow Sea naval battle, imperial academy co-starred in Li Hongzhang's "Japan Chashan Coal Mine Company saves millions of silver, and its son opens three foreign firms in various Japanese islands". The imperial envoy also played Li Hongzhang: "Rice and coal are enemies, release Japanese spies." The so-called "enemy of rice and coal" refers to the rice and coal that Japan ordered from China before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. Because it is a strategic material, the supply should be stopped according to law after the declaration of war. However, Li Hongzhang forced the supply to continue "to show credit". So 30,000 tons of coal and 3,000 tons of rice were shipped to Japan as usual.
Kaiping Coal Mine was the largest coal mine in China at that time, and coal was also a strategic material (fuel for warships), but Li Hongzhang insisted on Jardine Matheson of Britain holding the mine. Even foreigners think that "Li's position is worth pondering"
The most failed strategy: relying on foreign mediation
In the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894-894-1895, the most unsuccessful strategy of the Qing court was to place hope on the mediation of the great powers, and to be superstitious about the "law of nations" and the balance of interests. In particular, Empress Dowager Cixi and others who hold real power are peacemakers, which leads to over-reliance on diplomatic mediation and relaxation of military strength: "A big country must have its own region and purpose", and Li Hongzhang also insists on "putting peace first", so he ordered his men to "stay put" and "protect the ship", which not only delayed the military aircraft, but also affected morale.
Li Hongzhang first asked Britain for mediation. He believes that Britain has the most vested interests in China, and the Japanese invasion of China "the British will not agree". However, I didn't expect that Britain and Japan had already conducted behind-the-scenes transactions. Britain sent a note to Japan: "Shanghai in China is the center of British interests, so Japan must admit that it is not a war movement in this port and its vicinity." When Japan promised that Britain's rights and interests in the Yangtze River basin would not be affected, Britain not only gave up its intervention, but also signed the Treaty of Commerce, Trade and Navigation between Japan and Britain to show its support. British Foreign Secretary Kimberly said: "The nature of this treaty is far more beneficial to Japan than defeating China's army." Britain even kept silent about Japan sinking its merchant ship.
After seeing clearly Britain's intention, Li Hongzhang turned to Russia's intervention, because Russia's sphere of influence was mainly in the northeast, which had conflicts of interest with Japan. But at this time, the Russian Siberian Railway has not yet been built, and the chips in the Far East are insufficient. I didn't want to fall out with Japan, just had a quarrel. Hurd, an Englishman who is the director of taxation in China, commented: "The Russians flirted in Tianjin, and after two weeks, they suddenly shirked. Li Hongzhang had a boring discussion with his boss. " Qing * * * also asked Germany and France to mediate, and the result was even more futile and a waste of time.
After the failure of mediation by Britain, Russia, Germany and France, Li Hongzhang also whimsically hoped that the United States would mediate. The United States replied: "The United States holds a strict and neutral attitude and can only influence Japan in a friendly way." In fact, the United States is not neutral, but completely inclined to Japan. Tian Bei, the US envoy to China, said: "The war was caused by China's insistence on its suzerain status in North Korea, but that was in China." Tian, the American charge d 'affaires in China, said: "We should let the war go on our own way. If intervention brings peace, this peace will not last. Only by using force can this country and the world be in harmony. As long as the Qing Dynasty is not threatened, China's defeat is a useful experience. " Tian Bei also wrote to Li Hongzhang: "Give up the idea of seeking interference completely, turn your back on European powers and face Japan." Facing Japan here does not mean winning the war, but seeking peace and surrender. In addition, the United States has gone further than other countries in supporting Japan's invasion of China, not only providing military loans to Japan, sending military advisers, transporting munitions, sheltering Japanese spies, but even allowing Japanese warships to fly the American flag to deceive the China navy.
There are conflicts of interest among big countries, and there are often some contradictions, but they are consistent in grabbing greater interests. However, the Qing Dynasty and Li Hongzhang obviously didn't see this, and they had excessive expectations and illusions about the "upholding justice" of the great powers. In fact, big countries really believe in interests and power. When they see that Japan is a shoo-in, they will definitely fall to Japan's side. Hurd told the truth: "All countries expressed sympathy for China and said that it was wrong for the Japanese to destroy peace in this way. But no country has taken any practical action to help China. "
Japanese Foreign Minister Luo Ozong gloated: "From the beginning, the Qing Dynasty adopted the policy of seeking intervention from European powers and quickly ending the Sino-Japanese war. Li Hongzhang repeatedly asked the representatives of various countries for help, and telegraphed his envoys in various European countries, asking him to appeal directly to the host country. China * * * ignored the humiliation of his own country, begged for mercy from a powerful country and opened his own door to welcome him. As a result, the Japanese army stepped up its attack in order to make a quick decision, while China lost time and opportunity in mediation again and again, and was completely in a passive position. In dozens of battles, I failed to organize a decent resistance, as Shi Rui, assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, said: "The more I retreat, the more I advance, the more arrogant I become, and the more I want to take the lead and be restrained. "Not only has there been no progress in diplomacy, but it has also been a complete failure in the military. The main forces of the navy and the army were wiped out, and finally they had to surrender to make peace.
The warring factions in the Qing Dynasty also saw the problem. Emperor Guangxu issued a decree saying: "The dissuasion of other countries is just empty talk, so we should plan ahead and take precautions to prevent it by fighting. "The courtiers blamed Li Hongzhang and said," Wait and see, delay, delay, blindly follow mistakes, and hand over dangerous places to outsiders. "Of course, this is right, but it's no use. Above Li Hongzhang, there are the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of War, and the Cixi Lafayette, all of whom are peacemakers, while Emperor Guangxu and Weng Tonghe, who fought the main battle, have no real power, and the scholars are angry and empty, unable to come up with practical measures. When the military was desperate, they could only agree to surrender and make peace.
Japan (95) Japanese Army (47) Lushun (1)