Chapter 93 The ninety-third section of the fierce battle between China and Japan

Cassini quickly telegraphed the Russian Foreign Minister Giles: "In order to repay our service, China officially recognizes that Russia has the right to jointly solve the internal organizational problems of Korea with China and Japan. Li Hongzhang asked my country for assistance so that Japan agrees to cooperate with Russia. China and China should work together to resolve the issue of North Korea's reform... I suggest that my country's Minister in Japan, Hitrow, should try his best to persuade Japan to accept this proposal." After asking the tsar for instructions, Giles immediately sent a telegram to the Russian minister in Japan Hitrowo, asking Hitrowo to advise Japanese Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu, hoping that Japan and China would withdraw their troops from North Korea.

Mutsu Munemitsu received a note from Hitrowo and immediately stated: "Unless the Qing government promises to jointly undertake the 'reform' of North Korea's internal affairs, or agrees not to interfere with Japan to implement 'reform' alone, the Japanese army will never retreat from North Korea." Mutsu Zongguang was afraid that this would cause displeasure to the Russians, and he quickly stated: "Japan has no other intentions towards North Korea, and it will 'challenge China not to attack'." Cassini was disappointed after receiving the call, so he had to send a counselor to tell the Prime Minister's Yamen and Li Hongzhang: Although Russia knew that Japan was unreasonable this time, Russia "can only use friendship to persuade Japan to withdraw its troops... It is not convenient to use force to force the Japanese to go to North Korea." Whether internal affairs should be reformed or not, Russia does not want to know."

As soon as Li Hongzhang saw Japan with such an attitude, he immediately expected that Japan was planning to embarrass China this time, so he urgently handed over the discount to the palace, and once again begged to raise money quickly to buy weapons from the West to prevent the Japanese from harassing. When Emperor Guangxu visited the fold, the Prime Minister’s Yamen had received a secret report from Yuan Shikai from North Korea, saying that China and Japan had already been at war, Japan’s troops were increasing rapidly, and the officers and soldiers were obviously out of support, and they had already retreated; Japan’s existing warships gathered on the ocean with more than 20 ships in a menacing manner .

Before Li Hongzhang finished reading Yuan Shikai's telegram, his face turned pale with fright. Prince Jin and Prince Qing also stomped their feet repeatedly, not knowing what to do.Prince Jin and Prince Qing discussed it and decided to enter the palace with Weng Tonghe to request an order. Just when the three of them stepped into the palace gate, the Beiyang navy warship Guanggong and Jiyuan met the Japanese warship when they were escorting the ship Gaosheng to the river in Asan.The Japanese ship fired suddenly, hitting Jiyuan, and Jiyuan was forced to retreat.Seeing that the Japanese ship opened fire first, Guanggong had no choice but to defend himself, but was besieged by three Japanese ships, resulting in serious injuries.The Japanese ship Xuan forced the Gaosheng to accompany it, but the Chinese soldiers on board resolutely refused.The torpedoes and artillery of the Japanese ship then fired together, destroying the ship.After the Japanese ship left, a French warship happened to be here, rushed to rescue, and sent a distress signal to the nearby German warship Illidas and the British warship Bobbs, and the two ships also arrived one after another.The three boats together rescued 252 Chinese soldiers, and 700 fell into the water and died.

However, Prince Chun, Prince Qing, Weng Tonghe and others standing in front of Emperor Guangxu were still making suggestions to the emperor, discussing that Li Hongzhang should come forward and go to Britain to mediate the matter.Emperor Guangxu hurriedly summoned Li Hongzhang to the palace to ask if it was feasible. Li Hongzhang said: "The British navy is the most powerful in the world. I can discuss with the British, hoping that they can send ten warships to Yokohama, Japan, and go to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs with Xu Jingcheng, the Chinese Minister to the UK, to reprimand them for using heavy troops. Suppressing South Korea is rude, disturbing the business of the East, and having a relationship with the British University, ordering them to withdraw their troops, and then discuss the aftermath. I secretly think that Japan is afraid of British force and dare not not withdraw its troops. Please be aware of the emperor."

Prince Jin also said: "Your Majesty, I think Li Zhongtang's words are reasonable. Your Majesty may wish to order Li Zhongtang to go to the British Legation to discuss with them. If the matter is successful, isn't everything going to be all right?" . Prince Qing said: "That's right, that's right, Your Majesty, now there is no other way to think about except diplomacy!" Emperor Guangxu asked, "Li Hongzhang, how is the Beiyang Navy doing now?" Li Hongzhang replied: "Before entering the palace, I have telegraphed Ding Ruchang to strictly control all seaports to avoid exchange of fire with Japanese ships."

Emperor Guangxu said: "Li Hongzhang, you go talk to the British now." Li Hongzhang hurried out of the palace and went straight to the British Embassy in China.However, the British Legation has received a domestic order not to mediate the dispute between China and Japan, and it is even more impossible to use threats to force Japan to withdraw its troops. Hearing this, Li Hongzhang felt dizzy, and was finally helped out of the embassy.On the way back to the Zongli Yamen, Li Hongzhang was disheartened and said again and again in his heart: "China and Japan will definitely provoke a war at sea, and our Beiyang Navy will undoubtedly be defeated! Each ship has only a few shells, most of which are coach shells. How can we fight?" !"

As soon as Li Hongzhang stepped into the prime minister's office, he received an urgent imperial decree issued by Emperor Guangxu: "Let Li Hongzhang return to Tianjin to arrange the war against Japan without delay!" Li Hongzhang cleared his head all of a sudden, knowing that the conflict between China and Japan was a foregone conclusion, he hurried back to Xianliang Temple in his car, asked Xiaohong to pack up his things in a hurry, and returned to Baoding overnight without stopping. The next day, Li Hongzhang was about to go to Tianjin by car, but he received an imperial decree, which said: "Now the Japanese ships have repeatedly spied on Haikou, and the navy's anti-suppression commander urgently needs someone. Ding Ruchang was afraid of incompetence. As for the commander-in-chief, Li Hongzhang was strictly instructed to select a member who could win the commander-in-chief from among the generals of the navy, and to play again within a day, and not to change the general at the front of the battle, to replace no one, etc., just as a defense, and to confuse the overall situation. Dear! "

After sending off the messenger, Li Hongzhang cursed: "This is another idea that Weng Tonghe and the old bastard gave to the emperor! What time is this, and we have to replace the commander of the army! Let's go to Tianjin to talk about it!" Just when Li Hongzhang and the Prime Minister went to the embassies of various countries in an attempt to resolve the Sino-Japanese dispute through diplomatic means, the Japanese army had defeated Ye Zhichao Huaiyong in North Korea and occupied most of North Korea; , waiting for the attack command. Li Hongzhang rushed to Tianjin and urgently transferred the 70th Battalion of Huai Army and Henan Army to garrison in Jiulian City by the Yalu River, under the leadership of Song Qing, the office of Fengtian Defense Council.He also dispatched more troops to various ports along the coast, and strictly ordered Ding Ruchang, the admiral of the navy, to patrol the coast to prevent surprise attacks by Japanese ships.

Li Hongzhang hoped that the Japanese army would only occupy Korea and not attack China.He was very clear in his heart that in the face of the well-equipped Japanese army and the Chinese troops who still use firearms that have been eliminated by other countries, although they are numerous, they are simply vulnerable, and the same is true for the navy. When Li Hongzhang stated to the imperial court that it is not appropriate to replace the naval commander at this time, he also sent a secret report to the Queen Mother, imploring the Queen Mother to re-appoint Prince Gong, saying: When the Japanese provoked and the country was in crisis, Prince Gong had a long history of diplomacy. There are plans and decisions, and it is urgent to come back and preside over the big plan.

The Empress Dowager Cixi kept Li Hongzhang's secret report, so she had to wait and take a look.Weng Tonghe strongly advocated a war against Japan at this time, saying: "The country cannot be protected without war, and the Japanese cannot be driven away without war." Japan has decided to declare war on China regardless of whether China is in war or peace. On the third day when the Chinese officers and soldiers were defeated across the board in Pyongyang, when ten ships of the Beiyang Navy escorted the troop carrier to Dadonggou at the mouth of the Yalu River, Japan sent twelve warships to attack and serve as the first artillery. The ten Beiyang ships had to fight in a team, and the two sides circled and fought fiercely for about five hours.During the battle, the Japanese flagship "Songshima" was hit twice by the giant artillery fired by the Beiyang Navy's "Zhenyuan" ironclad ship, causing the gunpowder to explode. More than 100 people were injured and killed on the "Matsushima", the bow and the lower deck of the Japanese ship "Chicheng" were destroyed, and many people were killed and injured below the captain. China lost four warships, among which the "Zhiyuan" was hit by a torpedo fired by the Japanese ship when Deng Shichang ran out of shells. After the war, the Japanese Fleet withdrew first, and the Beiyang Fleet was ordered by Ding Ruchang to rush to Lushun Port to escape.What Ding Ruchang received was Li Hongzhang's telegram.Li Hongzhang wanted to preserve his strength by avoiding battle. Regarding this battle, Chief Revenue Secretary Hurd described this battle based on British intelligence: "The Krupp guns of the Beiyang Fleet have ammunition but no ammunition, and the Armstrong guns have ammunition but no ammunition. Hannagan wants to gather enough Hours of shells for a naval battle have hitherto been elusive." Checking the customs archives at the time Z No. 630, we learned that the situation that Hurd said was basically consistent with the situation at that time.The next day, all the Japanese ships rushed to Lushun. Although each of the six ships of the Beiyang Navy was equipped with only a few shells, and most of them were exercise shells with insufficient ammunition, they had to fight. The Chinese and Japanese navies fought in the Lushun Ocean, but the result was that all six warships of the Beiyang Navy were sunk, and the Japanese army won a complete victory. Taking advantage of the momentum, the Japanese army invaded China by land, and even fell into Jiulian City, Fenghuang City, Jinzhou, Xiuyan, Haicheng, Yingkou, Dalian Bay, and Lushunkou.The speed and firepower of the Japanese army not only stunned Emperor Guangxu, but also Weng Tonghe, who had always been the main battler, also praised: "Pyongyang is abandoned, Yizhou is in danger, and ducks and greens are in danger. Going forward, it is more than 600 li away from Xingjing in the north, Yongling Mausoleum is here, although there are mountains in the south, I am afraid that the number of troops will be difficult to control." Weng Tonghe didn't dare to speak out anymore, and began to have nightmares at night.Seeing that the situation was getting worse and worse, Emperor Guangxu couldn't help being angry from his heart, and the evil turned to the gallbladder, and new and old hatreds rushed up together.Regardless of the presence of a group of princes and ministers, he ordered the Military Aircraft Office to draw up an order to take back Li Hongzhang's top-wearing feathers, purple reins, and yellow jacket, and dismissed all his concurrent posts.Shi Duo promised to go to do it, when the shout of "The Empress Dowager is here" suddenly sounded outside. The Empress Dowager Cixi walked in slowly with the support of others.Emperor Guangxu hurriedly knelt down to pay his respects, and a group of princes and ministers also knelt down one after another. The queen mother sat down on the dragon chair, and said with a cold face: "What's wrong with the emperor? Did you take Li Hongzhang for surgery? Have you thought about it, and if you take him to the capital, should you put him in the prison of the Ministry of punishment, or be executed?" Emperor Guangxu knelt down and said: "The empress dowager, this time the Japanese are rampant, it is all caused by Li Hongzhang's incompetence in dispatching. The son emperor dismissed him and questioned him. It is all his own fault. Li Hongzhang should be executed according to the law. Please check it out clearly." The Queen Mother raised her face and said to Shiduo: "The Military Aircraft Department will draw up an order, and I will give Prince Gong the Military Aircraft Department and the foreman of the Prime Minister's Yamen, and will handle diplomatic affairs with Prince Li and Prince Jin. The envoys in Beijing discussed how to make Japan stop their troops. Then they sent a decree to Tianjin to remove Li Hongzhang from his position as a cavalry captain, pull out his flower feathers, take off his top hat, take back his purple reins, and remove his yellow mandarin jacket. Shi Duo agreed, and scrambled out.The sixty-three-year-old Prince Gong was once again invited out of the mountain to take charge of the Military Aircraft Department and the foreman of the Prime Minister's Yamen.On the day he received the order, he sent Sun Yuwen and Xu Yongyi, ministers of the Prime Minister's Yamen, to the General Tax Department to ask Hurd to come forward and let Hurd persuade Britain to come forward for mediation. Hurd wrote in his diary that day: "Sun Yuwen, Xu Yongyi and I talked from four o'clock in the afternoon to six o'clock in the afternoon. The two of them almost cried bitterly. They were willing to accept any good suggestions and promised to do this in the future. Like that." Prince Gong then drove to the US embassy in China and begged Tian Bei, the envoy to China, to mediate. Unfortunately, Tian Bei did not return, but the embassy counselor and interpreter agreed to tell him. The next day, Prince Gong, Prince Jin, and Prince Qing gathered in the Prime Minister's Office, together with several ministers of military affairs and ministers of the Prime Minister's Office, to discuss the matter urgently.Unexpectedly, Tian Bei, the US ambassador to China, arrived uninvited at this time.Prince Gong hurriedly welcomed Tian Bei in himself, and before Tian Bei could take a breath, he told the Qing Dynasty's request to the United States to intervene. Tian Bei smiled and said: "This is what this envoy is here for. However, there is one thing that this envoy must declare in advance. Our country can mediate the dispute between your country and Japan, but your country must give us a written guarantee. Recognize that North Korea is an absolutely independent country, and your country has no right to interfere with North Korea's affairs. Can your country agree?" Prince Gong hurriedly said: "Minister Tian, ​​please don't worry, our country and Japan have already fought like this, and our country can't care about North Korea. Your country says that North Korea is an independent country, and it is an independent country. As long as your country is willing to come forward this time Mediation, let Japan stop the war first, and we can talk about other things." A group of princes and ministers hurriedly echoed: "Yes, yes, what the prince said is really reasonable. As long as Japan is willing to stop the war, is there anything that cannot be discussed?" At this time, Tian Bei had seen that the Qing government could do whatever he wanted, and believed that the opportunity to unite with Japan to carry out endless blackmail had arrived, so he sent a telegram back to China, describing in detail the attitude of Prince Gong and other princes and ministers towards the United States, and suggested that the president seize This opportunity of "mediation" made a fortune. At that time, Prince Gong and other princes and ministers only wanted quick peace, and they would never give up as long as there was a way to make peace. After asking the United States for mediation, Prince Gong immediately implored Britain, Germany, France, the United States, and Russia to jointly mediate the matter.At the same time, the Prime Minister’s Yamen followed the will of the Queen Mother and the Emperor, and ordered all Chinese ministers stationed abroad to directly submit requests to other countries, imagining "Lianheng talks about peace", and sent De Cuilin, the Taxation Department of Tianjin Customs, to Japan, to Kobe, Japan Meet with Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi to discuss the truce. When Detriline arrived in Kobe, she sent a letter to Japanese Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu on the same day, stating the purpose of the trip and hoping to meet the Prime Minister.Mutsu Munemitsu immediately reported Detriline's intention to Ito Hirobumi. Unexpectedly, Hirobumi Ito rejected De Trilin's request, accusing De Trilin of being ineligible as an envoy from a belligerent country.De Trilin had no choice but to telegraph Japan's attitude to the Zongli Yamen, and then returned very disappointed.