Chapter 6 Chapter Four: Sino-Japanese War

The opposite of the main war faction cannot be simply understood as the main peace faction.In terms of foreign policy-making, contrary to the misguided historical memory of later generations, Cixi has always been a radical. During the Second Opium War, Empress Dowager Cixi, who was still the imperial concubine Yi, once reviewed the memorials for Xianfeng.She strictly ordered the ministers in charge of the army to fight the enemy decisively, and told the Chinese and foreign countries that they would offer rewards for killing the enemy, regardless of whether they were soldiers or civilians, and clearly marked the price:

Kill a Baiyi and reward one hundred taels of silver; Kill a black barbarian and reward fifty taels of silver; Destroy a barbarian ship and reward five thousand taels of silver. The problem with Empress Dowager Cixi is that her radicalism is always generous to others, and the noble behavior of buying warships with private funds like the emperor is basically useless here. Inconsistency between knowing and doing is a chronic disease in China.Politicians talk loudly all day long, but as soon as their own interests are involved, reforms immediately stall. And just after saying "The person who makes me unhappy today (60th birthday), I will never make him happy for the rest of his life", Miner Japan just ran to pick things up in a daze, he was so impatient to live, Extinguish it quickly, and I am not in the mood to blow out the candles.

In fact, the foundation for building this self-confidence is not solid. At the beginning of the year, Li Hongzhang inspected the navy and found a lot of problems. First, the speed is generally slower than that of Japanese ships; Second, there is no fast gun.The difference between the fast gun and the slow gun is that the firing powder of the fast gun is smokeless gunpowder. Compared with the black powder of the slow gun, there is no choking smoke after firing, and it can be filled without waiting for the smoke to clear; Third, the overall technology is backward, and there will be no new ships or guns for ten years.The Chaoyong and Yangwei, which were purchased from the United Kingdom more than ten years ago, are seriously aging, basically have no armor protection, and the seawater pours into the gun room at a fast speed, are still listed in the main sequence.The Japanese warships are basically products after 1890.

After returning from the military parade, Li Hongzhang praised the Beiyang navy for its "proficient skills" and "orderly formation" to the court-this heavily watered report is not a military report, but a political report. In 1894, the highest political correctness was Empress Dowager Cixi's birthday. Regardless of the actual situation of the Navy, as a gift for the birthday, the report must only report good news and not bad news. Under the guidance of wrong information, it is impossible for the Forbidden City to make an objective judgment on the outcome. However, the subject of war is man.No matter how good the hardware is, the software cannot keep up.The only thing Li Hongzhang used to comfort himself was "a thousand ships are easy to buy, but one ship is hard to find".

The Mawei Boat School in Fuzhou was founded by Zuo Zongtang when he was the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang. Back then, when Li Hongzhang quarreled with Zuo Zongtang, who insisted on fortified defense, over the issue of coastal defense, he never imagined that his old enemy had left a precious seed for the construction of coastal defense. The outstanding ones of Mawei Phase I are Yan Fu (1854-1921) and Liu Buchan (1852-1895). To Yan Fu, who is well versed in both Chinese and Western cultures, sailing a boat is considered a trivial skill and he disdains it, but for Liu Buchan, it is a lifelong pursuit.

"Drafts of Qing History" said: The Chinese learned the art of sea warfare, and Buchan was the first. After staying in Britain for three years, he made great progress in his studies, and at the age of twenty, he was full of heroism.After returning to China, he published "A Brief Introduction to the Operation of Fortresses of Western Warships" and proposed feasible plans for strengthening coastal defense and building a navy, which was highly appreciated by Li Hongzhang. When purchasing Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, Liu Buchan led more than ten boatmen to Germany to supervise the construction.After the ship was completed, he was ordered to pick up the ship and return to the country, and served as the commander of the flagship Dingyuan.

Of course, there was a deputy admiral Lang Weili in the middle. But in the eyes of Liu Buchan, who has a background in studying abroad, Consultant Lang is just a decoration. In 1890, Dingyuan visited Hong Kong.When Ding Ruchang left the ship on business, Liu Buchan lowered the admiral's flag and raised the general's flag to show that the sovereignty rests with me.Lang Weili refused to accept it, thinking that with him on board, the admiral's flag could not be lowered. When the lawsuit reached Beiyang, Li Hongzhang supported Liu Buchan and sent Langwei back to England. In 1891, Beiyang Navy visited Japan.The brand-new Japanese navy strongly stimulated Liu Buchan. When he returned home, he met Li Hongzhang and asked to buy more warships.

Li Hongzhang didn't comment, but Liu Buchan said generously: "I'm usually unprepared. Once something happens (fen, defeat), who will be to blame?" It is said in history that "the four towers are terrifying". The navy in the late Qing Dynasty was the most fashionable arm.In the naval clubs in Weihai and Lushun, there are all kinds of bars and dance halls, and Liu Buchan's living habits are also very western. If Weng Tonghe had changed, he would probably have shaken his head and cursed "gentle and sweeping the floor" long ago. Sven didn't use it to sweep the floor.From the "Beiyang Navy Regulations" to the laws and orders of naval warfare, all of them were written by Liu Buchan.

Of course, it is also inseparable from Li Hongzhang's eclectic way of employing people. In addition to Liu Buchan, the Mawei Ship Academy has also trained a group of modern naval professionals: Lin Taizeng (second-rank general soldier) on the ironclad ship Zhenyuan, Deng Shichang (second-rank lieutenant general) on the cruiser Zhiyuan, and Laiyuan. Qiu Baoren (deputy general), Fang Boqian (deputy general) in charge of Jiyuan, Ye Zugui (deputy general) in charge of Jingyuan, and Lin Yongsheng (deputy general) in charge of Jingyuan. In 1877, a group of young talents boarded a cruise ship to Greenwich Naval Academy.

The seagulls are flying, the waves are rolling, and the young people wrote in their parting words: Going to the West now, I know very well the strategy of China's self-improvement, and I have nothing else to ask for! Seventeen years later, at dawn on July 25, 1894, when Fang Boqian stood on the watchtower of the mainmast of the Jiyuan ship and escorted the troop carrier to North Korea for reinforcements with the domestic ship Guangyi, he wondered if he could still recall oath? Jiyuan is a German-made cruiser ordered in the same batch as Ding and Zhen, with a tonnage of 2,300, a speed of 15 knots (1 knot = 1,852 meters per hour), 20 guns, and a staff of 200.

The Guangyi produced by Fuzhou Shipyard is much smaller, only 1,000 tons, equipped with three famous German guns Krupp, and has a staff of 120. Guangyi and her sisters Guangjia and Guangc belong to the Guangdong Navy. At that time, the four major naval divisions Beiyang, Nanyang, Fujian, and Guangdong were basically distributed according to Xue Fucheng’s suggestion. The Fujian navy was defeated by Zhang Peilun during the Sino-French war. The Nanyang navy has been weak all year round. Only Beiyang and Guangdong can still see it. . In terms of financial resources, the Guangdong Navy is of course no match for Beiyang, so people are following the technical stream. In May of that year, the "Three Sisters of the Guang Clan" participated in the parade of the Beiyang Navy. Because of their agility and high hit rate, Cheng Biguang (Cheng Sipin Dusi), the commander of the Guangbing ship, recommended himself, and the three ships were assigned to Beiyang. At this moment, seeing that the army has landed, the two ships are ready to return.Just after leaving the mouth of the Han River, three Japanese warships came head-on. The Battle of Toshima begins. The tonnage of the enemy ships tells readers that this will be a bad battle: Yoshino 4100, Naniwa 3600, Akitsuzhou 3100. Sure enough, Jiyuan was shot as soon as he came up.First officer Shen Shouchang's brain burst, splashing Fang Boqian all over, second officer Ke Jianzhang was pierced through the chest and died on the spot. The live-action version of "Raging Sea Fighter" frightened Fang Guandai. He gathered himself up and saw that there were countless sailors killed and injured on the deck, so he planned to escape on the spot. Guangyi, however, showed extraordinary vigor, quickly overtook Jiyuan, and went straight to the Japanese leader Yoshino. Guangyi Guan led Lin Guoxiang to participate in the pitiful Mawei naval battle ten years ago, and the tragedy of the entire Fujian Navy's annihilation is still in front of us.So, once bitten by a snake, he ran to ask Ding Ruchang before departure this time: "What should I do if the Japanese ship intercepts halfway?" Ding Ruchang said in four words: "The soldiers fight back." With your words, I am relieved. Of course, it is quite intriguing that this question was asked by Lin Guoxiang instead of Fang Boqian, the commander-in-chief of the escort. The tonnage of Guangyi is less than a quarter of that of Yoshino. Although the speed of 16 knots is not low, it still pales in comparison to Yoshino (23 knots), which claims to be the fastest in the world. Sure enough, Yoshino turned the rudder sharply, drew a large arc, and avoided Guangyi. Guangyi didn't compete with "Wei Yixiao" in lightness, and directly bit Qiujinzhou, which was at a lower speed.The two sides fired fiercely at close range, and the sea was covered with black fog, making it difficult to distinguish the enemy from ourselves.Akitsusu hurriedly sounded the whistle to avoid colliding with Naniwa behind. Guangyi took the opportunity to aim the torpedo tube at Qiujinzhou. Just after issuing the preparation command, a shell from the enemy ship hit the torpedo compartment of Guangyi's bow. When the gunpowder smoke cleared, Qiu Jinzhou found in a daze that Guangyi had disappeared. Naniwa's captain, Togo Heihachiro, was horrified to find that Guang Yi appeared behind him like a ghost, only 300 meters away. Being so close to a torpedo ship, Togo Heihachiro clearly felt the breath of death. If Guangyi's torpedo launcher hadn't been damaged, Dongxiang would have died. Naniwa crossed his body, fired broadsides, and Akitsusu also rushed to help.The fast guns of the two ships unloaded 600 shells in a short period of time, and more than 70 officers and soldiers of Guangyi suffered more than 70 casualties. The Japanese army cheered and cheered. Just two minutes after being excited, the shells fired back by Guangyi hit Naniwa, destroying the spare anchor on the ship. Angry Dongxiang was about to pursue, but received a signal from Yoshino to turn to encircle Jiyuan. Fang Boqian, who is affectionately called the "Weasel" by the sailors, has the greatest advantage of being tactful and life-saving, so that Jiyuan's escape is also full of the style of a weasel-fighting while running. The angry sailor kingdom resembled Popeye who ate spinach, and he manipulated a 150mm gun at the stern to hit Yoshino one after another, causing Tsuboi Kozo (Captain Yoshino) to slow down his speed and ask Naniwa and Akitsusu for help. It happened that the Shanglun Gaosheng of Jardine Matheson (English) was carrying a thousand Huaiyong, and took the wooden boat Caojiang to the Han River. The Union Jack is hoisted high.Using this method of transporting troops is indeed deceptive, but it cannot stop the aggressors from being like wolves and tigers. While passing by, Jiyuan raised the Japanese flag.Based on this, many people think that the "Weasel" wants to surrender to the Japanese pirates, which is indeed wronged, and people are trying to warn them.Fear of death is fear of death, but it doesn't have to be a traitor, after all, the wife and children are still in their hometown, and the land and property are still on the shore. Gao Sheng turned around immediately, but was stopped by Yoshino because of losing speed. The Japanese army forced the British captain to leave the ship and fired threats.Seeing that the negotiations were fruitless, the British sailors had no choice but to go to Yoshino with the Japanese army. Putting his worries aside, Yoshino sank Gaosheng on the spot.Huaiyong floated all over the sea, swimming and fleeing with nowhere to go, the Japanese army even fired with machine guns, and for a while the white waves were all red, bleeding and drifting. Ji Yuan ran faster than a rabbit and had already disappeared at the horizon.Guangyi sailed to the shallow water area. The Japanese ship had a large tonnage and a deep draft. After chasing it, it would definitely run aground. Due to the seriousness of the fire, after landing, Lin Guoxiang ordered people to destroy Guangyi to avoid the enemy, and with the help of North Korean officials, he withdrew to Pyongyang. When news of the defeat of Teshima spread to Beijing, the main fighters were excited again, and proposed a plan that challenged the limit of human IQ: recruit trawlers from all over the country, block the port of Nagasaki, and trap the Japanese navy to death. Under the instigation of Weng Tonghe, Guangxu, who wished to wave his sleeves to drive himself into the army, was Ding Ruchang's official.Li Hongzhang was sobbing and bleeding, and Cixi intervened, so he was changed to stay on probation, and made a contribution to the crime. Being scolded every day for "cowardly avoiding wars and allowing the enemy to support bandits", Ding Ruchang was extremely aggrieved and asked Li Hongzhang to fight many times. While appeasing his subordinates, Li Hongzhang wrote to Guangxu, saying that the navy had stopped buying ship guns for a long time, and the technology was backward.Instead of throwing all his anger, it is better to let him cruise inside and outside the Bohai Sea, acting like a tiger on the mountain, defending and intimidating. No one understands the current situation better than Li Hongzhang. The battlefield where China and Japan are about to compete starts from the Korean Peninsula, passes through the Liaodong Peninsula, the Zhili Plain, and ends at the Shandong Peninsula, encircling the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea.Its eastern end is North Korea, the target of the two sides' struggle; the western end is Beijing, the heart of the Qing court.At the north and south ends are the bases of the Beiyang Navy, Lushun Port (located in Dalian at the southern end of the Liaodong Peninsula) and Weihaiwei (located in Weihai at the eastern end of the Shandong Peninsula). Comparing the two, the disadvantages of the Qing court are very obvious. The first is traffic.There is not even a kilometer of railway in North Korea, and the entire territory of the Qing Dynasty is only 400 kilometers. This has to be counted in the 100 kilometers that Liu Mingchuan built in Taiwan.The railway in the direction of North Korea only went to Shanhaiguan. After passing through the customs, the Qing army had to go to the battlefield on foot, and the transport of luggage was entirely by animal power. Japan's railway has already exceeded 3,000 kilometers, and with sea transportation, the marching speed far exceeds that of the Qing army. Of course, China can also ship by sea, ship on the Weihai Sea, cross the Yellow Sea, and reach the west coast of the Korean Peninsula, but the results of the Battle of Toshima have already been told to readers. The advantage of the Japanese army is that they can use fast boats to harass the west coast of the Korean Peninsula, and land on the east coast beyond the combat radius of the Beiyang Navy, and encircle the Qing troops stationed in the North and South. Even worse is the currency.China uses silver and North Korea uses copper coins.With the flames of war, the price of silver and copper plummeted, and the purchasing power of silver in North Korea was only half of that in China.Li Hongzhang had to deploy the military while transporting copper from the country to North Korea to mint money on the spot to balance prices. In fact, the Qing army was not without a chance of winning. What Li Hongzhang is most proud of is not the Beiyang Navy, but the Beiyang coastal defense system that has been painstakingly built for 25 years. In addition to Lushun Port and Weihaiwei, there is also Tanggu Port in Tianjin.The three main points are the corners of each other, and they are as solid as gold, supporting and defending the capital. Relying on this complete set of coastal defense fortifications, Li Hongzhang's strategy was unmistakable: Take a defensive position strategically, and tactically send the Beiyang Fleet to patrol the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea to deter the Japanese army from launching surprise attacks and landings on the Liaodong Peninsula and the Shandong Peninsula. In this way, no matter how many troops Japan has unloaded on the east coast of the Korean peninsula, it can only advance forward and enter China from the Yalu River. And as long as it drags on for three or four months, when winter comes, the Bohai Bay will freeze, and the temperature on both sides of the Yalu River will drop to minus 20 degrees Celsius. It is not difficult to consume the Japanese army. The fundamental purpose of controlling the enemy without launching and protecting the ship is to drag the Japanese army into the quagmire of a protracted war. After all, Japan’s economic strength is limited, and because of years of military expansion, Li Hongzhang ordered the customs to stop importing Japanese goods. For Japan, which mainly exports products to China, it can be said that it has drawn its fire from the bottom. Japan's interests are fighting quickly, and Guangxu, who is full of blood, is extremely cooperative and believes that it is urgent to declare war.Cixi felt that even the British (Jardine Matheson) dared to provoke Japan, which basically belonged to God. If he wanted to destroy it, he must first make it crazy, and he also strongly advocated war. On August 1, the Qing court declared war on Japan. Japan was overjoyed and declared war on the same day. In a sense, the flames of war were ignited by Yuan Shikai. Although no one could stop Japan from annexing North Korea, Li Hongzhang would not have made up his mind to send troops without Yuan Shikai's pledge.And if the Qing army did not enter North Korea, Japan would not be able to play the "Tianjin Treaty" card.Invading North Korea under the nose of Russia?The emperor still has to weigh it. Of course, the big head is also a victim.The so-called false news that "the Japanese side will never intervene despite the chaos in China" was released by Japanese spies. In order to create a harmonious excuse to send troops, the Japanese pirates really racked their brains. Therefore, to Yuan Shikai who ran back to Tianjin, Li Hongzhang didn't say anything, but he was really upset. It happened that Zhou Fu, who was the Zhili inspector at the time, was responsible for the transfer of military supplies on the front line. He was short of manpower and asked Li Hongzhang for someone, so he ordered Yuan Shikai to be Zhou Fu's deputy. You just escaped from the ghost gate, and you are going to North Korea again?The big head suddenly had one head and two heads. In fact, he hopes to return to North Korea in another way. Yuan Shikai once entrusted Yuan Shixun, his cousin of Wailang, a member of the Central Committee, to help with the operation.Yuan Shixun is Yuan Baoheng's eldest son. Using his father's connections, he hooked up with Weng Tonghe. Master Weng has always disliked entrusting others, but in order to satisfy Yuan Shikai, who had never met before, he led several battalions to the front line "Ban Chao Zhi Zhi" to play, which shows his firm stance on the main battle. However, the power of using troops to appoint generals is still in Beiyang. In order to avoid orders from many schools, Cixi vetoed Weng Tonghe's proposal. Yuan Shikai had to pack up and go on the road. In fact, Li Hongzhang arranged for Zhou Fu, an old man of the Huai army, to go to the front line with the intention of giving Ye Zhichao a boost.As for Zhou Fu himself, he had long seen through the Qing court's strong outsiders and middle-ranked officials, and his chances of winning were slim, suggesting that Li Hongzhang had better retreat bravely and preserve his reputation ("When thinking about the end of the song, it is elegant"). But this is obviously not in line with Li Hongzhang's character of standing up to the end.Zhou Fu also stopped persuading, but chose to help the master in the same boat. On the northeast front, Zhou Fu and Yuan Shikai cooperated tacitly.Although the conditions were extremely difficult, the supply of grain and grass to the Qing army was still accomplished brilliantly. The disadvantages of the Huai army, Yuan Shikai sees the fire clearly. In his telegram to Sheng Xuanhuai, he sharply pointed out: When foreigners use troops, the formation is divided into four rows. The first row spreads out and fires. If they lose, they retreat to the fourth row to prepare, and the second row advances to meet them. The rotation continues.Moreover, garrison troops ten miles behind the troops set up defenses to curb retreat and reorganize the remnants so that even if they retreat, they will not collapse. Our army occasionally followed this method during drills, but when it came to battle, it did not use what it had learned. It all followed the method of fighting bandits, selecting a group of brave leaders, riding straight forward on horseback, and those behind did not dare to shoot, lest they would hit their own people. .Just relying on the dozens of people rushing to the front to fight indiscriminately, it is difficult to win. Because thorough, so do not hold out hope.Based on Yuan Shikai's understanding of Japan, he judged that the Qing court had no chance of winning this battle. Liang Qichao also said later that the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War was the inevitable result of Li Hongzhang's one-man enemy against one country. And when the only Huai army that could fight was wiped out, the desperate Qing government would have no choice but to use Western methods to train a new army. Not to mention that Datou had trained the new army in North Korea, and not to mention that the arrogance of the Japanese made him feel that fists are the truth. And his old rival, Zhang Jian, who had just been admitted as the No. 1 scholar and joined Weng Tonghe's school, turned to seek another way. On the day of the declaration of war, Cixi moved from the Summer Palace to the Forbidden City, and all officials knelt down to welcome her. The heavy rain caused deep water on the road, and the officials crawled by the roadside, their clothes and hats completely wet.His knees were soaked in the mud, and bright red water dripped from the red tassel on his top. Zhang Zhidong's cousin, Zhang Zhiwan, a cabinet scholar, is over eighty years old, trembling, kneeling for a long time and unable to get up.When Cixi's sedan chair passed by, she didn't even lift her eyelids, she ignored it. Seeing this scene, Zhang Jian in the crowd felt ashamed.Many years later, he said that at that moment, "the dream of thirty years of imperial examinations came to an end here." Five years later, the looms of Dasheng Cotton Mill run by Zhang Jian were tested in Nantong for the first time. On September 15, Japanese troops attacked Pyongyang. There are many swamps around Pyongyang, the city is ten meters high, and the wide Taedong River outside the south gate is the natural moat, which can be described as unparalleled in geographical location. But the weaknesses are also obvious.Not far from the northeast of Xuanwu Gate (North Gate), there is a Peony Terrace, which is the commanding height of the whole city.Standing on the Peony Terrace and looking down, the streets of Pyongyang are clear. Therefore, the Japanese army invested nearly 8,000 people in Mudantai, accounting for half of the total force. Just after dawn, there was loud gunfire outside the Xuanwu Gate.The Qing army fought bravely, but could not withstand the intensive artillery fire of the Japanese army. They fought hard until 8:30 in the morning, and Mudantai fell. The Qing army retreated to Xuanwu Gate, relying on the 80 cm thick city wall crenel, and fought back fiercely. On the city wall where the corpses were strewn, a tall officer suddenly appeared - Zuo Baogui. In the rain of bullets, Zuo Baogui wore Yipin Dingdai on his head, a yellow mandarin jacket bestowed by the emperor, and held a rifle, loudly motivating the soldiers to fight. He knew very well that Pyongyang was at a critical moment, so when his subordinates persuaded him to change the crown belt that attracted the attention of the enemy, Zuo Baogui said solemnly: Wearing court clothes is to let the soldiers see me.What is there to fear when the enemy is watching? The battle became more and more fierce, with more and more casualties on the top of the city.Zuo Baogui took over from a fallen soldier to operate the Hotchkiss machine gun, aimed at the Japanese army and fired twice, and was also shot twice. The left and right "persuade him to stay temporarily, and preciously reprimand him". As a result, the subordinates were excited and fought against the enemy desperately, and the situation was once reversed. Suddenly, a shell flew over and shattered the cannon, and the iron pipe pierced through the left rib. Even so, it still does not retreat, wrapping up the wounds and fighting again.Finally another bomb flew, and Zuo Baogui fell to the ground. The soldiers stepped forward to check, and saw that a big hole was blown out of his abdomen, and he was still able to speak. Zuo Baogui looked at the sky filled with gunpowder smoke, and his thoughts went back to three days ago. At the pre-war meeting, Ye Zhichao summoned all the generals and said that he would temporarily avoid the enemy's front, so as to plan to move forward.Except for Nie Shicheng, most of the generals seconded the proposal.Zuo Baogui said indignantly: "It's all about making meritorious deeds, as for success or failure, you don't need to worry about it!" After saying that, he waited for the next day, and closely dispatched his own soldiers to monitor Ye Zhichao to prevent him from escaping. The war was imminent, and the generals, seeing the menacing Japanese army, all advocated abandoning the city and retreating.Zuo Baogui scolded angrily: "If you regret death, you can go, this city will be my tomb!" There is a long-lasting echo in the sky: This city is my tomb. Zuo Baogui fulfilled his promise and died with a smile on his face. In the evening, it rained heavily in Pyongyang, and the two sides ceased fighting. Ye Zhichao saw that the Xuanwu Gate had fallen, and ordered to retreat northward on a rainy night. It's fine to escape, but the problem is that Ye Zhichao sent someone to inform the Japanese army presumptuously, saying that our army will retreat early in the morning, and Pyongyang will be handed over to you, please don't shoot. It is heartbreakingly stupid to think that the other party will be fooled. At 8 o'clock that night, it rained heavily.The Qing army swarmed out of the city and was ambushed by the Japanese army. The corpses piled up like a mountain, the road was buried, and the stream changed color.The elite Huai army was killed and injured, including Sheng Xinghuai, Sheng Xuanhuai's younger brother.The rest dispersed. Since then, Chinese troops have disappeared from the Korean peninsula. At the same time, in Dalian Bay at the southern end of the Liaodong Peninsula, the Beiyang Fleet had assembled. A week ago, Li Hongzhang received an urgent call from Ye Zhichao asking for help, and immediately ordered Liu Shengxiu, the commander-in-chief of Hebei Town, stationed in Dalian Bay, to lead 4,000 troops from his Ming Army to cross to Dadonggou on the border between China and North Korea by troop carrier, and rushed to aid Pyongyang after landing. The battle of Fengdao is not far away, so the escorting fleet is very gorgeous, including Dingyuan, Zhenyuan, Zhiyuan, Jingyuan, Jingyuan, Laiyuan, Jiyuan, Pingyuan, Chaoyong, Yangwei, Guangjia, Guangbing and four torpedo boats. September 14th, the Mid-Autumn Festival. Weihaiwei is the base of the Beiyang Navy. It echoes the port of Lushun, which is located in Dalian Bay as a supply station, and jointly guards the gateway to the Bohai Sea. There is a bright moon on the sea. What rose in Ding Ruchang's heart was an ominous premonition. After eating the mooncakes, the boat should weigh anchor. Liugong Island was full of family members seeing off, waving goodbye to the sailors. At that time, it was only common sense, but what would have been expected would be a farewell forever. The next day, when the fleet arrived in Dalian, Pyongyang fell.What is even more tragic is that the Japanese Combined Fleet received a call from the army invading North Korea, saying that a letter written by Ye Zhichao to Liu Shengxiu was found in Pyongyang-the troop transport plan was fully exposed. As a result, the Beiyang Fleet, who didn't know it, embarked on a road of no return. Bursts of black smoke rose from the busy coal loading operation, and an imperceptible wry smile appeared on the corner of Ding Ruchang's mouth. The same expression also appeared on Liu Buchan's face. The coal used to drive the Beiyang warships is low-quality crushed coal that looks like loose sand and is supplied from the Kaiping Coal Mine. The Kaiping Coal Mine in Tangshan was the first modern coal mine in China. Under the operation of Tang Tingshu, Li Hongzhang's assistant, it once prospered. As a result, Zhang Yi, the successor general manager, messed up the sign and was finally deceived by the British. Zhang Yi climbed to the position of a state-owned enterprise executive as Yizhen's attendant, and began to do what he does best-competing for profits with the people. Of course you will ask, Ding Ruchang is also the kind of person who is in the system and drives with a military license. You don't understand this, the first rule of officialdom in the Celestial Dynasty is: there is no reason at all. Because of this, compared with the lackluster Western history, the history of the Chinese nation is always exciting and full of excitement. This time it was Ding Ruchang who was stimulated. He wrote to Zhang Yi angrily, saying, "The coal dust is scattered and the smoke is heavy and ash. It is difficult to build strength and hinders the boiler." Finally, he warned the general office: "If you continue to blame the navy, you will return all of them and report to Li Hongzhang." It's useless to report to anyone, the navy can't afford a high price, in Zhang Yi's view, only inferior coal should be used, and good coal should be kept for sale. A more serious problem is ammunition. Beiyang Navy's shells are divided into grenade and solid shells.The grenade warhead is equipped with explosives, which are hit by the shock wave generated by the explosion after hitting the enemy ship. To put it bluntly, solid bullets are coach bullets, filled with sand, used for target practice, and will not explode.The only thing you can do after shooting it is pray that it penetrates the enemy ship's waterline and causes the ship to sink. The cruel fact is that grenades are extremely scarce, and the explosives inside are not much different from the firecrackers you set off during the Chinese New Year. They are all black powder. However, Japan has successfully imitated yellow gunpowder through the research of engineer Shigase Yayun, and named it "Shigase Gunpowder". The reason for this medicine is that it has a very strong burning power, it will burn when it touches iron, and it is difficult to extinguish. It is more powerful than TNT, and it also spreads poisonous gas. It kills people without blinking an eye... The Dadonggou at the mouth of the Yalu River is relatively shallow, not only the two warships Ding and Zhen could not sail in, but even the troop carrier that the Ming army was carrying could only stop in the deep water area, waiting for the pick-up by civilian ships. Liu Shengxiu was sad to find out that the Dongbian Daodaotai who was in charge of this matter had only arranged more than 20 small wooden boats for errands. This was the result of Li Hongzhang's urging in every possible way.It is said that autocracy is more efficient than democracy, but the efficiency of the Celestial Dynasty is outrageous. Liu Shengxiu ignored his anger and immediately arranged a transfer.For a while, Dadonggou was full of voices and horses neighing. As night fell, the troops who had landed began to set up their camps.The fireworks stretched far along the banks of the Yalu River, and the brightly lit warships looked like buildings rising from the sea, surrounding the busy Dadonggou. At 19:30, the sailors took out the hammocks in an orderly manner in strict accordance with the regulations formulated by Liu Buchan, and hung them near the working posts; At 20:30, the last cleaning of the day.Dusty boiler room soldiers bathe and change in specially equipped bathrooms; At 21:30, after the chief officer of each ship inspected the whole ship, everyone fell asleep. The German consultant Hannagan discovered that the lights in Ding Ruchang's office at the stern of the Dingyuan ship were kept on until late at night. The combined fleet also set off.Commander-in-Chief Vice Admiral Ito Yuheng led the team's Matsushima, Itsukushima, Hashidate, Chiyoda, Fuso, Hiei and the first guerrilla (commander-in-chief Rear Admiral Tsuboi Kozo) Yoshino, Akitsusu, Naniwa, Takachiho headed towards Dadonggou with the gunboat Akagi with a tonnage of only 600 and the Xijing Maru transformed from a merchant ship. Akagi has a shallow draft, which is convenient for reconnaissance in the landing area, and Saikyo Marukami is sitting at the top of the naval system-Military Command Minister Kawayama Suki. It was so calm that it was as easy as hunting, because the Japanese side did not expect that the main force of the Beiyang Fleet to protect the North Sea would come out in full force.No way, it was all forced by the Battle of Toshima. At dawn, less than half of the Qing troops had landed on the coast. The sailors put away the hammocks, wiped the decks, and began to eat. On the officer's dining table, there is pigeon meat cooked in Western France, and silver knives and forks are placed spotlessly next to the dinner plate painted with the "Dingyuan" logo. On the Zhiyuan Ship, everyone was surrounding Deng Shichang to celebrate his forty-fifth birthday. Ding Ruchang urged Liu Shengxiu to discharge his troops as soon as possible, while Liu Buchan looked worried at the soot all over the sky. The United Fleet is slowly approaching at a speed of 8 knots. The sea was calm, and a few white gulls flew by leisurely.Equally leisurely is the mood of the Japanese officers and soldiers. On the flagship Matsushima, Navy Lieutenant Kokichi Kimura wrote in his diary: "It is dawn, the weather is clear, and the wind is gentle." Leisurely, he even played Go with others.Before the game was over, someone ran in and said, "I found the ship!" At this moment, the clock points to 10:30.The billowing black smoke produced by the burning of inferior charcoal made the Japanese army discover the enemy's situation an hour and a half earlier than the Chinese. Koji Kimura jumped up excitedly.Like everyone else, he thought that there were only a few troop carriers and small escort ships in Dadonggou, but when he got closer, he realized that they were all the elite of the Beiyang Navy! Ito Yuheng ordered lunch to be advanced, and immediately prepared for battle after eating. At 12:00 noon, the watchmen in Zhenyuan found soot from the Japanese ship.Ten minutes later, a foreigner rushed into the officer's restaurant in Dingyuan and shouted in English: "The Japanese are insight, sir!" ("Gentlemen, found the Japanese army!") Ding Ruchang boarded the flying bridge (observation platform), took the telescope handed by his subordinates, looked at it for a long time, and then slowly put it down. Using the advantage of shallow water to make the naval battle break out near Dadonggou is obviously beneficial to the less mobile Beiyang Fleet.However, the landing was still underway, and if it did, the troop carrier would be doomed. Ding Ruchang did not forget the mission of this trip, and his long-term depression turned into anger. He ordered to lift the anchor and face the Japanese army! In fact, Ito Yuheng is more afraid than Ding Ruchang. After all, he is facing a behemoth (Dingyuan) with a length of 95 meters and a width of 18 meters, equipped with four 305mm Krupp cannons and 360 people. You know, "Capture Dingyuan" has always been the favorite game of Japanese children; You know, the military song "Is Dingyuan still sinking" has been sung in Japan for a long time; You must know that it was not until 2000 AD that China had a warship with a tonnage exceeding Dingyuan for the first time. In order to restrain the future, Japan specially issued public bonds, and asked France to design and build the "three sceneries" (Matsushima, Itsukushima and Hashidate, the famous three scenes in Japan). The flagship Matsushima, in order to compete with Dingyuan's cannon, installed a 320mm main gun with great reluctance. The problem is that Rendingyuan has a tonnage of 7500, which is less than 4300. Putting the 66-ton main gun on it is more ridiculous than a big-headed doll. The top-heavy design causes the ship body to roll when the main gun is turned, and it is even more afraid to turn in bad sea conditions, otherwise it will capsize. A series of problems reduced the theoretical rate of fire of one shot per ten minutes to one shot per hour, and the main gun became a complete display. On the contrary, the six 120mm Armstrong rapid-fire guns on each side played a role in actual combat. The rate of fire of 5 rounds per minute hit the Qing army everywhere. This involves formation issues. Afterwards, Zhuge Liang attributed the defeat of the Yellow Sea to Ding Ruchang's ignorance of naval warfare and adopted a stupid formation, which was actually based on understanding the sea. The PC game "The Age of Navigation" came up to teach players the "T-style play", that is, try to arrange the fleet horizontally on the top of the T during naval battles, and attack the enemy with dense broadsides.Conversely, if you line up head to tail into a vertical line under the T, it will be a tragedy. Due to the dense artillery on both sides of the warship, the traditional naval warfare is very monotonous.During the battle, both sides lined up in a horizontal line. After shooting from one side, they turned the bow to shoot from the other side. In the middle of the 19th century, the appearance of ironclad ships changed the pattern of naval warfare. In the Battle of Lissa in 1866, both Italy and Austria had ironclad ships.Italy adopted traditional tactics, while Austria arranged its fleet in a herringbone shape, facing the enemy with the bow of the ship, first blasting with large-caliber main guns, and then piercing the Italian army like a sharp knife. In the end, the Italian flagship was sunk by the ramming angle of the Austrian flagship, and the naval battle has since entered a new era. The theory of replacing broadside guns with bow guns and exchanging caliber for quantity is in the ascendant, and calls for a return to tradition have followed. For the Beiyang Navy, the two ships Ding and Zhen are heavily armored, and there is not much space for broadside guns on both sides. There are a total of eight 305mm cannons at the front and rear, and Zhiyuan and Jingyuan are typical light cruisers.Therefore, it became Ding Ruchang's combat plan to cut the enemy's formation with a wild goose formation and break through each one. The Japanese army did not have battleships like Ding and Zhen, but they had strong maneuverability.Ito Yutoshi divided the fleet into three tactical squads: the main team, the first guerrilla team, and the Saikyo Maru-Akagi, and ordered to repeatedly circle and turn around in front of the Beiyang fleet, focusing on the advantage of the cruiser's broadside guns. Ding Ruchang ordered the two ships to form a tactical squad, which was divided into five teams. The captain ships of each squadron are located in front, and the wing ships are located at a distance of 400 meters at a 45-degree angle to the right rear to avoid accidental injury and collision.Taking Dingyuan-Zhenyuan Squad as the central axis, to the left is Zhiyuan-Jingyuan and Jiyuan-Guangjia Squad, and to the right is Laiyuan-Jingyuan and Chaoyong-Yangwei Squad.The central axis takes the lead, and the two wings follow in turn, forming a fan, and file forward. The weakness lies in Chaoyong and Yangwei on the right. At the beginning of the procurement, the two ships were the most advanced unprotected ramming cruisers in the world. The British named them "Taurus" and "Aries", which meant the long horns on the heads of these two animals. It is a pity that the so-called "beginning" was more than ten years ago. In the frenzy of the arms race at the end of the 19th century, Chaoyong and Yangwei with a tonnage of less than 1400 were obviously quite old, and their armor and firepower were far inferior to those of Zhiyuan and Jingyuan. . Of course you would say that Renguang Yi is only 1,000 tons, and it doesn't affect her fighting big with small things. The problem is that Guangyi is positioned as a torpedo ship, while Chaoyong and Yangwei, which have been in disrepair for a long time, are ramming ships. Speed ​​is the life of impact, but on these two weak ships that are about to be scrapped, the boiler soldiers can only rush to 7 knots even if they shovel coal vigorously. This directly slowed down the overall speed of the Beiyang Fleet, so that Yuheng Ito was so nervous that his palms were sweating: so slow, what kind of tricks is Ding Ruchang playing? The shortage of shells and the aging of warships are almost a fantasy in Ito's mind—unless he has the opportunity to go to the super brave, majestic and hot engine room to see with his own eyes how the Qing soldiers work like rain. The deck of the Dingyuan ship has been covered with sand to store water to prevent fires.All the fragile items were discarded, and all the sampans were removed, because the experience of the Gaosheng tells everyone: If you unfortunately fall into the sea, you basically don’t have to imagine that the Japanese army will rescue you, and you must prevent him from shooting you with machine guns. Also removed were the beams used to hoist the signal flag. In the era without walkie-talkies, the primitive semaphore command seemed powerless to command a fleet stretching several nautical miles, let alone a battlefield filled with gunfire and smoke. Therefore, after Ding Ruchang issued three rules, he no longer placed his hopes on the fragile signaling system: 1. Each team must advance together and retreat together, assisting each other in offense and defense; 2. The bow of the warship must always point to the enemy ship; 3. Each unit must follow the flagship. Ding Ruchang's strategy is to keep the same and respond to all changes, and the actions of the flagship itself are the highest command.He must unswervingly implement the tactics of directly entering the combined fleet formation. Unfortunately, under the leadership of Fang Boqian, the Jiyuan-Guangjia unit at the end of the left wing drove slower and slower, and finally hid behind Zhenyuan.At the beginning of the battle, the Beiyang Fleet cast an ominous shadow. Inside the mastpan, the rangefinder held a sextant and nervously measured the distance to the enemy. "Ten thousand meters!" "Eight thousand meters!" "Six kilometers!" On the flying bridge, Liu Buchan put on the ear cotton handed by the sailor, closed his eyes, sniffed the slightly moist sea breeze with his nose, and flew back to the campus of Plymouth University. 彼时的他，喜欢读莎士比亚的十四行诗，崇拜伟大的探险家詹姆斯·库克。 从那时起，他的梦想就从未改变。希望有朝一日率领一支强大的海军，像16世纪的英国人全歼西班牙无敌舰队那样，痛击倭寇。 而这一刻，终于到来了！ 镜头从坪井航三举着的望远镜迅速拉回到定远舰的飞桥。刘步蟾蓦地睁开双眼，目光如炬。 12点50分，定远舰枪炮大副（从四品守备衔）沈寿堃一声令下，天崩地裂的巨响顿时划破了宁静的黄海，射程近八千米的右前主炮一颗三百公斤的炮弹，以每秒五百米的初速旋转着飞出炮膛。十秒钟后，擦着吉野左舷落水，海水登时腾高数丈，吓得坪井航三心肝胆欲裂。 以定远动作为号令，各舰相继开火。炮弹在空中划出道道轨迹，呼啸着向日军飞去。 迎风招展的龙旗下，丁汝昌和汉纳根并排而站，兴奋地观察着战况。 中方的军舰一律是深灰色，日方则是白色。二十多艘钢铁战船在广阔无垠的海面上相互推进，蔚为壮观。 冰雪般洁白的水柱此起彼伏地出现在日军的舰阵中。突然，松岛号引以为傲的320毫米巨炮被击中，一炮未打便宣告下马。 日军的速射炮射速虽高，射程却短，故伊东佑亨一直强调距离三千米以内才准开火。 结果，联合舰队的官兵都成了忍者神龟，冒着弹火，发扬黄继光精神，默默地前进前进前前进。 一游（第一游击队）终于憋不住了。 秋津洲、浪速和高千穗在吉野的率领下冲到了清军右翼。 面对高速驶来的一游，超勇、扬威以老旧的250毫米舰首炮迎击，怎奈射速只有可怜的三分钟一发。 很快，三千米的生死线到了。 压抑已久的弹雨朝超勇、扬威疯狂地倾泻。 熊熊烈火，在超勇上四散蔓延，吞噬了无数年轻的生命。 超勇舰底的轮机舱更是成了人间炼狱。为了防止火灾蔓延，通往上层甲板的通道全部封闭，炎热炙烤着所有人，完全失去了生还希望的轮机官兵，在总管轮黎星桥的带领下坚守岗位，完成最后的使命…… 扬威竭力发炮支援，打中吉野后甲板，两死九伤。随即又命中高千穗，引燃了几颗装填下濑火药的炮弹。黄烟阵阵，眼看火焰就要烧到弹药库，几个尉官疯狂地大喊大叫，组织水兵死命转动消防泵灭火，方才躲过一劫。 扬威之威，如白驹过隙，很快便遭到反击，燃起了灾难性的大火，舰体开始倾斜。 虽然距离最近的来远、靖远开炮遥助，超勇和扬威却已自顾不暇，且战且退中逐渐掉队。 下午1点，伊东佑亨下令本队开炮。 战前，双方舰队都从弹药库提取了大量炮弹堆放在甲板上、火炮旁，虽有连锁爆炸之虞，却提高了火力密度。 1点10分，战斗进入白热化，连只适用于近战的哈乞开斯机关炮也开始轰鸣，双方互有死伤。 忽然，一枚后来引发无数争议的炮弹击中了定远的飞桥，丁汝昌和汉纳根同时震倒在地。 木质的甲板被炸碎飞起，又重重跌落，砸中丁汝昌左腿。火苗立时蹿起，烧伤了他的脖子和右脸。 水兵赶紧帮丁汝昌脱掉燃烧的衣服，准备扶他去军医室，遭到拒绝。 丁汝昌蹒跚着来到首楼，强忍伤痛，在人来人往的主通道边坐下。每有士兵从旁经过，均投之以亲切微笑，宽慰鼓励。 刚包扎完伤口的洋员戴乐尔看到这一幕，深为感动，上前同丁汝昌握手，相互勉励。虽说这个英国人不远万里来到中国也许只是为了高薪而非国际主义精神，但此刻，他不失为一名英勇的军人。 然而，这并不影响他满嘴跑火车。 从降旗事件不难看出，刘步蟾根本不把这帮洋顾问放在眼里，而李鸿章不支持琅威理实际上也表明了自己的立场。 之所以要聘请洋员装点门面，一则可以唬唬朝中大佬，二来为丁汝昌找了个挡箭牌，一有风吹草动便拖出来垫背。 在北洋老兵的印象中，洋员的水平确实不咋样。 作为一只代罪的羔羊，戴乐尔显然没有摆正自己的位置，对刘步蟾指指点点，心怀不满，并在回忆录里写小说，说刘步蟾趁丁汝昌不备，下命开炮，震塌了飞桥，想摔死自己的上司取而代之。 这么狗血的剧情估计清穿剧的编剧都想不出来，但因符合中国人对官场阴谋的想象，竟至以讹传讹。 伊东佑亨见轰得如此精准，非常激动，下令本队转舵向左，快速掉头后重新越过北洋舰队阵前，以左侧舷炮再战。 结果，队尾的比睿（2200吨）和扶桑（3700吨）因为跟不上速度，掉队了。 两船造于二十年前，是风帆向蒸汽过渡的产物，比睿甚至还保留着三面大帆。装备则以克虏伯炮为主，没有速射炮，航速也只有8节。 一起被抛之脑后的还有赤城和西京丸。后者眼见形势不妙，卖命地追，终于赶上了本队。 留下了本次战场上最弱的弱舰赤城。 代替丁汝昌指挥作战的刘步蟾显然注意到了日军的破绽。 于是，比睿的官兵惊恐地发现，亚洲第一巨舰定远像冰山一样飘了过来，距离右舷不到七百米，尾随而至的还有经远。 更令人绝望的是，即使比睿的炮弹打中定远厚实的舰身，也如橡皮球扔到墙上一般，弹回水中。 舰长樱井像输红了眼的赌徒，准备放手一搏。 从明智光秀开始，日本就不缺冒险家。天天地震，朝生暮死的生存环境造就了日本人爱走极端的性格。 但樱井的决定还是让所有人都大跌眼镜。 他下命，迎着定远开过去！ 日舰扶桑，实力较强，非但不掩护友军，反而趁机逃跑，追赶本队，战后还在报告中写道：舰长从容不迫地左转，为我国海军保住了一艘价值三百万日元的军舰…… 定远经远，两舰并行，争相开火，步步惊心。 遍体鳞伤的比睿像发狂的斗牛直扑而来，竟钻进了两舰之间的“巷道”。 樱井松了口气——至少躲过了定远那摄人心魄的巨炮。而身处两舰之间，对方因担心误伤友军，不得不投鼠忌器。 果然，炮声偃旗息鼓，定远无奈地用哈乞开斯机关炮俯射比睿。 露天甲板上，比睿的官兵抱头鼠窜，碎片四溅纷飞，视觉效果堪比《黑鹰坠落》。 问题在于，这么打你就是把比睿打成比熊，也打不沉。 和刘步蟾一道留学英国的经远管带林永升怒了，下令舷炮开火。 150毫米克虏伯炮弹携带着怒火在极近距离击中比睿，立毙四人，血肉横飞。 樱井紧闭双眼，等待着人生的谢幕。 等了半天，发现鸦雀无声，属下进来报告说经远停止了射击，正在一步步贴近。 樱井跑至甲板，赫然看到经远舰上出现了一批身着红色制服，手持大刀长矛和绳索跳板的清兵。 这回轮到他大跌眼镜了。 跳帮厮杀是一种浪漫而原始的战术，也是《加勒比海盗》里约翰尼·德普耍帅把妹的必备绝活。 冷兵器时代，双方战船要是觉得对轰不过瘾，距离又足够近，便冲上去肉搏一番。解恨的同时还展现了男人野性的魅力。 普利茅斯的熏陶让林永升觉得，用古老到快要失传的跳帮生擒一艘敌舰，远比击沉它更具英雄主义色彩。 定远的机关炮也停了下来，刘步蟾显然明白老同学的意图。 明晃晃的大刀逼急了樱井，他下令所有炮口对准经远，齐射阻挡，并加速离开“巷道”。 林永升低估了樱井的意志。比睿一番死战，逃出生天。 面对茫茫大海，樱井惊魂未定，两条翻滚的水波便如影随形，急速而来。却是经远发射的鱼雷。 不得不承认比睿的好运，擦舷而过。 额手相庆的樱井没有发现，定远的305毫米尾炮在液压的驱动下已完成180度旋转。黑洞洞的炮口对准了比睿。 19世纪的战舰，因装备沉重、空间有限，战时往往将舰尾的军官餐厅改为军医室，宽大的橡木餐桌则正好用来当手术台。 此时，比睿的军医室充满了肝肠寸断的哀号，地板上防滑的砂土已被血染成了红色。 伤员和军医都没意识到，更大的灾难即将降临。 但闻一声雷鸣般的巨响，比睿舰尾顿成炼狱。十九人当场被炸死，包括两个大尉。三十多人重伤，后部甲板坍塌，下濑火药也被引爆。 镇远不甘人后，随即也发射了一枚305毫米巨弹。几乎所有人都认定比睿在劫难逃。 可惜，炮弹没能炸响，是一枚令人痛心疾首的实心弹。 比睿拖着浓烟，仓皇消失在了缭绕的战火中…… 结果就轮到赤城悲剧了。 北洋舰队追击大小不足定远四分之一，吨位不及定远十分之一的袖珍艇赤城的场面整个儿一“天姥连天向天横，势拔五岳掩赤城”。 倒不是欺软怕硬，只是刘步蟾一直没搞明白日军带这么小一艘船来干嘛。Acting cute?耍贱？赤城吭哧吭哧地逃跑，也不像啊。 最后他恍然大悟：肯定是运兵船。 考虑到此行的任务是掩护铭军登陆，“运兵船”赤城立马成为清军攻击的重点。 巴掌大点地儿还装了四门120毫米炮和六门哈乞开斯，赤城的甲板显得拥挤不堪。 司令塔里的舰长阪元急得就差拿扩音器大喊：“我不是运兵船，我不会武功。” 围剿赤城已成共识，连广甲都来了，济远还在聚精会神地打酱油，躲得远远的。 一颗由定远发出的150毫米炮弹划过一段长长的抛物线，正中赤城。两个炮手、六个水兵当场被炸死，阪元的脑袋被弹片击碎，冲击波把他半截身子冲进了海里。 海军大尉佐藤立刻接替舰长指挥赤城，全神贯注地跑。 已多次中弹的后桅又被击中，轰然折断，军旗随之而落。 然而赤城上的官兵并没有陷入混乱。 不屈一：军旗被改升到了前桅； 不屈二：后桅残留部分，一根细长的木杆被插了进去。另一面军旗也缓缓升起。 多舰在近距离都无法压制一艘炮艇，北洋水师火力之弱，可见一斑。 远处的比睿由于火情严重，放弃了跟上本队的念头，转向南行。一直追赶比睿的赤城也随之转舵。 吨位2900的来远穷追不舍，舰上的水手陈学海后来回忆说： 弟兄们劲头很足，都想跟日本人拼一下。我和王福清两人抬炮弹，一心想多抬，上肩就飞跑。正跑着，一颗炮弹打过来，在附近爆炸。弹片把王福清的右脚后跟削去，他竟没有察觉。仗快打完了，我见他右脚一片红，问怎么了，他低下头一看脚，才站不住了。 距离三百米时，来远200毫米的舰首炮击中赤城。 所有人都以为赤城死定了。然而，幸运女神再次光顾日军。 受舰首对敌作战思潮的影响，来远没有配备大口径尾炮，而是在舰尾的狭窄空间里安装了大量的机关炮。 于是，边跑边打的赤城，用尾炮盲打误撞地击中了来远堆满小口径炮弹的舰尾甲板。 接着便是毫无意外的连爆、燃烧、火海。 赤城侥幸捡了条命。 被一游打残的超勇和扬威却没这样的好运。 在陈学海的记忆中，这两艘船开炮都会掉铁锈，也许，战死黄海是它们最好的归宿吧。 为了不祸及正在登陆的清军，两舰都没有选择较近的浅水，而是往离大东沟更远的大鹿岛方向驶去。 结果就让火魔给吞噬了。超勇管带黄建勋和一百多名官兵一起沉入到了冰冷的海底。扬威伤痕累累，也行将就木。 大东沟。 登陆极其迟缓，一涨潮便更加费事。 刘盛休在给天津的回电中沮丧道：“恐十日方能下清，心甚焦灼。” 眼看战局不利，护卫近海的平远舰带着广丙和四艘鱼雷艇起锚了。 大东沟只留下了镇中和镇边两艘蚊子船作为最后的防线。 蚊子船不是军舰，是以小船搭载陆军火炮的水上移动炮台。 而吨位2600的平远虽说是新船，但却是“远字辈”里唯一的国产舰，由福州造船厂根据法国对“三景舰”的设计仿造而成，长仅六十米（小于超勇），宽却有十二米（仅次于定、镇），显得五短三粗。装甲倒挺厚，航速却只有8节，火炮也不过三门（120毫米）。 和吨位1000、航速16节的广丙编在一起明显不协调。 同样不协调的还有联合舰队。 搞沉了超勇的一游非常得意，坪井航三决定右转绕到北洋舰阵后方，反复旋转，以舷炮射击。如此，便同对面的本队形成腹背夹击之势。