Chapter 13 Chapter Thirteen: Annihilation of the whole army: the last hope of the Beiyang Fleet was extinguished by party struggle

The base camp immediately decided to form the Shandong Combat Army. One part was drawn from the Second Army, which was composed of the Second Division and the Sixth Division stationed in the mainland. Da Shanyan, who performed well in the Battle of Luda, served as the commander-in-chief and continued to attack Weihai. . At this time, Japan has already dispatched the first to sixth divisions in the country, and in fact only the imperial forest army to protect Muren is left in the country. According to the plan formulated by the base camp, the Japanese attack on Weihai would be a replica of the attack on Lushun: the army must choose a location to land, outflank from the rear, and then send a combined fleet to attack from the sea to pinch the Beiyang Fleet.

Yuheng Ito chose to land in Rongcheng Bay, 30 nautical miles away from Weihai. With the successful experience of Lushun, Dashanyan fully believed in the landing point chosen by Yuheng Ito this time. On the morning of January 10, 1895, 50 troop carriers from Hiroshima set off. They will transport 34,600 Japanese troops to Rongcheng under the escort of the combined fleet led by Yuto Ito. With the army under pressure, Shandong's land defense has become particularly important at this time.The army strength of the imperial court in Shandong was 21,000. According to the characteristics of the Qing army, they belonged to two different leaders.

One leader is Li Hongzhang, whose jurisdiction covers Weihai Harbor and Liugong Island Army, with a force of 5,000 troops, while the 16,000 soldiers in other parts of Shandong, including Rongcheng, are under the control of another person. When Li Hongzhang learned that the new Shandong governor was Li Bingheng, he yelled—"Not good!" The governor of Shandong is in charge of the Shandong army outside of Weihai, and Li Bingheng is a well-known cutting-edge figure of the imperial party. He is highly valued by the emperor Weng Tonghe (he) and Guangxu. The new cutting-edge of the imperial party, one is the mainstay of the later party, and the two belong to the factions of the interests of the imperial court. Just like Li Hongzhang only cares about his "Northern Ocean" forces, Li Bingheng will only focus on other land defenses outside Weihai, Shandong— He didn't have much responsibility for losing Weihai and the Beiyang Fleet. That was Li Hongzhang's business. At the critical moment, Li Bingheng would not lose his elite soldiers for "his Li Hongzhang's Weihai".

Before the Japanese army dispatched, Li Hongzhang had already obtained information that the Japanese army might land in Rongcheng Bay.So he sent a message in a negotiating tone, asking Li Bingheng to help strengthen the defense of Rongcheng and send more troops there (Rongcheng is under the jurisdiction of Li Bingheng), but what Li Bingheng did was to throw the telegram aside, and then he sent another message to the court. A memorial: ask the court to liquidate the responsibility of the Huai Army's failure to fight against Japan before, and execute Ding Ruchang and other Huai Army's defeated generals to death!

As a representative of the imperial party, Li Bingheng was called by Emperor Guangxu to the palace for three secret talks before he took office as the governor of Shandong. We have no way of knowing the content of the conversation, but judging from Li Bingheng's performance, one thing he has to do is to dismantle Li Hongzhang Taiwan. If the imperial court disposes of Li Hongzhang's Huai army generals, who will take over the command of the war against Japan?Of course they are from the imperial party. Everyone is scrambling to grab this command, isn't everyone very heroic, scrambling to fight the Japanese army, and not hesitate to die on the battlefield?I believe there is a reason for this, but it is by no means the main reason. The main reason is hidden in the secrecy behind the struggle for command.

The secret is: winning the command of the battle is equivalent to winning the military power!Regarding Guangxu and Cixi in the palace, whoever holds the military power will be the actual ruler of the court. All the secrets have been revealed.Although the Huai army was defeated again and again, from North Korea to the Qing Dynasty, as the spokesperson of the Cixi Group, Li Hongzhang had to bite the bullet—so that the military power would always be in the hands of the rear party camp.If the Huai army performed well and could repel the Japanese army, even if it could win the last battle, the weak imperial party in the imperial court would have little chance.But the Huai army was too disappointing, and the failure of the military operation also gave the imperial party an opportunity. As the Qing-Japanese War progressed, the imperial party elements dispatched Qing gossip officers to attack Li Hongzhang and the generals of the Huai army, while looking for opportunities to seize power !

This is the real reason why Li Hongzhang yelled "no".With the support of Cixi, Mr. Li hurriedly "protected" these direct descendants from the court.Then, he was surprised to discover the deployment of troops made by Li Bingheng: There are 9,200 people in Yantai, 3,000 in Penglai, 4,000 in Laizhou, and no one in Rongcheng. During the Japanese army's march to Rongcheng Bay, Yuheng Ito sent several warships to the waters of Penglai, firing a few shots at Penglai from time to time.If we look at the map, we will find that Rongcheng is located in the south of Weihai, while Penglai is located in the north of Weihai. Ito Yuheng just wanted to achieve the effect of attacking the west and tricking the Shandong army into thinking that the Japanese army was going to land in Yantai and Penglai.Sure enough, Li Bingheng seemed to be fooled, and he gathered heavy troops in Yantai and Penglai.

The distribution of Li Bingheng's troops is very problematic. Even if he did not expect the Japanese army to land in Rongcheng, the largest number of troops should obviously be stationed in Weihai, the base of the Beiyang Fleet—not Yantai.But in Li Bingheng's view, once there is a mistake in Weihai, it is Li Hongzhang's responsibility, and the court will ask Li Hongzhang to settle the score, and if there is a mistake in Yantai, he, the governor of Shandong, will be responsible. Li Hongzhang had no choice but to generate electricity again, almost humbly begging Li Bingheng to "take care of Rongcheng".

So before the Japanese army landed, 1,800 defenders appeared in Rongcheng anyway.The number seems large, but we need to understand the composition of these 1,800 soldiers. After receiving Li Hongzhang's second request, Li Bingheng was very generous: Then send 1,500 people there!But they are not so much soldiers as they are another group of people—migrant workers. They are civilians who are usually responsible for repairing the Yellow River embankment. They are organized into a "river defense army" with militarized organization and management. Every 300 people are organized into a battalion. Each battalion has a common weapon-a bird gun or a carrying gun, and the rest are shoulder poles. Hoe up.

Seeing that Li Bingheng had been perfunctory, Li Hongzhang couldn't care less, so he had to order his subordinate, Dai Zongqian, the commander of the Weihai Land Fortress, to find a way.Rongcheng's defense was under the control of Li Bingheng, not Dai Zongqian. Dai Zongqian had no choice but to "exceed his power" and send 300 regular troops to Rongcheng, equipped with four battalion artillery-so there were 1,800 people. Facing the weak brigade of 1,800 people, the Rongcheng Japanese army settled the battle with a few shells, and then easily completed the landing.The action of the Japanese army was rapid. More than 30,000 Japanese troops, 3,000 to 4,000 horses, and a large number of weapons and ammunition took only five days to complete the entire landing.

Li Hongzhang did not seek reinforcements from Li Bingheng. However, during the Japanese landing, Guangxu issued an order to Li Hongzhang, asking the Beiyang Fleet to dispatch from the Weihai base to Rongcheng to block the Japanese landing, but Li Hongzhang did not carry out this order.In his view, the Beiyang Fleet is safe only if it stays honestly at the Weihai base. After the Japanese army landed, Dashanyan set up the first headquarters after landing in Rongcheng County.Even children knew the next move of the Japanese army: they were about to attack Weihai. Due to the lack of troops in Weihai, and Li Bingheng's heavy troops still gathered in Yantai and Penglai, Li Hongzhang had no choice but to ask Li Bingheng to send more reinforcements, but Li Bingheng said: Even if I send the entire army, the total strength is only half of the Japanese army. I want to ask the imperial court for reinforcements first, and ask the Military Aircraft Department to send a large army to help Shandong. Li Bingheng's urgent telegram requesting the imperial court to send additional reinforcements was sent to the military plane.Both Li Bingheng and Li Hongzhang are waiting for reinforcements from the imperial court. Just wait, be patient, and there will be results. Some people may ask, as a major national defense province, why is there such a small number of troops in Shandong Province?The answer to this question is: Shandong originally had more troops than these, but they were transferred away. Where did you go?Fengtian. When the Japanese army attacked Fengtian in the northeast and threatened Fengtian, the imperial court gathered 100,000 troops around Fengtian. Now, the Japanese army still has the first army and part of the second army in the northeast battlefield. As long as the Japanese army does not withdraw, the imperial court will not dare to transfer Fengtian. The heavy troops around, even if the total strength of the Japanese army was several times that of the Japanese army, they would not dare to transfer a single soldier away - because it is a "masculine place". Therefore, even though the Japanese army in the northeast was on the defensive, and they were still far away from Fengtian, and even though the military ministers knew that the most urgent task was to call back the Shandong army in Fengtian, no one dared to take this action. Or stop scolding it.The dead in Fengtian are more important than the living in Shandong. This is the logic of the court. Then transfer to Tianjin, right?The princes will not agree. Tianjin is the gateway to the capital, and the capital of the capital. Everyone's gold, silver, treasures, mansions and famous horses are all left in the capital. If the capital is lost, who will bear the blame?Although most indications show that the Rongcheng Japanese army will attack Weihai next, but who can guarantee that they will not attack Beijing by detour?The Japanese army is cunning and cunning, so we have to guard against them. Therefore, neither the old capital Fengtian nor the new capital Beijing's defenders can be transferred. The former is the place where the dead power class is buried, and the latter is the place where the current power class lives. Neither can horses.Li Hongzhang understood the imperial court's thoughts very well, and proposed his strategy: the navy strictly defended the Bohai Sea to secure the capital, and the army tried to protect Fengtian to secure the mausoleum.As expected, this strategy was quickly approved by the imperial court (Cixi).Mr. Li is still smart. The Military Aircraft Department finally decided: transfer to the south!The last time we mobilized troops from Fujian to help defend Lushun, this time we transferred troops from Guizhou. Master Li Bingheng is eagerly waiting for the arrival of Yunnan-Guizhou reinforcements led by Ding Huai, the commander-in-chief of Guzhou Town, Guizhou.When the reinforcements will finally arrive, we will know later.However, in Li Bingheng's view, since he did not receive reinforcements from the imperial court, and the Japanese warships were still firing artillery in Penglai and Yantai, he could not send a large army to Weihai.Although it is very convenient to go from Yantai to Weihai, the transfer of troops is not to go to a shift, and the convenience of the road does not play a decisive role. Well, from Cixi and Guangxu to Li Hongzhang and Li Bingheng, from the supreme ruler to the commander-in-chief to the middle-level generals, everyone has their own plans and accounts.The so-called command chaos, there is no unified command, and there is no consistent strategy. It does not come from other places, but from the highest power center of the Qing Dynasty-the imperial palace. It's really a mess that started from the top down.Now we know that the situation facing Weihai land defense is: no reinforcements.Weihai's army can only rely on 5,000 people to deal with the 30,000 Japanese army, and there is no reinforcements for a single soldier. Keep it up! On January 25, 1895, the Japanese army left Rongcheng and marched towards Weihai.This will be a battle of attack and defense of the fort.When the Japanese army in Rongcheng was still in the state of landing and had not completely landed, Dai Zongqian, the commander of the Weihai Army, proposed to his leader Li Hongzhang that he should lead the army to take the initiative to attack and go to Rongcheng to stop the Japanese army.Even if it cannot be stopped, guerrilla warfare can be used to harass and delay the Japanese army's advance to Weihai, buying time for Weihai and others to come to reinforce them. Li Hongzhang ruthlessly rejected Dai Zongqian's suggestion, because there was something Li Hongzhang valued very much on the Weihai Land Road—a fort. From a tactical point of view, Dai Zongqian's idea is to actively face the battle, instead of defending the fort, he can use flexible tactics to harass and exhaust the Japanese army.Although the fort is strong and easy to defend but difficult to attack, everything has advantages and disadvantages. Blindly relying on the fort will limit the flexibility of soldiers and thus limit the combat effectiveness. We have seen this situation a lot in movies.The later "Japanese devils" also made the same mistake. During the invasion of China, they built countless new and more solid forts - bunkers in their strongholds, but they were harassed by the Eighth Route Army guerrillas armed with old-fashioned rifles. In fact, what the Japanese army was most afraid of and worried about was not attacking the fort. No matter how strong the fort was, it was real estate.What they were afraid of was not that the Qing army would stick to a certain position, but that the Japanese army would have to fall into a protracted battle that was most unfavorable to them by adopting a flexible and maneuverable style of play. Nie Shicheng on the Motianling battlefield has already proved this point. But what Dai Zongqian didn't expect was that this "constructive opinion" that excited him got a scolding from Li Hongzhang.He had no choice but to bite the bullet and return to Weihai, back to Li Hongzhang's beloved fort. The Battle of the Fort on the Weihai Land Road started. In 1398, in order to prevent Japanese pirates from invading, a military fortress was set up here, and it was named Weihai with the meaning of "megatronic".After the Beiyang Fleet of the Qing Dynasty took Weihaiwei as the base and Weihai City as the center, they built two major fort groups in the north and south—the southern fort group and the northern fort group. After 600 years, this place has become the anti-Japanese center again. The 30,000 Japanese army launched an attack on the Nanbang Fort Group. Although the Japanese army had an absolute advantage in strength, brave soldiers still emerged in the offensive and defensive battle of the fort. The Japanese army did not expect that the defenders of the Fort Group who were at an absolute disadvantage in terms of strength , launched an extremely fierce resistance war! During the offensive and defensive battle of the Motianling Fort, 400 defenders, led by the defender Zhou Jiaen, fought desperately until the last moment. All the defenders of the fort were killed.Holding the belief that he would never be a prisoner of the Japanese army, Zhou Jiaen endured great pain, held his intestines in his hands, dragged a broken leg, crawled in the ice and snow for more than 10 miles, and died of bleeding. In the offensive and defensive battle of the Suoqianling Fort, there was only one guard stationed here (equivalent to a company, 100 people), and there were only three cannons. After the help of the fort escaped, a low-level officer took the initiative The important task of commanding, his surname is Xu, and everyone calls him Xu Bangdai.Xu Bangdai fought with the fort defenders until no one survived.Xu Bangdai's wife hugged her son, who had just turned one year old, and was about to jump into the sea to commit suicide, but the Japanese army took the child away and fell to death on a rock, while Xu Bangdai's wife was stabbed to death! The Japanese army who suffered tenacious resistance used this method to relieve their hatred. The southern group of fortresses fell, and the rest was the northern group of fortresses. When the Japanese army was about to launch an attack, Ding Ruchang made a decision. This decision was to dispatch the Marine Corps of the Beiyang Fleet to blow up all the fort groups of the Beiyang Fleet. The painful Ding Ruchang had to destroy these forts with his own hands. The Beibang forts were closer to the Weihai Harbor. The cannons inside could attack the Beiyang warships in the port as long as they turned their muzzles. Ding Ruchang had to blow them up to prevent these forts from falling into the hands of the Japanese army. hand! All the land routes in Weihai were lost, and Dai Zongqian knew that he was unable to defend the land, so he swallowed opium and committed suicide before the court could investigate.The Japanese army occupied the land of Weihai Port, posing a threat to the rear of the Beiyang Fleet in the port. On the sea outside the port, the combined fleet led by Yuto Ito has already started the battle. Faced with the grim situation of face-to-face attack, the goal of the Japanese army is to completely wipe out the Beiyang Fleet.The Beiyang Fleet, which suffered heavy losses in the Dadonggou naval battle, reached its final juncture. On January 30, 1895, in the heavy snow, the Japanese army launched a general attack on the Beiyang Fleet. Although Ito Yuheng wanted to capture the Beiyang Fleet in one fell swoop, it was not so easy. The Beiyang Fleet in Weihai Port has 13 warships, including: Dingyuan, Zhenyuan, Jingyuan, Laiyuan, Jiyuan, Pingyuan, Guangbing, Gunboat Zhendong, Zhennan, Zhenxi, Zhenbei, Zhenzhong, and Zhenbian six; 13 more torpedo boats.It can be said that the main force of the Beiyang Fleet is still there, and its strength is still there. After a few days of artillery offensive failures, Ito Yuheng remembered a new force weapon-torpedo boats. In the Dadonggou Naval Battle, Ito Youheng saw the power of torpedo boats and discovered that torpedoes are an effective offensive weapon against Dingyuan and Zhenyuan. So he organized all torpedo boats in the country into the joint fleet immediately after the war, and carried out Trained in cooperating with warships.Before launching the attack, Yohiro Ito and his staff had made a tailor-made combat plan for the torpedo boat-"Torpedo Boat Team Sports Plan". The core of this plan is: sneak attack. When Ito Youheng learned about the channel situation in front of the port, his heart became cold again, because even torpedo boats much smaller than warships could not enter Weihai Port.In order to prevent being attacked by the enemy, Ding Ruchang sent people to set up an extremely powerful defensive weapon-mine dam in front of the port. This kind of mine dam is made of wood more than one foot long and several feet thick to line up the mouth of the sea, connected with large iron cables to form a fence, and fixed to the seabed with iron anchors at regular intervals, and the fence is covered with mines. When the ship approaches, it is equivalent to throwing a mine net. Do you think this kind of defensive weapon is very familiar?right.It was also used in the Yangtze River Fortress during the Three Kingdoms period. At that time, Soochow, which was located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, chose to cross the Yangtze River with huge iron chains in the area of ​​Xisai Mountain in Daye, Hubei, in order to guard against the Western Jin Dynasty in the upper reaches. The huge building boat of Wang Jun (rui), a general of the Western Jin Dynasty.Later, Wang Jun found dozens of rafts with sesame oil torches on them, and burned the iron chains until they melted, so that the building boats could pass.Liu Yuxi, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, recorded the course of this war in "Xisai Mountain Nostalgia": Ito Yuheng did not use fire to attack. Under the cover of the warship, the death squads were dispatched. They boarded the sampan, rowed to the dam, pulled the iron chain onto the sampan, and kept chopping with the giant ax prepared in advance. The iron cable was pulled very tightly, and it was cut after a few hard cuts. The wooden fence lost its support and drifted away with the tide. The mine barrage was thus destroyed. At 3 o'clock in the morning, in the cold night where you can't see your fingers, the torpedo boats of the United Fleet are fully loaded with torpedoes, all lights are turned off, and a group of two ships quietly sails into the port!After all entered the port, the sentinel of the Beiyang Fleet finally discovered the abnormal situation and immediately fired at the torpedo boat!But in the quiet night, the sound of artillery suddenly sounded. The Beiyang warships in the harbor did not know what was going on. They thought that the United Fleet was coming in, so they fired guns in a daze, and there was a commotion in the harbor. In the chaos, a bold Japanese torpedo boat inserted into the torpedo boat fleet of the Beiyang Fleet and followed the team, but the torpedo boats of the Beiyang Fleet did not notice it!Even the Japanese army did not expect that the torpedo boats of the Beiyang Fleet were approaching the flagship - Dingyuan!When the Japanese torpedo boat that sneaked into the team discovered all this, 300 meters ahead was the giant ship Dingyuan! God-given opportunity, the torpedo boat decides to die with Dingyuan, and the boat blows up Dingyuan!It pierced through the team with an arrow and launched a torpedo towards Dingyuan!The torpedo broke through the waves, and at the same time, the gunners on the Dingyuan ship also spotted the sneak attacking torpedo boat, and immediately fired huge cannons at it! Two huge explosions sounded almost simultaneously.Dingyuan shook violently, the hull was pierced by torpedoes, and sea water broke through all the closed water tanks and gushed in.Liu Buchan hurriedly ordered to cut off the anchor chain, and hurried to the shore of Liugong Island to prevent it from sinking. From this moment, Dingyuan lost the ability to sail and could only run aground on the shore. And what happened to the sneak attack torpedo boat?It has been reduced to pieces, and there are no survivors on board!Seeing this, the other torpedo boats all sped up and fled out of the port. Yuheng Ito was overjoyed when he received the battle report.The price of a torpedo boat was exchanged for heavy damage to Dingyuan, it was worth it! Without Dingyuan, Ito Yuhiro became more courageous, and he gave an order to the whole fleet with excitement: When the day breaks, in addition to using three warships to guard the outer seas (to guard against the Nanyang Fleet that will never reach it) ), all other warships, gunboats and other combat ships rushed to the port, and the Beiyang Fleet must be wiped out! The remaining two warships of the United Fleet were all lined up outside the port, shelling the Beiyang Fleet in the port in turn. Under the command of Ding Ruchang, the Beiyang Fleet immediately launched a counterattack!When the Japanese warships could not take advantage of their speed and could only compete with each other to fire their cannons, they still could not suppress the firepower of the Beiyang warships' cannons and could not approach the port. Ito Yuheng had to order dejectedly: Stop attacking and retreat! The Beiyang Fleet repelled the enemy's attack again.However, they should have no time to be happy.Because Ito Yuheng's retreat has ulterior motives. That night, Yuheng Ito, who had tasted the sweetness, decided to do the same and used the torpedo boat to attack again.However, Ding Ruchang and the Beiyang Fleet did not learn a lesson from the sneak attack the night before. They believed that the Japanese army had just carried out a sneak attack, and after another day of fierce fighting during the day, it would be impossible to come again the next night.However, they still don't understand the Japanese. The Japanese in the war were not human at all, or they were another type of human - robots.They can charge day and night, taking turns to attack, without needing to eat, sleep or rest.If you have a taste, you will eat it up, if you see an opportunity, you will squeeze it dry. Think of a pack of hungry wolves. At 4 o'clock in the morning, the Japanese torpedo boat team started another sneak attack. This time the sneak attack was deliberately launched an hour later than the first time. The Japanese army always pays attention to such details.But this time they were more familiar with the road, but the Beiyang Fleet was lax. The torpedo boats concentrated on launching torpedoes at the two warships Laiyuan and Weiyuan. Ito Yuheng struck while the iron was hot, and at dawn, he ordered the entire combined fleet to attack again.After two sneak attacks, there were not many large warships left for the Beiyang Fleet to fight. He believed that the complete annihilation of the Beiyang Fleet would definitely succeed this time. At this time, Dashanyan on land had ordered the army to rush to work day and night, built a temporary fort, and newly installed rapid-fire guns on the fort. All kinds of cannons also bombarded the Beiyang warships indiscriminately, and the Beiyang fleet really fell into the most unfavorable situation-being beaten on the stomach and back. Ding Ruchang was still responding calmly. He commanded the Beiyang Fleet to separate several warships to deal with the artillery fire on land. The other warships tried their best to suppress the firepower outside the port. Cannonballs flew out of the Dingyuan ship one by one, and all four warships of the United Fleet were shot and injured. when. Seeing that the situation was favorable, Ding Ruchang made a decision at this time: after the artillery battle, he would send a torpedo boat team to attack the United Fleet at night, retaliate against him in his own way, and let the Japanese army also have a taste of the torpedo boats of the Beiyang Fleet. . Ding Ruchang ordered Wang Ping, the captain of the torpedo boat team, to prepare for the sneak attack at night, but what Ding Ruchang never expected was that it was his order that brought an unexpected result. Because Wang Ping then made a move that surprised everyone. The two sides were still in the middle of the artillery battle. The 13 torpedo boats of the Beiyang torpedo boat fleet suddenly launched. Under the leadership of Wang Ping, they headed out of the port at full speed!Ding Ruchang here really couldn't understand Wang Ping's sudden move: I told you to wait until night to fight, it's still daytime, what are you rushing to do now? Yuheng Ito on the Matsushima also noticed this scene, he was confused: what is this for?Rushed over and died together?In a hurry, Ito Yuheng urgently ordered all ships to get ready to defend against torpedoes!At the same time, turn the muzzle to the torpedo boat. Once the torpedo boat is desperate, the combined fleet will have to face a lot of trouble. Both Ding Ruchang and Ito Yuheng quickly got the answer: the torpedo boat team led by Wang Ping was not going to charge, but to run away! This is another familiar scene.As we have said before, although the torpedo boat fleet followed the Beiyang Fleet to fight, they were not in the same unit as the Beiyang Fleet. Its superior unit was the Lushun Torpedo Battalion.From an organizational perspective, Ding Ruchang was not in a position to command the torpedo boat team. When Dingyuan was injured and Laiyuan and Weiyuan sank, Wang Ping was overwhelmed by the fear of annihilation. Ding Ruchang asked the torpedo boat team to attack that night, but Wang Ping What Pinghe and Cai Tinggan thought of was how to avoid the task of night attack and take the opportunity to escape. We are familiar with Comrade Cai Tinggan. He is the captain of the torpedo boat Fulong. In the Dadonggou naval battle, Huashan Ziji saved his life under his command. Seeing that the torpedo boat was just running away, Yuheng Ito let go of his hanging heart.The next step is to capture these torpedo boats alive. The reason why they want to capture them alive is that they are reluctant to blow them up and they must be added to their team. Wang Ping's torpedo boat "Zuo Yi" with the best performance escaped successfully, but the other 12 torpedo boats were all captured or sunk!The torpedo boat fleet of the Beiyang Fleet was wiped out. For the Japanese army, this was an unexpected victory that no one thought of.However, for Ding Ruchang and the Beiyang Fleet, it can only make things worse. From the beginning of the battle, the Beiyang Fleet has been under siege by the Japanese army by land and sea. There are 30,000 troops on land and the entire Japanese fleet on the sea. It is not an exaggeration to describe it as a cornered beast.They seem to be a forsaken and outcast bunch.Wang Ping led the torpedo boat team to escape first and finally brought a wave of popular support.Crowds of soldiers flocked to Ding Ruchang, and even the most dedicated gunners left the emplacement. They surrounded Ding Ruchang, and the crowd was excited: everyone was struggling here, ignorant of the situation outside.Is it life, death, or has been abandoned, please tell Ding Shuai frankly! To be honest, Ding Ruchang didn't know either.But in the face of the angry soldiers, he knew that what he had to do now was to stabilize the morale of the army, because if he didn't handle it well and didn't give the soldiers a clear explanation, it might lead to a mutiny.Ding Ruchang calmed down and told everyone: reinforcements will arrive soon, please rest assured, as long as we persist until February 11, reinforcements will arrive. The 11th mentioned by Ding Ruchang was exactly the expected arrival time of the reinforcements from Guzhou Town, Guizhou dispatched by the Military Aircraft Department. But everyone is still dissatisfied, and they don't know what to do. "If the reinforcements don't come by then, Ruchang will definitely let everyone live!" Ding Ruchang said painfully. A few days ago, in order to ensure that the reinforcements arrived on time, Ding Ruchang had sent someone to send a letter of assistance. A brave sailor, disguised as a commoner, swims ashore in icy water and disappears into the night.What he carried on his body was a distress letter written by Ding Ruchang to Liu Hanfang of Yantai Daotai, every word was crying blood: We can only hold on desperately now, food can last for a month, but ammunition and medicine are no longer allowed... Please call the commanders of the situation as soon as possible, I am eagerly looking forward to their coming at night!If the rescuers do not arrive on the 11th, it will be impossible to save Chuandao... However, Yuto Ito will not give the Beiyang Fleet a chance to breathe. On February 9, the continuous naval offensive launched by the combined fleet began again.This time, Ito Youheng even withdrew the three warships serving as guards, and all the warships assembled at the port to fire, and Dashanyan also commanded the land fort to fire at once. The water column soared into the sky, and the Beiyang Fleet was submerged in artillery fire. Ding Ruchang moved his flagship to Jingyuan, and stood on the bow of Jingyuan to command the warship to fight!The joint fleet's artillery fire immediately focused on Jingyuan. Jingyuan was hit by several shots, and finally began to sink, and finally ran aground in shallow water. Ding Ruchang escaped under the cover of soldiers.At this time, the main warships of the Beiyang Fleet were all damaged. In the early morning of February 10, in the heavy snow, Ito Yuheng sent four more torpedo boats into the port for a surprise attack, but this time Ding Ruchang took precautions and the attack was repelled.However, the Beiyang Fleet has reached a critical moment. The Beiyang Fleet's shells were about to run out, and it was no longer possible to organize an effective resistance. The medicine had also been used up, and the wounded were waiting in a long line for amputation. What was even more frightening was that there was no anesthesia. In order to prevent the wounds from festering, the military doctors had to amputate the wounded without using anesthesia.The wounded soldier wailed to the sky, and the wounded soldier who couldn't bear the severe pain committed suicide with a knife. The scene made people cry! The uninjured soldiers were extremely exhausted from fighting day and night, coupled with high mental tension, some of them finally had a nervous breakdown, and some jumped into the sea to die.Finally, the unbearable soldiers rushed to Ding Ruchang and asked Ding Ruchang sharply: Didn't you say that there are reinforcements? Now, where are the reinforcements? In anger, some soldiers drew out their sabers, trying to force Ding Ruchang to surrender! "If you want to kill me, do it now." Ding Ruchang said calmly. Tomorrow, February 11, was the deadline he had promised, and there was still no news or sign of reinforcements coming. What Ding Ruchang didn't know was that the reinforcements he and all the soldiers of the Beiyang Fleet were looking forward to would never come, and everything would remain in the legend. On February 5, the Guizhou reinforcements had arrived in Huang County. According to the normal marching speed, they could reach Weihai before the 11th. However, the Guizhou reinforcements saw a person here. He is Li Bingheng. Li Bingheng told the Guizhou Army: Your reinforcements are too few to break through the defense line of the 30,000 Japanese army. You must recruit 20 battalions of new recruits here. , and plan together how to rush to help Weihai." It should be said that what Li Bingheng said was partly true. Judging from the situation at the time, it was difficult for the Guizhou reinforcements with fewer troops to break through the 30,000 Japanese defense line.The military situation on the battlefield is extremely urgent, and rescue is like putting out a fire. For the struggling Beiyang Fleet, even if they see signs of the Japanese army loosening up, even if they hear the shouts of their own troops, it is tantamount to sending charcoal in the snow. The Beiyang soldiers who were in trouble ignited their confidence and hope. Li Bingheng would not understand this truth. However, Li Bingheng's creed was "don't cause trouble for Li Hongzhang, and don't help Li Hongzhang." At the last moment, Ding Ruchang finally waited for an instruction. This is a telegram from Li Hongzhang. This telegram was sent a few days ago, and now it has passed to Ding Ruchang.For many years, Ding Ruchang has been used to obeying Li Hongzhang's instructions, but Ding Ruchang was completely disheartened about the instructions in this telegram. After receiving the distress letter sent by Ding Ruchang, Liu Hanfang of Yantai Daotai immediately telegraphed Li Hongzhang. Li Hongzhang already understood that the Beiyang Fleet was doomed, and reinforcements could not arrive.He had no choice but to ask Liu Hanfang to find a way to send a call back to Ding Ruchang: as a last resort, Ding Ruchang led the fleet to break out in the dark and fled to Shanghai Wusongkou to join the Nanyang Navy. It's late, I have to rush out early, why wait until now?Now that the warships have been destroyed, the shells have been exhausted, the morale of the army has been dispersed, and the United Fleet is sealed off in the open sea. With the remaining damaged warships, everyone understands that this is a suicide attack. It's not that Li Hongzhang didn't know that this was suicide, but he still wanted to order Ding Ruchang to rush.For Li Hongzhang, what he was most worried about was not the complete destruction of the Beiyang Fleet, but another outcome: surrender. At the beginning of the war, Li Hongzhang only wanted to preserve the strength of the Beiyang Fleet. He repeatedly ordered Ding Ruchang to "avoid the war and protect the ship" in order to preserve his strength.However, at this last juncture, Li Hongzhang had discovered in despair that it was no longer possible to preserve the strength of the Beiyang Fleet, and what awaited the Beiyang Fleet was the fate of the entire army being wiped out.This fleet was built by Li Hongzhang, and he spent a lot of money from the court to build it. If it is to be destroyed, it must be destroyed with the generals as cannon fodder! Because this is Li Hongzhang's confession to the court, and it is also a confession from the court to the people all over the world.The money Li Hongzhang spends is the money of the imperial court, and the money of the imperial court is the money of the common people. The common people are always kind. As long as the fleet does not flee in the end and the defenders die heroically, Li Hongzhang can keep his position as much as possible, and the common people We can still maintain confidence in this imperial court! Go ahead, go ahead as hard as you can, even if there is no ship left, no one left, even if this is just a form, a gesture, you have to go forward desperately.Knowing that you can't get out, knowing that you are destined to be cannon fodder, you need to complete this identity.Your failure and disappearance will not be meaningless, the meaning is - it can allow this powerless court to continue to exist! The soldiers were angry at such an order, and an atmosphere of despair began to spread in the Beiyang Fleet.When Ding Ruchang called a meeting of the captains to discuss the plan to rush to Hong Kong, finally no one spoke, and everyone turned around without a word, and left silently. The fleet is waiting to die, the court has no reinforcements, but let us go to die! Soldiers began to surround Ding Ruchang again, demanding that he fulfill his promise of "giving everyone a way out".Everyone has already understood that the so-called "way of survival" is actually surrender.Who would have thought that the final outcome of the mighty Beiyang Fleet, ranked No. The soldiers surrounded Ding Ruchang, weeping and pleading bitterly, asking Ding Ruchang to surrender. Since the court is incompetent, we can't let everyone die... Ding Ruchang no longer has any words to dissuade the soldiers. In the face of reality, words are pale.In his pocket, there was a surrender letter written by Yuheng Ito himself. The letter stated that as long as he led the Beiyang Fleet to surrender, the Japanese army guaranteed preferential treatment. Come on, let it all come.People will die, and the army will die.It's time to give myself, the Beiyang Fleet, and all the soldiers under him a break. Let it all come to pass.丁汝昌知道，他必将要违抗李鸿章的命令，冲出去的任务不可能完成了，这也许是他上任以来第一次违背李鸿章的意愿，是第一次，也将是最后一次，因为以后再也没有违背的机会了。 投降是丁汝昌绝对不能接受的，他早已表示，作为北洋舰队的司令，自己决不投降，也不会让投降的一幕在自己的眼前发生。 在舰长会议时，有一个人缺席了，他是永远的缺席，他就是镇远舰长林泰曾。 平时沉默寡言、性情温和的林泰曾大概是丁汝昌在福建籍舰长中唯一一个真正的朋友。 而最先的自杀就发生在他身上。 在日军进攻旅顺前，北洋舰队在丁汝昌的率领下到了威海。此后，按照李鸿章的命令一直蛰伏在威海，因为实在受不了言官的攻击，11月13日，在旅顺失陷的前几天，丁汝昌率舰队抵达旅顺，却只是在旅顺外海游弋了一圈，当天就返航威海。 这个做样子的行动没有给日本人制造麻烦，却将噩运带给了林泰曾。 在返港时，由于连日的大风将港内泊位的航标推移，镇远不幸误入暗礁区，舰体遭到严重损坏，紧急赶修后虽然勉强堵塞漏洞，但已不能出海作战。对于在大东沟海战后刚刚修复的军舰又遭损坏，老实人林泰曾十分内疚，认为是自己的失职，他已经看到了丁汝昌承受的巨大压力，他不想让言官们说他是“为了避战故意损伤舰体”，决心以死谢罪，也以一死证清白。 当天晚上，林泰曾吞鸦片自杀。北洋舰队左翼总兵、在大东沟海战中英勇无畏的镇远舰舰长就这样离北洋舰队而去。 现在，接下来的是刘步蟾。 不要让军舰落入敌手吧！它曾经代表帝国的尊严，曾经是一群天之骄子的荣耀，在覆灭之前，它们要庄严地死去。军舰的上面，永远只能飘扬着大清国的龙旗，那是属于大清的东西，它可以毁灭，但不能成为日军的战利品。 将定远击沉！ 接到任务的广丙舰出动了，它先朝靖远发射鱼雷，在刺耳的爆炸声中，靖远下沉。注视着这一切的北洋士兵已经没有眼泪，无人阻止，也无人出声，大家默默地看着这一切，但是，当士兵将定远绑上炸药，即将引爆时，有一个人出来阻止了。 他是刘步蟾。 刘步蟾最后一次站在自己心爱的军舰上，这艘军舰是他人生的光荣与骄傲，是他眼中神圣的力量。当年花费巨资打造的这个强大的武器，北洋海军的精神支柱，抚慰帝国心灵的神兵利器，如果现在将它炸了，那将是对所有人一种绝妙的讽刺。定远舰长刘步蟾相信定远是永不会沉没的，它曾经令敌人心惊胆寒，它曾经是海上霸主，曾经多么威风凛凛！ 刘步蟾对它的感情，就像关老爷对他的大刀。刀在人在，刀失人亡！ 朝定远投去最后一瞥，再看一眼这艘陪伴自己多年的伙伴吧，这是最后的机会。刘步蟾推开众人，缓步走进他的舰长办公室，摸出一袋鸦片，吞鸦片自杀。 士兵引爆炸药，定远下沉。 在镇远舰上，接替林泰曾成为舰长的杨用霖坐在船舱内，他把手枪枪口伸进自己的口中，扣动了扳机。 李鸿章的外甥，刘公岛护军统领张文宣吞鸦片自杀。 丁汝昌表现得很平静，他知道，是时候轮到自己做了断了。 这一切丁汝昌早有准备，几天前他特意让人给自己买了一口棺材，还亲自躺进去试了试大小——活着有太多的痛苦、不满、恐惧和委屈，只希望在死后，在去往天国后，能睡得安详。 1895年2月12日零时——在承诺的最后一刻，丁汝昌吞鸦片自尽。自杀的过程持续了七个小时，他一口一口地吞着，似乎还在等待着什么，直到腹部胀到再也装不下为止，受尽痛苦的折磨后，丁汝昌离世。北洋舰队的三位最高指挥官——主帅、左翼总兵、右翼总兵全部以自杀的方式结束了自己的生命。 而丁汝昌的死后入土为安的遗愿却不可能实现。 死前，丁汝昌将他的帅印交给了牛昶昞（chang bing），要他马上将帅印毁去，免得在他死后有人拿着帅印去向日军投降。牛昶昞答应了，丁汝昌安然地离世。 牛昶昞是威海水陆营务处提调，二品顶戴，此时他已经是活下来的最大的官。 当牛昶昞从丁汝昌手里接过帅印的时候，一个念头已经在他的脑海里升起，那就是：利用帅印投降。 丁汝昌死后，牛昶昞并没有毁掉帅印，在起草投降书后，把丁汝昌的大印盖上去，代表北洋舰队投降，交给伊东佑亨。 投降书上盖的是丁汝昌的帅印，战后所有的清流言官再一次声讨丁汝昌。李秉衡又一次上了奏折，指明丁汝昌的自杀“仅能抵战败之罪”，希望朝廷不要心软为丁汝昌追加抚恤。而朝廷正需要正反两方面典型，在追封了林泰曾、刘步蟾等正面典型后，丁汝昌正是反面典型的人选。 丁汝昌全家被抄，财产充公，家人流离失所。在丁汝昌的棺材运回安徽原籍后，不许下葬，用砖头围砌在村头，棺材全身涂黑漆，用三道黑漆铜箍紧锁，以示在死后继续“戴罪”。 生前饱受非议，死后不得安宁。但是丁汝昌也许只是一个普通的人，一个才干平凡但也算是好人的人。而战场从来不是好人们的舞台，却是狠角色的盛宴，不知道最后一刻的丁汝昌是否已经明白：被李鸿章强制安插在北洋舰队最高指挥者的位置上，这对他而言，绝不是幸运。 他的一生仍然没有盖棺定论，他仍然以巨大的争议存在于历史当中。而北洋舰队，已经灰飞烟灭了。 1895年2月17日，上午8点半。作为胜利者的联合舰队驶入威海港，接受投降。一直到最后，他们都没有攻进来，这一次却是坦途。镇远、济远、平远、广丙、镇东、镇南、镇西、镇北、镇中、镇边十艘军舰，全部降下龙旗，改挂日本国旗。 “叫你们抛锚啦！”趾高气昂日军用汉语对着北洋舰队官兵大声喝斥，每一个北洋士兵都低下了头。 这十艘军舰全部归了日本，被编入联合舰队，日军将它们保留了中文舰名，这是为了继续对北洋舰队的羞辱。强大的镇远舰被日军拖到旅顺修复，装上速射炮，10年以后，它作为联合舰队的一等海防舰，出现在日俄海战的战场上。日军打捞起了沉入海底的定远，把舰体分拆后运回国内，舵盘成了一张咖啡桌的桌面，甲板成了两扇大门，其余的物品作为陈列品供游人拍照、观看，一直到现在。 伊东佑亨“特别恩准”练习舰康济号仍然属于清国。作为丁汝昌等人棺材的运送船，在接受检查后开往“华界”。哀鸣的汽笛响起，装载着丁汝昌、刘步蟾、杨用霖、张文宣、戴宗骞五具棺材的康济号，凄然离去。投降的士兵默然地看着这一切，在被勒令交出武器、保证再不参战、接受检查后，他们也将随康济号开赴“华界”——是的，和旅顺一样，威海现在已经不属于大清帝国的版图了。 牛昶昞来到了伊东佑亨身边，请求伊东佑亨能否“再次开恩”归还广丙舰。牛昶昞说明广丙是广东舰队的，产权属于两广总督，不属于北洋舰队，只是因为前来北洋会操临时被征用，如果日方同意，广丙可以拆掉所有大炮武器，“虚舰而归”。这种在帝国官场看来很正常的逻辑，被日军大为嘲笑，伊东佑亨拒绝之后，特意命人将牛昶昞的这封乞求信刊登在日本报纸上，这在很长一段时间，都是日本媒体的笑柄。 然后，日军在刘公岛上岸，将整个刘公岛全部拆迁，除了泥土和石头，能搬走的物品都搬走了，北洋舰队的总部基地成为了一片废墟。 落日的余晖静静地照在威海港上，盛极一时的北洋舰队，全军覆没了。2012年的某个周日，我来到了威海，来到了刘公岛，这里已经是一派车水马龙的繁华景象。而在百年之前，这里承载着极大的苦难与屈辱，写照了北洋舰队将领多舛的命运。在接下来的讲述中，我们将发现，这样的命运只是整个大清朝命运的一个缩影。 伊东佑亨带着胜利者的微笑离开了，也许他是有理由值得骄傲的，他在战争中学习了战争，最后竟然只以损失两艘鱼雷艇的代价，全歼了不可一世的北洋舰队。占据威海的任务交给了陆军，而战争远远还没有结束，在东北战场上还有第一军和第二军，形成对奉天的进攻和包围之势，日军将继续进攻，清国将继续抵抗，所有人都在等待甲午战事的最终结局。