Japan’s Sino-Japanese War

Japan invaded China and Korea from 1894 to 1895. It broke out in 1894 (the 20th year of Guangxu). According to the Chinese zodiac calendar, the year was the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, so it was called the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894.

As early as 1868, when Emperor Meiji Murishito came to the throne, he issued an edict, declaring that he would "open up the waves of thousands of miles and declare the country's prestige in all directions", aiming to expand overseas. After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, China and Japan signed the first treaty in modern times, the "Sino-Japanese Amendment Treaty". The first paragraph said: "The Qing Dynasty and the Great Japan Kingdom will continue to maintain a harmonious friendship that will last forever. That is, the two countries belong to Each country should treat each other with courtesy, and no intrusion should be allowed in order to achieve permanent security. "This is a treaty of equality.

However, while the treaty was pending approval, the murder of Ryukyu boat people occurred. In December 1871, the Ryukyu boat people drifted to Taiwan due to wind. 54 of them were killed by Taiwanese indigenous people (i.e. "aboriginals"), and the rest were escorted back to China by the Qing government. At that time, Ryukyu was a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, and no objection was raised. The incident was settled, and the Japanese government was not aware of it. The next year, the Japanese envoy went to China to exchange the treaty and read about the incident from the Qing government's official newspaper. So he reported it to his country and went to the Prime Minister's Office to negotiate and test the Qing government's attitude towards Ryukyu and Taiwan. The Prime Minister's Yamen replied: "Both the two islands (referring to Ryukyu and Taiwan) belong to me, and the people who belong to the soil kill each other. The decision lies with me. Why bother to interfere with national affairs?" This is a very good statement. But he added something superfluous and said: "Those who kill people are all born, so they are left out of the way, and it is inconvenient to treat them." This gave Japan an excuse to use the word "huawai" to make a big fuss about Taiwan's indigenous people. The place of residence is not Chinese territory and it is an excuse to attack Taiwan.

In February 1874, the Japanese army landed in Langqiao, Taiwan and began their attack on Taiwan. For Japan, this action was quite risky. Not only were there great disparities in national power between China and Japan at the time, but international public opinion did not support it. By August of the war, the number of Japanese troops increased to 3,600, but the offensive was still unfavorable. Morale was low due to the severe heat and disease. At this time, Japan saw that the chances of victory were too low, so it sent an envoy to Beijing to strive for an honorable end to the war.

After the Japanese minister came to China in September, he first made false threats, and then expressed his "sincerity" to end the war. He said that Japan had exhausted financial resources by sending troops to Taiwan, and China could not let the Japanese troops return empty-handed and should pay Spend some money on troops and then Japan withdraws its troops, so both sides can live well. The Qing government felt that it was in an advantageous position in the war and it was unjustifiable to end the war by losing money. However, it did not want to expend too much energy on "reviving foreign affairs" and also wanted to put an end to the problem, so it expressed that it could consider "compensating the victims" in Taiwan as appropriate. ” is tantamount to acknowledging the principle of reparations. In the "Beijing Treaty" signed on October 31, 1874, the murder of the Ryukyu people was written as "the murder of Japanese nationals", and the Japanese attack on Taiwan was written as "a righteous act to protect the people". China paid a compensation of 500,000 silver in the name of "pension". . The "Beijing Treaty" provided the basis for Japan to annex Ryukyu. In April 1879, Japan occupied Ryukyu and changed its name to Okinawa Prefecture.

After playing with Taiwan, we started playing with North Korea. At that time, North Korea was still under the control of a closed and self-defeating feudal dynasty. Its productivity was backward and its domestic political situation was unstable. It relied on the support of the Qing Dynasty to maintain peace for a while.

After the Meiji Restoration, Japan began to strengthen its influence in North Korea, and through diplomatic means, it strived to separate North Korea from the control of the Manchu Qing government and become an "independent country." Diplomatic efforts were not very successful without sufficient strength to back them up. In 1884, Japan took advantage of the Qing Dynasty to be busy with the Sino-French war. Takezoe, the minister to Korea, instigated a pro-Japanese "enlightenment party" coup and overthrew the conservative regime overnight on December 4. The next day, the king issued an edict to reform politics and established the Kaihua Party government. The conservatives quickly requested support from the Manchu Army. Therefore, in the name of protecting the Korean government, Yuan Shikai led 2,000 troops to denounce the rebels and stormed the palace on December 6. Zhutian was outnumbered, burned the embassy on fire, and fled overnight. During the turmoil, the Prime Minister, ministers and more than 30 Japanese of the Kailash Party were killed.

The Japanese government responded to the urgent report and immediately sent its foreign minister to lead a large number of troops to North Korea. The Qing government also sent an imperial envoy to North Korea with an army and warships. During the confrontation, Japan felt that its military preparations were insufficient, so it did not take military action and turned to diplomatic means. At that time, many people in Japan advocated taking advantage of the Sino-French war to quickly launch a war against China. However, a group of people led by Ito Hirobumi, considering Japan's national strength, especially the lack of military power, advocated "quickly saving redundancy, building more railways, and rushing to "Add the navy" and accumulate strength.

In the spring of 1885, Japan sent Ito Hirobumi as its special ambassador plenipotentiary to negotiate the Korean issue with the Qing Dynasty. During the negotiations, Ito often threatened to return to China. Later, Li Hongzhang said angrily: "China did not make mistakes in the Korean affairs. All its faults lie with Zhutian. If there is a breakup, I will only prepare for war!" Despite this, the agreement was signed after many days of entanglement. In the Treaty of Tianjin, Japan still gained the right to send troops to North Korea.

After the signing of the treaty, the Qing government appointed Yuan Shikai to be in charge of Korean affairs and tightened control of North Korea. Japan, on the other hand, has strengthened its economic penetration and stepped up its arms expansion and war preparations, waiting for the opportunity.

Japan has always paid attention to the Qing Dynasty. In 1880, Japanese Chief of Staff Aritomo Nagayama submitted an investigation report on the Chinese army to Emperor Meiji. He pointed out that the Qing government was reforming the military system. If it followed the example of Europe, it could recruit 4.25 million soldiers in peacetime and 8.5 million soldiers in wartime. Therefore, he believes that "the stronger the military preparedness of neighboring countries, the more impregnable the military preparedness of one's own country will be."

After 1890, Japan used 60% of national fiscal revenue to develop its navy and army. From 1893, Emperor Meiji decided to allocate 300,000 yuan from his palace funds every year, and another 100,000 yuan from the salaries of civil and military officials. One percent to supplement the shipbuilding costs. The morale of the whole country is high, with the goal of catching up with China and preparing for a war that "bets the fate of the country." In 1890, the Beiyang Navy had seven warships of more than 2,000 tons, totaling more than 27,000 tons; while the Japanese Navy had only five warships of more than 2,000 tons, totaling more than 17,000 tons. . In 1892, Japan completed its ten-year military expansion plan ahead of schedule since 1885. By the eve of the Sino-Japanese War of 1885-1892, Japan had established an army with 63,000 standing troops and 230,000 reserve troops, and a displacement of 70,000 The 2,000-ton navy surpassed the Beiyang Navy.

During this period, the Qing government saw that after decades of Westernization Movement, in a series of military confrontations, it was no longer like the Opium War where the foreigners could not cope with a few gunboats, so It can't help but feel a little arrogant. In the process of dealing with Western countries, I realized that the Westerners had no intention of annexing the country, but just wanted to take advantage of trade, so they relaxed their armament awareness even more. Although some actions of Japan in the east in recent years have made people vaguely feel that it will be troublesome in the future.

The Beiyang Navy has not added any ships since its official establishment in 1888. The ships are gradually aging. Compared with Japan's newly added warships, their firepower is weak and their movements are slow. After 1891, even guns and ammunition stopped being purchased. This is not because the arms industry has been domesticated - the money was used by Cixi to repair the Summer Palace. The Empress Dowager Cixi said: "When Guangxu came to power in 1875, he was still young. I had to listen to the government behind the curtain. In 1886, it was changed to "training the government" and "returning to the government" in 1889. I don't care about anything anymore. Isn't it enough to build a garden for retirement? ? "Compared with Emperor Meiji, the contrast is so stark! ”

The entire process of the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894 included three stages: July 25 to September 17, 1894. At this time, within the Qing court, the main war faction headed by Guangxu had the upper hand. Cixi was sixty years old that year. She hoped to end the war as soon as possible so as not to delay her grand celebration, so she preferred peace talks. However, due to the Qing Dynasty, she did not dare to publicly advocate peace for the time being. At this stage, the war was carried out on the Korean Peninsula and at sea. , the land battle was mainly the Battle of Pyongyang, and the naval battle was mainly the Battle of the Yellow Sea.

The Battle of Pyongyang took place on September 15, 1894. It was the first large-scale battle between the armies of both sides at that time. * Thirty-fifth Battalion, 17,000 men; the Japanese army attacking Pyongyang had more than 16,000 troops. The battle was fought on three battlefields at the same time: One was the battlefield on the south bank of the Datong River. The Nine Huncheng Brigade, under the command of Major General Oshima Yoshihiro, first launched an attack on the Qing army on the south bank of the Datong River. Taiyuan Town's commander-in-chief Ma Yukun's team fought bravely. The Japanese officers and soldiers suffered heavy casualties and were unable to fight anymore. Oshima Yoshihiro was injured and had to fight. Ordered to retreat, all evacuated from the battlefield at 2:00 p.m. The second was the battlefield outside Xuanwumen. Xuanwumen was the main direction of attack, so the superior forces were concentrated. Major General Naofumi Tachimi's 10th Brigade (also known as Shuoning Detachment) and Colonel Sato Masaru's 18th Regiment (also known as the Yuanshan Detachment) served as the main attack. Zuo Guogui, the commander-in-chief of Gaozhou Town, went to Xuanwu Gate to take command and fired cannons to bombard the enemy. During the fierce battle, Zuo Guogui was inspired and killed the enemy bravely. The cannon was sacrificed, and three of his battalion officers were also killed. Xuanwu Gate was captured by the Japanese army at 2:00 in the afternoon. The Japanese army attempted to advance into the city, but was blocked by the Qing army and had to retreat to the battlefield in the southwest of the city at 7:00 in the morning. Lieutenant General Nozu Michizuki personally led the Japanese 5th Division and used artillery fire to cover the infantry charge from the southwest of Pyongyang. The Qing cavalry counterattacked. By noon, Nozu Michizuki saw that it was difficult to succeed and ordered to suspend the attack and return to the station. For the Qing army, the war was still possible, but the Qing army's president (commander-in-chief) Ye Zhichao was afraid of death and raised a white flag to stop resistance at four o'clock in the afternoon and ordered the entire army to retreat. In six days, the Qing army ran five hundred miles. , crossed the Yalu River and returned to China on the 21st. The Japanese army occupied the entire territory of Korea.

The Battle of the Yellow Sea took place on September 17, 1894. It was a major decisive battle between the Qing and Japanese navies at Dadonggou at the mouth of the Yalu River. In the sea near Donggou, Liaoning Province, 10 warships of the Beiyang Fleet participated in the battle, and 12 warships of the Japanese Navy participated in the battle. After the battle at noon, the Beiyang Fleet severely damaged the Japanese ships Hiei, Akagi, and Nishikyo Maru, but the Beiyang Fleet's Zhiyuan warships were defeated. In order to protect the flagship, the commander Deng Shichang ordered a fierce attack on the enemy vanguard ship Yoshino in order to kill him. Unfortunately, he was hit by an enemy torpedo and more than 200 people died. In the afternoon, four of the 10 ships of the Beiyang Fleet were sunk, two escaped and two were injured. Only two ironclad ships, Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, still fought bravely and severely damaged the Japanese flagship Songdao. By 5:30 p.m., the Japanese fleet withdrew from the battlefield.

After the battle in Pyongyang and the Yellow Sea, the Japanese side widely publicized the situation. Exaggerating the victory further stimulated its ambition to expand the war of aggression. As for the Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang, who was responsible for military command, exaggerated the failure to further promote his policy of passively avoiding war. At the same time, Cixi's preference became increasingly clear. From September 17 to November 22, 1894. During this stage, the war was fought on the Liaodong Peninsula, with the Battle of the Yalu River and the Battle of Jinlu.

The Battle of Yalu River began on October 24. It was the first defense battle of the Qing army against the Japanese invasion of Chinese territory.

At that time, the Eighty-second Battalion of the Qing Army was deployed on the north bank of the Yalu River, with about 28,000 people. The Qing government appointed Song Qing as the president of the armies to control the armies. The Japanese offensive force was the First Army commanded by General Aritomo Yamagata, including Lieutenant General Katsura Taro's Third Division and Lieutenant General Nozu Michunuki's Fifth Division, with a total of 30,000 soldiers. The strength of both sides is evenly matched. However, although Song Qing had the reputation of controlling the armies, the armies were actually disobedient and morale was low, and many generals lacked the determination to resist the enemy. At 11 o'clock before noon that day, the Japanese army successfully swam across the river at the mouth of the Anping River upstream of Jiulian City. That night, the Japanese army set up a pontoon bridge in the middle of the Yalu River near Hushan, but the Qing army was not aware of it. At six o'clock in the morning on the 25th, the Japanese army crossed the pontoon bridge and launched an attack on the Qing army's position in Hushan. Qing army defenders Ma Jinxu and Nie Shicheng led their troops to fight back bravely. However, they were alone and suffered heavy casualties and were forced to withdraw from their positions. The Japanese army then occupied Hushan. Other Qing troops heard that Hushan had fallen and fled without fighting. On the 26th, the Japanese army occupied Jiuliancheng and Andong County (today's Dandong) without firing a shot. In less than three days, the Qing Dynasty's Yalu River defense line, garrisoned by nearly 30,000 troops, collapsed.

The Battle of Jinlu also started on October 24 and ended with the fall of Lushunkou on November 22. This was a key battle between China and Japan during the Sino-Japanese War of 1884-1894. On the same day that the Japanese First Army attacked the Qing defense line on the Yalu River, 25,000 men of the Second Army commanded by General Dashanyan, under the cover of Japanese ships, began to land at Huayuankou on the road behind Lushun. The Japanese landing activities lasted for twelve days, but the Qing army sat silently. On November 6, the Japanese army occupied Jinzhou (now Jinxian County, Liaoning Province). On the 7th, the Japanese army attacked Dalian Bay in three directions and found that the Qing army had long been defeated and captured Dalian Bay without a fight. After resting in Dalian Bay for ten days, the Japanese army began to advance towards Lushun. At that time, there were seven commanders of the Qing army in the Lushun area. Taoist priest Gong Zhaoyu was the former general office of the enemy's camp affairs office and was known as the "hidden commander". He was responsible for thirty-three battalions with about 13,000 people. On the 18th, the Japanese vanguard invaded Tuchengzi. Xu Bangdao commanded the Guards to resist bravely and repel the Japanese troops. On that day, Gong Zhaoyu ignored all the troops and fled to Yantai in a torpedo boat. On the 19th, three commanders, Huang Shilin, Zhao Huaiye and Wei Rucheng, also fled one after another. On the 21st, the Japanese army launched a general attack on Lushunkou. On the 22nd, they occupied Lushunkou and bloodbathed the entire city.

As the Qing army retreated steadily, within the Qing court, the peace faction had gained the upper hand and carried out surrender activities on a large scale. After the fall of Lushunkou, the Japanese navy gained an important base in the Bohai Bay. From then on, the Beiyang gateway was opened, and the Beiyang fleet was hidden deep in Weihaiwei Port, and the war situation took a turn for the worse. From November 22, 1894 to April 17, 1895. During this stage, the war was fought on two battlefields, the Shandong Peninsula and Liaodong, including the Battle of Weihaiwei and the Battle of Liaodong.

The Battle of Weihaiwei was a defensive battle to protect the Beiyang Navy base, and it was also the last battle of the Beiyang Fleet against Japan. At that time, there were 26 various ships of the Beiyang Navy in Weihaiwei Port. On January 20, 1895, the Japanese Second Army commanded by General Oyama Iwa, including Lieutenant General Sakuma Mata's Second Division and Lieutenant General Kuroki Moraki's Sixth Division, totaled 25,000 troops. Under the cover of Japanese ships, they began to land on Longxu Island in Rongcheng, and all landings were completed on the 23rd. On the 30th, the Japanese army concentrated its forces to attack Weihai Weinanbang Fort. The Qing army stationed at Nanbang Fort only had six battalions and 3,000 men. Battalion officer Zhou Jiaen defended the Motianling position, resisted bravely, and died heroically. The Japanese army also suffered heavy casualties. Its left wing commander, Major General Odera Yasumi, was shot and killed. Due to the huge disparity between the enemy's and our own forces, the Nanbang Fort was eventually captured by the Japanese army. On February 3, Japanese troops occupied Weihai Acropolis. All land in Weihai was occupied by the enemy, and Liugong Island, where "Ding Ruchang" was commanding, became an isolated island. In the past few days, the Japanese army, in cooperation with land and water, launched eight attacks on Liugong Island and the Beiyang Fleet in Weihai Port, but all were repelled. During this period, Japanese Combined Fleet Commander Ito Yuhiro wrote to Ding Ruchang to persuade him to surrender, but Ding Ruchang refused. In the early morning of the 5th, the flagship Dingyuan was hit by a mine and ran aground. It was still used as a "water fort" and continued to fight. On the 10th, Dingyuan ran out of ammunition, so Liu Buchan ordered the ship to be blown up and sunk to avoid damaging the enemy, and he resolutely committed suicide and died with the ship. On the 11th, Ding Ruchang refused to surrender and committed suicide under the coercion of foreign members and Niu Changchang, a general promoted by the Weihai Camp Office, who was responsible for the surrender. Foreign officials and Niu Changchun and others also recommended Yang Yonglin to be in charge of Zhenyuan to come forward to preside over the surrender. Yang Yonglin refused to obey the order and committed suicide to sacrifice his country. On the 12th, the American foreigner Haowei drafted a surrender document, and in the name of Ding Ruchang, he sent a Guangzhou Bing tube to take Cheng Biguang to the Japanese flagship. On the 14th, Niu Changchang and Ito Yuheng signed the "Liugong Island Surrender Treaty", which stipulated that all ships in Weihaiwei Port, Liugong Island fort and all ordnance and supplies on the island would be handed over to the Japanese army. On the 17th, the Japanese troops landed on Liugong Island, Weihaiwei Naval Base fell, and the entire Beiyang Fleet was annihilated.

The Battle of Liaodong lasted a long time. After the Japanese army broke through the Qing army's Yalu River defense line, they successively occupied Fenghuang City, Xiuyan, Haicheng and other places. The Qing government transferred Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang, to be the imperial minister to supervise the military affairs of the Eastern Expedition, and was granted full power to command the military inside and outside the pass. It also appointed Wu Dacheng and Song Qing, the governors of Hunan, as assistants in order to reverse the decline. From January 17, 1895, the Qing army launched four battles to regain Haicheng, but all failed. On February 28, the Japanese army attacked from Haicheng. On March 4, they captured Niuzhuang. On the 7th, they captured Yingkou without a fight. On the 9th, they captured Tianzhuang Terrace. In just ten days, the Qing Dynasty's more than 100 battalions and more than 60,000 troops retreated from the east bank of the Liao River.

The signing of the "Treaty of Shimonoseki"

With the defeat of the war, the Qing government further intensified its begging activities. On February 11, 1895, it was decided to send Li Hongzhang as Minister Plenipotentiary to Japan to negotiate peace.

On April 17, Li Hongzhang signed the "Treaty of Shimonoseki" with Japanese Prime Minister Fifumi Ito and Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu at the Shimonoseki Shunho Tower, including eleven paragraphs of the "Peace Treaty", three paragraphs of "Another Treaty", and "Negotiation". There are three paragraphs on "Special Article on the Extension of Armistice" and two paragraphs on "Special Article on Armistice Extension". On November 21, 1894, the Japanese army captured Lushun. Immediately, a massacre lasting four days and three nights, involving more than 20,000 dead people, left the entire city of Lushun littered with corpses and rivers of blood.

However, such a shocking massacre did not shock the world. It turns out that two world-class news organizations, the Central News Agency of the United Kingdom and Reuters of France, were successively bought by Japan. Whenever reports that were unfavorable to Japan were published, they would immediately jump out and provide counter-propaganda to cover up the crimes of the Japanese army. Reuters "timely stopped" the telegram sent by our reporter from Shanghai exposing the brutal killings in Lushun; the Central News Agency even wrote an article saying: "Except for legitimate killings during wartime, (the Japanese army) did not kill a single Chinese." Similar. There is also the Washington Post in the United States, as well as several newspapers and periodicals in Italy and other countries. Some Western reporters even said that the Qing army tortured and killed first, and the Japanese army retaliated later. After the Japanese army invaded Lushun City, they found that their own people were tortured and killed by the Qing army on a big camphor tree... In fact, there were no camphor trees in the entire Lushun.

It is precisely because the Japanese army made such careful arrangements to cover up their crimes that even though the British "Times" was the first to disclose information about the "Port Arthur Massacre" on November 26, the American "Le Monde" A long documentary report by "war correspondent" Kliman was published for several consecutive days on December 12, 13, 19, and 20. The truth of the facts was still covered up on a large scale.

It was not until three years later that a British adventurer named James Allen wrote a book called "Under the Dragon's Flag - A Personal Experience of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894", which completely overturned the international community. A "good impression" of Japan. As an eyewitness, the author presents in detail the scene of the Japanese army killing Chinese people in Lushun. One of the outrageous records is as follows:

“I was standing on a high ground, not far from me. There was a pond. There were many Japanese soldiers standing by the pond, trying their best to drive a group of refugees into the pond. After a while, the pond was filled with people. The refugees were seen in a mess in the water. There were some Japanese soldiers beside the pond. Some used their guns to shoot, and some stabbed them with bayonets on their guns. Those who had their heads cut off, their waists cut off, their chests pierced, and their stomachs pierced were mixed together, and the water turned red. The Japanese soldiers were laughing and shouting. It was so joyful. There were a few living people in the pond, crawling around on the dead bodies, covered in blood. One of them, holding a child, came out of the water and made a plaintive plea to the Japanese soldiers on the shore. He stabbed the child with a bayonet and stabbed him in the chest. The second time he stabbed the child, he saw that the child was stuck on the bayonet. He raised the gun high and shook it a few times. As something to play with. The woman fell into the pond and was not stabbed to death. She wanted to stand up and look at the child, but she just struggled and fell down again. The Japanese soldiers killed her as well. The woman was cut into several pieces."

The Japanese army massacred more than 20,000 people and left only 36 alive. The reason why these people were left behind was because they needed to dispose of the body, so they wrapped a white cloth around their heads with the words "This person will not be killed" written in Japanese. The corpse-carrying team worked for a full month before gathering the corpses in one place, and the burning of the corpses continued for more than 10 days. Bao Shaowu, captain of the corpse-carrying team, recalled many years later: "When we came to collect corpses, we saw some people being stabbed to death while sitting on chairs. What was even worse was that there was a family on a kang with four or five children surrounding their mother. The little one was stabbed to death while he was still nursing." In a letter to a friend, the superior soldier Ito Rennosuke proudly described the pleasure of killing the Qing army: "It felt like cutting with one knife. Qiushui, the body and head were separated, and the head was thrown forward more than three feet, and a column of blood burst out to the sky..." Another detail is enough to subvert your common sense: it was not only Japanese soldiers who committed the murder, but also cooks, porters, Members of Congress and journalists also joined in the killings. After returning to Japan, a Japanese reporter publicly declared: "I only killed people, not robbed like others." In his eyes, robbery was a sin, but killing was not a fault. It is said that the Japanese tortured and killed Qing people in more than 250 ways. No wonder "Le Monde" denounced "Japan as a monster with barbaric muscles and skin covered with civilization."

Why did the Japanese army go on such a killing spree? Two reasons. First, the commander said, let go and kill. Before the war, the commander of the 2nd Army, Oyama Iwa (General), agreed with the 1st Division Commander, Yamachi Motoharu (Lieutenant General), to issue a secret verbal order to "leave no enemy soldiers alive when you see them". The reason was: "We cannot feed so many prisoners. Treating their injuries and providing them with food and drink is something our army cannot bear." Seeing his subordinates killing them, Yamachi Motoji specifically said: "In the future, don't tell anyone unless you have to." Second, killing people has benefits. , can be promoted. The more people killed, the higher their position rose. Ono was just a middle school student before joining the army. Because he killed many people, he was promoted to sergeant squad leader. In other words, this was a premeditated, purposeful and organized massacre.

20,000 people were brutally murdered. Where are their defenders, the troops of the "Heavenly Kingdom"? Lushun was the base of the Beiyang Navy. It was known as the "No. 1 Military Port in the Far East" at the time, with 78 cannons and 14,700 troops stationed there. After visiting, Huang Zunxian was very confident and wrote a poem excitedly: "The sea water is a puff of smoke at nine o'clock. This place is so majestic and dangerous. The fort stands like a tiger's nest, and the general in red is so majestic."

"However, Li Hongzhang claimed that Lushun, which "can hold on for three years," was lost in less than a day (excluding the Japanese army's march time from Dalian to Lushun).

What did the 14,700 defenders do? ?

On the 17th, as soon as the Japanese army set off from Dalian, the well-informed Daotai Gong Zhaoyu fled with his family on a steamer. Generals Huang Shilin, Zhao Huaiye, and Wei Rucheng also fled Lushun one after another when they saw that something was going wrong. In addition to more than 2,000 casualties, the abandoned garrison was also "missing". It took the Japanese army only one day and 280 casualties to capture all of the more than 20 forts on the Lushun Peninsula. Ten years later, the Japanese army fought to capture the Russian army. The garrison at Port Arthur took half a year and resulted in 60,000 casualties.