The Sino-Japanese War: Chapter 6 Tragedy of Lushun Air Force

After the first batch of Japanese troops entered China, due to China's vast territory, they were worried that the combat forces invested in advance would be too thin, making it difficult for China to surrender quickly. So the Japanese government began to organize a second army, aiming to attack Beijing, the capital of China, and force the Qing government to sign an alliance under the city. After the Battle of the Yellow Sea, the Qing's Beiyang Fleet was seriously injured and went to the dock for repairs. Japan took the opportunity to stir up trouble again. After repeated reconnaissance, the Japanese Second Army sent heavy troops to secretly land in the Huayuankou area of ??Dalian in mid-October 1894, trying to capture Jinzhou and cut off the rear road to Lushun. What is puzzling is that in the face of such a large-scale military operation, despite receiving early warning signals, the Qing generals stationed in the Jinzhou Army and the Beiyang Navy were still negligent. The Japanese troops swaggered ashore from Huayuankou, laying the groundwork for the future fall of Jinzhou. Huge hidden danger. Shortly after the Battle of the Yellow Sea, the Japanese base camp, stimulated by the victory, saw that the Beiyang Fleet could not leave Lushun for repairs. The Yellow Sea was actually controlled by the Japanese Combined Fleet, and boldly implemented the winter battle plan: occupy the Liaodong Peninsula and destroy the Beiyang Fleet at the same time. To carry out this task, the Japanese base camp decided to form a new army corps: the Second Army. They planned to transport the Second Army to Dalian Bay first, find a suitable place to land, and then capture Jinzhou first, cut off Lushun's retreat, and occupy the entire brigade area. On September 21, 1894, just a few days after the Battle of Dadonggou, the Japanese Second Army was established, and Oyama Iwa was appointed commander. Oyama Iwa studied in France and later served as Minister of War in Ito Hirobumi's cabinet. He was one of the core figures in the Japanese base camp. As early as 1894, before the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, Oyama Iwa, together with Ito Hirobumi, Kawakami Thoreau and others, formulated the general policy of invading China. After the establishment of the Second Army, it was incorporated into the First Division and the Twelfth Brigade of Dashanyan. On September 22, soldiers of the Second Army began to set off for Hiroshima Port to board the ship. At that time, there was a special person in the train full of Japanese soldiers: Tsunami Kamei, a reporter accompanying the army. Although his title was Earl, his favorite things were photography and journaling. He studied photography in Germany in his early years. After the war broke out, he immediately returned to Japan and strongly requested to accompany the army for interviews. It was his hobby that allowed a large number of war photos to be preserved and preserved evidence for history. At 8:30 pm on September 27, the U.S. military train arrived at Hiroshima Station. Through the window he saw that the station was crowded with people dressed in black. At this point, the First Division of the Second Army has been assembled. As early as September 24th to 28th, when the First Division was running on the railway, the Sino-Japanese joint fleet sent two warships to explore Dalian Bay. In order not to expose the landing plan, the exploration was carried out in a very secretive manner. Battleships were moored in the distant waters. On the one hand, the Japanese army sent Noguchi Kenichi, Nakazaki Saburota and others. We need to put on fake braids, put on Chinese clothes, pretend to be Chinese, and go to Jinzhou for reconnaissance. At the same time, several soldiers secretly sat on a steamer sampan to visit the shore. After several days of investigation, they focused on Yuankou, a desolate beach in the northeast of Dalian Bay. Huayuankou is located in a small bay on the Yellow Coast on the east side of the Liaodong Peninsula. It faces the Changshan Islands in the south of Dalian across the sea and is surrounded by mountains on three sides. It is about 100 kilometers away from Dalian Bay and 80 kilometers away from Jinzhou. It is about 40 kilometers away from Zhuanghe City. After the Battle of the Yellow Sea on September 17, 1994, the Japanese base camp was organized into the Second Army, and the Chief of Staff of the Combined Fleet, Raku Kojima Yasuyu, was asked to choose a landing site on the Liaodong Peninsula. On October 5, Mishima telegraphed to the base camp to confirm that Huayuankou near Qiaoziwo was a suitable landing place. However, the landing site chosen by the combined fleet was not favored by the Second Army at first. Considering that the entrance to the military park was too far from Jinzhou City, the soldiers had to march

In addition, China discovered American military activities in that area. In this way, the two sides argued endlessly until the evening of October 21st, when they finally Huayuankou was finalized as the landing point. Why did Japanese spies choose Huayuankou? This is because the water depth here can reach 3 meters at high tide and the width of the shoal is less than 2 miles at low tide, which is very conducive for large transport ships to berth nearby. They believed that this condition could reduce the distance that sampans had to run back and forth and facilitate the rapid landing of troops. They also found that the Qing army was not stationed here and was far away from Lushun, which could reduce the risk of being blocked by the Beiyang Navy. At that time, Yuankou was very desolate, with dozens of families scattered on the coast, living a life of farming the land and raising the sea. In the early morning of October 23, 1994, a dozen soldiers from the Japanese Chiyoda Marine Corps quietly landed at Huayuankou and sneaked into the village. After going around, the Japanese soldiers found that no Chinese troops were stationed, so they set up a sentry at the entrance of the village and erected a sun flag on a small mound. After the sun rose, the villagers were surprised to find an unprecedented sight on the nearby sea: escorted by more than a dozen escort ships, a dozen large transport ships were anchored at the anchorage outside Huayuankou. When the Japanese on board saw the sun flag in the village, the landing operation immediately began on a large scale. The personnel and materials transported by the Army troop carriers were first scattered on various sampans, and then four or five sampans were strung together, towed to the shore by Hot Wheels, and transported back and forth. Soon, 280 sampans and 22 steamboats appeared on the sea, and the shuttle traffic was very busy. From October 23 to November 6, the Japanese troops were not blocked by any Qing troops during the half month they landed. During this half-month, 24,049 Japanese officers and soldiers, 2,740 war horses and a large number of heavy weapons were unloaded from Huayuankou Beach.

During the Japanese landing at Huayuankou, in order to prevent the Qing army from attacking, they decided to open another landing site as a precaution. On September 27, the Japanese Combined Fleet sent two ships, the "Saito Yuko" and the "Chori Kai", to conduct reconnaissance at Qiaoziwo based on the information they had. At the same time, Yamada Yuji, commander of the Japanese First Division, also sent a small team led by Saito Sasuke as a forward to attack Qiaoziwo by land. On the morning of September 28, the Japanese Saitobe arrived at Qiaoziwo at the same time as the Japanese ships "Tsuruji" and "Chomi". At this time, the officials of the Rongqing Army stationed in Maoziwo had only two sentries with 200 cavalry. Outnumbered, they retreated for more than twenty miles and Qiaoziwo was lost. At the 24th bell of 8 o'clock, the camp of Kong Rong's Jiesheng Camp Cavalry stationed in Qiaoziwo learned that there was a ship anchored outside Huayuankou, and immediately sent a horse to conduct reconnaissance. On the way, he captured the Japanese spy Saburota Nakazaki and learned that more than 10,000 Japanese troops would land at Huayuankou. On the 25th, Rongan informed the deputy commander-in-chief of Jinzhou that Lian Shun knew on the 26th that the Japanese army was going to capture Jinzhou, Dalian Bay, and Lushunkou. This was an urgent telegram. Li Hongzhang, Gong Zhaoyou and Shengjing General Lu Yu requested help, but they received no reply. On November 7, all the officers, soldiers, horses, and baggage of the Second Japanese Army landed. The Qing government completely allowed the enemy to move and waited for death. After the Japanese troops landed at Huayuankou, they posted notices everywhere to the effect that people should not resist; soldiers should throw away their weapons and surrender! Then, the Japanese army began to brutally plunder Huayuankou in the name of requisition targets. A local named Wang Jiheng later recalled that the Japanese troops began to land at Huayuankou at dawn that day. When the villagers saw the Japanese troops, they were frightened and fled in all directions. At that time, the residents of Wuyuankou, Jiulongxing and other places, except for an old lady in her 10s, had no way to escape. Others dragged their children to take refuge in the mountainous areas of Zhuanghe Chengshan and Changling. Even people from Zhongtun and Xiaoliutun, which are more than ten miles away from Huayuankou Village, fled north after hearing the news. The villages around Huayuankou are full of desolate scenes. To make matters worse, the weather was extremely cold and the fleeing villagers had nowhere to go but to camp out in the wind. These people hid until the Spring Festival was approaching

After eating, they began to grab things, and even some suitcases, wardrobes, tables, chairs and benches were burned as firewood. After that, the Japanese began to burn houses again, and Kowloon Xinghou Street All 14 thatched houses were burned, leaving piles of ruins; there were 35 houses in Songtun at that time, and only 5 were left. What were Li Hongzhang and the Beiyang Navy doing at this time? In fact, Li Hongzhang received a secret report as early as a month before the Japanese troops landed at Huayuankou. On September 28, Li Hongzhang sent a telegram to the Qing general stationed in Lushun and Admiral of the Beiyang Navy Ding. The central idea is: The Japanese are likely to copy the bottom of Lushun. Everyone must be careful. All forts must be guarded day and night in separate shifts. However, Li Hongzhang's heart was like a mirror. After the Battle of the Yellow Sea, Ding was injured, the American ships of the Beiyang Fleet were seriously damaged, and Lushun Pier was short of manpower. The ship's repair process was very slow. So he sent messages to the Beiyang Navy on October 2 and 4 respectively, urging them to seize the time to repair the ship and go to sea as soon as possible. Especially in the telegram on the 4th, Li Hongzhang clearly showed dissatisfaction: The Japanese are about to attack! Let the United States have so many ships, repair them quickly, so that we can escort at sea early, and let the Japanese see that our ships can still run, so that they win. Don't be too presumptuous. Now you all squat. What on earth are you doing? Don't you understand that the way to fight is wrong? On October 9, the anxious Li Hongzhang sent a telegram urging: The Japanese are planning to land in Dalian Bay. Where are the six ships of the navy? When can we send troops? On October 13, Li Hongzhang sent another telegram to Ding, asking him to board the ship despite his illness and go to sea regularly. Li Hongzhang also knew that the Beiyang Navy was seriously damaged and was severely short of ammunition, so he called Ding Zuoxiu to make the Japanese wary. Later, Li Hongzhang mobilized Xu Bangdao to lead a cavalry battalion, an artillery battalion, and a new brave battalion to rush to Lushun by boat for support. Under this situation, although Ding's injured warship went to Ahawa to replenish ammunition, some generals still ignored Li Hongzhang's persuasion and failed to strengthen coastal defense, which ultimately allowed the Japanese army to successfully land in uninhabited territory. On the night of October 28, after learning the news of the Japanese landing, he led the Ding fleet from Ahawa north to return to Lushun. On the afternoon of the 29th, he led the Ding fleet to cruise around Dalian Bay from Lushun. Ding said: If we encounter an enemy on this trip, we will definitely die. At this time, Li Hongzhang, who learned about the Japanese landing, felt powerless and worried that the Beiyang Navy would be defeated again and the Bohai Sea defense would not be guaranteed, so he sent a message to Ding: Prioritize spying and do your best. Li Hongzhang wanted to preserve the strength of the Beiyang Navy and make plans later. But I didn't think about it, and in the end I was defeated by the Japanese army. On November 3, the attack on Golden State began. Song Qing, the former governor of Lushun, went to guard Jiulian City. Li Hongzhang asked Jiang Guiti to guard Lushun, and Xu Bangdao helped him. It is believed that Xubang Road to Jinzhou is the throat of the road behind the brigade. Jinzhou fell and it was difficult to protect the brigade. It was advocated to divide troops to reinforce Jinzhou to consolidate the road behind Lushunkou. During the Qing Dynasty. Lushun has 6 commanders and more than 30 battalions, both old and new. As a last resort, Xu Bangdao led his third battalion of vaulting troops to Jinzhou. After arriving in Jinzhou, Xubangdao, because there was only one single soldier, he repeatedly requested Dalian Bay garrison commander Zhao Huaiye to send troops for support. Zhao only sent two sentries led by the camp officer Zhou to deal with them. After arriving in Jinzhou, Xu Bangdao will join the troops stationed in Jinzhou and set up fortifications on Jinzhou East Road. The military governors rushed to build fortifications day and night, building forts from Qiaoziwo on both sides of Jinzhou Avenue to the top of the mountain to guard against the Japanese army. On the morning of the 5th, Major General Nogi Nogi Nogi, commander of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division of the Japanese 2nd Army, commanded the troops of two brigades and launched an attack on the position guarded by Xu Bangdao.

American commander Xu Bangdao counterattacked by establishing a base. I

The team of my first division also concentrated 36 cannons at Sanli Village in the northeast of the city, and bombarded Jinzhou City with platoons of artillery. Gun ammunition fell like rain. Engineers were then sent to blow open the north gate with explosives, and Japanese troops poured into the city. Soon, the east gate was also breached. Xu Bangdao ordered the defenders to start a fierce battle with the enemy. Outnumbered, Xu Bangdao finally led his troops to retreat from the west gate and south gate to Lushun. On July 7, the Japanese army occupied Dalian Bay. On the 17th, the Japanese army began to attack Lushunkou. When he learned that the Japanese army was about to invade Lushunkou, Xu Bangdao decided to organize an ambush on the road where the Japanese army was about to attack, regardless of Jinzhou's new defeat and the difficulty of the hungry army. At dawn on November 15, Xu Bangdao led the imperial army to ambush in Tuchengzi, ten kilometers north of Lushun. At noon, in the south of Tuchengzi, he encountered the Japanese search cavalry. Xu Bangdao commanded his soldiers to attack bravely, repelled the Japanese army and won the first battle. However, due to Xu's army Xiahou's new defeat in Jinzhou, he lost a lot of supplies and supplies and lacked food and grass. His infantry could not be satisfied until they returned to Port Arthur, so they had to abandon their positions and return to Port Arthur to eat. Jinzhou City and Dalian Bay, which lost their protective barriers, were lost one after another, and the road behind Lushun was completely open. A bigger battle is coming, and the situation is extremely unfavorable to China and the US military.