March Three Thousand Li —— The Sino-Japanese Documentary The Battle of Yashan in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895

March 3,000 Li —— The Battle of Yashan, a Sino-Japanese marine documentary in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895

On July 25th, 20 years ago, 1894, the first guerrilla fleet composed of Japanese fast cruisers Yoshino, Surabaya and Akikawa attacked the Japanese Beiyang Navy Jiyuan and Guangyi, which were responsible for transporting troops to the Korean peninsula. At this time, there are still five days before China and Japan officially declare war. This "undeclared war" surprise attack began between China and Japan.

This war, which started from the naval battle, has also attracted long-term attention because of the naval battle. The Battle of Dadonggou and Liu Gongdao's Elegy are the highlights in the modern history of China. The naval contest between China and Japan can even be considered as the first naval confrontation in the modern sense in the world. However, in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894- 1895, the fierce fighting on land stretching for 3,000 miles to the territory of China was also worth remembering. The first land war began in yashan.

The Sino-Japanese War began in Korea, and 1894 doomed North Korea to be unstable. Before this 1882, there was a "Renwu mutiny" in North Korea. North Korean veterans vented their anger at unfair treatment on the pampered new army "Bieki Army" and the South Korean government. The "foreign technical army" was established by North Korea with the help of Japanese weapons, equipment and technology, with Japanese officer Horimoto as the instructor. Those who join the "foreign technical army" are all privileged children, and of course they are not as good as the old army soldiers who lack food and clothing. As a result, the soldiers concentrated on attacking the thief-catching hall in Seoul, released prisoners, opened warehouses to release grain, captured the headquarters of "other technical forces" there, executed Japanese instructor Sakamoto, and then attacked the Japanese embassy. The Japanese envoy's greenhouse just set fire to the embassy and fled at night. Afterwards, China and Japan sent troops to intervene at the same time, and Japan asked North Korea to sign the Jiwupu Treaty with it. In addition to punishing the "murderer" and compensating for losses, it also stipulates that Japan has the right to station troops in the North Korean Embassy. Since then, the "Tianjin Treaty" agreement between China and Japan stipulates that in the event of an emergency in North Korea, China and Japan must first "learn from each other's strengths" when sending troops. This made the Qing government admit that Japan had the right to send troops to Korea, and that Japan and China, the "sovereign state" of Korea, enjoyed the same rights, which became the origin of the Sino-Japanese conflict in Korea in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895.

From 65438 to 0894, North Korea was burdened with heavy foreign debts under the pressure of Japan and western countries. The Dongxue Party Uprising led by Quanzhun took place in Jeolla-do, and the insurgents grew rapidly to 10,000 people. Farmers in Chungcheongnam-do, Huanghai-do, Gyeonggi-do and gangwon also took the lead in responding. North Korea officially sent troops to encirclement and suppression, but the rebels occupied the important town of Quanzhou. The panicked North Korean government "borrowed teachers from its sovereign country, China, to help suppress returning home late at night". With the help of North Korea, Li Hongzhang, who was in charge of Beiyang affairs, sent Nie Shicheng, the company commander of Taiyuan Town, to lead about 800 strikers to set sail from Tianjin and cross the sea to North Korea. Ye Zhichao, governor of Zhili, led the main force of the Qing army and then crossed the sea into Yashan. 1On June 6th, 894, Wang Fengzao, Minister of Qing Dynasty in Japan, sent a note to Japanese Foreign Minister Luo Ozongguang. According to the provisions of the Tianjin Treaty, he informed Japan that China had decided to send troops to aid North Korea. Japan has been paying close attention to the development of China for a long time. As early as June 2, after receiving the news that the Qing army had decided to aid Korea, the Japanese cabinet meeting decided to take advantage of the East Learning Party uprising to send troops to North Korea. At that time, the Japanese Prime Minister was Ito Bowen, and the cabinet was in turmoil. The political parties in parliament are against him and set obstacles on various issues. Ito Bowen believes that the only way to solve the cabinet collapse crisis is foreign war. Only on this issue can the cabinet and the anti-cabinet congressional parties find a common language. The decision of the cabinet was also supported by the chief of staff, Prince ChirenHiagawaMiyagi, and the second chief of staff, KawakamiSoroku. After a joint plan, the military department and the cabinet thought that the Qing Dynasty would send up to 5,000 troops, and the Japanese army only needed to send 6-7,000 troops to defeat the Qing army in Korea, so as to force the Qing Dynasty to make peace. If China sends more troops, the Japanese can send another division. On June 5, the Japanese army set up a wartime base camp, which was responsible for wartime mobilization, sending troops and operational command. Because Ito Bowen still has scruples about sending troops, Japan decided to send only one mixed brigade. After receiving the notice of China's invasion, Guangzong in Lu Ao was a treasure. On June 7, Japan also sent a note to send troops to the Qing Dynasty. More than 400 Japanese troops landed in Incheon and left for Seoul on 10. About 4000 Japanese troops landed in Incheon on a large scale.

Seeing that the war was just around the corner, the Qing rulers staged a series of court farce. 1894 is the 60th birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi, the supreme ruler of the Qing Empire. This incident can be said to be an overwhelming event of the imperial court, and its importance far exceeds the threat of Japan. Therefore, at the critical moment of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Emperor Guangxu had to lead courtiers to make elaborate preparations for Cixi's 60th birthday with great fanfare. The huge Summer Palace project continued to devour the financial income of the dynasty. Even after the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War, Cixi still did not stop her extravagant "birthday". The luxury of his birthday stunned Weng Tonghe, who personally participated in the celebration. He wrote in his diary: "So many treasures, so many festivals!" In the end, the play "The Wind of Pets and Elves" was ridiculed as: long life, happiness, loss of the three armies and reconciliation.

Except for Cixi, the performance of other courtiers in the Qing Dynasty was extremely poor and even shameless. Emperor Guangxu, the nominal ruler of the empire, was blown by Zhen Fei's pillow wind, selling officials and titles constantly, and even almost made an illiterate become a post station on Yanfa Road in Sichuan. Weng Tong _, the teacher of Emperor Guangxu, who was then the minister of household affairs, appeared as a very small person in history. Master Weng, who claimed to be a loyal minister, was a proud and upright person when the country was in turmoil. He tried his best to fight the main battlefield. Whoever doesn't fight is a traitor. But the abacus in my heart is "I just want him to try on the battlefield and see if he is a mule or a horse." There is still room for punishing him in the future! " You know, before that, he stopped the Beiyang Navy's military spending for two years on the grounds of celebrating the Queen Mother's birthday, just waiting for the Beiyang Navy to lose the battle and make a fool of himself. Master Weng did this for purely personal reasons. Weng Tonghe's brother, Weng Shutong, was the governor of Anhui in those days and committed the crime of losing his government. Zeng Guofan wrote a letter to attend his memorial service, which was drafted by Li Hongzhang. As a result, Weng Shutong was exiled to Xinjiang, and his father Weng was furious. From then on, Weng Tong _ held a grudge. A minister in charge of the country's important task, regardless of the country's peril, privately narrow revenge, shameful and despicable to the point of outrageous.

The supreme ruler of the country, central officials and local officials are not much better. In China at that time, besides Beiyang Navy, there were other maritime forces such as Nanyang Navy, Mawei Navy and Guangdong Navy. Among them, the Nanyang Navy is the strongest, with five 2000-ton cruisers equipped with 8-inch main guns, such as Kaiji and Chen Nan, which are quite powerful. As early as before the Yellow Sea naval battle, Guangxu ordered the Nanyang Navy to go north to help. However, Zhang Zhidong, then the governor of the two rivers, shirked for various reasons, which finally made Nanyang Navy unable to participate in the Sino-Japanese War. How can the emperor, the post-Party, the Hunan Party and the Huai Party compete for power with national interests and put the interests of the group above national security?

On the other hand, Japanese not only cooperated with Qixin, but also made surprising preparations before and after. After the declaration of war between China and Japan, Japan published 49 issues of Records of the Japanese-Qing War in 490 days, which introduced in detail a series of battles from the signing of the treaty of shimonoseki between China and Japan to the complete defeat of Beiyang, as well as the generals, warships and combat effectiveness of Beiyang Navy. It can really be described as deliberate. The reaction of the Qing dynasty in the temple was a mess, and the strategy and tactics of the Sino-Japanese War were also a mess. The Qing army put forward three strategies for Japan to send more troops to North Korea. Yuan Shikai, who is familiar with Korean affairs, believes that the Qing army in Yashan is in danger because it is within the attack range of the Japanese army. He suggested "moving to the north" and concentrating in Pyongyang and other places. The cautious Nie Shicheng proposed a more cautious plan: withdrawing troops. He said: our army was ordered to quell the Korean rebellion, not to compete with Japan for hegemony. The Japanese crew crushed South Korea with amphibious brigade, which has been premeditated for a long time. Being outnumbered, having the right place and the right people, we are in a battle. Now that the chaos of bandits has subsided, we can take this opportunity to take a trip to the team so as not to make excuses. Laozi's plan is not the first one, but also a tactic for military strategists to avoid reality and be empty.

Judging from the later developments, Nie Shicheng was prescient. At this time, the Qing army had no advantage in North Korea or Lu Haijun, so it was a very wise choice to retreat, because Japan dared not take the world by storm and brazenly annexed North Korea, regardless of possible interference from Britain and Russia. The retreat of the Qing army can avoid giving excuses and expand the trouble. Unfortunately, Nie Shicheng's opinion was not adopted. Ye Zhichao, commander-in-chief of the Qing army, put forward such a suggestion-

On July 14, Ye Zhichao, Nie Shicheng and others received a telegram from Li Hongzhang: "Peace cannot be achieved, and Chiang Kai-shek has been sent from Lunziying in the Kang Dynasty to help the war." Then on July 24th, Li Hongzhang sent a telegram again: "Peace has been broken, prepare for war." In the meantime, Yuan Shikai has returned to China from Incheon. On the 26th, the news of the battle of Toyota reached Yashan. The outpost of the Japanese Huncheng Brigade stationed in North Korea has been active in the Weizhen area near Yashan. At this point, Ye Zhichao misjudged again. He quickly ordered the Third Division, led by Nie Shicheng and Cheng, to build fortifications to intercept the Japanese army. Ye Zhichao led an army to reinforce Duke Zhou, and 500 troops were stationed in Yashan. The decision to divide our army was fatal. The strength of the Qing army is inferior to that of the Japanese army. To fight, we must concentrate our superior forces. However, Ye Zhichao further divided the originally weak forces, resulting in a greater disadvantage. On the 29 th, the Japanese soldiers were divided into two ways. The right-wing army was ambushed by the Qing army in Anchengdu and fell into a passive position. However, due to the small number of Qing troops, the Qing army was forced to retreat after the Japanese successor troops participated in the war. When the Japanese left-wing army learned that the right wing had succeeded, it stormed the position of the Qing army in Nie Shicheng, the city ring, and suppressed the Qing army with artillery superiority. Nie Shicheng led the army to break through. After meeting with Ye Zhichao, he decided to withdraw to Pyongyang. In late August, Ye and Nie led the Qing army to meet the left and other departments in Pyongyang.

The failure of the whole Yashan is similar to the battle of Salhu in the late Ming Dynasty. The same adventure, outnumbered, and finally swallowed the bitter fruit of failure. The end of a dynasty is almost the same cycle. On the one hand, Yashan's failure was attributed to the Qing court's hesitation about "war and uncertainty" and its one-sided belief in "mediation" without making the key decision of "increasing troops" or "withdrawing troops". On the other hand, it is due to the mistakes of employing people and arranging troops. This failure caused the Japanese army to cut off the transportation channel from China to the west coast of Korea, completely cutting it off, enabling the Japanese army to go north and fight the Qing army in Pyongyang. It can be said that the defeat of Yashan laid the groundwork for the failure of the Qing army in North Korea.