Brief introduction of Ding's life: Is Ding a hero or a sinner?

Due to the disparity between public and private interests, the land fortresses in the north and south of Weihai fell one after another, and Liu Gongdao was surrounded by land and sea and became an island. In the early morning, Ding organized the death squads in two ways, one for feint and the other for blowing up the 280mm Krupp gun. After completing the task, all the death squads died.

Since then, Japanese and Lu Haijun cooperated with each other and used the remaining land artillery companies to attack beiyang fleet for several days, all of which were repelled. On February 5, Japanese torpedo boats attacked at night, and Dingyuan ship was seriously damaged. Ding moved the governor's flag to Zhenyuan ship. On February 7, more than 40 Japanese warships lined up outside the south gate of Weihai and were bound to rush in. The Japanese also bombarded the port with artillery from the land battery. Since then, Wang Ping, the captain of the torpedo boat, has planned the collective escape of the torpedo boat team, and the situation in Liu Gongdao has further deteriorated.

On February 9, Ding boarded the Jingyuan ship to fight, injuring two Japanese warships, and the shells fired from the Jingyuan land battery were injured. Ding tried to sink with the ship, but his men vowed to save him from it. On February 12, Ding resolutely refused Japan's surrender and only wanted to be loyal and generous. That night, he committed suicide by taking opium to thank the people of China. Before he died, Ding abolished the seal of Beiyang Navy at the age of 59.

After Ding's death, his officer Niu Chang stole his name and signed a surrender letter with Japan in Weihai. In Weihai Port, Li Hongzhang managed the Beiyang Navy for many years, and the whole army was wiped out.

Since then, the Puritans and die-hards in the Qing Dynasty attacked each other, and Emperor Guangxu decreed that "there was no property" and no burial was allowed. Ding's descendants were forced to live in a foreign land. It was not until two years (19 10) that the Qing court made an apology for Ding with the efforts of Zai Xun, Sa Zhenbing and others.

Sa Zhenbing and Tan proposed that all naval divisions donate the salaries of non-commissioned officers for three days as the project cost to build a temple in the original naval training barracks. Due to the support of all, the ancestral temple was completed soon, and * * * entered more than ten rooms, majestic and majestic, with doors painted on the double doors, all wearing golden armor and holding tomahawks. There is a memorial tablet and portrait of Ding in the ancestral hall.

Where is Ding's tomb?

In the first year of the Republic of China (19 12), the coffin was buried in Meihuatian, Xiaoji Mountain, Xixiang, Wuwei County, Anhui Province, and was destroyed in 1959. Ding Changming, the fifth grandson of Ding, has been running for the ancestors who were dug graves and burned bodies since the early 1980s, but there is no result.

In 200 1 year, the local government invested100000 yuan to rebuild Ding Tomb. The following year, the tomb of Li Hongzhang was rebuilt at the expense of Hefei City, which quickly became a tourist attraction.

Is Ding a hero or a sinner?

Ding has been guilty for a long time after the war and is still controversial. There are many false statements that should be clarified. There are three main aspects of false accusation against Ding:

First, Ding's ability is not strong and his command ability is poor?

This mainly means that he doesn't understand naval specialty and his leadership and management ability is not strong, which leads to poor fleet management. In addition, some people think that Ding's appointment as the prefect of beiyang fleet is entirely the result of Li Hongzhang's "cronyism". Admittedly, Ding was born in the Huai army, not a navy, and his professional knowledge was not as good as that of training generals abroad.

However, the importance of beiyang fleet determines the weight of the post of prefect in Li Hongzhang's mind. It is impossible for him not to use one of his own, nor to use "homo habilis", which is not enough to control this fleet. Without homo habilis, it is not enough to control this fleet.

Compared with the generals trained by beiyang fleet, Ding is a general with the deepest qualifications, the richest combat experience and the greatest military exploits. Everyone in the industry knows that creating a new army and taking over the old army are not the same thing. As the prefect in charge of the fleet, he can turn the fleet into an army and put it into battle in a short time. The responsibility, pressure and workload can be imagined.

In fact, Ding has long been aware of his own shortcomings and has been trying to learn modern naval knowledge. It can be seen from the large number of handwritten documents left by him that he is proficient in naval terminology, accurate in expression and quite familiar with fleet business. Specifically, he personally mastered the training arrangements such as morning gun training, afternoon gun training, taking turns shooting targets every day, and even the number of times the ship repaired the old hole.

Second, Ding's "war of terror" passively defended the ship and delayed the fighter plane?

In fact, this accusation is a move by court officials to shirk their responsibilities and find scapegoats for failure. In the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Ding participated in almost all the battles and major actions in beiyang fleet, except the Toshima naval battle. In the Yellow Sea naval battle, he refused to enter the cabin after being injured, and still sat on the deck to inspire the soldiers. In the process of resisting the enemy, Ding was often accused and punished for no reason.

He had many opportunities to pass the buck and get out of the battlefield, but he never did. Some people even do it knowing that they can't. Under the condemnation and punishment of the court and the flood of condemnation and abuse from officials, he made up his mind to die, endured humiliation and held on to the command post until he committed suicide.

Ding was bound by Li Hongzhang's passive defense policy of "protecting the ship against the enemy" in command, but he was only the executor of this policy. It is obviously unfair to put the hat of "fear of war", passive protection of ships and delaying fighters on his head.

3. Is Ding the main capitulator and the chief culprit of failure?

At that time, Emperor Guangxu and some courtiers accused Ding of shirking the responsibility of defeat, saying that Ding "never dared to avoid war" and "Lushun was in danger, leading his troops to flee first".

In modern times, some people suggested that he was "descending first and then dying", saying that he committed suicide not by "serving the country with death", but by knowing that he was guilty, so as to avoid being punished by his family. When the fleet was in a desperate situation, the Japanese army sent Ding a surrender letter, threatening him to surrender. Ding categorically said, "I will never give up the meaning of serving the country. I will die as a minister today!" "

In the defending battle of Weihai, Ding repeatedly repelled the fierce attack of the superior Japanese army with the remnants of beiyang fleet. When Dingyuan was attacked, he discussed with the generals on the ship; When the "Jingyuan" was filmed, Ding was supervising the war on board and planned to sink with the ship. It is totally untenable to explain the reason only by "using death to shirk responsibility to avoid family members being punished".

Brief introduction of Ding's life: What is Ding's story? Is Ding a hero or a sinner? This article will introduce you to:

Brief introduction of ding's life

Ding (1836— 1895), formerly known as Ding Xianda, was born in Shitou Town, Hefei, Anhui. In the late Qing Dynasty, the general was appointed as the prefect of Beiyang Navy.

In the early Ming Dynasty, ancestors moved from Fengyang to Lujiang. Tongzhi for four years (1865), moved to Nakamura, Wang Lang, Chaoxian. He joined the Taiping Army in his early years and later joined the Xiang Army. Soon, he joined the Huai Army of Li Hongzhang and participated in the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Nian Army Uprising. His official name was prefect. In the fifth year of Guangxu (1879), Li Hongzhang was transferred to Beiyang Navy.

In the seventh year of Guangxu (188 1), he led 200 officers and men of Beiyang Navy to Britain and returned home by cruisers "Chaoyong" and "Yangwei". In the 21st year of Guangxu (1895), he commanded beiyang fleet to resist the Japanese siege in the Battle of ahava. Without oversight, Beiyang Navy was in a desperate situation, because it had no choice but to wait for rescue at the port. We ran out of ammunition and food, but reinforcements didn't arrive. We refused the surrender of Japanese general Ito Sukeyuki and took opium to thank the people of China. Xuantong two years (19 10), * * * Zhao Xue.

The story of Ding.

First, early experience

In the 16th year of Daoguang (1836), Ding was born in Shitou Town, Lujiang County, Anhui Province. Ding was originally from Fengyang County, Anhui Province. Ancestors entered the garrison in the early Ming Dynasty, and later generations became garrison officers and settled in Shizuitou, Beixiang, Lujiang County. Their offspring multiply and their population increases. Later, this place was renamed Dingjiakan Village.

During the Xianfeng period, Ding moved to Langzhong Village, Chaoxian Township (now Wanglangzhong Village, Chaohu Town, Anhui Province). Ding's father, Ding Canxun, made a living by farming and lived in poverty. Ding studied in a private school for three years when he was a child. Because of his poor family, he dropped out of school at the age of ten and went out to help people herd cattle and ducks and ferry boats to subsidize their families. When Ding was 14 or 15 years old, his father sent him to his uncle's tofu shop as an apprentice.

In the first year of Xianfeng (185 1), there was a serious famine in Lujiang area, and Ding's parents died one after another. In December of the third year of Xianfeng (1854 65438+ 10), the Taiping Army occupied Lujiang and Ding was recruited into the Taiping Army. Later, he was stationed in Anqing with the Taiping Army and became a subordinate of Cheng Xueqi.

Second, surrender to the Qing army.

In the eleventh year of Xianfeng (186 1), Anqing was besieged by the Xiang army. As a subordinate of Chen Yucheng, the Taiping Army, Cheng Xueqi led more than 300 people, including Ding, to climb the city wall late at night and surrender to Zeng Zhengan, the discipline of Guan Xiangjun in Jixian County.

Ceng Guoquan, the general of Xiang army, has doubts about these troops. Every time he fights, he will rush to the front. On July 13, Cheng Xueqi and Ding Wei, as the leaders, broke through three Taiping Army camps outside the north gate of Anqing, cutting off the traffic to the north of Anqing, making the Taiping Army guarding the city in a more difficult situation. On August 1 day, Cheng Xueqi and Ding captured Anqing, and all the Taiping Army commanders and fighters Ye were killed.

After the war, Cheng Xueqi was promoted to guerrilla warfare, Dai Hualing was rewarded as a battalion officer, and Ding was promoted to Ganzong as a battalion officer. At that time, at the request of Shanghai gentry, Zeng Guofan ordered Li Hongzhang to form a Huai army to support Shanghai, most of which were composed of Anhui people. Cheng Xueqi's opening of the camp was commanded by Li Hongzhang.

In the first year of Tongzhi (1862), Cheng Xueqi and Ding went to Shanghai by boat with Li Hongzhang. In August, with the battle between Ziming Camp in Liu Mingchuan and Taiping Army in Sijiangkou, Liu Mingchuan saw that Ding was brave and good at fighting, and asked Li Hongzhang to transfer Ding to the camp and remain as a sentry, commanding 100 Qin Bing. Rotate and lead cavalry, be promoted to battalion officer, and be awarded to general.

Tongzhi for three years (1864), the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was defeated. Zeng Guofan went north to supervise the suppression of twisting, and Li Hongzhang acted as the agent for the governor of Liangjiang to handle logistics. Ding Shengsheng was the lieutenant, commanding the 3rd Battalion of Pioneer Cavalry, and went north with Liu Mingchuan to fight against the Nian Army. In the seventh year of Tongzhi (1868), the Dongnian army was wiped out by the Qing court, and Ding was named company commander, prefect and Batuluyong.

Third, return to the scene after dismissal.

In the 13th year of Tongzhi (1874), Ding was introduced, and Qing decided to cut down on expenses. Liu Mingchuan intends to cut off the 3rd Battalion of Ding and Ding Cavalry, and Ding sends a letter to him. Liu Mingchuan was angry with him for disobeying orders and wanted to kill him. When Ding heard the news, he went back to his hometown, Chao County, to avoid being killed.

In the same year, the Japanese invaded Taiwan Province Province. In the Qing Dynasty, * * * launched a coastal defense plan, and Li Hongzhang urged to buy armored ships and handle the navy. In the first year of Guangxu (1875), Li Hongzhang was ordered to supervise the northern coastal defense.

Ding Xiang resigned and returned to the field, unhappy. His wife, Wei Shi, is a knowledgeable woman from Zhongxiang, Hubei. She comforted Ding: "Our family has a few acres of thin land, which is enough to fill our stomachs. If a gentleman makes meritorious deeds, he will naturally have an opportunity. Let's wait for the time being. "

After living at home for several years, Ding often thought that Li Hongzhang was the governor of Zhili and the minister of Beiyang trade, and his aunt went to Tianjin to take refuge. Li Hongzhang always knew that Ding "has talent and courage", so he said to him, "Liu Mingchuan has a problem with you. If I use you, I will be unhappy with Liu Mingchuan. You should part ways with him! Now I plan to create a navy, lacking talent command. If you can go to Britain to study the navy and come back after graduation, I will give you this job. "

At that time, Zuo Zheng, governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, commanded the Qing army to recover Xinjiang. Knowing that Ding is brave and good at fighting, let him send him to Gansu. Li Hongzhang didn't want to go west to Ding, so he left Ding in Tianjin on the grounds of "injury recurrence".

Fourth, foreign prestige.

In the fifth year of Guangxu (1879), four warships, namely "Town East", "Town West", "Town South" and "Town North", ordered by the Qing Dynasty from Britain came to China, and the number of Beiyang warships increased day by day. Li Hongzhang asked Brigadier General Ding to stay in Beiyang for coastal defense and sent gunboats to supervise the operation.

In the sixth year of Guangxu (1880), Li Hongzhang sent Ding, Lin Taizeng and Deng Shichang to England to receive the cruisers "Chaoyong" and "Yangwei" ordered.

During his stay in England, Ding paid an audience with Queen Victoria of England, visited British naval commanders and senior officers, and met some famous warship designers at that time, which left a good impression. Ding took the opportunity to go to England, bypassed Germany and visited the Dingyuan ship under construction.

In June of the eighth year of Guangxu (1882), a mutiny occurred in the capital of the Korean dynasty, and the domestic situation was in chaos. Japan decided to take the opportunity to send troops to North Korea. In the Qing Dynasty, Ding Suiwei Yuan, Chao Yong and Yang Wei were sent to North Korea to observe the situation and prevent the situation from getting worse.

Ding and candidate Ma Jianzhong left Yantai and led the fleet to Incheon, North Korea. The Japanese naval fleet has arrived ahead of schedule. Ding decided to "put the chief culprit of the hospital under house arrest first", so Weiyuan returned to Tianjin to invite soldiers.

On July 7, Ding led ships such as Weiyuan, Rixin, Tai 'an, Zhendong and Gongbei to land in North Korea. On July 13, designers such as Ding, Ma Jianzhong captured Li Yunying, the monarch of North Korea's grand courtyard, and put him under house arrest in Tianjin, which frustrated the Japanese plan to interfere in North Korea.

On August 29, Li Hongzhang said that it would take him a long time to make a decision to register Xilin Batuluding Changru, the company commander of the newly awarded Tianjin town. He went to England to take the clippers back to China, founded a navy, stressed the western methods, and was hard-working. This time, he won a great reputation abroad. Qing Ding is wearing a yellow jacket.

In the 11th year of Guangxu (1885), the battleships ordered by China in Germany, Dingyuan, Zhenyuan and Jiyuan, returned to China, and Ding and Tianjin Guan Lu Zhou Fu went to check and accept them, and held a flag-raising ceremony. In July of the 12th year of Guangxu (1886), Li Hongzhang ordered Ding and the general manager Chalangweili to lead the main force of Beiyang Navy to practice in Busan, Yuanshan and Yongxing Bay in North Korea and inspect the ocean surface.

Soon, Li Hongzhang sent Wu Dayou and others to demarcate the border between China and North Korea in eastern Jilin, and ordered Ding to lead a fleet to Vladivostok to meet the enemy, and then went to Nagasaki to dock for maintenance. On the tenth day of July, Dingyuan and other warships arrived in Nagasaki, Japan, causing envy among the Japanese people.

On July 16, sailors on vacation in China went ashore and had a fight with Japanese police and people. On one occasion, Chalangweili, general manager of Beiyang Navy, prepared to order a war against Japan, but Ding stopped him. In the end, China and Japan resolved the dispute through diplomatic and legal channels, and Japan compensated China for more than 50,000 yuan.

Five, command the navy

In the 13th year of Guangxu reign (1887), the Qing dynasty * * * ordered local governors to look for general talents and ensure that they were appointed separately. On July 20th, Li Hongzhang submitted "Recommended General", and Ding was among them.

In August of the 14th year of Guangxu (1888), the Qing Dynasty stipulated the official system of Beiyang Navy and established the Navy Office in Weihai. On September 9th, Premier Yi Xuan, Minister of the Navy, promulgated the Constitution of Beiyang Navy, and the Beiyang Navy was formally established.

On September 13, according to Li Hongzhang's nomination, the naval yamen asked Beiyang Navy to register Ding, the company commander of Tianjin Town, as the naval prefect, and soon named him Shangshu.

According to Ding's suggestion, the Qing court established a naval academy in Weihai, which specially trained driving and commanding officers. Set up mine schools in Dagu Lake and Lushun to train torpedo officers; Set up an ordnance school in Shanhaiguan and a firearms school in Weihai to train professional officers at all levels. During his tenure, Ding devoted himself to the Beiyang Navy and the construction of Beiyang coastal defense, and was strict with himself. However, the military discipline is not strict enough to obey Li Hongzhang. Under his leadership, Beiyang Navy became Li Jiajun.

In the 17th year of Guangxu (189 1), Ding led a fleet to visit Japan. In view of the development of the Japanese navy, after returning to China, chenchen asked Qing * * * to buy a new ship to enhance the strength of Beiyang Navy and prevent foreign invasion, which was not adopted.

Six, the Yellow Sea naval battle

In the 20th year of Guangxu (1893), Ding was named as the Shangshu. In the 21st year of Guangxu (1895), the East Learning Party uprising broke out in North Korea, and Qing * * * sent troops to help suppress it at the request of korean king. Li Hongzhang, under the condition of insufficient military strength and inadequate preparation in China, did not suggest going to war too early and tried to delay the time. Japan * * * invoked the Tianjin Treaty to send troops to Korea, deliberately provoking war.

On June 20, the Japanese naval joint fleet attacked the South Korean troop transport fleet in the Toyota waters of North China; On July 1 day, China and Japan declared war on each other at the same time, and the Sino-Japanese War officially began. After the war broke out, Emperor Guangxu became emotional at the instigation of Puritans.

A few days later, he repeatedly sent telegrams accusing Ding, asking why he didn't succeed, and proposing to remove Ding from his post and send him to the Ministry of Punishment for punishment. On July 29th, Li Hongzhang submitted "Fold of Ensemble Admiral" to defend Ding.

Because most of the accusations against Ding were groundless and there was no evidence to speak of, Emperor Guangxu issued a letter: "Ding was temporarily exempted from punishment". As more and more Japanese troops entered Korea, the Qing Dynasty decided to send more troops to fight in Korea again. On August 18, Ding was ordered to lead beiyang fleet to escort reinforcements to land at the mouth of Yalu River from Dalian Bay. Return the next morning.

At noon 1 1: 30, beiyang fleet found that the Japanese joint fleet was coming from the southwest, and a fierce battle at sea was imminent. Ding immediately ordered beiyang fleet to change from a team filed in the corner (or filed in the crevice) to a team flying geese in the corner (or a team flying geese in the crevice).

This formation is what Ding said in his report, that is, "advancing in the cracks" to meet the enemy. At the same time, he also issued three operational instructions to the whole fleet: (1) All ships of the same ship type must coordinate their actions and help each other. (2) Always aim your bow at the enemy, that is, keep your position. This is the basic tactic. (3) Ships should follow the flagship as much as possible.

Due to the tight time, beiyang fleet's formation failed to form a flying unit formation, and the formation in actual combat was similar to the "headland formation". As for the herringbone formation, empennage echelon formation, sudden echelon formation, wedge formation and V formation mentioned by later generations, they are only approximate images.

Japan's United Fleet 12 warship is divided into two tactical units: four high-speed ships, such as Yoshino, are the first guerrillas, and a single column is used as a sharp knife in front of the team; The remaining eight ships served as our team, and the Dan column filed forward behind the first guerrilla.

At this time, the sea surface of Dadonggou in the Yellow Sea where the two fleets are located is calm, and the dead silence is creepy, but the smoke from the chimney of the warship is rising upwards.

When the distance between the two fleets was 12km, the Japanese joint fleet changed its course slightly to the left and rushed to the right of beiyang fleet. 12: 50, the distance between the two sides is 5330 meters. Beiyang fleet's flagship Dingyuan's 305mm front main gun roared, and other ships fired one after another.

At the beginning of the Yellow Sea naval battle, beiyang fleet's right-wing company commander and Dingyuan captain Liu Ren was the commander in chief. Soon, Japanese artillery destroyed the beacon device on Dingyuan Island, and beiyang fleet lost unified battlefield command. The Japanese First Guerrilla pounced on beiyang fleet's weak right-wing warship Chaoyong and Yangwei at high speed and sank it.

The two tactical detachments of the Japanese joint fleet turned to the left rear and the right rear respectively, interspersed with circuitous beiyang fleet, which caused beiyang fleet to be caught between Scylla and Charybdis. 17: 40, the Japanese joint fleet voluntarily withdrew from the battlefield and headed southeast. The cruel strangulation at sea that lasted for five hours came to an end.

In this battle-scale naval battle, the Chinese and Japanese navies each had 12 warships. China's warships are old as a whole, the tonnage and artillery quantity are not as good as those of the Japanese, and they lack rapid-fire guns. As the prefect of beiyang fleet and the battlefield commander of China, Ding also made mistakes in battlefield command. Moreover, their agents and flagship agents were not clearly defined before the war, and no remedial measures were taken during the war, which completely lost their command functions and left the entire fleet in a passive situation of leaderless and fragmented.

But it is undeniable that the command of the Japanese navy in the whole naval battle is also a mess. Although the Japanese joint fleet was hit to a certain extent, it did not lose a ship. And beiyang fleet lost five warships. Ding was responsible for beiyang fleet's fiasco in the Yellow Sea naval battle.

How did Ding die?

On September 20th, the 21st year of Guangxu (1895), beiyang fleet returned to Weihai after completing repairs in Lushun, and Zhenyuan was injured when she entered the port, which made the already weak beiyang fleet worse. When the Japanese attacked Lushun, Ding was deprived of the title of Shangshu and the top hat. After the fall of Lushun, Ding was dismissed again and temporarily stayed in his original post.

On the issue of defending Weihai, Ding expressed concern about the combat capability of the army and suggested that he be prepared to blow up the land and coastal forts. Unexpectedly, Dai Zongqian misunderstood and exposed it, which became evidence of "collaborating with the enemy to commit crimes against the country". The Qing court ordered it to be handed over to the Ministry of Punishment for punishment. Under the strong defense of Liu, Li Hongzhang and other generals, the Qing court ordered that the affairs at hand be handled and sent to the punishments for processing.

Although Ding lived in a very difficult environment at that time, he still tried to cheer up, called all the generals and raised questions about marine defense. 1On February 25th, the Japanese army landed in Rongcheng, Shandong. On the 30th, that is, on the New Year's Eve of the 20th year of Guangxu, the commander of Japan's United Fleet Ito Sukehiro submitted the surrender. Ding was unmoved and determined to fight to the death. On that day, he said to his family, "I made a promise to the country" and gave the surrender to Li Hongzhang in order to make him clear-headed.

In the 21st year of Guangxu (1895), on the 30th day of the first month, the Japanese army attacked Motianling, the commanding height of Nanbangbao in Weihai. Ding led the fleet to support the battery defenders from the sea with artillery fire, and fired a platoon of guns, killing Kang Cheng, the head of the Japanese army (the highest general killed by the Japanese army in the Sino-Japanese War).