First, the dream of the Sino-Japanese War 1 13 years ago, two fleets met in the Dadonggou waters of the Yellow Sea, so "the car was at the wrong hub and the soldiers were short" and fierce battles broke out between the two sides-this is the famous Yellow Sea naval battle in the history of the Sino-Japanese War. The warring parties were the joint fleet of beiyang fleet and Japan of the Qing government. In the vast waves, the two armies fought fiercely for nearly five hours. Beiyang Navy fought bravely and regarded death as death, and wrote a generous and tragic historical elegy in the history of the Sino-Japanese War. The Yellow Sea naval battle is the main decisive battle between the Chinese and Japanese navies, and its scale, intensity and duration are rare in the history of modern naval battles in the world. As far as the military losses of both sides are concerned, China's losses are undoubtedly greater than Japan's. "In September, Ding led Beiyang warships to fight against Japan in Dadonggou, losing four ships: Zhiyuan, Jingyuan, Chaoyong and Yangwei." (2) Only five Japanese ships were damaged and none sank. In contrast, although the Beiyang Navy finally forced the Japanese army to leave the battlefield and shattered its attempt, from the perspective of battlefield losses and actual effects, the Beiyang Navy did fail at the tactical level. If Beiyang Navy had the courage to fight in this fierce battle from June 65438 to September 0894, then the final demise of Beiyang Navy in February 65438 and February 65438+1July 7, 995 was an elegy. "At 8: 30 a.m. on February 17, the Japanese joint fleet was headed by Matsushima, followed by our ships such as Chiyoda, Li Qiao, Yandao, the First Guerrilla, Yoshino and Qiujinzhou area. The third and fourth guerrillas set sail from Bai Chi Cliff in a single vertical formation, with flags flying high, filing in from the north entrance and slowly entering Ahava Port." "Zhenyuan, Jiyuan, Pingyuan, Guangc, Zhendong, Zhenxi, Zhennan, Zhenbei, Zhong Zhen and Zhenbian all lowered the China flag, but easily used the Japanese flag. The only exception is the Ji Kang ship, whose tail is still hung with the yellow dragon flag. Because this is a coffin for Ding. ..... At four o'clock, six coffins were carried, including Ding, Liu, Yang Yonglin, Dai Zongqian, Shen Shouchang and Huang Zulian, as well as sailors and foreigners. In the wail of the whistle, facing the cold rain, they left Ahava Port sadly and headed for Yantai Port. " (3) In this way, the Beiyang Navy was destroyed, and China's naval dream turned into a cloud in the rumble of the Sino-Japanese War. Investigate its reason, it should be said that it is the result of many factors, but the strength gap is an indisputable fact. Li Hongzhang once said: naval battles only rely on ships to run. "A little sense of superiority makes the pros and cons very different." (4) Judging from the comparison between Beiyang Navy and Japanese Navy during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, it can be said that it is only slightly inferior, so regardless of other factors, on the one hand, Beiyang Navy is in a very unfavorable position. We take the Yellow Sea naval battle as an example to illustrate this strength gap. Table 1: Comparison of the Strength of Beiyang Navy and Japan's Joint Fleet in the Battle of the Yellow Sea (5) Category beiyang fleet-Japan's Joint Fleet Comparison of the Total Number of Warships 10 12-2 Ship-type Armored Ship 4 1+3 Semi-armored Ship 13-2 Non-armored Ship 58-3 Artillery/. 068+815cm caliber guns and miscellaneous guns160-115 cm (6 inches) caliber rapid-fire guns 30-30 12 cm (4.7 inches) caliber rapid-fire guns 60. 3) Gross tonnage: 65438+ 0.302 times that of Beiyang Navy; 4) Total horsepower and average horsepower: 1 times that of Beiyang Navy respectively. And the first guerrilla group are 1.006 times and 1.252 times that of Beiyang navy respectively. 6) Total strength: The Japanese army is 1.767 times that of Beiyang Navy. 7) Rapid-fire guns: The Japanese army has 97 guns, but the Beiyang Navy has no rapid-fire guns. Of course, Beiyang Navy also has certain advantages in some aspects. For example, in terms of the number of armored ships, Beiyang Navy occupies four. However, on the whole, Beiyang Navy is at an obvious disadvantage. In this regard, the British Philemon vice admiral once commented: "In order to compare the strength of the two armies, we can draw a correct conclusion by comparing the warships involved in the Yellow Sea campaign. Judging from tonnage, personnel, speed, rapid-fire guns and new ships, the Japanese fleet is better. Except Chicheng, the performance of warships in this country is roughly the same, and the hull size ranges from 2,200 tons to 4,200 tons, all of which are newly completed cutting-edge ships. China, although there are Dingyuan and Zhenyuan second-class warships, each has a tonnage of 7,400 tons; Secondly, Jingyuan and Laiyuan ships each have a tonnage of 2,900 tons, but only in the name of armored cruisers. The remaining ships are either small in tonnage or weak in strength, or asymmetrical in ship type and improperly equipped. " (6) Although the warships of both sides in the Yellow Sea naval battle did not cover all the warships of the two armies, they basically included the main forces of the Chinese and Japanese navies. Therefore, from the differences in naval strength between China and Japan in the Yellow Sea naval battle, we can basically understand the disparity in naval strength between China and Japan before and after 1894. However, was the Sino-Japanese naval power comparison like this from the beginning? Second, to understand this point of the arms race, we must trace back to the source and start with the development history of the Chinese and Japanese navies. China has had a navy since ancient times. After the Tang and Song Dynasties, China's shipbuilding technology has made great progress, and it can be said that it once had the world's leading level. In particular, Zheng He's seven voyages to the Western Ocean during 1405- 1433 were unprecedented feats in the history of world navigation. It can really be described as "showing off foreign troops and showing China's prosperity". (7) However, by the Qing Dynasty, the navigation and shipbuilding technology of western countries had made rapid progress, and the related naval system and strategic thinking were gradually modernized. In one hundred and twenty years, the transformation process from traditional navy to modern navy was completed. At this time, China's navy still followed the inherent system of past dynasties, and there was no breakthrough. The so-called "navy division" is divided into inland rivers and high seas. At the beginning, the naval divisions of coastal provinces were only used to defend Haikou and catch pirates. Although their jurisdiction is in the coastal areas, the official system is the same as that of the mainland. During the Guangxu period, the North-South foreign iron ships were all built, and special officials were also set up to command them. "(8) It can be seen that until the Guangxu period, China had not completed the transformation from the ancient navy to the modern navy. As for the establishment of China's modern navy, it is recorded in the Charter of the Qing Dynasty: "China did not have a navy at the beginning, and it was only during the Daoguang period that it began to raise funds for coastal defense and began to discuss buying ships from abroad to supplement the water army. In the early years of Tongzhi, Zeng Guozhen and Zuo suggested setting up shipyards and ironworks. Shen Baozhen sailed in the Bohai Sea, and Li Hongzhang practiced the Beiyang Navy in Lushun. This is the beginning of a navy. " (9) It can be seen that the establishment of China Navy was really completed in the early years of Guangxu. Let's use some important time points to outline the development of China navy from the 22nd year of Daoguang (1842) to the 21st year of Guangxu (1895): in the 22nd year of Daoguang (1842), Wenfeng bought a ship from Lu, which could defend the enemy with ease. Navy flag camp exercise Li, bought with gentry businessmen. This is the beginning of buying ships for the navy. In the sixth year of Xianfeng (1856), Yiliang issued a letter to allow Horatia Nelson Lay, a British tax collector, to buy steamboats to suppress the Guangdong bandits. Rotate and expand. In the first year of Tongzhi (1862), a bureau was set up in Anqing to build boats. Six years (since the ship was built) (1867), Li Hongzhang moved Hongkou Manufacturing Bureau to Gaochang Temple and built a dock, which was named Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau. ..... That year, Rui Lin ordered six warships from Britain. (Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau was founded) In the first year of Guangxu (1875), the Manufacturing Bureau built a command ship for Yuyuan Garden. The ship management system is successful. By practicing martial arts, the students traveled all over Nanyang and returned to Japan. Ask the Minister of South Beiyang to raise funds for coastal defense. Tax Commissioner Hurd went to Tianjin to negotiate with Li Hongzhang and ordered two 26-and-a-half-ton and 38-and-a-half-ton British gunboats for coastal defense. That year, Shen Baozhen bought the French warship Weiyuan. The following year (1876), Shen Baozhen, together with Li Hongzhang, sent students to universities and manufacturing bureaus in Britain and France for internships. This is the first international student. This year, Yingzhou and Guo Xin established a ship administration system. The manufacturing bureau built a small armored ship in Jin 'ou. Three years, four years (1877- 1878), Tai 'an, Weiyuan and Chaowu warships can also be built. Shen Baozhen Province scrimps and saves money, so please save 2 million yuan every year for the north and south seas. Ten years later, it will become the three branches of Nanyang, Beiyang and Yueyang navies. I'm afraid it won't be urgent. Please take four million dollars to solve Beiyang first, and then solve Nanyang after Nanyang becomes an army. Six years (1880) ... Li Hongzhang founded the Naval Academy in Tianjin. Rotating to Dingyuan and Zhenyuan iron ships ordered by two German shipyards. (Ordered two second-class warships, namely Dingyuan and Zhenyuan sister ships) Fourteen years (1888), the naval yamen set up an official system, including prefect, commander-in-chief, lieutenant, participating, guerrilla, commander-in-chief, and economic commission. That year, the Zhiyuan, Jingyuan, Jingyuan and Laiyuan clippers built by Yingde Factory came to China. The torpedo speedboat built by British Baekje Company has also been completed. In June, Taiwan province rebelled and ordered Zhiyuan Ship and Jingyuan No.2 Ship to suppress it. The naval yamen was established and four armored or semi-armored cruisers were purchased from Yingde at the same time. Twenty years (1894), the ship administration system was implemented. Order a British gunboat, named Fuan. In February, Zhenyuan and Dingyuan ships were equipped with twelve new Krupp fast guns. In April, civil strife broke out in North Korea, and Beiyang sent troops to suppress it. In May, a battle broke out with a Japanese warship outside Yashankou. Jiyuan was injured, Guangyi was sunk and lost, and the merchant ship carrying soldiers was also sunk. In September, Ding led a Beiyang warship to fight the Japanese in Dadonggou, losing four ships, Zhiyuan, Jingyuan, Chaoyong and Yangwei. In the 21st year (1895), Japan attacked Weihai with divisions and ships, and all the ships in Dingyuan and Zhenyuan were also lost, and Ding was defeated. (Beiyang Navy perished) (10) Let's look at Japan again: "There was no navy in ancient Japan. In June of the second year of Anzheng, Helan people began to provide steamboats. General Tokugawa's family decided to send Yasuda Hiroshi and hide to defeat Rintaro, which was equivalent to learning steamboat technology from Nagasaki, and then sent Kamajro Sakamoto and Taisaburo Akamatsu to learn naval methods from Lan and buy sightseeing boats. ..... Keio Ding Mao, Tokugawa returned to politics, with three posts and eight classes, only in the name of army, navy and military affairs, without special officials. ..... In August, the Ministry of War was divided into two divisions, the Army and the Navy, and each division had its own sub-bureau. In February of five years, the Ministry of War was abolished, separated from the army, and a naval province was established. In June of six years, the official system was redefined and it is the current system. " (1 1) 1872 (eleven years of tongzhi and five years of meiji)165438+1on October 28th, according to the National Military Ordinance, a draft announcement was issued and a national compulsory military service system was implemented. Replace the samurai professional military service system with the universal compulsory military service system. It is stipulated in the proclamation that "men of four ethnic groups in China who have reached the age of 20 should be enlisted in the army in case of emergency". At the same time, establish a navy and an army. The reform of military service system is one of the important measures taken by Meiji government to strengthen its military strength and prepare for external expansion. It shows that Japan is moving towards the path of militarism. Since the draft notice was issued, Japan has established 1 naval school and three marine corps to train and supplement naval officers. But at that time, the Japanese navy was still very weak, with only 17 ships of different sizes. (12) 1874 (13th year of Tongzhi and 7th year of Meiji) The Japanese invasion of Taiwan Province failed, which made the Meiji government "feel that there were not enough ships and ordered three ships, namely Fusang, King Kong and Birui, from Britain" (13) "This is the beginning of the navy's purchase of new ships from foreign countries after the establishment of the province" (6544 The Meiji government decided to issue navy bonds from 1886 (in the 12th year of Guangxu and 19th year of Meiji) and 1888 (in the 14th year of Guangxu and 21st year of Ye Ming), and Saigou Jyuudou proposed the second military expansion, which was a huge shipbuilding plan. These include a five-year plan to build 46 coastal defense ships. By 1890 (16th year of Guangxu and 23rd year of Meiji), the Japanese navy had 25 ships completed or under construction. A total of more than 50,000 tons (16) 1892 (18th year of Guangxu and 25th year of Meiji). I bought Yoshino, the fastest cruiser in the world at that time, from England. 1893 (19th year of Guangxu, 26th year of Meiji) In February, Emperor Mu Ren once again ordered to save the palace funds. In the past six years, 300,000 yuan has been allocated for shipbuilding every year. It also ordered all civil and military officials, except in special circumstances, to pay one-tenth of their salary as shipbuilding fees during this period. And decided to expand the original planned warship manufacturing fee. It is planned to build two armored combat ships, 1 cruiser and 1 notification ship with a huge sum of 7 years18 million yuan. Before the Sino-Japanese War broke out in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Japanese government divided the national coast into five naval areas with the military port as the center. There are naval troops stationed in every naval area. Earl: First Naval District: Yokosuga; Second naval area: Wu Third Military Region: sasebo; The fourth military region: dancing cranes; Fifth naval area: Mu Ran (to be determined) (17) Before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Japanese naval vessels were organized as a standing fleet, with Matsushima as the flagship, with Takashi Chihiro, Chiyoda, Kaohsiung, Yamato, Zhuzi, Chicheng and Musashi. Other ships belong to the guard room. Based on the history of naval development between China and Japan, we choose 1888 as a reference. It is not difficult to see that the Japanese navy at this time still has great advantages over the Japanese navy. The details are as follows: Table 2: Strength Comparison between Beiyang Navy and Japanese Navy 1888 (18) Types of Warships China (Beiyang Navy only) Japanese Class II Warship 2 1 Armored Ship 42 includes Class II Warships (including 1865 French-made collision "East Ship") Express. According to Huang Zunxian's record of Japan, it seems to be less than this. On the other hand, the Japanese side is a different scene: after the "printed book" was returned in 1869 (the eighth year of Tongzhi and the second year of Ye Ming), Changzhou, Satsuma and Tosa handed over all their troops to the Ye Ming government to supplement the basic team of the Emperor's army being formed. In order to develop the naval cause, the Naval School was opened in Tokyo in the same year, and then the Naval University and the Naval Engineering School were established on this basis. In these schools, British officers are hired to teach. And sent many students to practice in Britain and the United States. (39) Since the draft notice was issued, Japan has successively established a naval school and three naval regiments to train and supplement naval officers. (40) In order to train naval talents, the Japanese government has set up naval officer schools, naval driving schools, naval shipbuilding industry schools, naval artillery training institutes and naval mine training institutes in Wugang, Hiroshima and Yokosuga. 1887 (13th year of Guangxu and 20th year of Meiji), it was decided to establish a naval university in Tokyo, stipulating that "students who graduated from military schools, mining departments and driving schools can enter the university for two years". (4 1) In addition, there are merchant shipping schools in Tokyo, Osaka and Hakodate. 1888 (14th year of Guangxu and 21st year of Meiji) promulgated the Official System of Naval Military Academy, in which the first article stipulated that "Naval Military Academy is a place for educating students of naval ordinary schools" with the purpose of training naval officers. 1889 (15th year of Guangxu, 22nd year of Meiji) promulgated the "Regulations of the Navy", and set up navy teams in various garrisons to be responsible for the education and training of naval guards and sailors guarding the military port and the recruitment of new recruits. (42) With regard to the Naval Academy, Huang Zunxian's History of Japan describes it in detail: "The Academy has principals, teachers and teaching assistants. There are three kinds of learning houses, one is childhood, the other is maturity, and the third is specialty. Childhood is1under 9 years old1over 5 years old, and the study period is five years. In the prime of life, students are over 20 and under 25, and they study for three years, regardless of age. The navy enrolls students in April every year, and scholars who are expected to apply for admission are admitted to the school in August every year. At the beginning of admission, there is a method of examination. Whether they are strong or not, whether they can write books ... there are grades, the first is shallow and deep. ..... Schools are divided into official students and illegitimate students, and official students are sworn in as soon as they enter the school. I am willing to engage in the navy for life, and I will not do other business. The expenses will be paid by the government. ..... After completing their studies, government students will be sent to study in western Thailand, and some non-commissioned officers will be sent to embassies to study the military systems of other countries, or they will encounter wars, such as the recent wars in Aceh, the Netherlands, the war in Pufo, and the war in Russia and Turkey. " (43) From the above materials, it can be seen that the Japanese naval education system not only rose earlier than China, but also slightly surpassed China in scale and perfection. It is particularly noteworthy that Japan has a relatively complete training system, which can continuously transport talents for the navy, which is also an important factor that cannot be ignored in the comparative changes of naval forces between China and Japan. The development environment is different. As far as the development environment of the Chinese and Japanese navies is concerned, there is no doubt that Japan also has great advantages. It should be said that in the middle of19th century, both Japan and China were threatened by the west. China experienced the Opium War of 1840- 1842, and the Japanese experienced the beating of Perry's fleet of the United States of America of 1853. Both China and Japan were forced to open the door. However, what happened later was very different. For better or worse, Japan, like China before it, was forced to be invaded by the West. However, its response to the invasion was completely different from that of China. "(44) Indeed, Japan quickly responded positively. After the Chen Wu War and the return of the big government, Emperor Meiji of Japan began to carry out drastic reforms, which gradually freed Japan from the interference of western colonialists in a short time and won its sovereign independence. After long-term diplomatic efforts, in 1894, they (Japan) persuaded Britain and the United States to end their extraterritorial consular jurisdiction within five years. ..... Since then, there is no reason to regard Japan as an inferior country, and other powers have followed the example of Britain and the United States and soon gave up their privileges. By 1899, Japan has gained legal jurisdiction over all foreigners in its territory. In this case, it became the first country in Asia to break the western control chain. "(45) However, the situation in China is just the opposite. Since 1840, the degree of semi-colonization in China has not declined, but has been deepening. After the Opium War, the Second Opium War, the Sino-French War and the border crisis in 1970s and 1980s 19, China suffered huge losses in territory and sovereignty, and also suffered huge war reparations. (The Opium War was 2 1 10,000 yuan, and the Second Opium War 1.67 million yuan-including 8.5 million yuan in Britain and 8.2 million yuan in France) In addition, during the period of 1- 1.864, China also experienced the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement and gave it to the society of the Qing Dynasty. The above analysis mainly focuses on the internal environment. As far as the external environment is concerned, China is in the interest and core area of the Far East and is always surrounded by great powers. It is impossible for a big country to allow China to have a powerful navy for its own interests in China. Japan, on the other hand, is on the edge of the interests of the Far East. Because of many contradictions among the great powers, they all want to use Japan's expansion to limit other forces, so they adopted a conniving attitude towards Japan, which provided a relatively stable international environment for Japan's arms expansion during this period. Four. Conclusion From the above analysis, it is not difficult to see that the ups and downs of Chinese and Japanese naval forces in the second half of the19th century are not accidental, but have very profound and complicated reasons. Due to the lack of information, this paper can't explore them one by one, just draw a rough outline and sort out a rough idea. In a word, the ups and downs of Chinese and Japanese naval forces in the second half of the19th century are the result of a series of factors, such as system, funds, emphasis, strategic concept, education system, domestic and international environment and so on. We should analyze this problem from a comprehensive and objective perspective. The final failure of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 is very complicated, and it can never be simply attributed to personal factors such as Empress Dowager Cixi, Li Hongzhang and Ding. I believe that the defeat of the Japanese navy in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 was the inevitable result of the differences between China and Japan in the second half of this century, which was beyond the control of one or two people. References:
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