Battle of Weihaiwei
Battle of Weihaiwei | |||||||
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Part of the First Sino-Japanese War | |||||||
Battle of Weihaiwei, Utagawa Kokunimasa | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Empire of Japan | Qing China | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Ōyama Iwao Itō Sukeyuki Ōdera Yasuzumi † |
Li Hongzhang Ding Ruchang † Liu Buchan † | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
25,000 3 protected cruisers |
10,600 2 battleships 1 coastal battleship 1 protected cruiser 13 torpedo boats | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown |
4,000 killed 1 battleship captured 1 battleship scuttled 1 coastal battleship captured 1 protected cruiser scuttled 6 torpedo boats destroyed 7 torpedo boats captured |
The Battle of Weihaiwei (Japanese: Ikaiei-no-tatakai (威海衛の戦い) took place between 20 January and 12 February 1895, during the
Through a well-coordinated offensive of both naval and land forces, the Japanese destroyed the forts and sank much of the Chinese fleet.[3] With the Shandong and Liaoning peninsulas under Japanese control, the option for a pincer attack against the Chinese capital, Beijing, was now a possibility. This strategic threat forced the Chinese to sue for peace and led to the war's end in April 1895.[2]
Background
Following its victory at the
The Qing naval base at Weihaiwei had been designed with the assistance of German military advisors, and was regarded by western observers as superior to Hong Kong. Captain William M. Lang, a British military advisor seconded to the Beiyang Fleet, had boasted that the base was impregnable as late as autumn 1894, and had scoffed at rumors that the Japanese were planning to attack it.[5] The defenses consisted of a series of twelve land fortifications overlooking the entrances to the harbor, equipped with Krupp and Armstrong cannons, as well as two fortified islands in the bay. The entrances to the harbor were closed off by booms to prevent attacks from outside, and the remaining ships of the Beiyang Fleet were anchored inside. These included some 17 warships, led by the battleship Dingyuan, protected cruisers Jingyuen and Pingyuan, and 13 torpedo boats.
Chinese Fortifications
In peacetime, these forts had a garrison of 3,700 troops. With reinforcements and the addition of the naval personnel, the strength of the Chinese forces at the port grew to 10,600 and within 100km of Weihaiwei there were an additional 11,000-12,000 soldiers. An additional 4,000 men had been dispatched from Tianjin on 4 January but had not arrived before the attack. However, the Chinese soldiers performed poorly and Ding Ruchang's sailors were the only formation he trusted.[6]
At
Location and type | 28cm | 26cm | 24cm | 21cm | 15cm | 12cm |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Southern Land | 4 | 8 (4QF) | ||||
Southern Coastal | 2 | 7 | 2 | 2 | ||
Insular | 2* | 8** | 2* | |||
Northern Land | 4 | 4 (QF) | ||||
Northern Coastal | 6 | 4 | 2 | |||
Total | 2 | 2 | 21 | 6 | 12 | 14 |
- of these 4 guns 2 are disappearing
** indicates disappearing guns
Events of the battle
The campaign began on 18 January 1895, with a bombardment of the town of Dengzhou, some 100 miles (160 km) to the west of Weihaiwei, by the
The Japanese divided into two columns, one following the coastal road, and the other struggling along a path some four miles inland,[9] both departing Roncheng on 26 January. The timing of the attack had been planned to coincide with Chinese New Year, and the invasion encountered no resistance as they converged on Weihaiwei on 29 January.[4]
The Japanese launched a three-pronged attack on the landward fortifications to the south and east of the town on 30 January. The attack was hampered by the severe winter cold and blizzard conditions, with temperatures as low as −6 °C. The Beiyang Army made a stand for around nine hours, before retreating, leaving the fortifications largely intact. Japanese casualties were unknown except for the death of Major General Ōdera Yasuzumi, who was the highest-ranking Japanese casualty of the war. Japanese troops entered the town of Weihai on 2 February without opposition, as its garrison had fled the night before.
With the guns of the land fortifications now in Japanese hands, and in position to fire upon the Beiyang Fleet, Admiral Ding Ruchang's situation became precarious. Furthermore, the Japanese managed to remove the boom protecting the anchorage on 4 February, allowing their torpedo boats to make repeated night attacks on the Chinese ships. A combined Japanese fleet attack from 7 February severely damaged Dingyuen and sank three other vessels. The crews of the remaining Chinese torpedo boats mutinied and attempted to escape towards Yentai, but in total six were destroyed and the remaining seven were captured by the Japanese.
As a Chinese defeat appeared certain, Japanese Admiral
Command of the Beiyang Fleet fell to Scottish-born Vice-
Aftermath
With the fall of Weihaiwai,
The Battle of Weihaiwei is regarded as the last major battle of the First Sino-Japanese War, since China entered into peace negotiations in earnest with Japan shortly thereafter. However, the Battle of Yingkou and a number of minor battles would take place before the Treaty of Shimonoseki ending the war was signed.
Notes
- ^ Evans & Peattie 1997, p. 46.
- ^ a b Elleman 2001, p. 111.
- ^ Evans & Peattie 1997, pp. 47–48.
- ^ a b Paine 2003, p. 222–235.
- ^ Paine 2003, p. 235.
- ^ Olender 2014, p. 274.
- ^ Olender 2014, p. 266.
- ISBN 978-1375572156.
- ^ Olender 2014, p. 122.
- ^ Paine 2003, p. 229.
- ^ Paine 2003, p. 231.
37°29′49″N 122°10′16″E / 37.497°N 122.171°E
References
- Elleman, Bruce A. (2001). Modern Chinese Warfare, 1795–1989. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-21474-2.
- Evans, David C.; ISBN 0-87021-192-7.
- Paine, S.C.M (2003). The Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895: Perceptions, Power, and Primacy. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-61745-6.
- Olender, Piotr (2014). Sino-Japanese Naval War 1894–1895. MMPBooks. ISBN 978-8-36367-830-2.The Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895: Perception, Power, and Primacy
Further reading
- Chamberlin, William Henry. Japan Over Asia, 1937, Little, Brown, and Company, Boston, 395 pp.
- Jane, Fred T.The Imperial Japanese Navy (1904)
- Kodansha Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1993, Kodansha Press, Tokyo ISBN 4-06-205938-X
- Lone, Stewart. Japan's First Modern War: Army and Society in the Conflict with China, 1894-1895, 1994, St. Martin's Press, New York, 222 pp.
- Paine, S. C. M. The Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895: Perception, Power, and Primacy, 2003, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA, 412 pp. ISBN 0-521-61745-6
- Warner, Dennis and Peggy. The Tide At Sunrise, 1974, Charterhouse, New York, 659 pp.
- Wright, Richard N. J.The Chinese Steam Navy 1862–1945, 2000 Chatham Publishing, London, ISBN 1-86176-144-9