The
Battle of Weihaiwei was a 23 day siege with a major land and naval component during the
First Sino-Japanese WarThe First Sino-Japanese War was a war fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over the control of Korea...
. It took place between 20 January and 12 February 1895 in
WeihaiWeihai ; was known during the colonial period as the Weihai Garrison or Weihaiwei, and sometimes as Port Edward; is a prefecture-level city in eastern Shandong province, People's Republic of China...
, Shandong Province,
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
) between the forces of Meiji
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and
QingThe Qing Dynasty , also known as the Manchu Dynasty, was the last ruling dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912...
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
. The battle was fought in severe winter cold which developed into an overpowering snow storm on 31 January 1895 and 1 February 1895. Temperatures dropped to minus 26 degrees Celsius.
The
Imperial Japanese ArmyThe Imperial Japanese Army , or literally Army of the Empire of Greater Japan was the official ground based armed force of Imperial Japan from 1867 to 1945...
's Second Army under command of
Field MarshalField Marshal is a military officer rank. Today, it is the highest rank in the armies in which it is used, one step above a general or colonel-general.-Usage and hierarchical position:...
Oyama Iwaowas a Japanese field marshal, and one of the founders of the Imperial Japanese Army.-Early life:Ōyama was born in Kagoshima to a samurai family of the Satsuma han domain. A protegé of Ōkubo Toshimichi, he worked to overthrow the Tokugawa Shogunate and thus played a major role in the Meiji...
, and consisting of the 2nd Provincial Division (Sendai) under Lieutenant General Sakuma, and the 6th Provincial Division (Kumamoto) – less its 12th Brigade, which was still at
LushunkouLüshunkou is a district in the municipality of Dalian, Liaoning province, China. Also called Lüshun City or Lüshun Port, it was formerly known as both Port Arthur and Ryojun....
, under Lieutenant General
Kuroki TamemotoCount was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army. He was the head of the Japanese First Army during the Russo-Japanese War; and his forces enjoyed a series of successes during the Manchurian fighting at the Battle of Yalu River, the Battle of Liaoyang, the Battle of Shaho and the Battle of...
landed without resistance at Jungcheng (modern Jiurongcheng) in Shandong Province from 20 – 24 January 1895.
Following its defeat at the Battle of Yalu and loss of its head base in the
Battle of LushunkouThe Battle of Lüshunkou was a major land battle of the First Sino-Japanese War. It took place on 21 November 1894 in Lüshunkou, Manchuria between the forces of Meiji Japan and Qing China...
, the remnants of the
Beiyang FleetThe Beiyang Fleet was one of the four modernised Chinese navies in the late Qing Dynasty. The navies were heavily sponsored by Li Hongzhang, who was the Viceroy of Zhili. The Beiyang Fleet soon became the dominant navy in East Asia before the onset of First Sino-Japanese War in 1894 - 1895...
regrouped at the naval base of Weihaiwei, on
Shandong PeninsulaThe Shāndōng Peninsula also known as the Jiāodōng Peninsula is a peninsula in the Shāndōng province of northeastern China...
opposite
LushunkouLüshunkou is a district in the municipality of Dalian, Liaoning province, China. Also called Lüshun City or Lüshun Port, it was formerly known as both Port Arthur and Ryojun....
.
The Japanese army converged on the town of Weihai along two routes, facing vigorous resistance from the Chinese
Beiyang ArmyThe Beiyang Army was a powerful, Western-style Chinese military force created by the Qing Dynasty government in the late 19th century. It was the centerpiece of a general reconstruction of China's military system. The Beiyang Army played a major role in Chinese politics for at least three decades...
, who defended the town with 68 artillery pieces in twelve land fortifications, and who could call on additional support from the naval vessels anchored only 2000 meters offshore.
The
Battle of Weihaiwei was a 23 day siege with a major land and naval component during the
First Sino-Japanese WarThe First Sino-Japanese War was a war fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over the control of Korea...
. It took place between 20 January and 12 February 1895 in
WeihaiWeihai ; was known during the colonial period as the Weihai Garrison or Weihaiwei, and sometimes as Port Edward; is a prefecture-level city in eastern Shandong province, People's Republic of China...
, Shandong Province,
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
) between the forces of Meiji
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and
QingThe Qing Dynasty , also known as the Manchu Dynasty, was the last ruling dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912...
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
. The battle was fought in severe winter cold which developed into an overpowering snow storm on 31 January 1895 and 1 February 1895. Temperatures dropped to minus 26 degrees Celsius.
Background
The
Imperial Japanese ArmyThe Imperial Japanese Army , or literally Army of the Empire of Greater Japan was the official ground based armed force of Imperial Japan from 1867 to 1945...
's Second Army under command of
Field MarshalField Marshal is a military officer rank. Today, it is the highest rank in the armies in which it is used, one step above a general or colonel-general.-Usage and hierarchical position:...
Oyama Iwaowas a Japanese field marshal, and one of the founders of the Imperial Japanese Army.-Early life:Ōyama was born in Kagoshima to a samurai family of the Satsuma han domain. A protegé of Ōkubo Toshimichi, he worked to overthrow the Tokugawa Shogunate and thus played a major role in the Meiji...
, and consisting of the 2nd Provincial Division (Sendai) under Lieutenant General Sakuma, and the 6th Provincial Division (Kumamoto) – less its 12th Brigade, which was still at
LushunkouLüshunkou is a district in the municipality of Dalian, Liaoning province, China. Also called Lüshun City or Lüshun Port, it was formerly known as both Port Arthur and Ryojun....
, under Lieutenant General
Kuroki TamemotoCount was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army. He was the head of the Japanese First Army during the Russo-Japanese War; and his forces enjoyed a series of successes during the Manchurian fighting at the Battle of Yalu River, the Battle of Liaoyang, the Battle of Shaho and the Battle of...
landed without resistance at Jungcheng (modern Jiurongcheng) in Shandong Province from 20 – 24 January 1895.
Following its defeat at the Battle of Yalu and loss of its head base in the
Battle of LushunkouThe Battle of Lüshunkou was a major land battle of the First Sino-Japanese War. It took place on 21 November 1894 in Lüshunkou, Manchuria between the forces of Meiji Japan and Qing China...
, the remnants of the
Beiyang FleetThe Beiyang Fleet was one of the four modernised Chinese navies in the late Qing Dynasty. The navies were heavily sponsored by Li Hongzhang, who was the Viceroy of Zhili. The Beiyang Fleet soon became the dominant navy in East Asia before the onset of First Sino-Japanese War in 1894 - 1895...
regrouped at the naval base of Weihaiwei, on
Shandong PeninsulaThe Shāndōng Peninsula also known as the Jiāodōng Peninsula is a peninsula in the Shāndōng province of northeastern China...
opposite
LushunkouLüshunkou is a district in the municipality of Dalian, Liaoning province, China. Also called Lüshun City or Lüshun Port, it was formerly known as both Port Arthur and Ryojun....
.
The ground conflict
The Japanese army converged on the town of Weihai along two routes, facing vigorous resistance from the Chinese
Beiyang ArmyThe Beiyang Army was a powerful, Western-style Chinese military force created by the Qing Dynasty government in the late 19th century. It was the centerpiece of a general reconstruction of China's military system. The Beiyang Army played a major role in Chinese politics for at least three decades...
, who defended the town with 68 artillery pieces in twelve land fortifications, and who could call on additional support from the naval vessels anchored only 2000 meters offshore. Japanese Major General Odera fell in this battle to take the forts, which lasted some nine hours on 1 February 1895, and the deserted town was occupied by Japanese forces the following day.
The naval conflict
The Chinese Beiyang Fleet had 15 warships at the naval base of Weihaiwei. These included the
ironclad warshipAn ironclad was a steam-propelled warship in the later part of the 19th century, protected by iron or steel armor plates. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. The first ironclad battleship, La Gloire, was launched by the...
s
Dingyuan and
Zhenyuan, and 13
torpedo boatA torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes...
s. The
Imperial Japanese NavyThe Imperial Japanese Navy , literally Navy of the Empire of Greater Japan was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
had 25 warships and 16 torpedo boats, and thus had a numerical advantage. In addition, the Japanese fleet could call on fire support from the army, who could fire down on the anchorage from the captured land forts.
As a Chinese defeat appeared certain, Japanese Admiral Ito Sukeyuki made an appeal to Beiyang Fleet Admiral
Ting Ju-ch'angthumb|Admiral Ding RuchangDing Ruchang joined the Taiping Rebellion in 1854. But later he surrendered with Cheng Xuechi in the Battle of Anqing in 1861 and joined Li Hongzhang as a cavalryman to fight against the Taiping Rebellion. In 1874, he protested against the Qing Dynasty government's...
, who was a personal friend. In his letter, he expressed his regret that the old acquaintances had been obliged to meet each other in hostility, appealed to the Ting's enlightened patriotism by pointing out the retrogressive policy which Ting had been called upon to defend and which could only end in disaster, and then counseled him to prevent a certain defeat and unnecessary loss of life by capitulating. Ito further advised Ting to become Japan's honored guest till the end of the war, and then return to his native land in order to aid China in setting her policy on a sound basis. When Ting read this message he was visibly moved, and said to his attendants: "Kill me," meaning probably that he wished to die alone and let all others surrender. Ting responded: "I am thankful for the admiral's friendship, but I cannot forsake my duties to the state. The only thing now remaining for me to do is to die."
The Japanese fleet began a series of attacks from 7 February 1895. Night attacks by Japanese torpedo boats sank the
Dingyuen and 3 other vessels. Of the 13 Chinese torpedo boats which attempted to escape towards Yentai, 6 were destroyed and the remaining 7 captured by the Japanese. The Ching-yuen was sunk on 9 February 1895.
On the morning of 12 February 1895, Admiral Ting, formally surrendered the remaining Beiyang Fleet ships in the harbor and the remaining Chinese-held forts and stores to the Japanese. Ting requested that the Chinese and foreign military advisors, troops, and civilians on land and sea around Weihaiwei be allowed to depart unmolested, and proposed that the commander of the British China squadron should guarantee the faithful performance of the conditions of surrender.
On receipt of this letter Admiral Ito held a council, in which many of his officers (as well as the Imperial Army officers) advised that the Chinese should not be allowed to leave, but be taken
prisoners of warA prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a combatant who is held in continuing custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
. The admiral, however, had so high an estimate of Ting's personality and service to his country and so deep a sympathy with his difficult position that he insisted that Ting's request be granted.
Aftermath of the battle
Ting refused Ito's personal offer of political asylum in Japan, and committed suicide on the night of 12-13 February. Commodore Liu and General Chang who commanded the island forts which defended Weihaiwei also committed suicide on the same night. Command of the Chinese Forces now fell to
Vice-Admiral John McClureAdmiral John McClure was a Scotsman serving in the Imperial Chinese Navy who was appointed second-in-command to Admiral Ding Ruchang -Before 1894:...
who continued the surrender negotiations with Admiral Ito.
The Japanese flag was hoisted on the surrendered battleship
Zhenyuen, cruisers
Ping-yuen,
Tsi-yuen, and
Kwang-ping, and six gunboats. With the fall of Weihaiwei the Japanese navy completely annihilated the Northern Chinese Fleet, and gained an absolute control of the Gulf of Bohai.
The Battle of Weihaiwei is regarded as the last major battle of the First Sino-Japanese War, since China entered into peace negotiations with Japan shortly thereafter. However, the
Battle of YingkouThe Battle of Yinkou was a land battle of the First Sino-Japanese War between the forces of Meiji Japan and Qing China, fought outside the treaty port town of Yingkou, Manchuria...
and a number of minor battles would take place before the
Treaty of ShimonosekiThe Treaty of Shimonoseki , known as the Treaty of Maguan in China, was signed at the Shunpanrō hall on April 17, 1895 between the Empire of Japan and Qing Empire of China, ending the First Sino-Japanese War...
ending the war was signed.