Regardless of the cold weapon era or the hot weapon era, 70%-80% of the middle and senior generals in the history of human naval warfare were killed, and only the Beiyang Navy was worthy of the rotten court behind him. However, there is also a deserter in this team. Whether he is a hero of the Anti-Japanese War or a deserter on the battlefield has been debated for hundreds of years. Is he really a deserter?

1867, 15-year-old Fang Boqian was admitted to Fujian Ship Administration School and began to study the navy. Under the wave of Westernization Movement, the Qing government sent the first batch of overseas students from the School of Shipping Administration to Europe to study and inspect in 1876, and Fang Boqian was one of them. After returning to China, it will be incorporated into beiyang fleet and Ren Yuan.

1894 is the turning point of Fang Boqian's fate and that of the Qing dynasty. The East Korean School Party uprising broke out, Japan sent more troops to Korea, and war was imminent. Fang Boqian led "Jiyuan" and "Guangyi" ships to escort troop carriers, and they were attacked by Japanese ships off the coast of Toyoda, which triggered a naval battle in Toyoda.

After the war? Jiyuan? 、? Guangyi? The second ship calmly fought and hit the Japanese ship many times. In the fierce battle, Guangyi? Rudder destroyed, heavy casualties, unable to return to heaven. Retreat first, and the remaining Jiyuan ships will fight alone. The strength of the two sides is very different. Jiyuan ship was defeated by a Japanese ship? Yoshino? Fang Boqian said, chasing from the rear, ordered to hang the white flag first, and then hang the Japanese navy flag, but? Jiyuan? There is no ceasefire. Turn around and leave from the northwest.

Is Fang Boqian's behavior really a sign of timidity and cowardice?

First, during the whole engagement, three Japanese ships besieged the Jiyuan ship, and the enemy situation was very different.

Secondly, the speed of Jiyuan is 15 knots, and that of Yoshino is 23 knots.

Jiyuan Equipment 1 Krupp Front Main Gun 2 10mm, 1kloc-0/50mm, 2 47mm Hakka Single-barrel Rapid-fire Guns, 9 37mm Hakka Single-barrel Guns, 4 bronze guns made by Jinling Machinery Bureau, and 4 15. The ship is equipped with a large number of large-caliber rapid-fire guns. The main gun is four 6-inch 40-caliber rapid-fire guns produced by British Armstrong Company. The gun bore is 6096 mm long, the warhead weighs 45.4 kg, the muzzle velocity is 67 1 m/s, the effective range is 8600 m, and the firing rate is 7 rounds per minute.

Thirdly, according to the records in the Sino-Japanese naval battle series, Jiyuan did not stop the ship although it hoisted the white flag and the Japanese navy flag. When Yoshino was about to catch up with Jiyuan, Jiyuan suddenly stopped shooting. After the Japanese ship approached Jiyuan, Jiyuan suddenly opened fire. One bullet hit the platform of the Japanese ship, the second bullet destroyed the bow of the ship, and three bullets hit the hull. Yoshino had to retreat. Although the Jiyuan hung a white flag, there was no ceasefire, indicating that there was no real surrender. Soldiers are treacherous, but this is just a tactic on the battlefield.

Such a disparity in strength, with 1 against 3, where is the chance of winning? Therefore, just hanging a white flag is not enough to show that Fang Boqian chickened out. On the contrary, it proves that he sized up the situation and preserved the strength of beiyang fleet.

Map of yellow sea naval battle

In the Yellow Sea naval battle, Ding said: First, retreat, lead the team into chaos, and Guang Jia will escape. Are you really afraid of death?

According to the records of the Japanese-Qing War, after the two sides fought, Ding was injured in both legs and Liu took over as commander in chief. Although beiyang fleet was attacked by Japanese ships, it was able to maintain its formation. Only Chao Yong and Yang Wei hesitated outside the configuration of the left-wing ships. Jiyuan was attacked by Japanese ships and hid out of the ranks, about 3 kilometers behind the starboard side of the fleet, and then fled to Lushun, followed by Guang Jia.

Fang Boqian in the movie Sino-Japanese War (stills)

A Tiande, the second mate of Jiyuan Ship, wrote The Story of the Unjust Sea and said: Guang Jia withdrew from the battle at about one o'clock after he entered the war? . According to this statement, Fang Boqian led a long-distance ship? Run first? It is not established, but the author is from Jiyuan ship, and he is suspected of exonerating him. I can't fully believe it. And then what? Disturb the ship array? Is this accusation true again?

First of all: Beiyang Navy ships have different speeds, but they are organized into a team. What is the result? Super brave? 、? Yang Wei? Such an old ship broke away from the team and was attacked by the first Japanese guerrillas.

Second: beiyang fleet fired ahead of time before he entered the range. Instead, he stepped onto the bridge and commanded the flag to land. The commander fell, and the Beiyang Navy lost its unified command, so the formation was chaotic.

Third, the Japanese organized four fast ships, including Yoshino, as guerrillas, violently attacking beiyang fleet's weakest right wing and sinking it? Super brave? Beat? Yang Wei? Later, the fire was set to attack Zhiyuan and distant ships. The ships of Beiyang Navy are fighting in their own way. Under the attack of the Japanese army, it was neglected before and after, causing confusion.

Therefore, even if Jiyuan ran away from the battle, it would not be out of order, which should be the result of improper command by Ding.

As for Jiyuan, he ran into the injured Yangwei ship when he escaped, which led to the destruction of Yangwei ship. Jiyuan fled to Lushun, but Yang Wei retreated in the direction of Dalu Island, and the two ships went in the opposite direction. How could they fight? Therefore, the pot should not be carried on the boat to nourish the stomach.

Jiyuan Ship and the Evacuation Direction of Yangwei

However, Fang Boqian claimed that the ship was seriously injured, the battery was destroyed, there was no defense, and the bow was leaking, so it was sent back for repair. This statement is also untenable. Havemen, a German military officer in charge of Jiyuan naval gun affairs, said: Only two guns of Jiyuan naval ship were damaged, not all of them were unusable, and there was no water leakage, which was not so serious that it was impossible to continue fighting.

After the fighting, on August 24th, the Qing government ordered Fang Boqian to be dismissed and executed at 5 am on August 25th. Fang Boqian didn't even get a chance to defend himself. Therefore, many people think that he was executed because Li Hongzhang blamed the defeat of Beiyang Navy and put many trumped-up charges on him in order to save Ding and his own power.

The Yellow Sea naval battle won't affect the result of the battle because Fang Boqian flinched alone. However, as the captain with the third strongest equipment in beiyang fleet, it is a fear of death to quit the battle only three hours after the war. If he is innocent, he will never be persuaded and it is hard to forgive him.

Refer to "Sino-Japanese War"

Records of the Japanese-Qing War