Battle of Lüshunkou

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At the Battle of Lüshunkou in November 1894 , Japanese troops captured the fortified naval base of Lüshunkou on the Gulf of Bohai during the First Sino-Japanese War . The battle is also often referred to as the Battle of Port Arthur in Western sources .

background

After the Japanese armed forces had secured control of Korea in the battles at Pyongyang and Yalu , the Japanese leadership planned an action against the capital of the ruling Chinese Qing dynasty Beijing . For this purpose, the two peninsulas, Liaodong and Shandong, encompassing the Bay of Bohai, with the fortifications that existed there, were to be conquered in order to ensure control of the sea route to Beijing. Lüshunkou was the first main target of the Japanese armed forces with the best developed naval base with fortifications planned by Prussian officers. Parts of the 1st Army under Yamagata Aritomo were supposed to take action against Lüshunkou from the land. The rest of the army was supposed to divert attention from the real target by advancing on the homeland of the Qing Mukden . The 2nd Army under Nogi Maresuke was supposed to land on the Liaodong Peninsula and take the strategically located city of Jinzhou from which Lüshunkou could be shelled.

The governor of Zhili Li Hongzhang, who was entrusted with the management of the war, pursued one of his main war aims to preserve the Beiyang fleet that had been built up under his aegis . In coordination with its commander, Admiral Ding Ruchang , he had the fleet brought to safety in the Weihaiwei base on Shandong before the battle . The Chinese defenders of Lüshunkou therefore had to do without support from the sea.

course

The Japanese army landed on the Liaodong Peninsula on October 24, 1894 and took it on November 6. The Chinese defenders withdrew to Lüshunkou without a fight. The next day, the 2nd Army took Dalian without a fight. The first Japanese troops reached Lüshunkou on November 20th and began the general attack on the fortifications and the city the following day. The Chinese troops had dissolved into indiscipline the day before. This resulted in the looting of army stocks and civilians. Likewise, large amounts of war material and supplies were not destroyed and thus fell into the hands of the Japanese. The city fell into the hands of Japanese troops on November 21st. Several days passed before the city could be finally secured.

The Chinese armed forces publicly displayed the mutilated bodies of Japanese prisoners of war in Lüshunkou. Japanese soldiers massacred Chinese combatants and civilians against the order of War Minister Ōyama Iwao, who banned attacks against prisoners of war and civilians in an order. Western observers reported murder, rape, torture and the display of mutilated bodies. The Japanese press tried to blame the Chinese coolies recruited for the massacre . However, eyewitness reports and records by Japanese soldiers name Japanese soldiers as triggering the massacre. Data on the number of victims of the massacre vary from 2,000 to 60,000 deaths.

During the evacuation of the Beiyang fleet from the port of Lüshunkou, the tower ship Zhenyuan , which, with its sister ship the Dingyuan, was the flagship of the fleet, ran aground and was out of action for the rest of the war. The ship's commander, Commodore Lin Taizeng , was sentenced to death for the loss and subsequently committed suicide.

consequences

For the Chinese side, the defeat meant a severe blow to the prestige of its own military at home and abroad. The Chinese authorities censored reports of the defeat, so the true course of the battle only gradually became known. Li Hongzhang also lost its reputation as one of the most prominent figures in Chinese domestic politics. He was removed from his honorary title by the court, but retained his political functions. However, he was replaced as governor of Zhili by Li Kunyi.

The Japanese government and military leadership drew major domestic political gains from the victory through PR measures. On December 9, 1984, the victory at Lüshunkou was celebrated with state festivities that had previously only been held to this extent for the adoption of the Meiji Constitution . The captured coal reserves of the Beiyang fleet were used by the Japanese for the advance at sea against Weihaiwei.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ SCM Paine: The Sino Japanese War of 1894–1895 - Perceptions, Power and Primacy. Cambridge, 2003, p. 20, pp. 197-199, p. 203
  2. ^ SCM Paine: The Sino Japanese War of 1894–1895 - Perceptions, Power and Primacy. Cambridge, 2003, p. 204
  3. ^ SCM Paine: The Sino Japanese War of 1894–1895 - Perceptions, Power and Primacy. Cambridge, 2003, pp. 203-210
  4. ^ Edward J. Drea: Japan's Imperial Army - Its Rise and Fall 1853-1945. Lawrence, 2009, p. 84
  5. ^ SCM Paine: The Sino Japanese War of 1894–1895 - Perceptions, Power and Primacy. Cambridge, 2003, pp. 210f
  6. ^ Edward J. Drea: Japan's Imperial Army - Its Rise and Fall 1853-1945. Lawrence, 2009, p. 86
  7. ^ SCM Paine: The Sino Japanese War of 1894–1895 - Perceptions, Power and Primacy. Cambridge, 2003, p. 204
  8. ^ SCM Paine: The Sino Japanese War of 1894–1895 - Perceptions, Power and Primacy. Cambridge, 2003, p. 219, p. 225
  9. ^ SCM Paine: The Sino Japanese War of 1894–1895 - Perceptions, Power and Primacy. Cambridge, 2003, pp. 208, p. 219