SUBSEQUENT OPERATIONS
After this there was a lull. The Chinese battle-fleet, led by Admiral Ting in the Ting Yuen, put to sea searching for the Japanese. Ting was anxious to fight, and his personnel was in a good state of efficiency; his materiel was otherwise. Still, at this early stage, had he encountered the Japanese fleet, he was far more likely to have destroyed it than he was later on.
He had, however, to reckon with Li Hung Chang and Loh Feng Lo. These presently ordered him not to cruise east of Wei-hai-wei and the Yalu river; and this order practically put the Chinese fleet out of the operations. It has been stated many times that Li Hung Chang was bribed by the Japanese to give this order, and it is possible that he was. It is more probable, however, that for the Chinese to be defeated was a part of his own peculiar policy.
For some time, therefore, nothing happened. The Japanese feinted at Wei-hai-wei and Port Arthur, but for a good six weeks they spent most of their time in sea work—drilling and preparing for battle. The Chinese ships, on the other hand, lay inactive, steadily deteriorating morally, as inactive ships must.
It was stated in Japan that British cruisers at this time acted as Chinese scouts, giving information as to Japanese movements. It is a difficult matter to authenticate or even to refer to. I have seen Chinese official reports (translated ones) in which two cruisers are specifically mentioned, but a Chinese official report is not necessarily confirmation. There is no question whatever but that the Chinese spread the rumour of British sympathy and benevolent neutrality; it is fairly clear, too, that now and again they obtained information as to Japanese whereabouts from British men-of-war. But it is not proved that this was anything more than in the course of ordinary conversation, and there is no reason whatever to believe that the British Government had a hand in the matter.
VI
THE BATTLE OF YALU
(HAI YANG)
Japan, having been as good as presented with the command of the sea, swiftly moved an army into Korea. This went on till, in September, China began to realise that if she wished to hold that country she must use the sea as transport. At Ping Yang her land forces had suffered a severe defeat; reinforcements were urgently required. Ting was, therefore, ordered to convey these to the Yalu River.
On Sunday, September 1st, at 1 a.m., Ting sailed from Talien Bay, having with him the Ting Yuen (flag), Chen Yuen, Lai Yuen, King Yuen, Ping Yuen, battleships;[20] and the cruisers Chin Yuen, Chih Yuen, Tche Yuen, Tchao Yong, and Yank Wei; two gunboats, Kuang Kai and Kuang Ping; four “flat-iron” Rendel gunboats; four torpedo boats; and five transports, carrying a thousand men each.
Reaching the mouth of the Yalu on the same evening, he sent the transports, under convoy of the Ping Yuen, Kuang Ping, and torpedo boats, up the Yalu River, anchoring twelve miles out with his main fleet.
Early next morning the smoke of the Japanese, burning Takashima coal, was observed on the horizon.
It has never been clearly demonstrated whether the meeting was accidental or designed. The balance of evidence, to my mind, is in favour of the theory that Admiral Ito calculated that the Chinese would, after Ping Yang, send ships to the mouth of the Yalu, conveying troops. That certainly was Admiral Ito’s theory.
The Chinese lay with banked fires. On seeing the Japanese smoke, they got up anchor, and adopted the prearranged battle-formation—line abreast en échelon, the centre strong, the wings weak. Line abreast was the best formation for the Chinese fleet, which was best in bow fire, but the weak ends of the wings were a serious error. In addition, the Yang Wei and Tcho Yong were slow at getting up anchor.
The Japanese came along in line ahead, the flying squadron leading the main astern of it.
The rival squadrons were as follows:—
Japan: 8 cruisers, 1 old battleship, 1 old “belted cruiser,” 1 gunboat, and 1 armed liner.
China: 4 battleships, 3 cruisers, 3 gunboats, with (coming from the Yalu) 1 battleship, 1 gunboat, and 2 torpedo boats.
The Japanese fleet fought by signals throughout; the Chinese fought without signals, on a prearranged plan. In materiel, so far as ships went, the fleets were about on a par in fighting value. Actually, the Japanese were superior—in part from the possession of Q.F. guns, in part because the Chinese were very badly supplied with shell. Had they had a good supply of shell, there is little question but that, with their preponderance of large calibre guns, they would have destroyed the Japanese fleet, especially as Admiral Ito made a considerable error at the outset.
ADMIRAL ITO.
| JAPANESE FLEET. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ship. | Tons. | Captain. | Armament. | Speed in 1894. |
| Flying squadron. | Knots. | |||
| Yoshino[21] | 4150 | Kawara | Four 6-in. Q.F., eight 4.7-in. Q.F. | 20 |
| Takachiho | 3650 | Nomura | Two 10-in. Krupp, six 6-in. | 15 |
| Naniwa | 3650 | Togo | Ditto | 16 |
| Akitsushima | 3150 | Kamimura | Four 6-in. Q.F., six 4.7-in. Q.F. | 16 |
| Main fleet. | ||||
| Matsushima[22] | 4277 | Omoto | One 12.6-in. Canet, twelve 4.7-in. Q.F. | 14 |
| Dewa | ||||
| Chiyoda | 2450 | Uchida | Ten 4.7-in. Q.F. | ? |
| Itsukushima | 4277 | Yoko-o | One 12.6-in. Canet, eleven 4.7-in. Q.F. | 14 |
| Hashidate | 4277 | Hidaka | Ditto | 14 |
| Fuso | 3718 | Arai | Four 9.4-in. Krupp, two 6-in. Krupp | 11 |
| Hi Yei | 2200 | Sakurai | Nine old 6-in. | 9 |
| Out of line. | ||||
| Akagi | 615 | Sakamoto | Two 4.7-in. Q.F. | 8 |
| Saikio-maru[23] | 2913 | Kano | Two light guns and some small Q.F. | 10 |
| CHINESE FLEET. (From starboard to port.) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ship. | Tons. | Captain. | Armament. | Speed in 1894. |
| Battle-line. | Knots. | |||
| Yang Wei | 1350 | — | Two 10.2-in., four 4.7-in. Krupp | 6 |
| Tchao Yung | 1350 | — | Ditto | 6 |
| Ching Yuen | 2300 | — | Three 8.2-in., two 6-in. Elswick | 14 |
| Lai Yuen | 2850 | — | Two 8.2-in., two 6-in. Krupp | 10 |
| Chen Yuen | 7430 | Lin | Four 12-in., two 6-in. Krupp | 12 |
| Ting Yuen[24] | 7430 | Lin-Poo-Chin | Ditto | 12 |
| King Yuen | 2850 | — | Two 8.2-in., two 6-in. Krupp | 10 |
| Chih Yuen | 2300 | Tang | Three 8.2-in., two 6-in. Krupp | 15 |
| Kuang Chi | 1290 | — | Three 4.7-in. Krupp | 10½ |
| Tsi Yuen | 2355 | Fong | Two 8.2-in., one 6-in. Krupp | 12½ |
| Inshore. | ||||
| Ping Yuen | 2100 | — | One 10.2-in., two 6-in. Krupp | 6 or 7 |
| Kwang Ping | 1000 | — | Three 4.7-in. Krupp | 10 |
| One torpedo boat | 128 | — | Three tubes | 15 |
| ”” ” | 69 | — | Ditto | 16 |
YALU:
THE BEGINNING OF THE BATTLE.
The first shot, which fell short, was fired by the Ting Yuen at 12.30. A moment later the battle was general.
The sea was smooth—almost glassy—the sky dull. There was, however, a growing breeze, and this blew towards the Chinamen, so that the black smoke from the Japanese cruisers acted as a helpful screen.
The Japanese came on, and passed right across the Chinese front, turning in succession eight points to port, when they opened on the Chinese at 3000 yards. This passing across the front was dangerous, and the Chinese nearly succeeded in cutting the Japanese line. They lost station in doing so, masking each other; and to this the Japanese fleet owed much, and only their tail was endangered. The Fuso was badly hit. The Hi Yei, in danger of being rammed, had to alter her course. She passed between the Chinese battleships at short range, getting badly hit as she cleared them. The Akagi was badly knocked about; the Saikio alone passed on unhurt.
The Chinese had by now half won the battle, but they were in such a muddle with their ships that the advantage was never followed up. At this time the flying squadron, which had cut off the two old gunboats to starboard of the Chinese line, was masked by the remaining four vessels of the main fleet; and an inspection of the plan of the second stage will show how near victory was for the Chinamen had their fleet only been in hand. Overwhelming heavy gunfire was theirs.
They lost the opportunity, however, and the flying squadron, after a short engagement with the Ping Yuen division, circled and came round on the Chinese front, while the main squadron, also turning, assailed its rear. The Ping Yuen devoted herself to a fruitless attempt at chasing the main Japanese fleet, while the bulk of the Chinese wasted effort in an attempt to complete the destruction of the little Akagi. In doing this they came under fire of the flying squadron, which sank both the King Yuen and Chih Yuen with its 10.2-in. guns.
Attempts by one of the torpedo boats to sink the Saikio-maru failed; she also survived a fire from the Chinese battleships. The Lai Yuen was by now ablaze; the Ching Yuen was no better off. Both battleships were also on fire. The pendulum had swung round, and everything pointed to a complete victory for Japan.
Matters were thus when, at 3.30, the Matsushima was put out of action. The incidents enabled the battleships to recover, and they took, without much serious harm, a hammering from the entire Japanese fleet that remained.
BATTLE OF YALU:
SECOND STAGE.
This stage continued till nightfall, when the Chinese got into line and steamed away, followed for a short distance only by the Japanese.
Both sides claimed the victory; as a matter of fact, it was a drawn battle. When the length of time the battle took is considered, the damages were relatively small. In detail, they were as follows:—