In May 1891, the Qing court conducted a routine naval review, and Li Yuanhong's "Guangjia" ship also took part in this naval exercise with the Beiyang Navy as the main body.

The review lasted for 18 days and traveled more than 3,000 miles. During the exercise, each ship shelled the model ship, fired live ammunition, or changed formation, covered each other, attacked in a roundabout way, and retreated in an orderly manner.

The warships rode the wind and waves on the sea, which was very majestic and particularly imposing. Li Hongzhang, who presided over the drill, was thrilled when he saw this magnificent scene.

Afterwards, he proudly reported to the imperial court: "Looking at the combat readiness of the navy, it can still change with each passing day. At present, it is limited to financial capacity and cannot be expanded, but as far as the Bohai Sea gateway is concerned, it has a deep-rooted and unshakable trend. ”

Because the "Guangjia" and Li Yuanhong performed prominently during the exercise, Li Yuanhong was promoted to "make up for the first use with the aim of using 1,000 units first" shortly after the drill ended.

In 1892, Li Yuanhong was promoted to the second class.

In 1893, Li Hongzhang, the acting governor of Erguang, was promoted from a sixth-rank official to a fifth-rank official because Li Yuanhong "frequently patrolled, endured storms for a long time, and had made meritorious achievements" and "played and rewarded Dai Wupin".

In April 1894, the Qing court conducted another naval review. This time, the scale was even larger than the previous one, and all the Beiyang Navy participated, with six warships of the Nanyang Navy and three warships of the Guangdong Naval Division, "Guangjia", "Guangb", and "Guangc".

Li Yuanhong went with the ship and also performed well. In particular, the performance of the "Guangjia" ship, which he was responsible for maintaining, attracted the attention of naval insiders in the performance of its mechanical properties during the review.

Because Li Yuanhong was loyal to his duties, had a high level of technology, and had a strong ability to judge and eliminate faults, he won the attention of officials at all levels on the "Guangjia." In addition, because he was kind and sincere to others, he enjoyed high prestige among the officers and men of his fellow ships, and became a leader among the officers and men of the modern Chinese navy.

Since its establishment by Li Hongzhang in 1875, the Beiyang Navy has successively purchased warships from Britain and Germany, and at this time there were already 25 warships, large and small. The whole army is under the command of the commander, and has two general soldiers, four staff generals, nine guerrilla officers, 27 capital divisions, six thousand general officers, 90 general generals, and 40 foreign commissioners. There is a complete system with complete institutions and systems. It ranked sixth among the world's navies at that time, and its overall strength had already surpassed that of Japan. It can be said that the hat of backwardness of the Navy has been taken off.

As mentioned earlier, July 25, 1894. The Japanese army launched a surprise attack on Chinese troops in Asan, North Korea, without declaring war. At the same time, a sneak attack on Chinese merchant ships off the coast of Toshima led to the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War.

On 12 September, a total of 12 warships, mainly the Beiyang Navy, including the "Guangjia" to which Li Yuanhong belonged, headed to meet the enemy under the leadership of Admiral Ding Ruchang.

At 11 a.m. on 17 September, the Japanese Combined Fleet launched an attack on the Chinese fleet, and the saddest naval battle in China's modern history began in the Yellow Sea.

Ding Ruchang's flagship, "Dingyuan", took the lead and faced the enemy fleet. The first battle was victorious, and the guns of the Chinese ships hit the Japanese "Pioneer". The flagship of the Chinese fleet was also attacked.

The Japanese Navy concentrated 12 warships in the sea off the Datong River, including all of its essence, namely eight capital ships and cruisers with more than 5,000 horsepower, including Yoshino, Takachiho, Akitsuzu, Naniwa, Matsushima, Chiyoda, Itsukushima, and Hashidate.

Comparison of the forces of the two sides in the early days of the war, the Beiyang Naval Division and the Japanese fleet at that time, according to the artillery fish. Comparison of detonators, total displacement, total strength, average speed, etc.

According to the British Navy Yearbook, the firepower of the Japanese fleet was actually three times that of the Beiyang Fleet.

Soon after the battle began, the flagship of the Beiyang Fleet, the "Dingyuan," had fallen into disrepair for a long time due to its 12-year launch, and the bridge collapsed by a cannon that suddenly opened fire.

Ding Ruchang refused to be helped into the inner cabin by his entourage, and insisted on sitting on the deck to supervise the battle, but he could only muster the morale of the ship.

As soon as the battle began, the Beiyang Fleet lost its command due to the destruction of the flagship. The four Japanese ships took advantage of their speed advantage to circle the right flank of the Beiyang Fleet, "Chaoyong" and "Yang Wei", and the two ships were hit one after another and caught fire, and withdrew from the battle.

The Japanese ship "Yoshino" was also hit by the Beiyang Fleet and caught fire, but was quickly extinguished. At around 13:30, "Chaoyong" sank.

When the four Japanese ships circled the right flank of the Beiyang Fleet, this team also attacked with the main force of the Beiyang Fleet. The Japanese ships "Hiei", "Akagi", "Fuso", and "Saikyo Maru" were intercepted by the Beiyang Fleet.

"Dingyuan", "Laiyuan" and "Jingyuan" hit "Hiei" and "Akagi" hard; The captain of the "Akagi" Sakamoto Hachiro was killed on the spot. "Saikyo Maru" was also seriously injured.

At about 14:15 p.m., some Japanese warships circled behind the Beiyang Fleet and formed a flanking attack. The Beiyang Fleet was attacked by the enemy, and the formation was even more chaotic. In the melee, the "Zhiyuan" ship, which had been rushing to the front of the Beiyang Fleet, was bombarded intensively by the Japanese "Yoshino" and "Takachiho", and was wounded in many places and tilted its hull.

The Japanese ship "Yoshino" rushed to the front and encountered the "Zhiyuan" ship that was on fire. Pipe band Deng Shichang ordered to sink "Yoshino".

The "Zhiyuan" ship rammed into the starboard side of the "Yoshino" at high speed. The officers and men of the Japanese ship were shocked when they saw this, fled desperately, and fired fish at the "Zhiyuan" ship one after another. Thunder. The ship "Zhiyuan" dodged a fish. After the thunder, it was unfortunately hit by another one, and 252 officers and men of the ship died heroically.

"Jingyuan" continued to meet "Yoshino", but also caught fire, and Lin Yongsheng and Chen Ce, the first mate, were killed. The lightning struck, and all the 270 people on the ship were martyred except for 16 who were rescued.

After the sinking of "Zhiyuan", Fang Boqian, the leader of "Jiyuan", ordered the "Jiyuan" to withdraw from the battle. As for the withdrawal of the "Jiyuan", some say that it escaped from the battle, and some say that it temporarily withdrew from the battle because it was hit by too many bullets, and that it was to take refuge near Oshikashima to urgently repair the damaged machine.

However, Wu Jingrong, the leader of the "Guangjia" to which Li Yuanhong belonged, actually commanded the "Guangjia" to follow the "Jiyuan" and evacuate the battlefield.

After escaping, the Guangjia retreated along the coast and ran aground near Sanshan Island in Dalian Bay.

On the 23rd, it was discovered by the Japanese ship, and Wu Jingrong, the pipe leader, was afraid of being captured, so he ordered the "Guangjia" ship to be destroyed, and Gu Zi escaped in a small boat.

More than a dozen people in Li Yuanhong also fled in a small boat, and they encountered a Japanese ship not far away, and everyone abandoned the small boat and jumped into the sea to escape.

Although Li Yuanhong is in the navy, he has not learned to swim, but fortunately he has a life jacket by his side.

Eight of the twelve people who fled for their lives were shot or drowned by the Japanese army. He was a non-swimmer, and after more than three hours at sea, he was washed ashore by the waves.

Exhausted, Li Yuanhong struggled to get ashore, and at this time it was getting late, and he decided to find a place to stay first. As soon as I touched my pocket, I found that the life-saving money I had hidden, a few silver dollars and a gold watch were still there, which was also a great luck in misfortune.

At this time, I happened to meet a kind elder, and when he saw that Li Yuanhong was a navy, he looked embarrassed, and took him in; The old man also prepared dinner and clothes for him.

The next day, after breakfast and bidding farewell to the elders, Li Yuanhong walked to Lushun in a day and a half. On the road, there was nothing to eat, and the peasants were harvesting potatoes.

Most of the locals have fled the famine, and they have been helped on the way to escape the famine, and they have a special affection for passers-by. There is a rule here, passers-by can eat potatoes from the field as they like, but they can't take them away.

Li Yuanhong ate potatoes along the way, and begged for saliva when he was thirsty. With that long journey from Hubei to Beitang, it was idle for Li Yuanhong to take a long road.

Li Yuanhong still wanted to stay in the navy and go to the local navy, and there was no vacancy. Li Yuanhong rushed to Tianjin again, just in time for the imperial court to investigate the responsibility of the "Jiyuan" and "Guangjia" for escaping. Fang Boqian, the leader of the "Jiyuan" number, was executed, and Wu Jingrong, the leader of the "Guangjia" number, was removed from his post and dismissed. Li Yuanhong was also counted as one of the deserters and was acquitted after several months in prison.

In this incident, Li Yuanhong was very innocent. But this experience, in the years that followed, was regarded as a stain on him by some people with ulterior motives, and maliciously called him a deserter.

Li Yuanhong never defended himself, he just often recalled the memories of that experience because of this, and Li Yuanhong was always sad when he thought of the good brothers who had been with him day and night who died in the sea.

One of the things he often says is that he is lucky to survive. In other words, it doesn't matter whether he is a deserter or not. Your biggest mistake should be to try to survive, is it a sin for people to live?

After being acquitted, Li Yuanhong continued to run around to stay in the navy. In the First Sino-Japanese War, a large country was defeated by a small country, especially the signing of the "Treaty of Shimonoseki" for land cession and reparations, which brought shocks to the land of China, which is difficult for people to imagine today.

From top to bottom, a consensus has been formed -- to strengthen the country through military training. Therefore, there is Yuan Shikai's small station training. At the same time, Zhang Zhidong, who was the acting governor of Liangguang, also asked the imperial court to "train the new army in accordance with foreign laws."

At this time, Li Yuanhong was in Shanghai, and he still wanted to find a job in the navy, but he also failed to do so. At this time, he overheard the news that Zhang Zhidong was recruiting talents in Nanjing. Seeing that there was little hope of staying in the navy, Li Yuanhong felt that this was also a way out. Although it is a pity to leave the navy you like, it is really nothing to think that my father joined the army for the second time in order to make a living, and started from scratch, and it is really nothing to change the military by himself.

In this way, he came to Nanjing. The new army formed by Zhang Zhidong in Nanjing was called the "Self-Improvement Army," with a total of 13 battalions and 2,600 men. Zhang Zhidong made bold innovations and hired 35 German instructors to serve as the main positions, and the deputy positions were recruited from among the outstanding graduates of the armed forces schools in Tianjin and Guangdong. All the equipment was configured according to the standards of the advanced European countries at that time.