Although the arrival of Ren Chao has changed history, in some respects, the wheel of history is still slowly moving forward along its established trajectory.

Beiyang Naval Division, a new type of navy established in the late Qing Dynasty. It was initiated in the sixth year of Tongzhi (1867) and planned in the thirteenth year (1874). The Qing government allocates 4 million taels of silver every year for construction. The navy of the Qing Dynasty was divided into two general directions, north and south, and was divided into four fleets according to the region: the Beiyang Naval Division was responsible for Shandong and the Yellow Sea to the north, and its main bases were in Weihaiwei, Lushun, and Dagukou; The Nanyang Fleet is responsible for the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, with its main bases in Shanghai and Nanjing; The Fujian Naval Division is responsible for the coastal areas of Fujian and the Taiwan Strait (the Fujian Naval Division, also known as the Ship Administration Naval Division, declined after the Majiang Naval War, but still exists), and its main base is in Mawei, Fujian; The Guangdong Navy Division is responsible for the South China Sea. Since the Beiyang Fleet was responsible for guarding the Beijing Division, the Qing court gave priority to the construction of the special performance.

In the first year of Guangxu (1875), Li Hongzhang, the minister of Beiyang, was ordered to establish the Beiyang Naval Division, and R. Hurd, the chief tax department of Li Tongguò, ordered 4 gunboats in Britain, which was the beginning of the Qing Dynasty navy's purchase of warships from abroad. In 1879, two ramming cruisers Yangwei and Chaoyong were ordered from the British. In 1880, the ironclad ships Dingyuan and Zhenyuan were ordered from German shipyards. In 1881, naval bases were selected to be built in Lushun and Weihai. In 1880, the Naval Battalion Office, an institution responsible for naval affairs, was established in Tianjin. The following year, Ding Ruchang was sent to command the Beiyang Navy. The British Lang Weili and the German Bai Ling successively served as naval trainers. The Beiyang Naval Academy was also set up, and Lushun and Weihai Weijun ports were built. Almost all the captains and senior officers of the major warships of the Beiyang Fleet graduated from the Fuzhou Shipbuilding School, and most of them also went to the British Naval Academy for study and internship. After the Sino-French War, Li Hongzhang accelerated the purchase of ships and expanded the Beiyang Navy.

In 1885, the Prime Minister's Naval Affairs Yamen was established, and Li Hongzhang sent foreign ministers to order two dominary cruisers Zhiyuan and Jingyuan and two armored cruisers Jingyuan and Laiyuan to Britain and Germany respectively. On December 17, 1888, the Beiyang Naval Division was formally formed, and on the same day, the "Beiyang Naval Division Regulations" were promulgated and implemented. There are 25 major warships and more than 4,000 officers and men. Since then, modern China officially possessed a naval fleet that could be called the first in East Asia and the ninth in the world at that time.

After 1888, due to the significant reduction in the expenses of the fleet of Weng Tong's household department, most of them were diverted by the government. At that time, the navy's technology was advancing by leaps and bounds, but by the time the Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1894, the Beiyang Naval Division had not built new ships for many years, and some of the necessary renewal works could not be carried out. The original warships had begun to fall behind, and they lagged behind the Japanese Navy in terms of speed, rate of fire, and firepower.

On August 10, 1894, the Japanese combined fleet approached Weihai, and the Qing Emperor Guangxu rebuked Ding Ruchang, the commander of the Beiyang Naval Division, and Li Hongzhang, the minister of Beiyang, had to order Ding Ruchang to cruise to the Yellow Sea to calm the emperor's anger and relieve the pressure of public opinion. On September 12, 1894, 12 capital ships of the Beiyang Naval Division set off from Weihai and went to Dadonggou at the mouth of the Yalu River to escort the army to land.

Unlike the Beiyang Naval Division, which strategically "defended ships and subdued the enemy," the Japanese Navy had drawn up a clear plan before the war to seize sea supremacy through a decisive battle of the fleet. On September 13, 1894, the main unit of the Combined Fleet and the 1st Guerrilla Brigade went to the mouth of the Yalu River to search for the main force of the Beiyang Naval Division.

On September 15, 1894, the main force of the Beiyang Naval Division, led by Ding Ruchang, arrived at Dalian Bay and escorted five troop carriers with 4,000 troops.

On September 16, 1894, the Beiyang Navy Division arrived at Dadonggou at the mouth of the Yalu River. Some of the ships served as guards, and the remaining 10 capital ships anchored southeast of Oshikashima, 12 nautical miles outside the mouth.

At 8 o'clock on September 17, 1894, the troop carrier was unloaded. At 9 o'clock, the fleet of the Beiyang Naval Division set sail for the "Hour Exercise".

At 10:23, the 1st Guerrilla Group of the Combined Fleet discovered the Beiyang Naval Division. The signal was given "more than three enemy ships detected in the northeast direction."

At 10:30, the sentry on the mast of the Zhenyuan ship of the Beiyang Navy discovered the Japanese fleet.

At that time, the twelve main battleships of the Beiyang Naval Division were: battleships: Dingyuan (the flagship of Ding Ruchang, the commander of the Beiyang Naval Division, Liu Buchan, the chief soldier of the pipe band), Zhenyuan (the chief soldier of the pipe belt Lin Taizeng); Cruisers: Lai Yuan (Vice Admiral Qiu Baoren), Jing Yuan (Vice Admiral Lin Yongsheng), Zhiyuan (Vice Admiral Deng Shichang), Jing Yuan (Vice Admiral Ye Zuqi), Jiyuan (Vice Admiral Fang Boqian), Guangjia (Wu Jingrong), Chao Yong (Huang Jianxun), Yang Wei (Lin Luzhong), Pingyuan (Li He), Guang Bing (Cheng Biguang).

As for the Japanese Combined Fleet, there were 12 warships, namely the 1st Guerrilla Squadron, and the cruisers: Yoshino (Commander of the 1st Guerrilla Squadron, Rear Admiral Tsuboi Kozo, Flagship of Captain Osa Kawara), Naniwa (Captain Captain Togo Heihachiro), Takachiho (Captain Captain Sano Mura Sada), Akitsuzu (Captain Captain Captain T

This team, cruisers: Matsushima (Commander of the Combined Fleet, Vice Admiral Ito, Flagship, Captain Osajimoto knows), Itsukushima (Captain Osa, Yokoo Michiyu), Hashidate (Captain Osaki Takasu, Tsunojo), Hiei (Captain Captain Masatoshi Sakurai), Chiyoda (Captain Osa Uchida Masatoshi) Old ironclad ship: Fuso (Captain Osa Arai Arikani) Gunboats: Akagi (Captain Ita Motohachirota, Navy Rear Commander); Armed merchant ship (substitute cruiser): Saikyo Maru (the seat ship of Shikinori Kayama, the commander of the Japanese Navy).

Purely in terms of the number of warships, the strength of the two sides is equal. However, a specific analysis will show that the strength of the Beiyang Naval Division is also weaker than that of the Japanese Combined Fleet.

Each ship of the Beiyang Naval Division is equipped with a total of 195 artillery guns, with a total displacement of 32,100 tons and an average speed of 10.4 knots. The Japanese side is equipped with 268 artillery pieces of various types, with a total displacement of 40,840 tons and an average speed of 14.5 knots. Among them, the average speed of the Japanese 1st guerrilla group reached 19.4 knots.

Moreover, at that time, the Beiyang Naval Division was equipped with outdated rear-loading guns, while the Japanese Combined Fleet was equipped with a large number of new rapid-fire guns, and according to the statistics of the British Navy Yearbook, the firing speed of rapid-fire guns at that time was six times that of the original rear-loading guns. From this calculation, the firepower of the Japanese fleet was actually several times greater than that of the Beiyang Fleet. Moreover, most of the shells used by the Beiyang Fleet at that time were solid bullets or grenades filled with **, which were far from the new grenades filled with picric acid explosives used by the Japanese army. The generational difference in firepower became the main reason for the defeat of the Beiyang Fleet.