After the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War broke out between Tsarist Russia and the Empire of Japan over northeastern China and the Korean Peninsula.

In the late 19th century, the major capitalist countries had completed the transition to the "imperialist" stage, that is, the "export of capital" was of particular importance, usually accompanied by "exclusivity" and "aggression", which led to the "Crimean War", "Sino-Japanese War", "Russo-Japanese War" and other events.

Since the essence of "capitalism" is to "do whatever it takes to maximize profits", in the fierce competition for colonies in the world, they often resort to war to solve problems, after all, "reasoning" is tantamount to openly showing weakness, and only by "flexing muscles" can they win the unanimous respect of the great powers!

This phenomenon can be considered as "after barbarism triumphs over civilization, barbarism itself becomes civilization". Therefore, the "Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism" culture in the East, the "polytheistic" faith in South Asia, and the "Islamic" faith in the Middle East are vulnerable to the barbaric and brutal "imperialism" iron heel, and they can only bow down to them!

Lenin, the founder of the "Red Soviet Union", analyzed: "In addition to the periodic redivision of the world that has already been divided, the struggle for semi-independent countries by the imperialist powers cannot help but become particularly tense. So, not long after the First World War, the Second World War broke out again!

At the same time, the old semi-colonial, semi-feudal China, with its vast land and vast population, became a piece of "fat meat" in the eyes of the imperialist powers.

Since the "Opium War", the aggression of the "imperialist" powers against China has never stopped, such as the two "Opium Wars", the "Sino-French War" that took place in 1884, and the "First Sino-Japanese War" that followed. Because before the "First Sino-Japanese War", the "great powers" were busy fighting among themselves, and they were relatively calm for about 10 years, which made the Qing government's nerves relax a little, thinking that there would be no more wars in the future, so they relaxed their "preparations for war".

As everyone knows, just when people were feeling a little glad about the "friendliness" of the "Western powers," a neighboring country to the east was eyeing each other, because Japan, as the only "emerging capitalist country" in Asia that had escaped the control of the Western powers at that time, had little chance of competing for colonies with the European and American powers.

Since the "colonies" in the world had been carved up by the "old capitalist countries" at that time, Japan could only learn from the "German Empire" in Central Europe, and arm its army by vigorously developing military industries, hoping to defeat its opponents in wars with other European and American powers and seize its colonies.

Therefore, "breaking away from Asia and joining Europe" and the "mainland policy" have become the only choice for modern Japan in the process of developing its national capitalism, that is, "military feudal imperialism" with a clear "fascist" character, because from ancient times to the present, the Japanese nation only envies the strong and despises the weak, and pays attention to practicality!

From Japan's point of view, whether it is Germany's "fascism" or its own "militarism", as long as it can solve the problem quickly and efficiently, it is a "good idea"! Therefore, waging frequent foreign wars to rob colonies and plunder wealth is a far quicker way to get rich than building "communism". Of course, Japan does not need "communism", let alone "socialism", because that would revolutionize its own life and make wedding clothes for others!

As a result, after the "Meiji Restoration" in the 60s of the 19th century, Japan's national capitalism developed rapidly, and combined with the feudal and stubborn "bushido spirit", it smoothly gave rise to "military feudal imperialism", referred to as "militarism", which was extremely expansive and predatory.

Using the "Korean Peninsula" as a "springboard" to invade and occupy Chinese mainland, using "China" as a base to "conquer Asia" and even dominate the world is the "established national policy" of modern Japan, because the wealth obtained by launching foreign wars is far faster and more cost-effective than building factories at home!

Therefore, as early as 1855, the Japanese politician Yoshida Shoin of the "Restoration" advocated: "Once the warships and cannons are slightly replenished, it is necessary to develop Ezo...... Tell the Ryukyus that they will join the Hajj; rebuke North Korea and make it pay tribute; Cut off the land of Nanman, collect Taiwan and Luzon Islands, occupy the whole of China, rule over India, and dominate Asia. In this way, we can occupy Asia as soon as possible, dominate the world, and strive for the future generations for the descendants of our Yamato nation! ”

Yoshida's thinking had a profound impact on his disciples, i.e., Hirobumi Ito (Prime Minister) and Aritomo Yamayama (President of the House of Councillors), who later became Japanese politicians, and thus became the mainstream thinking of Japanese politicians.

In the early days of the "Meiji Restoration", Japan laid down the "mainland policy", and in 1887, the Japanese General Staff Headquarters formulated the "Qing State Conquest Strategy", and decided to complete the preparations for the war against China before 1892, and the direction of attack was Korea, the Liaodong Peninsula, the Shandong Peninsula, the Penghu Islands, Taiwan Island, and the Zhoushan Islands. Seven years later, it was in accordance with this timetable and roadmap that Japan launched a war of aggression and achieved almost all of its objectives.

Over the past few decades, Japan has consistently implemented the above-mentioned national policies, made full preparations in all aspects, and implemented the "Record for the Expansion of the Army" eight times before and after. In the years leading up to the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan's average annual military expenditure was as high as more than 31 percent of its total fiscal revenue! It's ridiculously high, it's scary!

In 1887, the Emperor ordered 300,000 yuan (silver coins) to be squeezed out of the imperial family funds as a naval subsidy. Therefore, under the inspiration of the "Wa King" (Emperor), the wealthy people of Japan donated one after another, and more than 1 million yuan (silver coins) were obtained a year to fund the construction of their national army.

This has not only increased military spending, but also greatly boosted the morale of the people. Before the outbreak of the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan drew detailed maps of every hill and every road along the Liaodong Peninsula, Shandong Peninsula, and the Bohai Sea. At that time, some people of insight in the Qing Dynasty, such as Shen Baozhen, the "Governor of Liangjiang", and Liu Mingchuan, the "Governor of Taiwan", had already seen that "the Japanese should not be taken lightly."

However, the imperial court and most of the dignitaries still had a understanding of Japan at the stage of being a "small state" and "did not care about the Japanese people." Therefore, at the critical juncture when Japan was pouring all its strength into expanding its armaments and warfare and the danger of war was imminent, the Qing Dynasty instead relaxed its national defense construction, cut the national defense budget on the grounds of financial constraints, diverted it to repair the "Summer Palace," stopped purchasing warships from 1888 AD, and stopped allocating funds for naval equipment and ammunition three years later.

Before provoking this war, Japan's "wartime base camp" formulated a "general operational policy" that took into account the overall planning of the navy and army. Its strategic goal was to fight a decisive battle with the Qing army in the "Zhili Plain" (North China Plain) in China, and to pressure the Qing to submit to its own military occupation by completely defeating the Qing army.

Japan believes that the key to achieving this goal lies in the success or defeat of naval operations. To this end, the Japanese put forward a two-phase battle plan: first, to send the first army into Korea to contain the Qing army; Second, the navy will seek an opportunity to fight a decisive battle with the main force of the Chinese navy in order to quickly seize the "sea supremacy" in the Yellow Sea.

After that, the battle depends on the victory or defeat of the navy: if the navy wins and grasps the "sea dominance" of the Yellow Sea, then the army will land from the "Tianjin Port" in the "Bohai Bay", and then go all out to the capital of the Qing Dynasty - Beijing City, so as to carry out the "Zhili Plain Armageddon", and the Qing Dynasty will be decided in a war!

If the decisive victory at sea is not divided, the fleet will control the Korean Strait and assist the main force of the army to occupy the whole of Korea; If the decisive battle of the fleet fails, the "sea supremacy" is vested in the Qing Dynasty of China, and the main force of the army is used to implement the defense of the homeland, and the navy guards the coastal area of the homeland. Strive to achieve the first case as the basic strategic policy.

On the Chinese side, there was no clear "strategic policy" and "battle plan" before the war. Because the "main battle faction" and the "main peace faction" in the ruling group have different opinions, hinder each other, and have not formed a special "operational command organ" in advance, still less have they had strategic guidance for the overall situation, they are bound to face defeat.

From the very beginning, the Qing Dynasty pinned its hopes on Russia, Britain, and other countries to "mediate," and then hastily declared war when the naval and land wars had already begun, and ordered Li Hongzhang, the "minister of Beiyang," to "strictly dispatch various armies to quickly advance and suppress them." Along the rivers and along the coast, "when a Japanese steamship sails into each mouth, it will immediately attack head-on and annihilate all of them."

As a matter of fact, the Qing Dynasty's "temporary cramming" was to implement the operational policy of "defending the sea and attacking on the land." However, from the perspective of strategic planning, Japan has already taken the "lead". From the aspect of "naval warfare," in modern warfare, it is very important to grasp "sea supremacy" because it has a bearing on the ultimate success or failure of the war.

The so-called "sea supremacy" simply means that it can make one's own side free to navigate in a certain sea area, while at the same time making it impossible for the enemy to navigate freely. Whether or not we can grasp "sea supremacy" depends on the strength of the navy and the correct strategic layout of the "countries involved in the war."

The sea supremacy of the First Sino-Japanese War mainly referred to the Yellow Sea, because the "Yellow Sea" was related to the maritime communications of the three "peninsulas," namely, the "Korean Peninsula," the "Liaodong Peninsula," and the "Shandong Peninsula." Therefore, the "sea supremacy" in the Yellow Sea is of vital importance to both China and Japan, which are in a state of war.

The main battlefields of the First Sino-Japanese War were on the Korean and Chinese sides, while the Japanese army was a cross-sea operation, and the supply lines were very long and had to be transported by sea. Therefore, although China is fighting on the "inside line," disrupting and cutting off the enemy's sea communications is an important measure to defeat the enemy.

In other words, it is not only necessary but also possible to concentrate the main forces of the navy, find a favorable opportunity to take the initiative to attack, and if necessary, to carry out a decisive battle to contain the Japanese navy. If the strategy was correct and the command was right, the Qing Dynasty might have been able to achieve victory, and even reap the reparations for Japan's defeat.

However, in the "Battle of the Yellow Sea" in which the two sides fought for "sea supremacy", the Qing army met the Japanese army with inferior forces (two warships of more than 3,000 tons, 10 warships of less than 3,000 tons, 8 warships of more than 3,000 tons, and four warships of less than 3,000 tons). Limited by the technical conditions of the warship, the effective firing distance of the "Beiyang warship" does not exceed 3,000 meters, while the effective range of the Japanese warship Yoshino, equipped with a new rangefinder, can reach 5,000 meters.

The Japanese army was also equipped with a new type of "rapid-fire gun". When the Beiyang ships were designed, due to the insufficient power of the artillery, the bow of the ship was emphasized to face the enemy, and the "ramming angle" was relied on to hit the enemy ship, which was equivalent to the "white-knuckle combat" or "hand-to-hand combat" between ordinary soldiers, and the artillery layout was mainly to give full play to the firepower of the frontal attack on the enemy.

But the "horizontal formation" of the bow against the enemy was not conducive to maneuvering. In addition, the ships of the Beiyang Naval Division are relatively old, the steam engine horsepower is also insufficient, and the maintenance situation is even worse, so the average speed of the fleet is only 10.2 knots.

In contrast, the capital ships of the Japanese fleet were relatively new, and the columns that were convenient for maneuvering were more suitable for firepower and were faster. In actual combat, the maneuverability of the Japanese fleet was also stronger than that of the "Beiyang Naval Division". Therefore, the "Beiyang Naval Division" fell into the predicament of not being able to fight and not being able to leave.

In actual combat, the "Beiyang Fleet" was broken by each other, and almost all of the four ships sunk by the "Beiyang Naval Division," the "Zhiyuan," "Jingyuan," "Chaoyong," and "Yangwei" were sunk or heavily damaged by the Japanese "First Guerrilla Force," which consisted of four new-style speedboats with a high rate of fire and high speed, including the "Yoshino," "Naniwa," and "Akitsushu."

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