Fang boqian

Fang boqian

Fang boqian (from January 14, 1854 to September 24, 1894), born in Houguan County, Fujian Province in Qing Dynasty, was a general of Beiyang Navy. The first driving major graduate of Fujian shipping school. There are four brothers in the Fang family. Fang boqian is a senior resident. His father is a private school teacher. In 1867, at the age of 15, Fang boqian was admitted to Fujian shipping school and began to study the Navy. From 1877 to 1880, he learned to fly warships in England. After graduating from the Royal Naval Academy of England, he returned to China as the leader of the Jiyuan ship. Fearing the Japanese pirates, they fled in front of the battle and were beheaded by the imperial court.

Life of the characters

Early experience

Fang boqian (1854.1.14-1894.9.24), whose name is Yitang, was born in Fujian Province. He studied in a private school at the age of six. In 1867, he was admitted to the first phase of Fujian shipping school. After entering the school, he learned to drive. After ten years of graduation (1871), he and Liu Buchan went on the "Jianwei" ship training and internship, touring Nanyang, Singapore, Penang Island, Bohai Bay and Liaodong Island ports. In 1874, after the incident of the Peony Society, Japan sent troops to Taiwan. Because of its active preparation for the war in Taiwan, Japan won the five grade merit card and served as a "Fubo" warship. After the Japanese invasion of Taiwan, he was transferred to Taiwan and coached the elite soldiers. He was transferred to be the first mate of Changsheng. Guangxu first year (1875), transferred into the "Yang Wu" ship, to the total of 1000 to stay in Fujian to make up for. In the case of Taiwan's suppression and pacification, Shen Baozhen promoted his defense and made up for it. In 1880, he returned to China after studying abroad. After serving as a shipping administrator, he was still in Fujian Province to make up for his position, adding the rank of general.

In the winter of 1876, the shipping administration sent the first group of overseas students to Europe for investigation, and Fang boqian was selected. In 1877, he left for England to study at Greenwich Naval School and learn driving principles. After graduating in 1878, he was sent to practice on a warship. First, he boarded the flagship of the British East India fleet, H.M.S. emryafus. Then, at Fang's request, he boarded the ship, H.M.S. Spartan. Sconseg, the foreign student supervisor, called him "a wise and skilled member of the navy".

In 1881, he was transferred to Beiyang and commissioned to take "Zhenbei" gunboats. The following year, he was transferred to the "town west" gunboat and "Weiyuan" training boat belt. In 1884, when the Sino French war broke out, Fang boqian was ordered to lead "Weiyuan" to stay in Lushun. Fang boqian asked him to build a fort in a dangerous place and supervised it himself. When the fort was built, it was called "Weiyuan" fort. Although the "Weiyuan" fort was small, its cost was low, and its expenditure was only several thousand Liang, which was well received at that time. When the "Jiashen coup" took place in North Korea, Ding Ruchang led his fleet to North Korea, and Fang boqian commanded "Weiyuan" to accompany him and stationed in mashanpu, North Korea. On September 19, 1885, he was transferred to the new cruiser "Jiyuan" as the leader. He made great contributions to Korea's aid and protection. He was promoted to a guerrilla position by Li Hongzhang, governor of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang, and was rewarded with Hualing.

In 1888, the "Jiyuan" warship was spared the guerrillas because of its merits, and was first used by the generals. At the same time, he went to Tianjin with Lin Tai to discuss with Zhou Fu, Luo Fenglu and others on the "Northern Navy charter". At the beginning of the next year, Li Hongzhang played Bao Fang boqian and was promoted to Deputy General of the left battalion of the Chinese army in the Beiyang Navy. In May of 1891, Li Hongzhang visited Weihai for the first time to inspect the Navy. He praised Fang boqian for his contribution in running the Navy and awarded him the name of "Jieyong batulu". At the beginning of the 18th year (1892), when the three-year absence of the Department expired, he was actually awarded the Deputy General of Zuoying in the Chinese army of the Beiyang Navy.

Go to Korea for war

In April 1894, the Dongxue party uprising broke out in North Korea, and the Korean government requested the Qing government to send troops to help suppress it. In late June, Ding Ruchang sent "Jiyuan" and "Chaoyong" warships to escort Ye Zhichao and Nie Shicheng to Yashan, with "Jiyuan" Fang boqian as the captain. At that time, Japanese warships and troop carriers were constantly moving in Yashan, Incheon and other places of North Korea, carrying countless troops, guns, ammunition, mines, dry mines, wires, pontoons and so on. Fang boqian wrote to Li Hongzhang and put forward five suggestions. Among them, there are two things related to the sea war: first, the navy warship, which has strong strength if combined, and single power if separated. Before breaking up, it is better to call together one place as soon as possible. In case of change, it is better to dispatch. If several ships are stationed in Incheon and Yashan, the port and road are different, the Japanese soldiers can arrive on three sides, and if they are floating mines If you go down the river, you will be killed. And I gather all the ships in Weihai and Lushun. If there is something wrong, the whole team will cruise in the northern ocean. If there is a Japanese ship, it is easy to invite attack. In order to strengthen the gateway of Beiyang, the frontier should not be disturbed. "He advocated that the water potential of Beiyang should be integrated and based on the base. 2、 "It's said that when we increase the number of warships, the Japanese dare to belittle China. There are not many warships in our navy, and they are all old-fashioned, not as good as the new fast boats and fast guns. If we add more speed ships and more fast guns on each ship, we will be shocked by the news. In the book, Japan started the war.

First of all, Ding Ruchang, according to Li Hongzhang's order, sent "Jiyuan", "Guangyi" and other ships to escort the troop carriers to Yashan to reinforce Ye Zhichao and Nie shichengjun, with Fang boqian as the captain. On the evening of June 22, Fang boqian learned that the Japanese fleet would arrive the next day, so he ordered the unbearable "Weiyuan" to return first. At dawn on June 23, "Jiyuan" and "Guangyi" completed their escort mission and sailed back from Yashan. At 7 a.m., the Japanese warships "Yoshino", "qiujinzhou" and "wave speed" were found in the sea near Fengdao. At 7:15, Fang boqian ordered all the officers and men of the ship to enter the combat posts and prepare to meet the enemy. At 7:45, the Japanese warship "Yoshino" suddenly fired on the Chinese warships, provoking the Fengdao naval battle. Under the situation of great disparity in strength, the two warships Jiyuan and Guangyi fought calmly and hit the Japanese warships many times. In the fierce battle, the rudder of the "Guangyi" ship was destroyed, with heavy casualties and unable to support, so it was the first to retreat. Then Fang boqian saw the great disparity between the enemy and us, and ordered him to turn the rudder to the northwest. The Japanese ship Yoshino came after him from behind. Fang boqian ordered the white flag to be hoisted, and then the Japanese Navy flag to be hoisted. Soon after, the troop carrier "Gaosheng" and the transport ship "Caojiang" strayed into the battlefield and sailed head-on with "Jiyuan". The Japanese warship "wave speed" turned the rudder to intercept "Gaosheng", "qiujinzhou" returned to chase "Caojiang", and "Yoshino" continued to chase "Jiyuan", approaching to 2500 meters and fired a gun. "Jiyuan" sailors Wang Guocheng and Li Shimao used 150 mm tail guns to fire four shots at "Jiye" and hit three shots. "Jiye" suddenly caught fire, bow down and did not dare to move forward. At 12:43 noon, they turned the rudder and retreated, "Jiyuan" was able to withdraw from the battlefield. In this naval battle, the Chinese warship "Guangyi" ran aground and burned itself; the troop carrier "Gaosheng" was sunk, and more than 1000 Chinese officers and soldiers on board were killed; the transport ship "Caojiang" was taken away by Japanese ships.

After returning to Weihai, Ding Ruchang asked Fang boqian, the leader of "Jiyuan" and the officers and soldiers on the ship about the combat situation in detail. He also reported to Li Hongzhang on June 28 that:

Fang boqian relied on this gun to "check the enemy and protect the ship". Li Shimao, a sailor, and the kingdom became the leader of the army. Yu Gang's people who sent medicine and ammunition were also called brave. Chang has ordered Li and Wang, the leaders of the army, to reward 1000 Liang, and the rest of the army, a total of 1000 Liang, to inform the whole army of their encouragement. " As for Fang boqian's performance in the naval battle, there are different opinions. First of all, Li Hongzhang called Ding Ruchang on the 6th of July and said, "Fang boqian hid in the cabin when the enemy's gun was fired in the battle of Yashan. Only the second mate stood on the overpass. Please order the gun to be fired, but it's still late. There are many jokes and rumors between Chinese and western people here.". Then, on July 11, the Qing government issued an edict that "Fang boqian, who was in charge of Jiyuan, fought for a long time in Yashan and wounded the enemy's ships with guns. He was still able to do so, and was praised by Li Hongzhang.".

Sea battle in the Yellow Sea

On the afternoon of August 18, 1894 (September 17), the Beiyang Navy and the Japanese joint fleet launched a fierce battle in the Yellow Sea. During the naval battle, two weak warships of the Beiyang navy "Chaoyong" and "Yangwei" were shot up, sank and grounded. At 3:30 p.m., Zhiyuan sank, and Fang boqian led Jiyuan out of the battle. Seeing this, the "Guangjia" warship fled. The four ships of the Japanese vanguard turned to besiege "Jingyuan" and sank "Jingyuan" out of the battle.

On August 19, 1894, "Jiyuan" first returned to Lushun, and Fang boqian reported that "Jiyuan" had "a crack in the bow and water leakage, and the guns could not be used, but it had to be repaired, and the remaining ships were still at war". Four hours later, the fleet returned.

On August 23, 1894, Ding Ruchang telegraphed Li Hongzhang about the situation of taking over the battle: "Jiyuan retreated first, led the troops into chaos, and Guangjia fled with him. If we do not strictly participate in the implementation, we will not be able to make an example in the future. Li Hongzhang therefore made a request: "according to Ding Ruchang, it is found out that after the sinking of" Zhiyuan ", Fang boqian, the commander in charge, fled immediately, which is actually a retreat in the face of war. He should ask the deputy general to do justice immediately, so as to enforce military discipline. Wu Jingrong, the guard of the Chenghai camp under the command of Guangjia, also fled with Jiyuan to lay on the reef in the middle of the journey. He deserved the blame, but he still understood that it could be made. Can he be dismissed from his post and stay in the camp to see what happens later? " On the 24th, the Qing government ordered Fang boqian to be "removed from office and sent someone to take care of Hou Zou Shen". On the same day, the military aircraft Department sent a telegram to Li Hongzhang: "when the war started on the 18th of this month, after Zhiyuan stormed and sank, Jiyuan Guan and his deputy general Fang boqian fled first and led the boat to chaos. It was really a retreat in the face of the battle, and they immediately went to justice.". At 5 a.m. the next day, Fang boqian was beheaded at the execution ground to the west of dashuangwu at the foot of golden mountain in Lushun. He was 41 years old.

The mystery of being killed

Jiyuan returns to Lushun

Chinese PinYin : Fang Bo Qian