What was the story of the Battle of Pyongyang in 1894?

The Battle of Pyongyang, which took place on the day of the month, was the first large-scale battle between the two armies. At that time, the Qing army stationed in Pyongyang had a total of 35 battalions and 17,000 men; The Japanese army attacking Pyongyang numbered more than 16,000 people, and the strength of the two sides was equal. Fight on three battlefields at the same time:

One of them is the battlefield on the south bank of the Datong River. At three o'clock in the morning, the 9th Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army, under the command of Major General Yoshimasa Oshima, first launched an attack on the Qing army on the south bank of the Datong River. The commander of Taiyuan Town, Ma Yulu, resisted bravely, the Japanese officers and soldiers suffered heavy casualties and were unable to fight again, and Oshima Yoshimasa was wounded, so he had to order a retreat, and all of them withdrew from the battlefield at two o'clock in the afternoon.

The second is the battlefield outside the Xuanwu Gate. The Xuanwu Gate was the main direction of attack of the Japanese army, so the superior forces were concentrated, and the 10th Brigade of Major General Naomi Tatsumi (also known as the Shuoning Detachment) and the 18th Wing of Sato Shodasaku (also known as the Wonsan Detachment) served as the main attack. Gaozhou Town's general soldier Zuo Guigui ascended the Xuanwu Gate to command, personally burned artillery to bombard the enemy, and the officers and soldiers were moved and killed the enemy bravely.

In the fierce battle, Zuo Guigui was unfortunately killed by the cannon, and his three subordinate battalion officers were also killed one after another, and at two o'clock in the afternoon, Xuanwumen was captured by the Japanese army. The Japanese army tried to advance into the city, but was blocked by the Qing army, so they had to retreat to Xuanwu Gate. The third is the battlefield in the southwest of the city.

At 7 o'clock in the morning, Lieutenant General Michikan Nozu personally led the Japanese Fifth Division to cover the infantry charge from the southwest of Pyongyang with artillery fire, and the Qing army horse team counterattacked. By noon, seeing that it was difficult to succeed, Nozu Michikoru ordered a suspension of the attack and retreated to the station. At this time, for the Qing army, the war was still promising, but the Qing army** (commander-in-chief) Ye Zhichao was greedy for life and afraid of death, so he set up a white flag at four o'clock in the afternoon to stop resisting and ordered the whole army to retreat.

In six days, the Qing army galloped 500 miles and crossed the Yalu River to return home. The Japanese army occupied the entire territory of Korea.

It seems that the main general ran away and didn't fight anything, and said that it was a big victory.

The entire battle of Pyongyang lasted for a short time, ending in a great defeat for the Qing army, which lost nearly 2,000 dead and hundreds captured, while the Japanese captured Pyongyang, an important town in northern Korea, at the cost of only about 700 people. The Battle of Pyongyang was the first battle after the declaration of the First Sino-Japanese War, and it was also the first large-scale corps battle between the Chinese and Japanese armies during the war, which had a far-reaching impact on the entire war situation. The Battle of Pyongyang on September 15 and the Battle of the Yellow Sea on September 17 constituted a turning point in the Sino-Japanese War.

The Japanese army took control of the whole of Korea by defeating the Qing army, completely grasped the initiative in the war, greatly boosted morale, and burned the war to the Yalu River, further invading China. As a result of this battle, the Chinese forces were expelled from Korea, and their vitality was greatly damaged, and they were weakened, and then the land war was almost defeated, leading to the complete defeat of the First Sino-Japanese War.

After the Battle of Pyongyang, the Qing ** once listened to Ye Zhichao's false war report and issued an edict of condolence, and then was exposed by the imperial history for fabricating war exploits and was sentenced to beheading. Wei Rugui, the commander of the Sheng army, was also beheaded on charges of "retreating from the enemy, causing the whole army to be defeated", "deducting military salaries", and "arson and plundering". And Zuo Guigui was posthumously awarded the title of prince by Emperor Guangxu, and was given the nickname "Loyal and Strong".

On September 16, Japan's Meiji Emperor rewarded Pyongyang with a great victory, and then the Japanese army advanced further, burning the flames of war into China.

The 9th Brigade, starting from Seoul, followed the Seoul to Pyongyang Avenue and reached the south bank of the Taedong River in Pyongyang, in order to contain and attract the Qing army and facilitate the encirclement and attack of other troops from Pyongyang's left and right flanks and behind;

The main force of the 5th Division, which sent troops from Seoul, went out of Gangseo-gun to attack southwest of Pyongyang;

The 10th Brigade, which also departed from Seoul, crossed the Taedong River from Maitiandian and went around the northeast of Pyongyang;

The Wonsan detachment, starting from Wonsan, crossed the Taedong River and advanced to Sunan in the northwest of Pyongyang, cutting off the retreat of the Qing army to Uiju, and joining up with the 10th Brigade to jointly attack north of Pyongyang.