Battle of Weihaiwei | |||||||
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Part of the First Sino-Japanese War | |||||||
Battle of Weihaiwei, Utagawa Kokunimasa | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Empire of Japan | Qing China | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Ōyama Iwao Itō Sukeyuki Ōdera Yasuzumi † |
Li Hongzhang Ding Ruchang † Liu Buchan † | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
25,000 3 protected cruisers |
10,600 2 battleships 1 coastal battleship 1 protected cruiser 13 torpedo boats | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown |
4,000 killed 1 battleship captured 1 battleship scuttled 1 coastal battleship captured 1 protected cruiser scuttled 6 torpedo boats destroyed 7 torpedo boats captured |
The Battle of Weihaiwei (Japanese: Ikaiei-no-tatakai (威海衛の戦い) took place between 20 January and 12 February 1895, during the First Sino-Japanese War in Weihai, Shandong Province, China, between the forces of Japan and Qing China. In early January 1895, the Japanese landed forces in eastern Shandong[1] positioning forces behind the Chinese naval base at Weihaiwei.[2]
Through a well-coordinated offensive of both naval and land forces, the Japanese destroyed the forts and sank much of the Chinese fleet.[3] With the Shandong and Liaoning peninsulas under Japanese control, the option for a pincer attack against the Chinese capital, Beijing, was now a possibility. This strategic threat forced the Chinese to sue for peace and led to the war's end in April 1895.[2]