At Certain Points, Where Admiral Ting's Squadron Was Able
To Act With Effect, The Japanese Were Repulsed, But, Eventually, The Whole
Of The Land Garrison Fled Panic-Stricken To Chefoo.
Even then Ting's
squadron and the island force continued to resist, and it was not until
February 9, when
Almost all the vessels had been taken or sunk, that he
consented to capitulate, after receiving a telegram from Li Hung Chang to
the effect that no help could be given him. No sooner were the terms of
capitulation agreed upon than Admiral Ting retired to his cabin and took a
fatal dose of opium. He had held out for three weeks, whereas Port Arthur
had been lost in a day. The war continued for a few weeks longer, the
Japanese pursuing their advance in Manchuria, and capturing the two places
which are collectively called Newchang, thus threatening Pekin. They now
possessed an army of 100,000 men ready to advance upon the Chinese
capital. As there was no reason to suppose that Pekin could be
successfully defended, the necessity of concluding peace as promptly as
possible was recognized. To that end it was needful to appoint a
plenipotentiary whose name would convince the Japanese government that the
Chinese were in earnest in their overtures. The only two men who possessed
the requisite qualifications were Prince Kung and Li Hung Chang. The
former, however, being a prince of the imperial family, and the uncle of
the reigning emperor, Kwangsu, could not be induced to submit to the
humiliation of proceeding to Japan and suing for peace.
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