Who was the first naval general to be beheaded during the Sino-Japanese War? Was he killed unjustly or was he really abandoned?

Fang Boqian was the first person to escape in the Sino-Japanese War, but whether he really escaped or faked his escape is still inconclusive. Personally, I think he is probably faking it.

I believe anyone who has studied history knows that the first general of the Qing Dynasty who fled in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 was Fang Boqian from Fujian. In his early years, he was admitted to Fuzhou Ship Administration School, and then went to England to study driving. He can be said to be a naval general who has studied abroad.

In the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Fang Bolian's Jiyuan, after a fierce battle, found that he could not beat the Japanese ship, and ran away, raising a white flag at the same time. It is doubtful that the Jiyuan can still effectively attack the Japanese ship that followed, but instead of fighting, it returned to the base. On the morning of September 24th, the 7th day after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Fang Boqian was executed by the army in Lushunkou before the smoke cleared.

At that time, Fang Bolian was accused by the Qing Dynasty of "running away first, causing ship chaos. It was really cold feet and doing the right thing." This belief in the Qing dynasty is also well-founded. This basis comes from Ding's report to the Qing Dynasty at that time. He accused Fang Boqian of sinking before standing in the sea battle, then leading troops into chaos and crashing the Yangwei ship, which led to the failure of the sea battle.

However, some people think that Fang Boqian was wronged. They think that Fang Boqian is a patriotic general and has made outstanding achievements in naval battles. He was killed unjustly. Being killed in a hurry is also the reason. It is recorded in Historical Records that before the war, there was a contradiction with Ding and he made an enemy, so Ding killed him under the pretext.

Later, more historians pointed out that the fundamental reason for Ding's killing was that Ding and Li Hongzhang were responsible for the failure to escape the Yellow Sea War. It's not because of the first escape, so I think it's very likely that he didn't escape.