China kept the Nanyang Fleet separate while the Beiyang Fleet carried the burden of the principal operations around Korea. Only after the Yalu losses did the government force changes in command and send reinforcements north. The failure to combine available fleets before the decisive theater battle turned an organizational division into an operational weakness. In this account, that failure reflects a political system that punished candid warnings as cowardice while leaving corruption and unreadiness unresolved.
Notable Point · 1:07:08-1:08:27
How divided regional fleets magnified defeat
The Nanyang Fleet's initial separation from the principal Korean theater shows how China's regional naval structure prevented timely concentration against Japan.