间谍战惨象:密电码不设防

Japanese Army Deciphered the Telegram Password and the Qing Army Never Succeeded

从战前高升号运兵船的行踪、大战中的兵力调遣，到战后马关谈判期间李鸿章与朝廷的电报，中方密电在日本人眼中无秘密可言。战前数年，日方间谍即已开始对华渗透。

After the Sino-Japanese War of1894-1895,the telegram password of the Qing army was deciphered by the Japanese army,which was an important factor leading to the passive situation of the Qing court in various aspects.The Japanese government was secretly pleased that the Qing court didn’ t change the password during several rounds of negotiation before war,so the Japanese army mastered the strategic intent of the Qing court.In July 1894,the Qing army hired British ships including the "Soaring" to transport troops to North Korea secretly.Since the telegram of the action was deciphered,the Japanese fleet launched a surprise attack,resulting in heavy loss of the Qing army.Before the battle in the Yellow Sea,the Japanese army knew from the deciphered telegram that the Northern Navy would land at Dadonggou,so Japanese combined fleet laid an ambush and completely defeated the Northern Navy.When Li Hongzhang went to Japan to negotiate after the war,the contents of the telegrams between Li and the Qing court and the Chinese party’ s bottom line for territory cession and reparations were also grasped by the Japanese party.