Naniwa and Akitsushima on a reconnaissance mission to Port Arthur (modern Lüshunkou) on 22 September and they were able to confirm that the Beiyang Fleet was present. The cruisers encountered the corvette on their return voyage. It had been damaged during the Battle of the Yalu and beached to prevent it from sinking. As the Japanese ships approached the corvette was blown up by her own crew to prevent its capture. After the battle, the Combined Fleet escorted troop convoys through the Korea Bay to Chinese territory at the base of the Liaodong Peninsula and supported the IJA's advance down the length of the peninsula towards Port Arthur. This allowed the Beiyang Fleet to sail from Port Arthur to Weihei in early November without being detected. Itō sent Takachiho and Yoshino to see if the Chinese ships were still at Port Arthur on 8 November and only located them at Weihaiwei a week later. The Combined Fleet cruised off the Chinese port on 16–17 November, but Ding was under orders to refuse battle, and the Japanese ships departed to begin the blockade of Port Arthur in support of the IJA's impending successful assault on the port. The Japanese landed troops near Weihaiwei in January 1895 and gradually encircled the city. Itō was unwilling to commit his lightly armored ships to attacks on the formidable fortifications defending the port as he had to be prepared to defeat the Chinese ships if they attempted to break through the blockade. Successful night attacks by his torpedo boats in early February sank or damaged the larger ships and the morale of the Chinese crews continued to decline. Ding failed to make his own nocturnal torpedo attacks against the blockaders, but the Chinese torpedo boats sortied on the morning of 7 February and unsuccessfully attempted to escape by steaming west along the coast towards Zhifu. Pursued by the First Flying Squadron, all of them were either destroyed or captured. It is unclear whether Ding ordered them to breakout or if they deserted before the Chinese surrender on 12 February. Tōgō was promoted to rear admiral and became commander of the First Flying Squadron four days later and Captain Kataoka Shichirō replaced him as the captain of Naniwa. The Japanese wanted to take the Pescadores Islands between the Chinese coast and Taiwan as a base from which to mount their invasion of Taiwan. Their expedition arrived