Rise of a Korean National Hero

After Admiral Yi’s first battle against the Japanese at Okpo; Yi decided to return to his base in Yoesu in order to rest his men and refit his ships. During this time he discarded his commandered fishing boats due to the completion of three of his vaunted “turtle boats”. Yi’s 24 warships and 3 turtle boats would be used to continue his campaign against the Japanese navy.

Yi’s next battle would take place on July 8, 1592 in the bay near Sanchon. The receding tide meant that the Koreans could not safely enter the harbor. Yi decided to have his ships pretend to retreat from the numerically superior Japanese ships in order to lure them out of the harbor. The Japanese ships did come out to fight and Admiral Yi immediately had his three turtle boats assault the front ranks of the Japanese armada. In ferocious battle the three turtle ships sunk 12 of the Japanese ships, but Yi was struck in the shoulder by a bullet. Yi during the battle never aknowledged being wounded because he did not want his men to lose morale during the fight. He would recover from his wound and would lead the Korean navy to many more naval victories over the Japanese.

In one battle at Tangpo Harbor Admiral Yi had caught the Japanese Admiral Kamei Korenori and his 21 ships. Yi attacked the Japanese fleet and destroyed the ships and even captured the Kamei’s flag ship. During the battle Kamei had been killed by an arrow. Inside Kamei’s ship Yi had found an elaborate captain’s quarters that featured a golden fan inscribed with Hideyoshi’s name. He also found a Korean woman that was forced to be Kamei’s mistress. The woman claimed that Kamei was about 30 years old and liked to walk around in a yellow robe with a golden crown and sat upon a throne on his flag ship as if he was a king. He was not a king like entity anymore because he was dead and Yi quickly had his body beheaded and put on display for all the Korean populace to see. Admiral’s fame continued to grow much to the dislike of his rivals.

Yi’s greatest victory during this time was when he defeated almost the entire Japanese armada at the Battle of Hansan Island. Using a semi-circular formation Yi called the “crane wing” that allowed the Korean navy to mass their firepower the navy led by Yi’s “turtle boats” sunk over 59 enemy ships. This battle was the death blow for the Japanese navy. After the Battle of Hansan Island Hideyoshi had ordered his remaining ships to avoid contact with the Korean navy at all costs. This in effect surrendered the oceans to the Koreans thus cutting off the Japanese military on the Korean mainland from resupply.

The Japanese army without naval resupply could not advance into China. For those not familiar with the topography of the Korean peninsula; it features extremely mountainous and rugged terrain which back then would have been even more difficult to navigate because of the primitive dirt roads. In addition, Admirals Yi’s destruction of the Japanese navy occurred during the same time frame as the Korean monsoon season which made the roads even more muddy and hazardous to cross thus creating the imperative need for naval resupply as the army moved north.

This locked the Japanese military into fixed locations on the peninsula and unable to move due to the lack of supplies, but they were still strong enough to remain in Korea and live off the Koreans food and resources for the time being. It is during this time that the Korean resistance movement was formed and many successful guerilla attacks were launched against the Japanese army. These guerillas became known as the “Righteous Armies”. In effect the Japanese army was now completely bogged down in a war they couldn’t win as long as the Koreans controlled the seas. On the other hand the Korean army was not strong enough to defeat the Japanese and the guerilla attacks were not enough to dislodge them just harass the Japanese, so the Koreans naturally turned to the Chinese for help.

The Ming Chinese officially entered the war at Korea’s request by crossing the Yalu River on the Chinese and North Korean border in late January of 1593. On February 10, 1593 the Ming Chinese defeated the Japanese garrisoned at Pyongyang and continued to move south. The Japanese however had plenty of fight left in them and defeated the Chinese army in a battle north of Seoul two weeks later. The Japanese were prepared to move north in pursuit of the retreating Ming troops but were pushed back to Seoul when they were counterattacked by Korean guerilla fighters. Due to the irony of war; instead of the Chinese saving the Koreans, the Koreans had instead saved the Chinese.

The Japanese still controlled Seoul and areas further south but were quickly losing power to control the country side as the “Righteous Army” continued to harrass the Japanese troop movements. One of the most famous “Righteous Army” leaders was the warrior monk Samyeong-daesa of Geonbongsa Temple that I have described before on this blog.

Ultimately the Japanese and the Chinese entered into armistice talks and the Japanese consolidated their forces to the southeastern corner of the peninsula as the talks continued for the next three years.

During this time, Admiral Yi consolidated his own forces on Hansan Island, constructed a new headquarters, and continued to build his naval power preparing for his next battle with the Japanese. However, the fleet Yi built, he would never be able to use in battle due to political scheming by his enemies in the Korean government. In a weird twist of fate, Yi’s greatest enemy was never the Japanese, but his own Korean government.

Here is an example of the rugged South Korean coastline. This picture is of the Geoje Island coastline near where Yi Sun-shin’s first battle against the Japanese took place.

Prior Posting: Prelude to War

Next Posting: The Fall of a Korean Legend