A few days later, Admiral Yi Sun-shin of Jeolla Province's Zuoshui Province received a message from foreign fishermen saying that Japanese warships were gathering in the area of Geoje Island. Yi Sun-shin realized that the Japanese navy must have a big plan brewing, and that it was most likely targeting him, so he immediately called for the Jeolla Province Yousu envoy Li Yiqi and the Gyeongsang Province Yousu envoy Wonjun to discuss it together.
Yi Sun-shin took the lead and spoke first: "Japanese warships are gathering in the area of Geoje Island. It is reported that the number is very large, at least more than sixty. Looking at our army's wooden house ships, we currently have twenty-four warships here. , there should be twenty-five warships in Li Youshi's place, and seven warships in Yuan Youshi's place. Although there is a slight gap between them and the Japanese army, they are not incapable of fighting."
Yuan Jun muttered: "Judging from the location where the Japanese pirates gathered this time, they are coming with great force. They must be seeking revenge. We must be cautious and not fight easily. If we fall into the trap, all the results of the Korean navy's previous battles will be lost." All previous efforts were wasted.
I believe that the Japanese pirates are cunning and cruel, and have a strong desire for revenge. Their commanders will avenge their shame. Now I am afraid that this is not the only gathering. There should be follow-up support from a large fleet... In short, for our army, From then on it was all tough battles. "
Yi Sunchen nodded in approval, but quickly said: "I have already made a plan for this battle. You might as well ask for details: I plan to set up an ambush in the waters of Hansan Island. The water here is deep, the waves are flat, and it is extremely wide, which is conducive to a large fleet. Ambush and unfold.
Specifically, I will first dispatch several warships to fly my flag to lure the Japanese ships away from Geoje Island and chase them to the waters of Hansan Island. At this time, although our military fleet is far away, I will order the lure ships to When they arrived at the designated position, they fired a series of artillery messages. When each team heard the artillery message, they sailed towards the enemy ship.
It is expected that once this happens, our army will be able to surround the Japanese army with the Crane Wing Formation, keep a distance, and bombard with all-out force. Our four turtle ships will also break into the enemy's formation, disrupting the formation of the Japanese fleet, making it difficult for them to fight on their own. Combat strength. "
This plan sounds good, but Li Yiqi, the captain of the Jeolla Province Yousu River, still seemed a little uneasy. He frowned and pondered for a long time, and then slowly said: "Even so, it seems that there is no guarantee. You two, the experience of the Japanese army Even if he is defeated in a series of battles, he will definitely have to deal with it. Whether he can be easily seduced is still unknown.
In addition, the scale of the Japanese warships is huge this time. It may be more difficult for our army to win if we take the initiative to attack. Moreover, the Japanese army may also disperse their actions. If they turn around and encircle our army, I wonder what Li Zuoshui should do?
Li Zuoshui, the Japanese ships are faster than our army. Once they seize the opportunity and engage in close combat, our army's advantage may be lost. In my opinion, this battle is extremely critical, and no matter what, we must consider it carefully. "
Yi Sun-shin was quite confident, or he was well-informed, and he replied calmly: "As you two said, the Japanese pirates gathered for revenge. If this is the case, once the lure ship has my flag, the Japanese pirates will naturally pursue it with all their strength. , Otherwise, how can we talk about revenge?
Although the Japanese pirates gathered a large number of warships to embolden them, it can be seen that they are still wary of the previous naval battle, so they will never disperse before seeing the main force of our army to avoid being defeated by our army one by one. However, because of this, our army's plan to lure the enemy will be successful. When the Japanese pirates find out that they have already fallen into the heavy siege of Heyi, they will undoubtedly be defeated.
Of course, please rest assured, if it really fails to lure the enemy, then I will wait until then to make another plan, but it will not be too late. "
Li Yiqi and Yuan Jun saw that although Yi Sunchen was confident, he was not incapable of listening to his opinions, so they both agreed after a moment of thinking. Then the two men each returned to their base camp, assembled their warships, and rendezvoused with Yi Sun-shin's troops.
On the other side, Wakisaka Anzhi's army was anchored on Geoje Island when it was suddenly reported that a North Korean navy warship was attacking. Anji Wakisaka led the crowd to inspect and saw six Korean wooden warships heading towards Geoje Island in a swaggering manner.
Wakisaka Anji took a closer look and saw Yi Sun-shin's flag clearly visible. He became angry and immediately ordered the entire army to board the ship to pursue. When Wakiitazabei saw his appearance, he was afraid that he was angry and wanted to revolt, so he quickly advised Wakisaka Anji to be careful of this as a tactic to lure the enemy.
However, Anji Wakisaka was impatient and said loudly: "Yi Sun-shin is close at hand, and his strength is weak. The opportunity cannot be missed, and it will never come back! If we catch up with the enemy ship as soon as possible and annihilate Yi Sun-shin, the Korean navy will collapse. Even if it is This is a ploy to lure the enemy, but our warships are more flexible and maneuverable than the Korean warships. As long as the enemy ambush appears, we can disperse and encircle them as planned, so there is nothing to fear!"
He was determined and immediately issued an order: Anyone who captures Yi Sun-shin alive will be rewarded 5,000 guan! Faced with such a huge reward, the Japanese navy was excited and clamored to board the ship and set sail. At one time, seventy-three Japanese warships rushed out at the fastest speed.
In the early morning of the 7th, the three Japanese fleets had been led to the waters of Hansan Island. The North Korean decoy ship arrived at the designated position, fired a series of artillery messages and fired back at the Japanese fleet, but the Japanese navy was still in hot pursuit.
Within half a moment, Wakisaka Yasuji and other generals were shocked to realize that a large number of Korean warships were approaching from three sides of the sea. They had become surrounded by cranes. There was a turtle ship on each side and two ships on the front, heading towards the Japanese navy. Rush.
Wakisaka Anji saw that the navy had been surrounded, and although he regretted it in his heart, as one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's favorite generals and one of the Seven Guns of Kiyake, he was already a successful and famous man, so how could he leave without fighting? Wakisaka Anji not only refused to leave, but became furious and ordered the three teams to advance separately and fight to the death with all their strength.
Yi Sun-shin was overjoyed when he saw this. In his opinion, given the size of the Japanese fleet, if he made up his mind to break out now, his own encirclement might not be able to stop him. Although he could win, the outcome would be uncertain. Hard to say.
Now that Anji Wakisaka refused to evade, and instead attacked in three separate directions, he was really on the receiving end of a gun. How could he, Yi Sun-shin, let go of such a great opportunity?
Therefore, Yi Sun-shin immediately sent an order to the entire army, requiring them to keep their distance and fire immediately. The Japanese fleet was surrounded by Korean wooden houseboats and was bombarded continuously, and they continued to suffer minor or severe injuries. The ships wanted to advance, but they were severely disrupted by shelling and fire, and the execution effect was really poor.
Although the matchlock guns that Japan is famous for are relatively well-made, after all, the range of guns against guns is limited, and they have little effect in the chaos of shelling. In addition, the four turtle ships ran rampantly among the enemy formations, causing the Japanese army's formation to become chaotic for a time, making it more difficult to form a joint force.
Fortunately, there were enough Japanese warships after all, and their desire for revenge was indeed strong. Even if they just launched several counterattacks as if they were fighting independently, they gradually approached the North Korean fleet.
Upon seeing this, Anji Wakisaka immediately ordered the Anzha ships to be divided into two teams, one at the front and the other. The small and medium-sized warships were transferred to the middle to assist each other in defending against North Korea.
When Yi Sun-shin saw the Japanese army's change of formation, he naturally would not remain indifferent. He also ordered the bombardment of the Anzhai detachment to contain it, and then ordered four turtle ships to ram the small and medium-sized Japanese warships, disrupting their change of formation.
The Japanese Anzha ship was restrained by firepower, and it was difficult to detach smoothly for a while. In addition, there was a disturbance by a turtle ship in the middle, and the small and medium-sized warships had to scatter. As a result, the Japanese army's formation was once again in chaos. They could only form a formation with scattered ships, but they still tried to counterattack.
As for the North Korean Navy, due to clear pre-war planning, the various units led by Yi Sun-shin, Li Yi-chi, and Won-kyun promptly adjusted their front lines according to the advance deployment, moved ahead of schedule, and maintained an encirclement and continuous offensive at all times.
The naval battle on Hansan Island lasted from early morning to dusk, and the Japanese army, which became increasingly chaotic as the battle continued, was finally defeated again. Wakiitazubei and Watanabe Nanemon were killed on the spot. Naoko Sama Yun was so ashamed and angry that he committed seppuku. In order to save the last warship, the commander-in-chief, Wakisaka Yasuji, could only endure the humiliation and survive. He led the remaining troops to break through the encirclement and fled in embarrassment.
During the Battle of Hansan Island, Yi Sun-shin reported to the North Korean court, indicating that the Japanese army had 36 large ships, 24 medium ships, and 13 small ships. The North Korean navy destroyed a total of 63 enemy ships, threatening the general. Ban Yasu led the remaining troops to flee. The North Korean navy warships were quite damaged, but fortunately none of them sank.
In fact, there is another copy of this battle report, which was written by a Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance merchant ship in North Korea that appeared with the North Korean navy in the name of "observation". Naturally, its battle report would not be sent to the North Korean court, but directly sent to the Ming Dynasty capital after returning to Hong Kong.
In this battle report, in addition to the record of the battle situation, it also specifically mentioned why the Japanese army failed to achieve the result of sinking or destroying any Korean warship.
The reason is simple: the Japanese navy seriously lacks heavy firepower and cannot seriously damage North Korean ships from a distance, let alone destroy them. And because the North Koreans only had four turtle ships in close combat with them, which were not afraid of fire attacks and were inconvenient to climb, so although the Japanese army was in high spirits and resisted for a long time, it was all in vain.
In fact, this battle report only proves that the warship development plan that Gao pragmatic formulated for the Ming Dynasty Navy, the Liangyang Fleet, and the Xungui Fleet is very forward-looking. To a certain extent, it can be regarded as the result of the battle between the Japanese and North Korean naval forces. It disproves the correctness of the highly pragmatic theory of naval construction, and the other meanings are of little significance.
After all, although Gao Pangshi may not have known that there would be a battle today, he could at least be sure that as long as the Japanese navy did not transfer the "new fleet" to North Korea, it was almost destined to be beaten by Yi Sun-shin, and there would not be many surprises at all. .
Not to mention that it would take several days for Gao Pangshi to receive his own "observation report" of this battle, but after the war, the North Korean Navy was reorganized in Hong Kong, and Yi Sun-shin got another report, saying that Japanese Navy Admiral Kuki Yoshitaka's fleet was in Anhui. Mooring at Bonepool.
Since winter had begun at this time, the weather became bad, which was not conducive to maritime operations. God was unfavorable, and Yi Sun-shin had no good solution. He delayed it until the tenth day of the lunar month, and then he was able to lead the entire army to attack Angupo.
Forty-two Japanese warships were moored in Ankopo, including 21 large Ataya ships, and the iron-clad Ataya ship "Nihon Maru" was stationed there. This masterpiece of shipbuilding by Japanese Maruno Kuki Yoshitaka in his lifetime not only brought Japan's original shipbuilding skills to its peak, but also incorporated many "advanced technologies" brought by "Ming Dynasty craftsmen".
Since this "Nihon Maru" dares to be named after the country "Japan", it is naturally not an ordinary person. Not only is it the largest of all Japanese Aya boats, the materials used are also extremely luxurious - oh, extremely rigorous and carefully selected.
Not to mention other materials, Nippon Maru spent 31,100 taels of silver on the top-grade shipbuilding teak imported from southern Xinjiang through the Sea Trade Alliance. It is difficult to say whether this Nippon Maru is the most capable warship in Japan, but if we talk about the high cost, it must be the most expensive in Japan, and it is more expensive than the ships bought from the Sea Trade Alliance.
Of course, it's not just the wood that's so expensive. The hull of this ship is also very Japanese-style, with iron armor laid everywhere to prevent fire, and it looks even stronger.
Furthermore, thanks to the guidance of Ming craftsmen, the warships themselves were built much larger than previous Japanese ships. It can store 1,500 stones of food, set up oars for 100, and carry 800 troops.
The deck has three attic levels, and there are many narrow rooms on both sides of the ship, which can be used for iron cannons, bow shooting and roasting. There is a Keihua No. 2 large barrel (artillery) on the front and both sides of the hull. It can be said that it is the first of its kind in Japan's history. An unseen giant ship. Kuuki Yoshitaka is the supervisor of Nippon Maru and has been proud of it since its completion.
But it was said that Kuki Yoshitaka and Kato Yoshiaki were in Nippon Maruchi at this time. They had already received the military report of Wakisaka Anji's defeat at Hanshan Island, and they were quite worried.
Kato Yoshiaki sighed and asked: "The seventy-three main warships of our army are extremely powerful maritime forces no matter how you look at them, but we did not expect to suffer such a defeat.
Your Highness Ohsumi, although I have fought against Yi Sun-shin, I still don’t know the reason for my defeat. If it is because of the turtle ships, the number of turtle ships is extremely limited. It is really impossible to let them go without fighting. Why do we always have to fight with Turtle Boat?
Now the North Korean navy has another great victory on Hansan Island. Considering that Yi Sun-shin loves to take advantage of victory to pursue, I predict that he will attack Angupo immediately. If so, how should we respond? "
Jiuki Jialong said: "I am also quite surprised by the performance of the North Korean Navy, but I can't think about it in detail right now. As a naval general, it is natural for Yi Sun-shin to come to me, and now the North Korean Navy The morale of the army must be strong...
In view of the previous defeats, we cannot rush into battle this time. There are mostly shallow waters in Angupo, which can easily cause warships to run aground, which is not conducive to large-ship naval battles. If Yi Sun-shin comes, he will definitely try to lure me out to sea again, but I just can't hold on.
It is difficult for North Korean navy ships to enter the bay, and small ships are no match for our army. What can they do to me? The key now is to try to avoid getting within the firing range of North Korea's large ships and barrels, and just hold on and wait for help. What's more, our army still has the Nihon Maru in charge. Once the reinforcements arrive, they will be attacked from both inside and outside, and Yi Sun-sin will be killed and avenged! "
Since the two places were not very far apart, the North Korean naval forces reached Angupo one day later.
Yi Sun-sin saw that it was difficult for the wooden warship to enter Angupo, so he ordered the front to lure the enemy, and shelled the enemy again with the intention of showing weakness and retreating. However, Jiugui Jialong was unmoved and refused to leave under strict orders. Yi Sun-shin tried several times to lure the enemy, but to no avail. He was worried that if the stalemate continued, Japanese reinforcements might attack at any time, so he ordered all the warships in the army to shell inward along the harbor. Replacement, artillery fire salvo does not give the enemy a chance to breathe.
Kuuki Yoshitaka also ordered Kato Yoshiaki and his troops to make full use of the Ankopo terrain, cooperate with water and land, resist counterattacks, and fire alternately with warships and iron cannons, and stand firm to wait for reinforcements.
At this time, the Keihua No. 2 barrel equipped with the Nippon Maru caused trouble for the Korean Navy several times due to its huge power and long range. One of the warships was even hit by a shot from the side string and almost sank on the spot. With great difficulty, he was rescued through emergency repairs and exited the battlefield early.
However, judging from the overall battle situation, since the overall firepower configuration of the Japanese warships was still lower than that of the North Korean navy, the situation was gradually suppressed.
The North Korean navy repeatedly bombarded the harbor, but it was difficult to aim due to its long range. Fortunately, it was also difficult for Japanese ships to move easily in Repulse Bay. In the fierce battle, the ship's position was inevitably misplaced. The two sides fought until nightfall. Although the North Korean navy fired randomly day and night, the Japanese warships had been damaged by twenty large ships and several small and medium-sized ships by nightfall.
Jiuki Jialong was furious when he saw so many navy warships losing their combat power without fighting, but at the same time he felt deeply that the situation was over and there was no way to recover. Thinking that the Japanese navy was not without powerful firepower, but it was a pity that he could not mobilize the "new fleet" at all, he felt resentful for a moment.
He was also worried that he could not bear the anger of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In despair, he wanted to commit seppuku and apologize, but was immediately stopped by Kato Yoshiaki. Subsequently, in order to preserve the dignity of the pirate daimyo, Kuki Yoshitaka strictly ordered the entire army to cover Nippon Maru's breakout.
Nihon Maru was actually quite unlucky. During such a chaotic battle, the sail mast happened to be broken by North Korean artillery fire. At this time, he could not raise the sail and had to row with his oars.
But having said that, if you spend too much money, you can see the results after all. Not only is this Nippon Maru made of excellent wood, but it is also covered in solid iron armor, majestic and powerful, and its firepower is pretty good for this place. Coupled with the full cover of the other small boats, it was really difficult for the North Korean navy to cause serious damage to the Nihon Maru for a while.
Of course, this also has a lot to do with the fact that the artillery shells of the North Korean navy have almost bottomed out at this time. In short, upon seeing this, Yi Sun-shin ordered a halt to the attack, and Kuuki Yoshiro and Kato Yoshiaki's troops were finally able to leave Angupo and return to Busan.
After the war, North Korean deputy generals Song Xili and Zheng Yun congratulated Yi Sunchen and asked for advice: "Li Zuoshui, the Japanese pirates were defeated again, and the main force of their navy was severely damaged. How does Zuoshui think the Japanese pirates will act in the future?"
Yi Sun-shin thought for a moment, and after taking stock of the Japanese navy and land forces, he replied: "If I were a Japanese general and saw that the navy was difficult to defeat, I should call in the army for rescue and destroy the port base first.
I heard that the Japanese army was brave and good at fighting, so each of them fell one after another. However, our army lacked war horses, so it would be difficult for the Japanese pirates to match us on land. In this case, you should request the court as soon as possible to allocate war horses, or send a large army to guard the port in case of Japanese pirate attacks. The main focus of our naval force is still on naval warfare. "
Zheng Yun first agreed with Yi Sun-shin's opinion, and then said that since the Japanese navy only had one place left to occupy, Busan, if Busan could be captured, the Japanese water and land transportation lines would be completely cut off, so he advised Yi Sun-shin to continue the march.
Yi Sun-shin naturally agreed. After all, since the beginning of this all-out war this year, he has led the navy to achieve almost all the real victories. Once he can continue to capture Busan, the last port stronghold of the Japanese army in North Korea, he will be able to win the war in North Korea. No matter how brave and skilled the Japanese Army is, it is nothing but a rootless force with no stamina. In this way, a complete victory against the Japanese army is just around the corner.
Thinking of this, Yi Sun-shin couldn't help but feel a little excited. It took him a while to calm down and start thinking about how to organize the Battle of Busan.
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