Shortly after Kato Kiyomasa successfully landed, Governor Konishi once again sent intelligence to the Korean court about the incoming Japanese army through covert means. After learning about it, the Korean King Li Wan immediately ordered Won-kyun to lead the navy to sea to intercept.
When the king's order arrived at Xianshan Island, Yuan Jun, the commander of the three naval forces, convened the generals for discussion. Pei Xingli, the garrison general, reported the military situation: The Japanese fleet is huge, with a total of 600 ships, but the specific configuration is unknown; we have 200 ships. There are more than 10,000 stones of grain stored, more than 80 guns are carried, and 600 musketeers are deployed on board the ship.
Song Xili reminded that the scale of the Japanese naval force was greater than before, and this must be a plan to lure the enemy to gather together for annihilation. Our army should not go into battle easily.
Yuan Jun shook his head and said: "Even if it is a lure, intercepting the enemy invaders at sea and preventing them from landing is exactly the mission of our navy. Otherwise, we will be in danger of subjugating the country. As the saying goes, everything depends on people, and success depends on heaven. I am different from Yi Sun-shin. As long as I receive the king's order, I will not hesitate and fight with all my strength even if hell is ahead! If I die on the battlefield, it will be the fate of a warrior and he will die well."
Li Fengxiu, the chief secretary of the navy training camp and responsible for supervising the production of gunpowder, reminded again: "Commander, there is a huge disparity in the strength of the enemy and ours. Is this attack too risky? Even if our morale is high, the Japanese pirates have 600 warships after all, and again They must have taken precautions against us. I think this battle may be difficult to win. Please think again, Commander."
Won Kyun slapped the table and shouted: "Yi Sun-shin has really cultivated a group of cowardly and incompetent people. He only concentrates on his job of supervising the production of gunpowder. How can he interfere in military discussions! Drag him out immediately and punish him with a stick!"
Immediately, Li Fengxiu was dragged out and punished, and the generals did not dare to say more. Yuan Jun then ordered the entire army to get ready and set sail at dawn the next day.
The entire North Korean Navy set out. After learning about it, Japanese Navy General Kuuki Yoshitaka negotiated with Todo Takatora and Wakisaka Anji. Kuuki Yoshiro said: "The North Korean Navy Chief Wonjun has already led the fleet to set off. Although our fleet has been covered with armor, equipped with artillery, and has thirty-two giant ships, the main force of Osaka's new fleet, we still need to operate in advance. Plan to act:
Todo-kun, you lured the North Korean navy into the ambush waters at Ankopo; Wakisaka-kun, you made a surprise attack from behind. You two, the stakes in this battle are very important and there must be no mistake. I will also personally lead the main force of the Osaka fleet to support the two of them and enter the battle at any time. I wish them good luck. "
Todo Takatora and Wakisaka Anji suddenly accepted the order, and then organized their fleet to move towards Ankoura.
After the North Korean navy sailed to the sea surface of Angupo, they suddenly saw a large number of Japanese warships approaching from ahead. Upon seeing this, Yuan Jun made a little distinction and found that the composition of the Japanese fleet seemed to be the same as before. He immediately felt relieved and ordered the entire army to form a one-line defense.
The artillery of the North Korean navy lined up and fired at the Japanese warships. The Japanese warships also fired back with artillery. The density and accuracy of the firepower were indeed similar to before, without any significant improvement. The two armies exchanged fire for a moment, and then Todo Takatora ordered the entire team to turn around and retreat.
When Yuan Jun saw that the Japanese troops were retreating, he was already confident and ordered the pursuit without hesitation. Lieutenant General Song Xili advised: "Commander, please think twice. The Japanese pirates withdrew immediately after fighting with us. This may be a ploy to lure the enemy. A rash pursuit may cause serious harm to the enemy." Falling into the enemy's trap."
Yuan Jun burst out laughing, his tone full of mockery: "Why do you always come up with tricks to lure the enemy? In your eyes, the Japanese pirates have no other tricks? Lieutenant General Song, I appreciate your caution. But you are also being too cautious.
The Japanese pirates had been defeated by our army many times before and were very afraid of our artillery because the firepower of the two armies was simply not comparable. I just observed the Japanese pirate fleet. It is basically the same as before, except that it is covered with thin iron at key positions to prevent some rockets. The power of the artillery fire is the same as before, so there is nothing to be afraid of.
As for you saying that his withdrawal was a ploy? Haha, Japanese ships are used to close combat. Now that our army’s artillery is powerful, it will be difficult for them to get close to our army and they will naturally retreat! At this time, taking advantage of the victory to pursue is an excellent opportunity to annihilate the enemy invaders at sea. Continue the pursuit, keep a distance between the ships, and be sure to annihilate all the enemy invaders! "
So at Won Kyun's insistence, the North Korean navy continued to pursue, and was lured by the Japanese army to the waters where the ambush was scheduled. Todo Takatora ordered the fleet to turn around to face the enemy head-on.
Most of the Japanese warships that went out this time were indeed equipped with so-called iron armor, and the domestic second-hand artillery purchased from the Ming Dynasty had been modified and installed on the warships, which greatly enhanced the long-range firepower. The reason why the North Korean navy had not discovered it just now was because Takatora Toudo followed the predetermined strategy and only used 30% of the artillery to fire.
At this moment, Todo Takatora ordered the entire fleet to fire artillery towards North Korea. Among them were not only solid bullets common to the army, but also chain bullets that were secreted through espionage and then imitated - this was used by the Beiyang Expeditionary Fleet during the naval battle off the coast of Luzon. It has been used before, and its power is very good, almost paralyzing the Spanish treasure ship fleet.
Yuan Jun was shocked when he saw the density of Japanese artillery fire suddenly tripled, but then he calmed down. In Yuan Jun's eyes, the previous artillery pieces of the Japanese army were not only small in number, but also had poor accuracy. Now, even if the artillery configuration is increased, due to insufficient hit rate, the actual power is difficult to compare with the North Korean navy, so Yuan Jun ordered the entire army to form a large formation to meet the enemy.
While the two armies were shooting at each other, the fleet led by Wakisaka Anji had quickly inserted in from the side of the North Korean Navy. When they appeared, Yuan Jun quickly ordered the right team to change direction to meet the enemy. However, at this time, there was artillery interference from Todo Takatora's fleet, and the North Korean Navy's right team fell into chaos when it turned around.
At this time, Yuan Jun discovered that although the hit rate of Japanese artillery was indeed not very high, it was not much worse than that of the Korean army. The problem was probably not with the artillery, but with the short training time of the gunners, and their proficiency. Room for improvement.
Since the right wing of the North Korean navy was in chaos, Wakisaka Anji would not let it go. He took the opportunity to lead his subordinate's clipper to weave around, and was quickly able to take over. In the close-up close combat, which they are good at, the Japanese army unsurprisingly showed its advantages. On the other hand, the North Korean Navy's morale was scattered due to a long lack of training, and in addition, it was not originally trained for the purpose of engaging in boarding combat. Therefore, the navy on the right The road almost collapsed instantly.
Only then did Yuan Jun realize that something was wrong. In order to prevent being surrounded and annihilated by the Japanese army, he immediately ordered the entire army to retreat. Deputy General Song Xili advised: "The commander must not do it! If you order a retreat at this time, the entire army will fall into chaos, which will only cause greater harm." The collapse of the enemy, now we still have a glimmer of hope, it is better to attack the Japanese fleet with all our strength. If we can sink the enemy's flagship, we may be able to turn the tide of the war and turn defeat into victory!"
Yuan Jun refused, waving his hand and saying: "You can't show off your bravery. Although the right team is in chaos now, they can still withdraw all the ships. Being surrounded is a taboo for military officers. The top priority is to preserve combat power and get rid of the ambush. You don't need to say more, Execute the military order immediately, and those who violate it will be executed immediately!" Song Xili reluctantly accepted the order.
Under this situation, the North Korean navy received an order to retreat. What else could there be to say? Naturally, every ship was frantically breaking out of the encirclement in order to preserve itself, without caring about anything else.
Although the Korean wooden house boats are not suitable for deep-sea voyages, they are actually quite sturdy in low-wave sea conditions, and their firepower can be said to be powerful without considering Jinghua. Although many are damaged at this time, most of them can still be used. Full speed ahead.
Although the Japanese army had the overall advantage at this time, it could not completely form an encirclement. Upon seeing this, Takatora Todo ordered the entire army who had not yet engaged the Korean warships not to tangle with the Korean warships to avoid direct collision with the Korean warships, causing unnecessary losses to the navy.
Todo Takatora's petty order, which was somewhat unique to the Japanese, enabled the North Korean navy to avoid maximum losses, and its main force finally returned to Hansan Island. After the war, the North Korean navy lost three regular warships, nineteen small warships converted from civilian ships, and more than 200 soldiers and nine middle- and lower-ranking officers were killed.
It needs to be added here that the so-called "two hundred warships" of the Korean navy and the so-called "six hundred warships" of the Japanese navy are both within their statistical caliber - well, the same is true for the Ming navy. A unified caliber: that is, as long as the ships on the battlefield are called warships.
The reason why we talk about it separately is because the Beijing and China Ocean Fleets and even the combined fleets of the Sea Trade Alliance do not follow this unified approach. In Jinghua's naval system, a single ship carrying less than twelve No. 3 guns will not be counted as a "war ship" at all, but only as a "civilian ship supporting the war."
In fact, this standard itself has been greatly relaxed in order to allow some of the artillery-carrying civilian ships accompanying the expedition to receive more rewards and encourage them to be willing to join the expedition. If we talk about Jinghua's own armed ships, the lowest level of armed transport carriers has as many as twenty-eight guns.
Ten days later, Won Kyun led the North Korean Navy into two teams to attack again. The left road encountered a Japanese team on Gadoku Island. The Japanese generals were Takahashi Nozen and Tsukushi Hiromon who were subordinate to Kobayakawa Takakage of the former Sixth Army. The leader of the fleet came to Gad Island to replenish water supplies.
Even though the two armies were locked in close combat, the Japanese army still performed well this time. Although the artillery of this Japanese fleet was not as sufficient as the previous one, the density of artillery was still visible, coupled with the dense matchlock firepower after getting as close as possible, it was still possible. Successfully suppressed the North Korean gunners.
In addition, the baked jade ignited the deck, causing the North Korean navy to gradually stall. The Japanese army immediately launched a boarding battle, and brave Japanese navy soldiers began to board the ship. Yuan Jun was worried that he would be ambushed by the enemy again, so he immediately ordered a withdrawal. In this way, after the North Korean navy retreated from the left, the right did not dare to advance alone, and had to retreat to the Hanshan Island camp together.
Jiugui Jialong was quite surprised after receiving the report. Why did the North Korean Navy suddenly become so vulnerable? Todo Takatora smiled and said: "It seems that the North Korean navy has been unable to exert its strength since Yi Sun-shin left. The new North Korean navy general is really a loser. Every time he fights with us, he will be defeated. I also I don’t understand why North Korea wants him to replace Yi Sun-shin, there really is no one in North Korea!”
Kato Yoshiaki added: "It's a pity that we couldn't implement several plans we set up. This Yuanjun has learned well after being severely beaten. Now he is always worried about being ambushed by us and retreats immediately if something goes wrong. Now This time, we failed to annihilate all the North Korean navy in one fell swoop. Although our army has won consecutive battles and victories, their threat to us is still there. We must make new plans and not allow the North Korean navy to exist at sea again, otherwise it will still greatly affect our future. Overall military strategy.”
Jiuki Jialong strongly agreed with this: "That's it. We must use the opportunity of Yi Sun-shin's absence to completely annihilate the North Korean navy, so next we must focus on choosing the ambush sea area to prevent Yuan Jun from having a chance to escape. This time we We must concentrate the power of the navy to eliminate the Korean navy in one fell swoop and avenge the naval battle of the Battle of Munroc!"
When he said this, he sighed and said with emotion: "The most regretful thing for me is that I can't cut off Yi Sun-shin's head with my own hands and present it to His Highness Taige. It seems that this time I can only use Won-kyun's head instead." What a shame.”
On the other side, King Li He of Joseon was pacing back and forth in the palace late at night, anxiously waiting for the report of the battle ahead. Suddenly, Zuo Yizheng Jin Yingnan came over. Li He hurriedly asked about the situation of the battle. Jin Yingnan looked heavy and said with difficulty: "Your Highness, Yuan Jun was defeated. , the 200 warships under his command failed to stop the Japanese attack, and many generals were killed. Yuan Jun led the remaining warships back to Hansan Island."
Li Hao took a few steps back and sat down on the throne. First he looked frightened and worried, then he scolded Yuan Jun for boasting about Haikou but was ultimately defeated and escaped. Finally, he angrily ordered Yuan Jun to fight again!
The king's order was sent to Xianshan Island, and Yuan Jun was extremely angry after receiving it: "We just suffered a defeat, and now the whole army has not yet finished resting. How can we go back to fight? This is to die in vain! What do you think? Tell me, why are you all here? Don't say anything? Do you mean to say that the current results are all caused by me, Yuan Jun!"
Each battalion of the naval army was very dissatisfied with Yuan Jun's command, but since Yuan Jun had shown his previous domineering behavior, since he had not yet been dismissed by the king and investigated, everyone naturally did not dare to say anything.
After a while, Song Xili suggested that we should first report the situation to the Du Marshal, then state our difficulties to the court, and then make a decision.
This was a hopeless solution. Yuan Jun thought about it and thought he might as well give it a try, so he ordered Song Xili to report to the capital marshal Quan Li, and conveyed the hope that the government army and even the Ming army would cooperate in the attack from the land.
After seeing Quan Li, Song Xili relayed what Yuan Jun said. Quan Li was furious. Song Xili explained: "Let's not talk about the number of enemy casualties. The losses of our navy alone were relatively heavy. It will take time to reorganize the army." , it is really difficult to go to war immediately, and the battle will be defeated. Moreover, the commander hopes that the imperial army or the Ming army can provide full support from the land, otherwise the navy alone will not be able to defeat the Japanese pirates."
Quan Li severely criticized this statement and scolded: "It's not that I don't know your difficulties, but now you can't use the lack of military support from the imperial court as an excuse for your defeat! Also, is he too timid to come to see me in person? Do you dare to send your subordinates down to defend yourself? Let Yuan Jun come over for questioning immediately!"
Quan Li's words reached this point, and Yuan Jun had to come unless he rebelled, so he was forced to go to plead guilty in person. Quan Li was not polite and ordered Yuan Jun to be punished with a stick on the spot. Yuan Jun's skin and flesh were torn under the stick and he vomited blood.
Quan Li asked coldly at this time: "You said that you can't go on an expedition without the support of the imperial army on land. It is simply ridiculous! If the imperial court can send a large army, why insist on asking you to go to sea to stop the enemy!
This is the king's order. You also swore in front of the king and the civil and military officials of the whole dynasty, saying that once you receive the king's order, you will go through fire and water, no matter what. As a general, how can you be duplicitous! Is the king an enemy who needs you to deceive with lies? "
Yuan Jun was very dissatisfied and continued to defend himself. Quan Li ignored him and ordered the punishment to continue.
After nightfall, Yi Sun-shin, who was in the army in white, came specifically to say to Quan Li: "Now that the navy has been defeated, the damage will probably be heavy, and we cannot continue to attack the enemy. The enemy is already on guard and has several times more warships than I do. If we still attack rashly under such circumstances, the consequences will be disastrous."
Quan Li immediately interrupted Yi Sunchen and insisted that the king's order had been issued and could not be violated, but Yi Sunchen continued: "Please tell the king the true situation of the navy and let him know the benefits. Marshal Dou, you must convince the court this time, otherwise Not only will we not be able to defeat the Japanese pirates, our naval officers and existing warships will eventually be reduced to nothing, and the result will be that North Korea will never have a coastal defense in the future.”
Quan Li took a deep breath and said: "Don't we have a firepower advantage compared to the Japanese pirates? Although I am not good at water warfare, I also know that we need to make good use of military tactics when facing the enemy and give full play to our advantages. You have also done this many times before We can win more with less, and Japanese ships have collapsed under our firepower many times. Why are you so timid now?"
Yi Sun-shin replied: "It turns out that our army did have stronger firepower than the Japanese ships, but in close combat it was still easily suppressed by the Japanese pirates' cannons. The many victories were mainly based on surprise attacks, taking advantage of the Japanese pirates' arrogance and new water weapons." Only by using military tactics can the Japanese pirates often get into disarray and win.
However, the Japanese pirates were cunning, and fighter planes were very difficult to find. After that, the Japanese pirates took serious precautions. Although our navy seemed to still have the upper hand, it actually did not win another major victory.
This time the Japanese pirates came even more prepared. After hearing the battle report, I found that not only did the Japanese ships have a large range of iron armor installed to protect them from rockets and other flammable objects, but more importantly, they greatly strengthened their artillery configuration. I'm afraid they are no longer under the firepower of our warships now.
Commander-in-Chief, today is different from the past. You must not start a war rashly. You must first understand the strength of the Japanese army, then find its weaknesses and target them. Only in this way can you have a chance of victory. "
What Yi Sun-shin said was indeed reasonable. However, although Quan Li knew it was reasonable, he also knew that it was difficult to disobey the king's order and could only insist on fighting. Yi Sun-shin tried to persuade him again, but Quan Li shouted back, and he fell into depression. In just one night, his hair turned gray with worry.
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