The opposite of being as timid as a mouse is, of course, being as angry as a tiger that can swallow thousands of miles. Takatora Toudo felt that he was worthy of his name, and proudly ordered to continue the pursuit.
Such actions naturally played into the hands of the North Korean navy. When almost all Japanese troops entered the Myeongryang Strait, Yi Sun-sin ordered an attack. The twelve wooden house boats of the Korean Navy were divided into two teams and used the mountain cover to fire artillery at the Japanese army. Navy Vice Admiral Song Xili led the team to direct the firing, while Quan Jun and Luo Dayong commanded the turtle boats and civilian ships to block the strait and project the Ming army at the same time. The support rockets are not ignition arrows, but primitive rockets, which can also be said to be enlarged versions of military sky cannons.
The Japanese army encountered an ambush. Although many people had expected it, they still couldn't help but feel fear. When they saw the North Korean navy flying the banner of Yi Sun-shin, everyone suddenly changed their expressions.
Todo Takatora was also in disbelief. He kept calling Yi Sun-shin's name. Remembering the tragic situation of being ambushed several times in the Imjin year, he no longer dared to make excuses and hurriedly ordered a breakout. However, all Japanese units were blocked in the strait and it was very inconvenient to move. , and was attacked by artillery fire. It was okay not to move, but it fell into chaos faster when mobilized.
Dei Tongnian, who was in the rear of the Japanese fleet, suggested a counterattack. President Kurashimatsu looked at it for a while, shook his head and said: "This is a narrow place, and the fleet is too crowded to spread out. A forced attack will inevitably be severely limited. Another major obstacle is that I don’t know if they have other traps, but I think it’s not advisable to stay here for a long time to avoid another accident.”
So Commander Laishima personally boarded the bow of the ship and ordered the horn to sound to encourage the morale of the troops. The style of Kurushima's armor is similar to the common attire of the famous Japanese general Takeda Shingen. The bear hair flutters on the pocket, which is majestic. The armor is bright and eye-catching. Therefore, Mr. Kurushima personally stepped forward to calm the morale of the troops. The whole team quickly became more motivated and gradually calmed down.
Dei Tongnian was actually the elder brother of Mr. Kurushima. He was worried about his brother's safety and urged Mr. Kurushima to go into the cabin to escape. But Mr. Kurushima said: "Do you know why the armor I wear is similar to that of Lord Shingen? Lord Shingen was the number one military strategist, and his fame as the Tiger of Kai shocked the world, and he was sure to win almost every battle. Back then, Lord Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu jointly fought against him, but they were still defeated.
Lord Shingen is a role model for our generation and someone I want to be like throughout my life. For this reason, I forged this armor. May Lord Shingen protect you in heaven! It was just an ambush at the moment. In the final analysis, it was just some despicable means. It was no big deal. I just didn't expect that Yi Sun-shin could actually return to the Korean Navy again...
But it’s okay, I’m really looking forward to him returning to the battlefield. These powers alone can't stop us from charging out of Mingliang. After reorganizing the queue, they will be completely wiped out. "
Commander Kurishima ordered the whole team to use artillery and matchlocks to fight back in an orderly manner. However, armored ships equipped with artillery also need to save ammunition, so unarmored small morning ships and custom ships are required to rely on armored ships for cover. Each ship takes turns to cover, and batches emerge from the Myeongryang Strait to regroup.
Not only that, Mr. Kurushima also signaled Toudo Takatora to execute it together. Fortunately, the two sides were compressed very close at this time. Toudo Takatora quickly received his message and expressed that he would cooperate with the execution.
One point that needs to be explained here is the request of Mr. Laishima to save gunpowder. As we all know, although Japan is small, it has always been a major sulfur producer because of its many volcanoes. Therefore, even if Gao Pragmatic controls Taiwan Island, it still controls a large amount of sulfur output in Satsuma Domain.
However, having a huge amount of sulfur does not necessarily mean having a large amount of gunpowder, because sulfur alone is not enough, you also need saltpeter. From a global perspective, China's saltpeter was not very abundant before 2006 (in 2006, a large saltpeter potassium salt mine in Shanshan, Xinjiang was discovered, with the largest reserves in the world). The characteristics of this strategic material are almost It is "Chile from a global perspective", but in terms of consumption in this era, Daming was still producing enough at this time, mainly relying on Sichuan.
As a result, Japan was lame in terms of resources in order to produce enough gunpowder, so they mainly relied on saltpeter stored before the war to make gunpowder. After the year of Renchen, Gao Jingshi ordered the Maritime Trade Alliance to ban saltpeter. Japan's gunpowder became less and less. As the artillery with the largest gunpowder consumption, Japan had to "save what it could".
After entering the age of firearms, the more modern warfare becomes, the more dependent it is on "system power" such as resources, productivity, and national organizational power. The reason why Gao Pragmatic believes that he can control Japan, which has a population of at least 20 million, is precisely because he can strangle Japan on many key projects.
In the original history, Japan could also obtain saltpeter from the "Southern Barbarian Trade", but at this time it was completely out of the question, because the Portuguese had given up in Nanyang, and it was even less likely that they would dare to violate the highly pragmatic ban in Japan, and they did not have the ability. ,
Now if a Portuguese ship wants to enter Japan, it will be inspected by the Nanyang Fleet when it goes from Nanyang to southern Taiwan, and it will be inspected by the Beiyang Fleet when it goes to Fujian, Zhejiang and Taipei. It cannot be faked if there are any contraband.
At this time, Song Xili saw that the Japanese army broke away from the chaos and began to move in an orderly manner. He couldn't help but feel worried and immediately reported to Yi Sunchen. Yi Sun-shin ordered: "Don't act rashly. Our army's chance of victory lies when the sea current changes direction. Before then, we must persist and must not let the Japanese army stand out and encircle us."
Quan Jun was sent an order to have turtle ships break into the enemy's formation to attract firepower, and thirty ships were refitted as civilian ships to attack and harass the Japanese pirates. The remaining ships provided cover for the attack. Only half of the Japanese ships were covered with iron armor, so we ordered each ship in our army to take the initiative when attacking unarmored ships. "Song Xili took the order and conveyed it.
After Quan Jun and Luo Da used the order, they immediately commanded the turtle ships to approach the Japanese ships. The power of the Korean turtle ships impressed the Japanese army, although the turtle ships failed to cause major damage to the Japanese iron-clad ships during the previous battle in Chichon Yanghae. Damage, but if the turtle ship is allowed to move, it still poses a greater threat.
For this reason, the Japanese navy's armored Anzai equipped with artillery and the more powerful "Osaka New Fleet Artillery Giant Ship" tried their best to focus on the turtle ships, and other ships also used matchlock guns to contain and shoot at civilian ships. Under the command of Mr. Kurushima and Takatora Todo, the Japanese military situation gradually stabilized.
As a flat-bottomed boat, the North Korean turtle ship is definitely a scumbag in ocean warfare, but it can be domineering and domineering in such offshore waters where the wind and waves are not strong. I saw that they fired continuously with guns and cannons, and because they were more agile than Japanese ships, the armored ships were able to withstand the attack.
However, the situation was worse for the North Korean civilian ships. They were suppressed by the Japanese matchlock guns and could hardly raise their heads. Although there was fire cover from the North Korean main battleship, the two sides were still in a stalemate.
However, perhaps because most of the North Korean navy is currently modified civilian ships, and its overall combat effectiveness is far inferior to that of Imjin, it did not take long for the North Korean fleet at one end of the Myeongryang Strait to gradually become exhausted.
General Manager Laishima was overjoyed when he saw this, and immediately ordered a part of the Japanese fleet to try to break out first. Seeing that the hope of reorganizing the queue was ahead, Mr. Laishima couldn't help but feel proud, thinking to himself that you, Yi Sun-shin, have such a great reputation, what other methods can be used to prevent me from turning defeat into victory? At the same time, he was not idle, and once again ordered the whole team not to be careless, to cover each other, and to follow up in order.
At this time, the sea current was changing direction, and the rapids were surging. The Japanese ships were all pointed-bottomed. Although the hull was very stable (meaning that it rarely rolled at a large angle), the ship as a whole was swaying up and down, left and right in the rapids, and followed the waves. Collision with each other.
As a result, the Japanese warships were sometimes forced to crowd together and sometimes were knocked away from each other, causing the Japanese army to be in chaos. Upon seeing this, Yi Sun-shin immediately ordered the entire army to launch a general attack.
About half an hour later, the tide receded, and the wooden stakes and iron cables arranged in advance emerged from the sea, immediately dividing and restricting the movement area of the Japanese fleet. As soon as more than a dozen wooden stakes and iron ropes came out, the sharp bottoms of the Japanese warships became weak points, so many warships almost rolled over.
Mr. Kurushima was so frightened that he immediately ordered each ship to send another suicide squad into the water to remove the iron cables. Mr. Kurushima and Takatora Toudo were so anxious that they shouted for a breakout. Rockets, artillery shells, and bullets shuttled between the two armies, like thousands of death-crazed gods. Flying and dancing.
During the melee, the warship on which Mr. Kurushima Tsutsumi and his brother Toki Tōnen were riding was hit by several shells on the deck. As a result, one of them hit the powder box next to the deck gun that was ready to be changed. Although the cannonball was a solid cannon, it had reached high temperatures when it was ejected from the barrel and immediately detonated the powder box. The two men were hit by unknown fragments and each fell into the water and died.
The general died in battle, and the Japanese army became even more panicked. Even Todo Takatora could not contain it. The Japanese navy had no military discipline at this time and broke out frantically, even breaking the iron ropes. However, it is unknown how many ships were completely destroyed before breaking the iron ropes.
In the end, the Japanese army still rushed out of the Myeongryang Strait to rendezvous with the main force. After the disaster, they counted their losses and found that the Japanese navy had sunk 19 small morning boats and 12 customs ships, including two iron-clad customs ships. . However, North Korea's losses were not small. More than half of its modified civilian ships were lost. Fortunately, the strategic and tactical goals were achieved, and they can still proudly claim to be the victorious party.
Seeing that the Japanese army had broken through and withdrew temporarily, Yi Sun-shin immediately ordered the entire army to return to the barracks, transport supplies, and retreat rapidly northward. The Japanese army was worried about being deceived and no longer dared to pursue lightly.
The next day, the Japanese navy discovered that the Korean navy had really left this time. As if to vent their anger, they sent out the main force to sweep across the waterways, burned the Korean navy camp, and cleared the waterways. The North Korean civilian ships and small warships that had not had time to evacuate were also destroyed or captured.
At this point, the Japanese army was able to control the West Sea of Korea, seize all the strongholds on the west coast of Jeolla Province and Chungcheong Province, and began to build city wall fortresses in Suncheon, Sacheon, Changwon, Ulsan and other places according to the planned plan.
At this moment, the result of the Battle of Jishan came out. Facing the North Korean army, which was supported by the old artillery of the Ming army, the Japanese army relied on its superior strength and discipline of its soldiers to successfully capture Jishan after paying about 4,000 casualties.
However, the word "capture" is the Japanese version. The North Korean version is that they achieved the purpose of the campaign and annihilated more than 6,000 Japanese troops with the loss of more than 1,000 people and then retreated voluntarily. The reason why North Korea took the initiative to retreat was because it ran out of gunpowder and artillery shells, and further fighting would only increase casualties.
However, no matter what, the obstacles in front of the Japanese army have been driven away, and Hanyang, the king of Korea, was once again exposed to the gunfire of the Japanese army. The morale of the Japanese army was greatly boosted, and they were gearing up to enter the Korean capital first.
The next day, despite all the persuasion, King Li Ho of Joseon moved to Beikou again, and this time he didn't even go to Kaesong, and headed directly to Pyongyang.
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Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your monthly ticket support, thank you!
PS: The content of this chapter is really finished at this point, so I won’t force it into 4K. I’ll see if I can fill it up in a chapter with enough content later.
