The Sacheonpo turtle boat began to show its might, and Murakami's army defeated Tang Xiangpu

On May 9, the 20th year of Wanli, Yi Sunsin led his troops back to Lishui Port and continued to conduct naval battle training until the 27th, during which Yi Sunsin convened his generals to discuss military strategy. Yi Sunsin said: "Now that two turtle boats have been built, they are enough to fight in a battle, and according to the previous tactics, they will attack the enemy's harbor by surprise, sink the enemy ships, and obstruct their sea transportation. Our troops were to complete the rendezvous on June 3. ”

Adjutant General Jung Yun said: "Jeolla Province Right Water has made Lee Yi-ki loyal to his duties, won the hearts of the army, and has supported each other with you for many years. Song Hee-ri said: "It is precisely in this way, the combined efforts of the left and right water camps in Jeolla Province, together with the Gyeongsang Province Wonjun, will definitely be able to expel all the Japanese in the sea." ”

Yi Sunsin said: "Although after several great victories, the Japanese naval army has not yet been able to fully exert its combat strength, and the enemy must not be taken lightly, and every battle must be cautious and thorough, and the whole army must be ordered to train strictly, supervise the construction of turtle ships, and send additional exploration ships to prevent surprise attacks by the Japanese invaders, while waiting for the news of the rendezvous." "The generals commanded.

Twenty-eight yen led the fleet to Yeosu, and Yi Sunsin asked Won Jun, "Why did the Yuan Right Envoy suddenly come to Yeosu and what is the news of the Jeolla Provincial Right Water Camp?" Won Jun replied: "The sea has been repeatedly intercepted by Japanese ships, and if most of them go out, their whereabouts will inevitably be exposed, and it will be difficult to pass the news to the right water camp in Jeolla Province for the time being, so I will go to Yeosu first to meet you." After hearing this, Yi Sunsin said: "If this is the case, it will not be possible to complete the rendezvous with the Youshui Battalion on June 3, so our army can only attack first and open up the sea route, and then wait for Li Yiqi to come to his aid." ”

Yuan Jun said: "I have found out that the Japanese army is anchored in the area of Sacheonura, which belongs to the Japanese general Wakisaka Yasuji, and there are about thirteen warships, all of which are the main force of the Japanese army. Yi Sunsin said: "Sacheonpu, the strait is narrow, the tide is high and the waves are high, easy to defend and difficult to attack, after the previous battle, the Japanese army must be prepared, must be lured to the sea to fight again, our army's advantage lies in artillery, and the ship and Bao Zuo's firepower is weak and the armor is thin, if you fight in the open sea, you will suffer more heavy losses from the Japanese ship, although our turtle ship only builds two, but the implementation of the assault I am expected to be enough to replace." So Yi Sunsin ordered the Jeolla Province Sosu Battalion and the Won Gyun Division to attack Surabaya on the 29th, and abandoned the boats and Basaku.

When Yasuharu Wakisaka heard that the Korean navy was coming, he had already prepared for it, and half of the ashigaru samurai in the port were always preparing for war. Wakisaka Yasuharu said: "I have long heard that Jeolla Province left the water envoy Yi Sunsin is proficient in water warfare, and the day before yesterday he won a series of victories over Fujido Takatora and Kato Yoshiaki, I would like to see and see, Surabaya is narrow, which is conducive to holding on, and I have ordered all ships of the whole army to stick to the bay before receiving the order to attack, and only iron artillery is allowed to meet the enemy, and no pursuit is allowed in the open sea. ”

Seeing that the Japanese army was really prepared, he ordered the five Itaya ships to be forced to shoot at the mouth of the bay with artillery, and the Japanese and North Korean armies kept a distance between each other, and the artillery of the Korean naval army was not good for the Ataka warship, and the dense firepower formed by the Japanese hundreds of iron cannons could be suppressed for a short time by relying on the Ataka ship, so Yi Sunsin ordered half of the fleet to support, and the Japanese ship phalanx wavered, and under the order of Wakisaka Yasuji, the Japanese ships changed formation and concentrated fire, and the Korean warships were damaged, so Yi Sunsin ordered the front team to retreat and lure the Japanese ships to go to sea. Seeing this, Wakisaka Yasuharu knew that he should not act rashly, and strictly ordered the whole army not to pursue and continue to hold on. Wakisaka Yasuji said: "The sudden withdrawal of North Korea's firepower must be due to the fact that it is not suitable to launch a plan to lure us into pursuit, and now our army should stick to it, consume the enemy's vitality, and wait for the opportunity." ”

Seeing that Wakisaka Yasuharu did not attack, Yi Sunsin secretly shouted that it was not good. Adjutant General Zheng Yun said: "The Japanese generals have seen through the plan to lure the enemy, and the Japanese ships are holding on to Surabaya, so what should our army be in a dilemma?" Yi Sunsin said: "The matter has come to this point, and we can only force our way into the bay!" Ordered Luo Dayong to lead the turtle boat into the port, and the whole army followed up to cover! Zheng Yun took the order.

The two turtle ships of the Korean navy were divided into left and right lines, sailed into the bay, and the Japanese army immediately launched intensive shooting, but the turtle ships were strong, and the iron cannon was difficult to damage them, and they advanced all the way. The Japanese continued to shoot at the turtle boat, and on the other hand, they carried out a gang jumping to board the ship, but the top of the turtle boat was full of barbs and many shots, and the Japanese soldiers fell into the water one after another.

The turtle ship fired a series of firebolts on both sides, and the dragon head artillery was powerful, and it spewed sulfur, which was unstoppable. In order to cover the turtle boats, Yi Sunsin had already ordered the artillery fire of the warships of the whole army, and the Japanese army was in great chaos, the Japanese ships were damaged, the turtle boats slammed left and right, the Japanese army was forced to disperse, the damage to each ship was different, and four ships were about to sink, and the Korean naval forces had all broken into the bay after following up, and the front teams rushed to Anzhai under the cover of artillery fire, and the Japanese iron artillery team had no choice but to continue to surround the turtle boats while facing the naval forces. The turtle ships were rampaging in the bay, and the Korean naval forces shelled one after another, and the Japanese warships were no more than 13, but all of them were very bulky and bulky, and they did not work well under the disadvantaged melee.

Wakisaka Yasuharu saw that it was difficult to help the turtle boat, and the whole team was at a disadvantage, and the strength was weak and he had lost the possibility of holding on to the bay, so he retreated. However, he was unwilling to sink the Korean flagship and then make plans, Wakisaka Yasuji identified the warship where Yi Sunsin was, and personally led two Yasuku to approach suddenly, and Li Sunsin saw the Japanese ship coming towards him, and thought that the enemy would be afraid of it, and it was the opportunity to close the siege, so he personally boarded the bow of the ship to attract the attention of Wakisaka Yasuji.

In the melee, Yi Sunsin was shot in the left shoulder by an iron cannon, and was rescued by Song Xili into the cabin, but the Japanese ship was in chaos and gradually lost its position, Wakisaka Yasuji saw this and took the lead in abandoning the ship and retreating, the Japanese army was distraught and abandoned the ship and fled, the bow of the Korean Itaya was conducive to impact, the hull of the house was broken, the cabin was flooded, the armor caught fire, and the whole army was destroyed.

The Japanese garrison in Sacheon was small, and the Korean naval army was able to occupy Surabaya, and Yi Sunsin disembarked to treat his wounds, and the whole army rested on the spot. In the evening, Yi Sunsin and Yuan Jun discussed together, and Li Sunsin said: "Surabaya should not stay for a long time, after our army rests, I want to use the Snake Grain Island off the coast of Gucheng as a base to carry out a long-term maneuver with the Japanese army, what does Yuan You's envoy think?" Yuan Jun said: "There are many islands on Snake Food Island, abundant resources, and it is convenient to travel everywhere, it is indeed an excellent choice, and now that the enemy entrenched in Surabaya has been broken, immediately contact the Jeolla Province Right Water Envoy Li Yiqi to join in the battle." Yi Sunsin agreed.

Yuan Jun said again: "I didn't expect the turtle ship to have such a result, breaking into the enemy formation as if it were in a no-man's land. Yi Sunsin said: "I am also greatly surprised, it can be seen that the turtle boat is in the middle of the weakness of the Japanese Invaders, time is not waiting for me, I have ordered to speed up the construction of the construction in preparation for the big war, the Japanese army should not be underestimated, only the turtle ships can be chaotic, must be used well." "After the First World War in Surabaya, Yi Sunsin and Yuan Jun were more confident, and they made detailed arrangements for the follow-up deployment.

On June 1, the 20th year of Wanli, the Korean naval army arrived at the sea outside Gucheng and anchored on Sheliang Island, and the next morning Yi Sunsin received a report that the enemy was temporarily anchored in Tangpo, and Yi Sunsin immediately ordered the whole army to march to Tangpo, and Tangpu was stationed with 21 warships, including nine of them. Because the recent deeds of the Korean naval war were spread among the Japanese army, Kamei said to Tokui Tsuyuki: "Recently, I heard that there is a Korean naval army general Yi Sunsin, who is proficient in naval warfare, and is very rampant, and Fujido Takatora, Kato Yoshiaki, Wakisaka Yasuji, etc. have all been defeated by him. Fortunately, you are a famous general of the Murakami Water Army, how is it good? ”

Deju Tongxing said indifferently: "Lord Kamei has been running the Silver Mountain for His Royal Highness Taiko for a long time, and he is not used to water warfare, so it is inevitable that he will have this concern. This Yi Sun-sin is accustomed to sneak attacks, it is not worth mentioning, Fujitang, Kato, and Wakiban are almost defenseless before being broken by Yi Sunsin, and in the sea battle, our murakami naval army will be able to completely annihilate Yi Sunsin. ”

Kamei Ziju was overjoyed and said: "I have few achievements in the war, His Royal Highness Taiko still named me as the Ryukyu Shou, Taizhou Shou, there is no way to repay, I hope to repay His Royal Highness Taiko through this battle, and the enemy general can also be worthy of the position of the great name." Deju Tongxing said: "If you are expected to fight with Yi Sunsin, if you can save Yi Sunsin's life, Kamei-sama has excellent marksmanship, and you can personally take Yi Sunsin's head and dedicate it to His Royal Highness Taiko, and he will be famous in all countries!" ”

Since Yi Sunsin set out from Sheliang Island, he arrived in the waters of Tangpu an hour later, and Yi Sunsin ordered the whole army to attack Tangpu with Luo Dayong and the turtle boat as the vanguard. Kamei and Deju were shocked when they heard the news, and Deju asked Kamei to lead his troops to attack the enemy on the shore, and he boarded the ship to direct the battle, but Deju soon found that although there were only two pioneer ships of the Korean navy, the shape was peculiar, but the arquebus was almost useless against it, and the firepower was strong and difficult to stop, and a large number of Korean sailors followed up and poured into Tangpo. Deju Tongxing ordered the right flank flotilla to intervene to meet the attack, and ordered the left flank flotilla to surround the turtle boat and the Anshan iron artillery team to cover the detachment of the main formation.

Seeing that this was the Korean naval army led by Yi Sunsin, Kamei was frightened and a little happy. Kamei thought to himself: "I never expected that when I talked about Yi Sunsin today, he attacked Tangpu, and sure enough, he was accustomed to sneak attacks, and I didn't know anything about water warfare, and I would have no way back if I went to the sea rashly, so I had to hope that I would be lucky, and I would be able to make meritorious contributions to the enemy on the shore." So Kamei ordered the iron artillery team to concentrate on the shore and shoot at the attacking enemy ships, and ordered the second echelon to be arranged to wait for the military order, and the reward for capturing Yi Sun-sin alive was 500 guan.

Seeing this, Yuan Jun said to the deputy general of the headquarters: "Our army and the turtle boat have been blocked, and now they are unable to hold each other. At the same time, Yi Sunsin also had this concern, and ordered to change the formation of fish scales, concentrate artillery fire on the attack ships first, and then contain the house. Under several charges, the left flank of the Japanese army was defeated, and the iron artillery team on the shore was also injured by fire.

Although there were only two turtle ships, in addition to being strong and durable, the melee combat had great damage to the ships, and the Korean naval forces in front of them were equipped with more artillery, so they formed a two-sided flanking situation. Deju Tongxing personally boarded the bow of the ship and waved the flag to stabilize the army's heart, the armor of the Japanese army commander has its own characteristics, it is very easy to recognize, Yi Sunsin's general Kwon Jun saw the opportunity to draw the bow and shoot, Deju Tongxing was hit by an arrow and fell into the water, and the flag also fell from the bow of the ship, and the Japanese army saw the main general die, and the army's heart was in turmoil. Seeing this, Yi Sunsin ordered the whole army, beat the drum to attack, the Korean naval army took advantage of the situation to counterattack, the Japanese ships were defeated, Kamei Ziju saw this and immediately abandoned the battle and fled, Deju Tongxing swam back to the shore and was dragged on the horse by the soldiers and evacuated with the army, 21 Japanese ships in Tangpu were destroyed, Yi Sunsin led the army to land and pursue, captured a large number of materials, and won a fan of the Kamei Ziju army, which was extremely exquisite, and wrote the words Kamei Ryukyu Guarding the Palace, and Yi Sunsin received it as a trophy to keep around.

Subsequently, the Korean navy cleaned up the battlefield and immediately returned to Sheliang Island, where the whole army celebrated and feasted to the fullest. On the 4th day of the 6th month of the 20th year of Wanli, the right water envoy of Jeolla Province ordered the right water camp of Jeolla Province to rush to Sheliang Island to meet with Yi Sunsin and Won Gyun, and the two sides recounted the old feelings, Yi Sunsin heard that the Japanese ships were assembling in Tangxiangpo in the Guseong area, and the Korean naval army at this time combined the strength of the two provinces can be described as many ships and artillery, and the left water of Jeolla Province made Li Sunsin, the right water envoy of Jeolla Province Li Yiqi, and the right water of Gyeongsang Province concentrated 51 warships to Tangxiangpo.

After the Tang Pu war, the general was still lucky to live in Tong, and after the Tang Pu war, he was lucky to escape and immediately gathered his headquarters to fight again to take revenge on the shame, and he gathered thirteen small morning ships, four Guan ships and nine houses, totaling 26 warships in Tang Xiangpu, and released the news to deliberately lead Li Sunsin to fight.

Yi Sunsin summoned the generals and said: "Our army is about to fight against the Japanese army, according to my opinion, the three water armies live on the one side, Li Yiqi is on the left, Yuan Jun is on the right, and I am in the middle, and they respond to each other, what is the objection between the two?" Li Yiqi said: "Since I have come to the aid of each other, I should obey the command, the left water battalion has been repeatedly defeated by the Japanese bandits, and my right water battalion is not willing to lag behind, and I will never make my own decisions to disrupt the deployment in the face of the great enemy." ”

Won Jun also said, "It is my responsibility to expel the Gyeongsang-do Wako Naval Army, and I am grateful for the great help of Jeolla Province, and I am also obeying the order. Yi Sunsin said: "Well, even so, our army's tactics are still to lure the enemy into battle, and our army will first divide into two teams, the first team will enter the port first to lure the enemy, and the second team will wait for the military order and wait for the signal before entering the port." After that, they each issued orders to the generals of the headquarters, and Yi Sunsin ordered to the headquarters: "Luo Dayong led the turtle ship to break straight into the enemy formation, and he must sink the enemy's command ship first; Quan Jun and Song Xili led the front team into the port, maintained a distance from the Japanese ships, and when the enemy's flagship was damaged, they followed up the turtle ships to attack and send signals to the rear team. "The generals commanded.

And Deju Tongxing is also in Tang Xiangpu to wait, Deju Tongxing thought hard about the way to break the turtle boat and couldn't, anxious, bearing the name of the famous general of the Murakami Navy, is one of the few naval generals in the country, if he can't completely defeat the Korean Navy, then the fiefdom of the country, the life of the family, the glory of the family will be ruined in a flash, the more he thinks about it, the more frightened he feels. Then he ordered the whole army to say: "Do not entangle with the enemy's turtle boats, the purpose of the turtle boats is to break into the enemy ships, disrupt the formation, when the Korean naval army will be seen, the whole army bypasses the turtle boats, and directly rushes to the enemy's main position, first suppress with iron cannons, and then connect the strings and jump gangs, no matter what the enemy's firepower, fight to the death!" ”

Seeing this, the three front teams of the Korean Navy were the first to enter the port, and Luo Dayong led two turtle boats to the front of the fleet to rush to the Japanese ships, and when he saw this, he ordered the whole army to give up blocking the turtle boats, and approached the front team of the Korean Navy at full speed. Luo Dayong saw that the Japanese boat did not block the turtle boat, and he was overjoyed, and ordered the turtle boat to stop the flagship, flank left and right, and shoot the cannon at close range.

Seeing that the flagship was forced to stop by the turtle boat, Deju Tong Xing secretly screamed that it was not good, and urgently ordered the iron cannon rocket to fire continuously, the turtle boat armor was thick and fire-resistant and temperature-resistant, and there was no major problem, but the turtle boat artillery was too close to the flagship armor of Deju Tongxing, and after several shots, the hull cracked, the sea water poured in, and the sinking was imminent. Deju Tongxing ordered the whole army to rescue in a circle, and the two wings of the Japanese army surrounded Luo Dayong, intending to use the numerical advantage of iron cannons to break the turtle boats. Song Xili and Kwon Jun saw that the turtle boat was besieged, and ordered the fleet to attack to relieve the siege of the turtle boat.

When the retainers saw that the Korean army was coming to relieve the siege of the turtle boat, they even persuaded Jutong not to stand here, and begged to retreat. Deju Tongxing angrily reprimanded: "Bastard! Do you still have the posture of Murakami's water army!? Today is to bet on my life and the name of Murakami's water army! Sink this strange Korean ship and fight your way out of the siege! Even if I were to die here today, I would have to send this strange ship to the bottom of the sea first! ”

However, the turtle ship firepower was strong, the flagship of Deju Tongxing was sunk by the turtle ship first, the Japanese flagship was damaged, the whole army lost the fighting spirit, Kwon Jun saw this and sent a signal, Yi Sunsin immediately ordered the rear team of the three naval forces to enter the port, the Korean naval army was like a tide, the Japanese ships had no intention of fighting, the main general's order was left behind, and they retreated one after another, but there were turtle boats in front of the collision, and there were naval forces in the back to cover up and kill, and the whole army was annihilated. None of the Korean naval warships sank, and many of the Japanese soldiers jumped into the sea to escape, and the main general had to swim to a nearby island, where he was grateful for the Taige, and was ashamed and committed suicide.

After the war, Yi Sunsin led the army back to Seoyang Island, and Yi Yiqi, the right water envoy of Jeolla Province, said: "The left water envoy has fought so far, won six battles and six victories, sank more than 80 Japanese ships, and greatly boosted the morale of the army. It's just that sneak attacks occupy a lot, and our army has a temporary advantage, and in the future, the enemy will be ashamed and fight back with all his might, and he must not underestimate the enemy. ”

Yi Sunsin thanked him: "I will take to heart what the right water envoy said, according to what I have seen, the Japanese naval army is now only for transportation, and has not been prepared for naval warfare, but it is a coercive situation, and its naval tactics are not refined, I think there is no regular naval combat experience, in order to avoid a counterattack on our army in the coming day, we really cannot relax training and defense." In successive battles, each time a large number of Japanese invaders abandoned their ships and swam in the sea, and our army could not catch up. ”

Li Yiqi replied: "The heavy ship is in the center, the light ship is on the side, outflanked in a roundabout way, and the group is encircled, even if the ship is abandoned, it will be difficult to escape back to the shore." During the discussion between Yi Sunsin and Yi Yiqi, Won Gyun, the right-hand envoy of Gyeongsang-do, saw that Yi Sunsin had made too many meritorious contributions, and that he was only an assistant, and he was unable to expel the Japanese army alone.