Some people say that Chinese always live in memory, that is because we have a glorious history and are worth remembering. Like South Korea, looking back at two thousand years, the history is lackluster, then they can only live in fantasy.
In the past, Korean magazines have made an inventory of the famous generals in East Asia, ranking out what they think are the top ten famous generals in East Asia, and there are many names that we are familiar with, such as Oda Nobunaga, a god of war figure in japan during the Sengoku period, ranking tenth. During the Spring and Autumn Period of China, the famous general who passed down the "Art of War of Sun Tzu" was Sun Wu, and Mongolia ranked third, while Genghis Khan, who founded the Mongol Empire and was known as a generation of heavenly pride, was ranked third. These people are all celebrities in the military history of Asia, and any name is thunderous, naturally qualified to be on the list.
However, what is surprising is that a South Korean named Lee Shun-chen actually suppressed Sun Wu and Genghis Khan, the holy warrior gods, ranking first among the top ten famous generals in East Asia.
So, who is this Li Shunchen? And why can I become the number one general in East Asia?
For Chinese, the name Lee Shun-chan may be relatively unfamiliar, but in South Korea, but throughout the Korean Peninsula, Lee Shun-chen is a god of war-like existence. In South Korea, there are many statues and ancestral halls commemorating Lee Shun-chen, such as the Hsien Chung-chung Shrine in Asan City, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea, which enshrines The Shrine of Lee Shun-chen, which took 8 years to renovate and covers an area of more than 500,000 square meters. On Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, South Korea, a bronze statue of Lee Sun-sun is erected, opposite which is the first Ming Emperor in Korean history, King Sejong. Even the South Korean Navy has destroyers named after Lee Sun-sun, that is, the First Ship of the South Korean Kdx2-class Destroyer, which is named Lee Shun-sun, The Duke of Chungmuro.
Li Shunchen lived in the 16th century, when the Korean Peninsula was under the rule of the Lee dynasty.
In 1592 and 1597, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who unified Japan, twice sent troops to conquer Korea, intending to use the Korean Peninsula as a springboard to conquer Asia. Because 1592 was the year of the lunar calendar and 1597 was the year of the lunar calendar, Korea called these two battles the Battle of the Lunar Calendar and the Battle of Wenlu Gyeongchang because of the different era names; as for China, it was called the Wanli Korean War, because this war took place during the Ming Dynasty.
In this war, Lee Sun-chen, who was then the emissary of the Jeolla Left Water Army, led the Korean water division and defeated the Japanese army many times. Especially in the Battle of Mingliang, Lee Soon-seng defeated the Japanese marine division with more than 130 warships with twelve warships, so that the record of winning more with less was unique in Korean history.
Therefore, for Koreans, in addition to his outstanding military ability, Lee Shunchen also has the identity of a national hero. And Lee Soon-chan eventually sacrificed his life for the country in this war, and such an experience added a bit of tragedy to his image, making it still have a very high historical status in South Korea.
In the summer of 2014, South Korea released a movie with Lee Shun-chan as the protagonist, "The Battle of Mingliang", which is set in the Wanli Korean War and tells a series of historical events in which Lee Shun-chen led the Korean marine division to finally win the Mingliang victory under the extremely bad situation between the enemy and us. That summer, "The Battle of Mingliang" set off a film boom in South Korea, constantly refreshing various records in Korean film history. For example, the average daily box office reached 980,000 people, the total number of moviegoers exceeded 10 million (17.6 million), and the total box office revenue exceeded 100 billion won (135.7 billion)...
I have to say that this is a good movie, whether it is the details of the costume and the performance of Choi Min-sik and other actors are remarkable. In addition, as a war film, the film also has a lot of blood-gushing visual shock and empathetic emotional rendering. However, the reason why "The Battle of Mingliang" can hit such a high box office is that in addition to the excellent quality of its film itself, there is also the strong appeal of Li Shunchen, the ancient god of war.
Of course, this is what Lee Shun-chen deserves, a national hero who sacrificed his life for the country, no matter how much he is worshipped in Korea. However, it would be a bit of a self-deception to simply use this as the number one player in East Asia. After all, as a famous player, you still have to rely on your achievements. Sun Wu had the art of war of Sun Tzu, Genghis Khan established the Mongol Empire, Oda Nobunaga subdued the entire Sengoku period of Japan, and Li Shunchen had only one Mingliang victory.
To know that this so-called Mingliang victory, in the entire Wanli Korean War, is actually not critical. The Battle of Mingliang, regardless of its achievements or influence, was not enough to push Li Shunchen to such a height as an Asian famous general.
The background of the Battle of Mingliang was that Ding You's rebellion was chaotic, Andyotomi Hideyoshi waved 140,000 troops, and invaded Korea again by land and water. At this time, the Lee Dynasty of Korea was simply powerless to resist. In the previous Battle of Nongchen, the Joseon Dynasty had been severely injured. At that time, North Korea's military equipment was in ruins, and the army facing Toyotomi Hideyoshi was simply vulnerable. In just over a month, North Korea has already "lost all three and disintegrated eight ways", and the Korean kings have retreated to the Yalu River, and then retreated to the Ming Dynasty.
Of course, compared to the wind and noise of the battlefield on the road, the Korean marine division still played well. At that time, the Jeolla Left Water Division led by Lee Shun-chen fought back and forth with the Japanese Water Division, and even defeated the Japanese Water Division many times, forcing Toyotomi Hideyoshi to remain on the defensive in naval battles. However, this did not reverse the collapse of the Joseon Dynasty. As the saying goes, once the Korean Peninsula is occupied, it is only a matter of time before Li Shunchen fails.
It was at this critical moment of near-subjugation that the Ming Dynasty, as the suzerainty of Korea, stepped forward to stand up for the younger brother. Li Rusong, the eldest son of Li Chengliang, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, led troops to support Korea. Under the command of Li Rusong, the Ming army won two major victories in Pyongyang and Bijukan, and the Japanese army suffered heavy losses and retreated, and finally agreed to negotiate and withdraw its troops.
More than a year later, Toyotomi Hideyoshi made a comeback, and after the lessons of the previous experience, the Japanese army focused on Lee Shun-chan and the Korean marine division. Before the outbreak of the Battle of Ding You, Japan used anti-plots to frame Li Shunchen for plotting to usurp power, and as a result, the fainting King of Korea dismissed Li Shunchen from his post and imprisoned him. During Li Shunchen's imprisonment and demotion, the Battle of Kicheon Beam broke out between the Japanese and Korean sailors, which resulted in a devastating defeat for the Korean naval forces, losing 188 ships and almost destroying the entire army. So when Lee Soon-chan was reactivated, the North Korean admiralty was already in name only, with only a dozen warships in his hands. Faced with such a dilemma, Li Shunchen did not give up and still insisted on resisting. The Battle of Mingliang took place against such a backdrop.
In October 1597, in order to cut the grass and remove the roots, the Japanese marine division completely eliminated the Korean marine division, gathered more than 330 warships, and pounced on the Korean marine division camp in Jeolla Province. Li Shunchen, who learned the news, led the only 12 warships in his hands to set up an ambush in the Mingliang Strait to block the Japanese marine division. With the geographical advantages of the narrow channel of the Mingliang Strait and the dangerous tide, Li Shunchen successfully defeated the vanguard fleet of Japanese sailors who came to pursue, and destroyed more than thirty Japanese warships.
In terms of battle results, the Battle of Mingliang can be called a classic battle in the history of world naval warfare, in which less wins more. However, if placed in the Battle of Ding You, its influence on the war situation is very small. Because at that time, Li Shunchen defeated only the vanguard of the Japanese marine division, and then retreated. Therefore, the main force of the Japanese marine division still conquered the Korean naval base after the Battle of Mingliang and completed the established strategic objectives.
Therefore, the Battle of Mingliang was actually just a small-scale ordinary naval battle, and the reason why it was put on the altar was because it was a battle that was independently commanded by Koreans and won. This was extremely rare throughout the Wanli Korean War. After all, it was the Ming Army that sang the stage in the Wanli Korean War, and the Korean Army was only a supporting role.
Needless to say, the Korean army basically played soy sauce. In the maritime battlefield, although Li Shunchen supported the field, he was still at a disadvantage when facing the Japanese sailors. Historically, the real decisive victory against the Japanese marine division was actually the Battle of Luliang, commanded by the Ming Army. In this battle, the Japanese lost more than 200 warships, tens of thousands of people sank to the bottom of the sea, buried in the belly of the fish, and since then lost the right to control the sea.
The Battle of Luliang occurred after the Battle of Mingliang, and the Japanese sailors who controlled the sea control at that time provided a lot of help to the Japanese troops fighting on land, and brought great pressure to the Ming army. In order to remedy this disadvantage, the Ming Dynasty again sent 50,000 troops into Korea in February 1598, including the Ming Dynasty's own water divisions.
In November 1598, due to the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Japanese troops on the Korean Peninsula had no intention of fighting again and prepared to retreat. Among them, the famous Japanese general Konishi was blocked in Ulsan, and the various units of the Japanese army came to the rescue and broke out a major battle with the Ming army's marine division on the Luliang Sea, known in history as the Battle of Luliang.
It is worth mentioning that Li Shunchen was also present in the Battle of Luliang, but he was not the main general at this time. The commander of the Battle of Luliang was chen xuan, the admiral of the Ming Dynasty's water division, and the main force was also the Ming Dynasty water division, which had 500 warships and nearly 20,000 troops, and was responsible for encircling and annihilating Governor Xiaoxi. Li Shunchen only took the Korean admiral and Chen Xuan's deputy general Deng Zilong to intercept the Japanese reinforcements who rescued Governor Konishi.
To sum up, throughout the Wanli Korean War, Li Shunchen's role was not critical. Regardless of contribution or status, compared to Ming generals such as Li Rusong and Chen Xuan, it is far from the same. If only a Mingliang naval battle can be called the god of war, then in the thousands of years of History of China, is it not the god of war everywhere?
It's just a pity that Koreans' view of history is too narrow. They could not accept the fact that the Ming Dynasty expelled the Wokou for them and defended their families and defended the country, and deliberately covered up the achievements of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, when The Koreans talk about the Nongchen Rebellion, they only know one Li Shunchen, like the 70-year-old old general who is still bravely leading the way, and finally the blood spilled on the old general Deng Zilong, who was selectively ignored by them.
Such an Asian god of war, if Li Shunchen knew about it, it is estimated that he would be ashamed of it.