In the history of each country, historians will use a lot of ink to record great victories. For Koreans, the Battle of Mingliang was an epic victory for Korea in the Korean-Japanese War in the sixteenth century.
In this war, as the invading side, toyotomi Hideyoshi, who had just unified Japan, attacked the Korean Peninsula from two directions in two ways. At that time, the Japanese Navy was led by the owner of the Nine Ghosts Water Army, The Nine Ghosts Kalong. At that time, the Japanese were riding on the most advanced warships and surprised the Korean army in the Kakugawa area.
In order to have a surprising effect, the Nine Ghosts Kalong partially modified the battleship before launching the attack, converting the battleship into a bulky ironclad ship. After the Japanese naval raid, the North Korean garrison believed that it was a transport ship, but did not expect that it was a disguised Japanese army.
After the success of the surprise attack, the Nine Ghosts Jialong defeated the rest of the Korean water army in one breath and basically controlled the Korean waters. In the subsequent war, Korea almost fell to the whole territory and fell into a crisis of national subjugation.
At first, the Kingdom of Korea sent Yuanjun to command a full army against the Japanese invaders. However, due to the limited military level of Yuan jun, the Korean army was gradually defeated. At the point of life and death, the King of Joseon had to reactivate Lee Sun-chan, who was imprisoned.
By the time Lee Soon-chan took over the mess, the North Korean navy had lost one out of ten, leaving only ten unusually maneuverable Banya ships. What was even more severe was that the North Korean water army at that time experienced many major defeats, low morale, and no combat effectiveness.
Instead of sitting still, fight to the death.
Li Shunchen decided to take the remaining Korean sailors to fight a battle against the Japanese army. In this move, Li Shunchen took advantage of the unique tidal law of the Mingliang Strait, which reversed every hour and a half, successfully lured the Japanese fleet into a trap, and then gradually encroached on the Japanese water army with the frequency of an attack every hour and a half.
You know, the king of Korea at that time was ready to abscond to the Ming Dynasty. In other words, the korean royal court at that time was ready to abandon the entire territory and give the Korean Peninsula to Japan. If it were not for Li Shunchen reversing the war situation, I am afraid that Korea at that time would have become the territory of Japan.
Able to turn the tide with the power of one person, save the rivers and mountains of Korea that are about to collapse, and complete the impossible military miracle, Li Shunchen can really be described as the first general of ancient Korea. As a result, Li Shunchen became the most famous military figure and national hero in the history of the Korean Peninsula. However, when discussing the Battle of Mingliang, many friends have these three doubts:
Wasn't Korea a vassal state of Daming at that time?
Why didn't the Ming Dynasty send troops to aid the Korean Peninsula?
What is the hidden secret in this?
Through reviewing the literature, the author sorted out several reasons why the Ming Dynasty did not send troops:
First, the Ming Dynasty at that time was overwhelmed with self-care. At that time, the Ming Dynasty had just completed the first expedition and was putting its experience into preparing for the second expedition. Therefore, the Ming rulers simply did not spare any effort to take care of the "little brother" located on the Korean Peninsula. Otherwise, the King of Joseon would not have been prepared to abscond to the Central Plains.
Second, in 1597, when the Japanese naval forces had just begun to invade Korea, the Ming Dynasty immediately sent troops to the Aid of the Korean Peninsula after learning of Japan's movements. During this period, the Ming army gave the Japanese a precise blow, dispelling the Japanese idea of annexing Korea. After the settlement of the Korean issue, under the supervision of the Ming army, the Japanese authorities signed a contract with the King of Joseon, and the two sides held peace talks and the Ming army returned to the Central Plains.
However, after the Return of the Ming Army, the Japanese did a very "faceless" thing, that is, to openly tear up the contract and make a comeback. Therefore, the Korean defenders at that time did not realize that the Japanese would betray their faith and lose in the ensuing war.
Due to the rapid pace of the Japanese invasion of Korea, it was not long before a large part of Korea's territory fell, and the emissaries sent by the King of Joseon had not yet arrived in Daming, and Korea was already in danger of being destroyed. In this situation, even if Daming sent reinforcements again, he would not be able to save North Korea. After all, from the deployment of troops, to the deployment strategy, to the expedition is to go through a period of preparation.
Not only Korea, but even Daming did not expect that Japan would suddenly tear up the treaty.
Third, although Korea and Daming were friendly neighbors at that time, after all, they still had the status of "vassal states". If you want the Ming Dynasty to help, you must show some "sincerity", that is, the appropriate amount of tribute and gold and silver. In terms of the national strength of Korea at that time, the King of Joseon could not afford this expense.
Seeing that Japan was about to hit his own eyes, the king of Joseon had the intention of "breaking the jar and breaking it", thinking that if the Japanese army occupied all of Korea, it would be a big deal for him to flee to the "heavenly kingdom" to seek refuge. With Daming as a patron, even if you lose the land, you will be rich and worry-free in this life.
Later, Li Shunchen completed a miraculous reversal and defeated the invincible Japanese. For the King of Joseon, the victory was a miracle. After defeating the Japanese, Korea had a chance to breathe, and its national strength quickly recovered, so there was no need to ask the Ming Dynasty to help.
To sum up, it is not that the Ming Dynasty does not want to send troops to aid the DPRK, but that the Ming Dynasty and the DPRK are not ready.
Resources:
[History of the Ming Dynasty", "Records of the Joseon Dynasty, Records of The Middle Emperor", "Records of the Joseon Dynasty and Records of Xuanzu"]