As early as the fourth century AD, the Yamato regime established colonies in the Renna region of the Korean Peninsula, and even during the Five Kings period, it sent envoys to the Song Dynasty of the Southern and Northern Dynasties of China at that time, asking for the title of governor of Korea and Japan. Japan's power in Korea has been advancing and retreating, and at its peak it has hit the vicinity of Pyongyang. Moreover, in terms of geographical location, Japan is isolated overseas, and the only way to develop to the mainland is to go from Korea. Therefore, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea has inherently its ambitions, but the traditional factor is not small. As early as the conquest of Maori, Hideyoshi wrote to Nobunaga saying that he would march to Kyushu after the army had pacified Honshu, and then try korea to spy on Daimyo. After the conquest of Koyaji Temple, in a letter to Ichiyanagi Mo-an, he also said, "The affairs of the Japanese state are self-evident, and I still want to order the Tang kingdom." He even commissioned missionaries to buy two European warships. In 1590, in a letter to King Lee of Joseon, he stated more explicitly: "On the day of entering the Ming Dynasty, the generals will be in the military camp, then Miko can repair the neighboring alliance, give no wishes, and only show good names in the Three Kingdoms." ”
At that time, Korea was in the Lee dynasty, but it was already very corrupt politically, and the bureaucracy was engaged in self-employment, especially the partisanship within the ruling class, that is, one faction was a hereditary bureaucratic aristocracy, called the Xun old faction; the other faction was a new bureaucrat with a college education from a small and medium-sized local landlord, called the Shilin faction. The two factions formed their own parties to fight for power, dumped each other, exiled after a large number of people were killed, and put on a series of coups, which made the people miserable and greatly weakened their national strength. The entire Korean armament is loose, the rulers emphasize literature and light weapons, "people do not know the soldiers for more than two hundred years", and most of the more than 300 counties in the country have no city defenses. This provided Japan with an excellent opportunity to invade.
After conquering the daimyo of Okuwa in 1591, Hideyoshi began preparing for war. Although Kuroda Rumizu took into account the domestic situation, he opposed the conquest of the dynasty. However, at this time, Hideyoshi was fascinated by the dream of "becoming famous in the Three Kingdoms", and as a result, Rushui's proposal was ignored, and the plan to conquer the dynasty was launched. He first built Nagoya Castle in front of the tomb, as the general headquarters of the Invading Japanese Army, and he personally sat in the town. Then he gave Guan Bai's position to the future killer Guan Bai Xiuji to prepare for the unexpected. In terms of the staffing of generals and troops, Hideyoshi mobilized a total of half a million people, of which 300,000 were used for combat and 150,000 were advance troops. The advance team was divided into eight armies, with Hideya Ukita as commander-in-chief, Commander Konishi as the first army, Kato Kiyomasa leading the second army, Kuroda Nagamasa leading the third army, as well as 40,000 sailors and 700 ships of Kuchige Kataka. In addition, 100,000 horses from Tokugawa Ieyasu, Maeda Toshiya, Kami-Keikatsu, Kabusei Clan, and Masamune Date were stationed at Nagoya as a reserve. For a time, it was "a group of talents, a small number of long and salty sets", which can be said to be the most luxurious lineup in Japan at that time. Strategically, the Japanese army adopted Tokugawa Ieyasu's proposal and determined the tactics of "advancing simultaneously with land and sea", "using the strong to bully the weak", and "making a quick decision"; with the water army to ensure the strategic supply of materials for the army, the army marched in three ways to occupy Korea in one fell swoop. With all the work in place, Toyotomi Hideyoshi officially began a war of aggression against Korea in April 1592 under the pretext that Korea refused to attack The Ming Dynasty.
The Japanese army, spearheaded by Governor Konishi and Kiyomasa Kato, commanded more than 100,000 troops and thousands of warships to smuggle across the Tsushima Strait, and the first troops (1. 80,000 men) were divided into 350 ships and landed at Busan on 25 May 1592. The small number of Busan defenders and residents resisted stubbornly, but due to the disparity, the city was eventually captured by the Japanese. After the successful landing at Busan, Captain Konishi landed on the southern coast of the second group of troops led by Kiyomasa Kato (2. 20,000 people) advanced north through Gyeongju, Gyeongcheon, and Sinyeongsan. Almost at the same time, the third group of troops (1. 10,000 people) landed at the mouth of the Luodong River, occupied Qingyuan Castle, and advanced towards the Chuncheon Pass. After these groups of troops landed, the Japanese transferred the main force (80,000 men) and the rest of the fleet to Korea.
At this time, the Korean naval forces in Gyeongsang Province were completely defeated by the Nine Ghosts Jialong, and the right water made Yuanjun self-immolate the ships, unable to cooperate with the army to prevent the enemy from landing. As a result, Governor Konishi easily took Dong lai City. The entire advance team was then divided into three routes according to the plan: Governor Konishi stormed Miyang and pointed directly at Chungju, while Kato Kiyomasa attacked Yanyang and Ulsan in an attempt to meet with Governor Konishi at Chungju and then march directly to the capital (Seoul). Kuroda Nagamasa crossed the Autumn Wind Ridge and headed north to counter the friendly forces. At the same time, the Japanese navy captured the coastal areas of Gyeongsang, Jeolla, and Chungcheong.
North Korea was horrified by this, but the Korean feudal ruling clique was unable to organize resistance to the invaders due to the partisan struggle. A small number of government forces lost one after another. The Japanese crushed a Korean force of 8,000 men and captured the Jeonyeong Pass. At this time, Governor Konishi and Kiyomasa Kato had already met the division, and began to attack Chungju with a large army, and the Japanese army's skillful siege skills made the Korean army invincible, and the next day it was breached, Chungju was lost, and Seoul (the capital) actually had no defensive power. The Japanese army quickly approached Seoul (The capital). Some korean officials abandoned their land and fled, and King Li Fu panicked and abandoned the capital in a hurry, first to Pyongyang, and then to Uiju on the Yalu River. In early July, the Japanese captured Wangjing (Seoul) without bloodshed, just twenty days after the Japanese landed.
In contrast to successive victories for the Japanese Army, the Japanese Water Army suffered repeated setbacks because they faced Lee Shun-sun of jeolla Province. This man was skilled in bows and horses, proficient in the art of war, especially in water warfare. On 20 April, he mobilized all the water armies of the province to Gyeongsang Province to reorganize the defeated Gyeongsang water army. Go out to sea to conduct guerrilla warfare according to the situation in which the enemy is strong and we are weak, so as to find a favorable opportunity. On 7 May, 50 Japanese ships anchored here were suddenly attacked off the waters off the coast of Yupu, sinking a total of 26 ships, and then destroying 5 more as they reached Yeongdeungpo. Immediately after that, Li Shunchen secretly attacked the Japanese supply fleet at Chizhenpu the next day, sinking 13 more. On the North Korean water side, only one person was slightly injured, and this result of the battle left Hideyoshi, who had lived a lifetime of horses, speechless. The great victory of the Korean water army disrupted the Japanese invaders' land and water battle plan, and the army's supply began to be in crisis.
Before the Japanese invasion, the Korean Navy had a total of 4 independent fleets, two of which were lost at the beginning of the war. Only Lee Sun-sun commanded a fleet of 85 warships, and with the support of the Army to resist the Japanese fleet, Lee Shun-chen was strategic, drawing on the traditional experience of the Korean naval army, and invented the "Turtle Ship" battleship on the basis of the old warship. The turtle ship is covered with iron plates and is not easily injured by heavy artillery; it is full of cone knives, so that the enemy does not dare to climb on the ship. Artillery is equipped in the warehouse, which can be fired at any time and spew flames. The turtle ship was light and agile, and could enter and exit the enemy ship formation, and played a great role in naval battles against the Japanese army.
On 29 May, Li Shunchen's fleet reached the Surface of the Luliang Sea near the Tsurukawa River and encountered 12 Japanese ships led by Kamei Tsukasa. Fearing Li Shunchen's prestige, Kamei abandoned his ship to climb the mountain and set up a half-moon snake array on land. At low tide, it was not good for the North Korean water army. So the Korean navy pretended to retreat, and when the Japanese came to pursue, the whole fleet suddenly reversed, annihilating most of the enemy army in one fell swoop with the powerful firepower of the turtle ship. The fleet then continued to the east, catching up with Kamai Ziji, who was plundering at The Port of Tompo on June 2. Li Shunchen used the turtle ship's high machine power to sink Kamei's command ship first, and then encircled the enemy's two wings, attacking the Japanese water army that had lost command from all sides. It was the battle of Kamai that was killed, and 21 building ships were destroyed. This was followed by a series of Japanese supply fleets on 5 june and 7 June. At this point, Hideyoshi's main fleet, the Kuroshima Fleet, was destroyed, and sea supremacy was completely in the hands of North Korea.
At this time, after capturing Seoul, the Japanese army divided into two routes and continued to attack northwest and northeast, Governor Konishi crossed Kaesong to Heian Province, and Kato Kiyomasa attacked Hamgyong Province. The area around the Imjin River was hampered by the strong defenses of the Korean army. The Japanese resorted to military strategy, pretended to retreat, lured the Korean army out of the fortifications, and then counterattacked to defeat them. The Japanese occupied Kaesong and Pyongyang. Less than two months after the Japanese landings at Busan, they had taken control of the entire Korean Peninsula except the coast of Jeolla Province, north of Pyongyang. Much of North Korea's territory was lost.
Wherever the Japanese army went, they burned and plundered, and only one place in Jinzhou was slaughtered by 60,000 soldiers and civilians. The Korean people have generally organized the People's Volunteer Army ( "Righteous Division") in non-occupied areas and waged guerrilla warfare; raided enemy strongholds and barracks, especially at night, concealed and infiltrated enemy camps to harass them; fought defensive battles; burned grain depots and destroyed enemy lines of communication. During the siege of fortresses and cities, the North Koreans organized special commandos and used "flying thunderbolts" to kill and injure the enemy's living forces. In order to aid the guards trapped in the fortress by the Japanese, the Koreans often carried out unexpected lure raids on the enemy's rear to block the enemy.
King Li Fu of Joseon, under the impetus of patriotic courtiers and the upsurge of military and civilian resistance, sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty to ask for military assistance. The Ming court believed that "the intention of the Wokou to Korea is really China, and the salvation of Korea by our soldiers is really to protect China." If Japan were to be allowed to encroach on Korea again, the consequences would be unimaginable. Therefore, it was decided to aid the DPRK in resisting the Wokou. In July of the same year (1592), the Ming Dynasty sent the pioneers Dai Chaoquan and Shi Ru to lead 20,000 troops to go out on a campaign, and the deputy general Zu Chengxun and the guerrilla Wang Shouguan led a large army into Korea.
In order to supply the army in time, the Nine Ghosts Jialong sent a three-way fleet to invade Korea and fight a decisive battle with Li Shunchen's fleet in front of Xianshan Island. At the beginning, the North Korean army used a small offensive to lure the Japanese army into the encirclement, and after all the Japanese troops entered, the main force of the North Korean army hidden in the north of The island immediately opened the crane wing array, and at the same time defeated the Japanese army from the front and flanks. Destroyed 59 enemy ships and thousands of Japanese troops, known as the great victory of Idle Mountain Island. This is a famous example of warfare written into Mahan's Treatise on Sea Power. Later, Li Shunchen completely destroyed the remnants of the enemy at Ankupu.