Everyone knows that in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, there were frequent intrusions in the southeast coastal areas of China. Later, Qi Jiguang went through several years and basically calmed down the plague, but the Ambition of the Japanese did not die. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified Japan (1590), he formulated a strategic policy of annexing Korea and then attacking Daimyo. In 1592, 150,000 Japanese troops swept through Korea with thunderous momentum, and Korea was powerless to resist and immediately asked the suzerainty Ofe for help. Emperor Myōjin sent a large army to Korea to support him, and only then did he stabilize his position slightly. At the time of the country's crisis, one person was ordered to lead a force of less than 10,000 people and defeated the Japanese army dozens of times larger than himself many times, which greatly delayed the overall march of the Japanese army and won extremely valuable time for the arrival of the Ming army. It is no exaggeration to say that without him, North Korea would surely be destroyed, and he would be Lee Shun-chen, who is called the number one general in Asia by countless South Koreans.
<h1>The family fell in the middle of the road, abandoning the literature and conforming to the martial arts</h1>
Lee Sun-sung was born on April 28, 1545 in Seoul, the capital of Korea (present-day Seoul, South Korea). Because his ancestors failed to participate in the political struggle of the Scholar-Doctor Group, his father Li Zhen was never allowed to take the imperial examination and remained unknown all his life. When Li Shunchen was a teenager, his family moved to the countryside of Asan in Chungcheong Province. He began studying Chinese at a private school at the age of eleven, but was more interested in martial arts. Under the influence of his father-in-law Fang Zhen, who was born in the warrior, he began to learn martial arts at the age of twenty-two, and was familiar with the "Art of War of Sun Tzu" and "The Art of Wu Qi", and was especially good at archery, and in 1576 he obtained the title of Wujuren, and the starting point of his career was the county supervisor of Jeolla-do Jinge County (equivalent to the director of the county public security bureau).
<h1>His career was bumpy, but he was fortunate to be promoted</h1>
Because of Li Shunchen's upright personality, he was not good at greeting, but the Korean court was very dark at that time, so Li Shunchen, who was just upright, was very unhappy in his career. Fortunately, in the spring of the seventeenth year of the Wanli Calendar (1589), the Inspector of Jeolla Province, Lee Woo, learned that Lee Shun-chan was not in trouble, so he appointed him as an officer under his command and served as an assistant general of the Jeolla Province. At that time, the rumors of the Japanese invasion had spread to Korea, and Xuanzu ordered the heavy ministers to recommend the generals, and Liu Chenglong, who was then the left councilor, recommended Li Shunchen as the envoy of the Jeolla Left Provincial Water Division (equivalent to the commander of the naval detachment). After Li Shunchen took office, in order to prevent japanese invasion, he actively repaired weapons and developed turtle ships. In April of the 20th year of the Wanli Calendar (1592, the 25th year of Seonjo), the Japanese ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi finally launched a war of aggression against Korea, known in history as the Nongchen Rebellion.
A turtle ship developed by Li Shunchen
At that time, the Korean Army was in ruins, and in the face of the inevitable collapse of the Japanese Army and the Korean Army in every battle, it was only one month that "three were lost and eight roads disintegrated." The Japanese army was running wildly in Korea, and the Japanese army's Konishi and Kato Kiyomasa regiments even competed in long-distance running on Korean soil to compete with anyone who could run ahead, at this time the entire Lee family dynasty had been forced to the Yalu River.
However, the navy led by Li Shunchen recaptured a city on the battlefield. Since the battle of Tamapura in May, he has used twenty-four Itaya ships, fifteen ships, and forty-six baosa boats (small boats for reconnaissance), and his strength is only more than 2,000. More than a hundred Japanese ships were sunk in more than a month, and their own losses were minimal. At that time, the Japanese navy had about 700 regular warships and 9,200 soldiers, and he alone destroyed one-seventh of them. Nine Ghosts Kataka, Fujido Takatoro, Yasuharu Wakosaka, Kamai Tsurugi, and Raishima Tsunehisa, who had been fighting in the Japanese Warring States, did not have any counterforce in the face of Li Shunchen.
During the Battle of Nongchen, the Korean Navy led by Lee Sun-sung won a series of great victories, including the Great Victory of Yupo, the Great Victory of Sicheon, the Great Victory of Tangpu, the Great Victory of Chosan Island, and the Great Victory of Ankupo, which was the only highlight of the Korean army at that time. Li Shunchen's victory not only destroyed the replenishment of Japanese soldiers and logistics, but also broke the attempt of the Japanese water army to cooperate with the army to go out to seize the beach, but also dragged down the main force of the Japanese army, and gained valuable time for the Ming Dynasty to send Song Yingchang and Li Rusong to lead the Liaodong Army and about 40,000 people from the 3,000 Qi family army to come to the aid. The Ming Dynasty and Japan fought back and forth, and finally the Ming Dynasty approved the canonization of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and the conflict between The Dprk and Japan completely stopped.
Schematic diagram of Li Shunchen's war against Japan in the Battle of Renchen
<h1>Loyal subjects cannot escape being framed and die where they want</h1>
In 1597, Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea again with an army of 140,000, Korea once again asked for help, and the Ming Dynasty once again sent troops into Korea, known in history as the Battle of Ding You, also known as Ding You's Rebellion. At that time, the resurgent Japanese general Governor Konishi realized that the Korean marine division led by Li Shunchen was a huge obstacle to their invasion, so he had to get rid of Li Shunchen before the war began, so he thought of using the anti-plot to get rid of this thorn in the eye. First, they sent out a letter saying that Kato Kiyomasa was about to lead an army to invade Korea, and that Li Shunchen would be invited to attack at sea. So Xuanzu ordered Li Shunchen to prepare to meet the enemy, and Li Shunchen suspected that there was deception, wandered around, and was eventually thrown into prison (is it like those loyal subjects who were slandered and persecuted in Chinese history). Then, under the leadership of the shipwreck general Won Kyun-fu, the Korean Admiralty suffered a devastating blow at the Battle of Seocheon-Leung, losing 188 warships and nearly destroying the entire army.
When Li Shunchen was activated again, he faced a situation that was: "The battleship of jinchen is still twelve." But Li Shunchen faced such a dilemma, he did not flinch. Instead, he set out to rebuild the Water Division and continue to deal with the Wokou. After Li Shunchen's comeback, he first fought the Battle of Mingliang with the Japanese army, and fought more than 330 Japanese warships (there are also more than ten of them) at Mingliang Gorge in Hainan County, Jeolla Province with more than 10 warships.
Li Shunchen first showed weakness to lead the Japanese fleet into unfamiliar waters offshore, and then the tide receded, and the Japanese fleet was blocked by the iron cables and wooden stakes that Li Shunchen had buried on the seabed in advance, and then Li Shunchen's fleet gave the Japanese a heavy blow by virtue of the hardness of the turtle ship and the advantage of artillery. Not only did it temporarily repel the Japanese army, but it also saved the only capital of the marine division. After that, he participated in the Battle of Suncheonseong with the Ming Dynasty's admiral Chen Xuan, and was unfortunately shot and killed in the Battle of Luliang, and the King of Joseon gave him the nickname "Chungmuro". This part of the history is also described in the movie "The Battle of Mingliang", and interested friends can watch the movie.
<h1>It is a merit or not, and posterity has commented</h1>
In fact, there are many comments on the Internet that Koreans like to brag about themselves and call national hero Lee Shun-chan the number one in Asia. Lee Sun-sun's personal ability is still a battle achievement, perhaps the first in South Korea, but looking at the whole of Asia is slightly untenable. Especially in front of China, it is even more like a bit of a banmen axe, there are so many outstanding military generals in Chinese history, and any one of them is a well-known figure in the world's military history.
Statue of Lee Shun-sun on Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, South Korea
According to historical data, whether it was the Battle of Nongchen or the Battle of Ding You, the protagonists of the battles on land were basically the Ming Army. And from the beginning of the 1592 Nongchen Rebellion to his death in November 1598, Lee Soon-chen never commanded more than 30,000 troops to fight, and the substantive impact on the war situation was not as great as that written by Korean historical writers. Moreover, Li Shunchen was not victorious, and was defeated by the Japanese at the Battle of Busan in October 1592, the Battle of Nagatoura in November 1592, and the Battle of Suncheon castle in October 1598. Considering the weak military combat effectiveness of the Korean state at that time, Lee Shun-chen's several defeats could not be attributed to his incompetence in command.
Throughout the history of the Korean Peninsula, among the Korean military commanders of the same rank as Li Shunchen, Li Shunchen is undoubtedly very outstanding. Since the 20th century, with the rise of nationalism on the Korean Peninsula, Li Shunchen, Eulji Wendeok and Jiang Handan have been regarded as the three major heroes of national salvation by the Korean Peninsula and are highly respected by the people of the Korean Peninsula. The South Korean people love him so much that many venues have statues of Lee Sun-sun, the most famous of which is the lee sun-sun statue in Gwanghwamun Square in downtown Seoul, the head of Lee Sun-sun also appears on the 100-won coin, and the KDX-II destroyer designed and built by the South Korean Navy is named chungmuro Lee Shun-sung-class destroyer.
Lee Shun-chan on a 100-won coin
As the poem says, "The green mountains are still there, and the sunset is red several times." How many things in ancient and modern times are in the process of laughter. "Li Shunchen's contribution to the Korean Peninsula is obvious to all, no matter how future generations comment, it will not affect his spirit of fighting for the country and the nation, and he put aside narrow nationalism, such a person is very worthy of respect." #聊聊战争史 #
Chungmu Duke Lee Shun-chen class destroyer