In 1588, The Japanese Taikoku Toyotomi Hideyoshi basically unified Japan.
In order to appease the samurai's dissatisfaction with the division of the fiefs, while weakening the power of the various princes. Toyotomi Hideyoshi gathered an army and launched an invasion of the Korean Peninsula in 1592. Since China was in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty at that time, this war was also known as the "Wanli Korean War".
In this war, a very famous military figure Lee Shun-chen appeared in Korea. Li Shunchen used Korean turtle ships to defeat the Japanese Navy many times, and is still regarded as one of the "three heroes of national salvation" on the Korean Peninsula. In South Korea, where the film and television industry is more developed, the story of Li Shunchen's defeat of the Japanese army has also been remade into many film and television works, among which Li Shunchen's heroic image of using soldiers like gods is also deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
(Wanli Korean War)
So, how powerful is the turtle ship fleet led by Li Shunchen?
In March 1592, Toyotomi Hideyoshi mobilized nine legions with a total of 140,000 troops to attack the Korean Peninsula, citing Korea's refusal to attack the Ming Dynasty. At the beginning of the war, the Korean army was defeated, the Japanese army took only a month to capture Pyongyang, and the Korean king Li Fu was also expelled.
The reason why the North Korean army has gone all the way is that the gap between the combat effectiveness of the two sides is too large. The Lee dynasty of Korea lived in a quiet corner and had not fought a war for many years. The North Korean soldiers have no battles to fight, and their combat effectiveness is naturally relatively average. On the other hand, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's army basically experienced the Japanese Sengoku period and crawled out of the corpse mountain and the sea of blood. Therefore, as soon as the two countries first fought, Korea was immediately defeated, and they could only ask the Ming Dynasty for help.
After receiving the Korean call for help, the Ming Dynasty immediately sent 40,000 troops to fight in Korea. The Ming army immediately reversed the situation when it arrived on the battlefield, and the Japanese army suffered a heavy defeat in Pyongyang and was forced to retreat. However, due to the small number of Ming troops, they did not take advantage of the victory to pursue. In the end, the two sides decided to negotiate peace, and the first phase of the war was officially concluded.
It is worth saying that although the Korean army has been defeated in the war, it still has a brilliant performance. During the First War, Lee Soon-chen led the Korean Marine Division to the sea four times, defeating the Japanese army in Yupu, Hepu, and Chizhenpu. Especially in the Battle of Xianshan Island, Li Shunchen laid down the crane wing array to break the Japanese army and achieved a great victory on Xianshan Island.
However, during Lee Sun-sung's march into Busan, the Korean army was defeated by the Japanese. Subsequently, Li Shunchen was defeated at Tangxiangpu and Yonghepu. It was not until the Ming army arrived that the situation improved.
(Image of Lee Yu-hyun)
After the First War, the Japanese realized that Li Shunchen's presence was a big problem. In 1597, Li Shunchen was assassinated by the Japanese anti-malayer and was dismissed from his post and imprisoned. The Japanese Navy took the opportunity to send troops to fight a major battle with the Korean Admiralty on Geoje Island, and eventually more than a hundred Korean warships were completely destroyed.
After the defeat, the Korean court fell into chaos. Under pressure from his courtiers, Lee Washun was released by the King of Joseon and returned to the battlefield.
At the Battle of Mingliang in October of that year, Li Shunchen defeated 133 Japanese ships with a mixed army of more than a dozen warships and more than 100 civilian modified ships. The battle brought Lee Shun-chen back to trust, and his prestige in Korea reached its peak. However, in modern film and television works, it is usually shown that Li Shunchen defeated more than 100 Japanese ships with a single warship, which is not in line with historical facts.
After this, the Ming Dynasty again sent 70,000 troops to support, and the Japanese navy began to rout on all fronts. Soon after, Toyotomi Hideyoshi died, leaving Japan leaderless, and the invading forces began to retreat.
However, Li Shunchen did not think so. After consulting with the Ming Dynasty admiral Chen Xuan, he decided to send a coalition army to cut off the retreat route of the Japanese. This naval battle was known as the "Battle of Luliang", and Li Shunchen led a fleet of turtle ships into the enemy position, but unfortunately was killed by a shell. The Japanese fleet fought and retreated, and finally managed to escape.
Because of his martyrdom in the last battle, Li Shunchen has since been regarded by the Korean people as a national hero who is invincible and uses soldiers like gods.
(Battle of Li Shunchen)
However, objectively speaking, Li Shunchen cannot be said to be a soldier like a god, and the turtle ship on which he is famous is not invincible.
First of all, although Li Shunchen did win many battles in the two wars, he also lost many battles. Strictly speaking, Li Shunchen fought more defeats than he won. The main reason why Korea was able to win two wars was with the help of the Ming army.
Of course, Li Shunchen must also have a certain credit. But if the Ming Dynasty did not send troops, I am afraid that Korea would be destroyed by Japan. And Li Shunchen will not have much use.
Secondly, turtle ships do play a certain role in naval battles, but they are by no means as magical as they are blown in film and television works.
The so-called turtle ship is a warship with nails on the deck, a huge anchor hitting the enemy ship on the bow, and a warship that can spray sulfur gas. This type of ship is generally used during the charge, in order to disrupt the enemy fleet formation, and is a powerful trailblazer for close combat.
In fact, most of Li Shunchen's fleet at that time was dominated by itaya ships, not all turtle ships as people remembered. The power of the turtle ship was also exaggerated like Li Shunchen.
(Reference: Records of the Li Dynasty, etc.)