⑭ The Battles of Busanpo and Ungpo

Busanpo -- Striking the Enemy's Heart

September 1, 1592. Admiral Yi Sun-sin set out for Busanpo.

There was fighting along the way, too. Five Japanese ships at Hwajungumi, eight at Dadaepo, nine at Seopyeongpo, two at Jeolyeongdo -- all burned.

Arriving at Busanpo, he found some 470 enemy ships anchored there. Admiral Yi's fleet charged straight in.

The Nokdo manho Jeong Un led the charge. He smashed four enemy ships first, and the ships following behind formed a long battle line and pressed the attack. The Japanese abandoned their ships and climbed the hills, firing muskets and arrows. The fighting went on all day.

By the time the day drew to a close, some hundred enemy ships had been destroyed. As Admiral Yi himself stated in his report to the court, the Battle of Busanpo was the greatest feat of arms he had achieved up to that time. The heartbreaking part was that, as the fleet charged into the narrow harbor in a long battle line, General Jeong Un, who had been fighting bravely at the head of the vanguard, was struck by a bullet and killed.

Admiral Yi later wrote in his report to the court:

That his dignified spirit and pure soul should vanish so quietly, and go unremembered by later generations -- it breaks my heart.

(I'll cover General Jeong Un's own story in a later post, in the series about the people around Admiral Yi.)

The Battle of Ungpo -- Japanese Ships Hidden in a Deep Inlet

Right after the Battle of Hansan Island, Toyotomi Hideyoshi issued an order banning further naval engagements.

If the Battle of Busanpo closed out the fighting of 1592 (the imjin year), the Battle of Ungpo opened the fighting of 1593.

At the time of the Battle of Busanpo, Busan Waeseong -- a Japanese-style fortress -- had only begun construction that April and was still in its early stages. There was no completed fortress wall; all the enemy could do was fire back from the hillside. That's how Admiral Yi managed to sink some 100 enemy ships in a single day.

On February 10, 1593, Admiral Yi arrived in the waters off Ungcheon.

The Japanese garrisoned there had hidden their ships deep in the inlet, built several strongholds at the mouth of the harbor in defensible terrain, and dug in.

A Fight Against an Enemy Who Refused to Fight

On the 10th, Admiral Yi wrote in the Nanjung Ilgi:

The enemy ships lay anchored in a row. We tried to lure them out twice, and each time they seemed ready to come out, fearing our navy as they long had -- but then turned back, so that in the end we could not catch and destroy them. Truly infuriating.

On the 12th, they tried again. The result was the same.

We advanced and retreated to draw them out, but they never came out to sea in the end. We gave chase twice, but could not catch and wipe them out. What is to be done! Truly infuriating.

On the 18th, they changed tactics. They set an ambush and drew out ten enemy ships. Real fighting broke out this time, and Admiral Yi wrote that “the number of enemy dead could not be counted.”

On the 22nd, they even brought in monk-soldiers. Pretending to land troops, they drew the enemy into confusion. A few Joseon ships, charging in without orders, ran aground and came under attack.

On March 6, they struck Ungcheon again, driving the enemy back onto land.

Our troops fired bullets and pyeonjeon arrows like rain, and a great many of the enemy died.

From May 1593, Japanese Fortresses Rise in Earnest Along the Southern Coast

After the Battle of Hansan Island, the enemy stopped coming out to fight head-on. It was Hideyoshi's order.

At Busanpo, some 470 enemy ships had nothing to rely on but makeshift defenses.

At Ungpo, the enemy hid their ships deep in the inlet and refused to come out and fight. So Admiral Yi resorted to luring them out, setting ambushes, and even landing troops to drive the enemy back toward the sea. And when the enemy did come out to sea, he was able to defeat them.

After the Battle of Ungpo, from May 1593 onward, the Japanese began building fortified strongholds along the southern coast in earnest. From that point on, the enemy hid inside those fortresses and stopped coming out at all.

👉 Next post: ⑮ Why Did the Turtle Ship Fight for Only Three Months? (Part 1)

— Momcheolhak