㉕ The Battles of Eollanpo and Byeokpajin: The Record on the Eve of Myeongnyang

After the Joseon navy was all but wiped out at Chilcheollyang, Admiral Yi took over the twelve panokseon warships that Bae Seol had kept hidden and raised the navy up again. I have already written about that process.

👉 Related post: ⑤ The Disgrace of Chilcheollyang, and His Reinstatement as Naval Commander

The first battle this rebuilt fleet fought against the Japanese was the Battle of Eollanpo, and the place where the fleet then stayed for more than two weeks, preparing for the Battle of Myeongnyang, was Byeokpajin. But this journey began, before any battle, with Admiral Yi first having to fight his own body.

A Brush with Death

At dawn on August 21 of the year Jeongyu (1597), Admiral Yi collapsed with a severe attack of acute indigestion.

"Before the day had even dawned, I came down with dowari and was very sick. Thinking it might be because my body had grown cold, I drank some soju, and for a long while I lost consciousness. I very nearly did not wake up. I vomited more than ten times and spent the night sitting up." (Nanjung Ilgi, August 21, 1597)

For reference, dowari is a native Korean word for an acute stomach illness in which food sits badly, causing vomiting and diarrhea. It is said to come from drinking cold water or from great anger, or from damage to the stomach through seasickness or motion sickness; in traditional Korean medicine, it is also said that when a person suddenly flies into a great rage, the gi (vital energy) surges upward and harms the stomach.

The next day he could not even move his body, and the day after that, it was too hard even to stay aboard ship, so he had to sleep on land. In that condition, on August 24, Admiral Yi led the fleet to the waters off Eollan.

An Empty Village, and a False Rumor

Arriving at Eollan, he found the village completely empty. The people had already fled because of the Jeongyu War. And the next day, a commotion broke out in the camp.

"We stayed on at Eollanpo. After breakfast, men stealing and leading off a cow that a fisherman of Dangpo had left behind spread a false rumor, crying, 'The enemy has come! The enemy has come!' I already knew it was a lie, so I had the two men who spread the rumor seized, beheaded at once, and their heads displayed as a warning, and the hearts of the men in the camp were greatly calmed." (Nanjung Ilgi, August 25, 1597)

Admiral Yi knew how dangerous a single false alarm could be in a fleet that had not yet recovered from the shock of Chilcheollyang. He set military discipline right without delay.

A Frightened Bae Seol

Two days later, Bae Seol, the Naval Commander of Gyeongsang Right Province, came to see him. Bae Seol was the very commander who had handed the twelve ships over to Admiral Yi, but his eyes were full of fear.

"Bae Seol, the Gyeongsang Right Naval Commander, came to see me, and he looked very frightened. I said abruptly, 'You haven't been off somewhere hiding, have you, Commander!'" (Nanjung Ilgi, August 27, 1597)

It was only a short remark, but Admiral Yi's suspicion and reproach toward Bae Seol show through plainly. This uneasy relationship was put to the test in real combat the very next day.

Eight Enemy Ships, and a Flagship That Did Not Retreat

At dawn on August 28, eight Japanese ships appeared without warning.

"Around six in the morning, eight enemy ships came in when we least expected it. The ships were all frightened and lost their nerve, and the Gyeongsang Naval Commander (Bae Seol) tried to get away and pull back. I did not budge, and when the enemy ships came close, I blew the horn and waved the flags and ordered them to give chase, and the enemy ships withdrew. We chased them as far as Galdu and came back. Since the enemy ships fled far away, we did not chase them further. It was said that some fifty ships were following behind them." (Nanjung Ilgi, August 28, 1597)

The fleet, with the memory of Chilcheollyang still fresh, was frightened, and Bae Seol tried to flee. But Admiral Yi's flagship did not waver in the least. It held its place and met the enemy ships head-on, and as a result the Japanese ships withdrew. That evening, Admiral Yi moved his camp to Jangdo (Noru Island).

In scale, it was not a large battle. But in a fleet whose morale had completely collapsed after the defeat at Chilcheollyang, and at a moment when even a commander who should have been leading part of that fleet was trying to flee, it was a fight in which the unshakable stance of one man, Admiral Yi, held the whole fleet together again.

Making Camp at Byeokpajin

The next day, August 29, the fleet moved to Byeokpajin (in Gogun-myeon, Jindo County). Admiral Yi would stay here for more than two weeks, until the Battle of Myeongnyang.

From the bottom of the map upward: Eollanpo, Byeokpajin, and Imhado

"In the morning we crossed over. We put in at Byeokpajin." (Nanjung Ilgi, August 29, 1597)

The next day, too, the fleet stayed where it was and sent scouts out in every direction. But that evening, something unexpected happened.

"In the afternoon, Bae Seol, fearing that the enemy would come in great numbers, meant to run away. The commanders under his command were looking for him, and I too knew what he intended, but since it is not a commander's proper conduct to be the first to speak of something that has not yet clearly come out, I was holding back. Just then Bae Seol had his servant hand in a petition, saying that his illness was very serious and he needed to take some time to recover." (Nanjung Ilgi, August 30, 1597)

Admiral Yi had already seen straight through Bae Seol's intentions. Even so, he wrote and sent him an official letter telling him to go ashore, recover, and come back. He did not hold him back.

Gyeongsang Naval Commander Bae Seol Finally Flees

And three days later, Admiral Yi's guess came true exactly.

"At dawn today, Bae Seol, the Gyeongsang Naval Commander, ran away." (Nanjung Ilgi, September 2, 1597)

It is a single sentence. The commander whom he had pressed at Eollanpo, "You haven't been off somewhere hiding, have you, Commander!", in the end could not even hold his own naval command and ran away. Admiral Yi left no further word on the matter.

A Clash After Nine Days, and Cannon Fire in the Night

At Byeokpajin, the fleet was battered for several days by strong winds. And on September 7, the enemy finally moved.

"The scouting officer Im Jung-hyeong came and reported, 'Of fifty-five enemy ships, thirteen have already arrived in the waters off Eollan. Their aim seems to be our navy.'" (Nanjung Ilgi, September 7, 1597)

Around four in the afternoon, thirteen enemy ships came straight on.

"Our ships, too, weighed anchor, went out to sea to meet and attack them, and pressed forward quickly, and the enemy turned their ships and fled. We chased them out to the open sea, but since both the wind and the tide were running against us and we could not sail, and fearing there might be ships lying in ambush, we did not chase them further and returned to Byeokpajin." (Nanjung Ilgi, September 7, 1597)

Admiral Yi sensed a night raid coming that night. He called the commanders together, saying, "Tonight, it seems certain the enemy will make a night raid," and ordered them to prepare in advance. And his sense proved exactly right.

"Around ten at night, enemy ships came firing their guns in a surprise attack. Our ships seemed to lose their nerve, so I issued a strict order once again, and my own ship went straight up in front of the enemy ships and fired the Jija cannon, until the rivers and mountains shook. The enemy could not withstand it; four times they came out and pulled back, firing their guns. At one in the morning they withdrew completely. These are the ones who once won a victory at Hansan Island." (Nanjung Ilgi, September 7, 1597)

It was a night when, in the middle of a frightened fleet, the flagship went forward alone, fired its cannon, and drove off the enemy.

A Naval Commander Without the Power to Appoint: Kim Eok-chu in Bae Seol's Place

The place Bae Seol had left was being filled by Kim Eok-chu, the Right Naval Commander. But Admiral Yi left a cold assessment of him in his diary.

"The enemy ships did not come. I called the commanders together to discuss countermeasures. Kim Eok-chu, the Right Naval Commander, is at best fit to be a manho (a minor garrison commander) and is not timber to be used as a senior commander, yet because the Left State Councilor Kim Eung-nam is close to him, he forced the appointment and sent him here. Can it be said, with this, that there are men at court! I can only lament that I was not born in better times." (Nanjung Ilgi, September 8, 1597)

The Gyeongsang Naval Commander had run away, and the Admiral himself wrote that the Jeolla Right Naval Commander was not timber for a senior commander. This was the real state of the fleet with the Battle of Myeongnyang just ahead.

The Double Ninth Festival, and a Rumor That Shook Byeokpajin

September 9 was the Double Ninth Festival. Admiral Yi, who was in mourning, held himself back, but he had five cattle that had come from Jeju slaughtered to feed his soldiers. That evening, too, two enemy ships came to scout and were driven off.

Five days later, smoke rose from across the water opposite Byeokpajeong. It was news that Im Jun-yeong, who had gone out scouting, rushed back to deliver.

"Of some two hundred enemy ships, fifty-five have already entered the waters off Eollan." (Nanjung Ilgi, September 14, 1597)

Im Jun-yeong delivered one more piece of news. It was what a man named Kim Jung-geol, who had been captured by the Japanese and then released, had told him. The Japanese had gathered and vowed that "since some ten Joseon navy ships chased Japanese ships, shot and killed our men, and burned the ships, we have no choice but to take revenge," and that after killing every man of the Joseon navy, they would go up as far as the Han River. It was revenge for the night raid that had been driven off on the night of September 7. Saying, "Although these words are hard to believe in full, it is not impossible that it is so," Admiral Yi sent orders for the refugees remaining at Usuyeong to be moved up onto land.

Seek Death and You Will Live; Seek Life and You Will Die

The next day, September 15, Admiral Yi moved the fleet to the waters off Usuyeong. It was because he could not set up camp with his back to Uldolmok (Myeongnyang), which lay behind Byeokpajin. And he gathered the commanders together and made them this promise:

"The art of war says, 'Those who are resolved to die will live, and those who seek only to live will die,' and also, 'If one man holds a narrow pass, he can strike fear into a thousand.' These are words meant for us now. You commanders, do not think of saving your lives. If you disobey orders even a little, you will be dealt with by military law. I will not forgive even the slightest leniency." (Nanjung Ilgi, September 15, 1597)

He had come through a brush with death, put down a false rumor, pressed the frightened Bae Seol, held the fleet together with a flagship that did not retreat, and was left in the end with a fleet whose Gyeongsang Naval Commander had run away and whose Right Naval Commander was not fit for the post. Leading that fleet, Admiral Yi faced an enemy more than ten times his strength the next day. I have written about that one day in detail in another post.

👉 Related post: ⑥ The Battle of Myeongnyang — How Was It Won?

👉 Next post: ㉖ Who Was Son Mun-uk, the Man Who Picked Up the War Drum After Admiral Yi's Death?

— Momcheolhak