During the Imjin War in the 1590’s, the Japanese under Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea as part of his plan to conquer Ming China. His forces landed at Busan and made a beeline to Seoul demolishing each Korean attempt to stop them. The Japanese got as far as taking Pyongyang but they only controlled a corridor from Busan to Seoul to Pyongyang. So they had to find a way to sail supplies and reinforcements around the Korean Peninsula to resupply their army.
Admiral Yi Sun Sin destroyed every Japanese navy he came across. At one battle he defeated a fleet of 130 ships with only 13 turtle ships, losing none. Essentially, he single handedly saved Korea by denying the Japanese a way to resupply their army until the Japanese had to withdraw.
by DrKillBilly
9 Comments
Tojo (with a j) is the army General and later prime minister of Japan during WW2. He’s among the Chuds who led Japan into militarism and into the war, and was executed as a war criminal after the war.
Togo (with a G for the GOAT) is the Nelson of Japan, the mastermind behind the battle of Tsushima and the actual origin of the quote.
I understand the mistake though, I used to think General MacArthur and senator McCarthy was the same person.
japan: main character energy
I wonder if he started the war with the hope of removing the excessive buildup of soldiers in all corners of his country to reduce the chance of a civil war by diverting them to a foreign island. (it kinda worked)
133 vs 13. The math was simple, but Yi was better at it.
When do we get an Imjin War movie?
13 vs 133 and the man didn’t lose a single ship. Admiral Yi wasn’t just a goat, he was a cheat code in real life
Imo there’s some significant mythmaking around Yi, but it’s incredibly hard to argue with the record. As I’ve heard it he did have some advantages that are often understated, like having real warships where the Japanese mostly had glorified transports, and having significantly better gunpowder weapons.
For me the really interesting thing is how all the fighting had on paper turned Japan into a warrior nation that should have walked over Korea, and it only took a couple of years to fully kill any expansionist dreams on their part. Really shows how little supposed martial prowess can matter in the wrong situation.
Yet korean higher up again and again demoted such great admiral because some silly reason like some higher up didn’t like him or some royalty jealous of his popularity.
Yi Sun Sin is the personification of the G-Man quote: “The right man at the wrong place can make all the difference in the world.”
Yi Sun Sin was the right man, Korea was the wrong place for him (constantly demoting him), yet in the end, he made the difference.
Martial Lord of Loyalty for a reason.