Luliang Naval Battle was the last naval battle in the Ming Empire's War to Resist Japan and Aid Korea, but this naval battle was also a controversial naval battle in the War to Resist Japan and Aid Korea. Some people believe that the Ming army did not defeat the Japanese army in the battle of Luliang.
This view was very popular in North Korea when the Ming Dynasty's War of Resistance Against Japan and Aid Korea, so that North Korea's negative comments on the entire Ming Dynasty's war of Resistance Against Japan and Aid Korea appeared. On February 2, 1599 (lunar calendar), the Korean King Lee Kyung personally held a large-scale meeting, and all officials of the Korean dynasty participated. North Korean officials made large-scale criticism of the Ming Empire's expeditionary forces. Li Bing accused the Ming Dynasty's Eastern Expedition Army of bullying superiors and concealing subordinates and exaggerating the results of the battle.
However, the Ming army did not defeat the Japanese army in the naval battle, and the Ming Dynasty itself was denied. Wanli The " Punishment of Japanese Extermination" issued by the Emperor highly affirmed the great achievements of the Ming Empire's Eastern Expedition Army. Liu Yuze highly praised the achievements of the Ming Dynasty's Eastern Expedition Army. In the eyes of the Ming Dynasty monarch and ministers, the Luliang naval battle, as the end of the naval battle of the War of Resistance against Japan and Aid Korea, would not have been able to give a high evaluation of the entire war of Resistance against Japan and Aid Korea.
What is the truth of history? In the Battle of Luliang, which ended the War of Resistance Against Japan and Aid Korea, was the winner of the Ming army or the Japanese army?
above picture_ Luliang naval battle
- The process of Luliang naval battle
598 (lunar calendar) at midnight, Shimazu Yoshihiro , Tachibana Soshima, Kobayashikawa Hidebo and other Japanese generals led a fleet from Changshan Island to try to cross the Luliang Strait to attack Shunchuan, and defeat the joint fleet formed by the Ming Dynasty and North Korea. After receiving the news of the departure of Japanese fleets such as Shimazu Yoshihiro, Li Shunchen quickly told Chen Lin that Chen Lin had set off . Chen Lin arrived at the Luliang Strait on a North Korean assault ship. Li Shunchen's warship was in front and other ships followed closely behind.
Japanese general Takahatsuki Takahara was very alert to the movements of the Ming Empire and the Korean navy, and the sailors were all doing vigilant reconnaissance on the ship. After discovering the Korean navy, Tachibana Soshima ordered the Japanese fleet to attack the Korean fleet by helping melee combat, and the Luliang naval battle started.
Tatehua Soshima's fleet first went to war with the Korean Navy. Shimazu Yoshihiro's fleet also chose the opportunity to join the battle. Shimazu Yoshihiro's retainer Kawakami's ship was fired violently by the Korean army, and Kawakami was seriously injured and fainted during the battle. Kawakami's son, Kawakami, fought to the death and killed 17 or 18 North Korean naval officers and soldiers.
But another Shimazu Yoshihiro ship was severely attacked by the Korean army, and 54 Japanese soldiers were killed in battle.
The battle became more and more intense, and the Japanese fleet surrounded Lee Sun-sen. Chen Lin led the fleet to rescue Li Shunchen, but the Japanese ships surrounded Chen Lin's ship . Two Japanese soldiers jumped onto Chen Lin's ship and prepared to kill Chen Lin. Chen Lin's son fought to protect Chen Lin, and Chen Lin survived.
above picture_ Chen Lin (March 3, 1532 - June 2, 1607)
Chen Lin was the main commander of the entire Ming army fleet. The ships of the main commander were attacked by the Japanese army. The tragic extent of the entire Luliang naval battle can be imagined. In the fierce battle, Chen Lin's ships and Japanese ships fired each other with iron cannons. The Japanese army tried to board Chen Lin's ship again, but with the desperate fight between the officers and soldiers around Chen Lin, the Japanese army's plan failed.
Deng Zilong 's ship also came to rescue Chen Lin. Chen Lin ordered Ming warships to use spray barrels to spray Japanese ships, and the spray barrel sprayed flammable materials such as arsenic, sulfur, realgar , and caused a fire. The entire naval battle battlefield was filled with flames, and the Japanese army was forced to retreat to Guanyinpu, and Deng Zilong led his soldiers to pursue the Japanese army. In the fierce battle, Deng Zilong's ship was boarded by the Japanese army, and Deng Zilong died heroically.
Seeing Deng Zilong's ship caught fire, the North Korean ship thought it was a Japanese ship caught fire. Then, North Korean ships launched a larger-scale attack, and the North Korean navy Li Chunxin burned 10 Japanese warships in succession.Chen Lin and Li Shunchen also used tiger squat cannon to attack Japanese ships. During the continuous charge, Li Shunchen was hit by Japanese artillery shells and died heroically. More than 60 officers from the Korean army also died together. According to the recollections of the Japanese officer Kawakami Hiroshi, Shimazu Yoshihiro seized 60 North Korean ships in a row. However, a letter written by Shimazu Yoshihiro after the war revealed that the Japanese Shimazu Yoshihiro tribe only seized 4 Japanese ships and 2 Ming ships.
above picture_ Wanli Korean War Japanese Anzaka ship and North Korean turtle ship
Lee Sun-sen died, and the Korean army fell into a hard battle. The Ming army led the general of Li Shen to support the fire at the Japanese army, killing more than 130 Japanese troops. Another Ming army officer, Jin, led his troops to support him. Under the battle of the Ming army, the Japanese army suffered heavy losses, and almost all of Shimazu Yoshihiro's soldiers were killed in battle. Shimazu Yoshihiro's seal was almost lost.
Shimazu Yoshihiro's retainer's door led the remaining more than 500 Japanese soldiers to flee, and the Ming fleet pursued them bravely. Due to the desperate protection of Shimazu Yoshihiro's retainers, Shimazu Yoshihiro survived the pursuit of the Ming army, but 18 Shimazu Yoshihiro's retainers were also killed in battle. Shimazu Yoshihiro was afraid of the Ming army and finally fled to Geoje Island .
Of course, during the fierce battle between the Ming Navy and the Japanese Navy, the senior Japanese general Governor Konishi and others fled from Shuntian City.
According to relevant information, there were more than 4,100 Japanese troops commanded by the Japanese generals including Takahara Soshima, and about 2,050 were killed. The losses of Shimazu Yoshihiro tribe exceeded the 1,300 people killed in the battle by Tachiban Soshima tribe. In this way, more than 4,000 Japanese soldiers died in the Battle of Luliang. The Ming army and the Korean navy were probably killed by about a thousand people.
above_Luliang Naval Battle Schematic
- It was clearly the Shimazu Yoshihiro fleet that returned from a crushing defeat. Why is there a saying that the Ming army was defeated and the Japanese army won?
This view has the following reasons.
First, the Ming army and the Korean navy's tactics were to surround the points to attack the aid, surround Shuntian , and attack Shimazu Yoshihiro's fleet. However, the President Xiaoxi and others in Shuntian escaped, and the Ming army's mission was not completed.
Second, Shimazu Yoshihiro’s mission is to cover the retreat of Governor Konishi and other Japanese generals. Judging from the purpose of the combat, although Shimazu Yoshihiro suffered heavy losses, it did cover the retreat of Governor Konishi.
Third, no generals of the Japanese army were killed, while two generals of the Ming army, Deng Zilong and Li Shunchen, were killed.
Therefore, the Japanese army achieved its combat purpose, and the Battle of Luliang ended with the Japanese army's miserable victory.
But is this statement really reliable?
In fact, the Ming army won a complete victory in the Battle of Luliang. The statement that the Japanese army defeated the Ming army was not in line with historical facts. There are the following reasons to prove the victory of the army and refute the statement that "the Japanese army defeated the Ming army."
above picture_Luliang naval battle drawing
- Why did the Ming army win in the Luliang naval battle?
. The purpose of the Ming army's combat is not to surround the points and attack the aid.
According to historical records such as "The East Expedition", before the war, the Ming army discovered a secret letter from Shimazu Yoshihiro. Shimazu Yoshihiro rescued the Governor Konishi through the Luliang Strait. The entire fleet was going to pass the Luliang Strait and surrounded the Ming army's navy in both east and west directions. After learning about the situation, Chen Lin ordered the withdrawal of a port not far from Shuntian, and the entire fleet was transferred to the Luliang Strait, waiting for the arrival of Japanese fleets such as Shimazu Yoshihiro.
Since the Ming army has withdrawn from the port not far from Shuntian, how can we say that we will surround Shuntian and ambush the Japanese army? In order to avoid being surrounded by Japanese fleets, the Ming army chose to transfer the battlefield and ambush the Japanese army in the Luliang Strait. The Ming army completely occupied the initiative in the Luliang naval battle.
above picture_Governor Xiaoxi (1558-1600)
. The purpose of the Japanese army is by no means just to rescue Xiaoxi. After the Japanese army rescued Xiaoxi, they would let the Japanese army divide into two groups to surround the Ming army navy and the Korean navy in Shuntian, and then annihilate the Ming army's Western Route Army led by Liu Jing. This was a very grand combat plan for the Japanese army at that time.
However, since the Ming army knew the purpose of the Japanese army in advance and then ambushed the Japanese fleet in the Luliang Strait with the Korean navy, the Japanese army's plan went completely bankrupt. Governor Konishi fled in Shuntian, while Shimazu Yoshihiro's fleet returned in a crushing defeat and finally had to retreat to Geoje Island. Shimazu Yoshihiro lost about 2,000 troops. In the final escape stage, 18 retainers were killed in battle. If it weren't for the desperate resistance of the retainers, Shimazu Yoshihiro himself might have been shot dead by the Ming army.
As a senior general of the Japanese army, Governor Xiaoxi was fully capable of leading a reinforcement force to Luliang to attack the joint naval division formed by the Ming army and North Korea, but Governor Xiaoxi did not choose to do so, but directly chose to escape from Shuntian. This shows that Governor Xiaoxi at that time had no intention of fighting with the Ming army. The grand combat plan before
was declared bankrupt under the attack of Luliang ambush.
above picture_ "Picture of defeated Japanese pirates" (partial)
. The Ming army and North Korea did have two generals Deng Zilong and Li Shunchen who died in battle, but can the death of the generals become a symbol of victory in the battle? Obviously not suitable. Trafalgar naval battle , British general Nelson died in battle, but did the British lose? Obviously not.
As for the statement that the Japanese army did not die a general, it is even more nonsense.
The following lists historical materials to prove the huge number of Japanese generals.
Historical information at Shimazu's family "Records of the Kancheng of the Xifan Martyrs" records that at least 44 generals and middle and senior officers under Shimazu Yoshihiro died in battle.
Shimazu Yoshihiro's retainer Matsumari Shimabi, recorded in his memoir "The Koryo Military Awakening of the Koryo Shimazu Yoshihiro" that 50 generals and middle and senior officers under Shimazu Yoshihiro died in battle.
Other historical materials of the Shimazu family are also recorded. One of the historical materials records that more than 100 people including Shimazu samurai, monks and captains were killed in battle. Among them, 37 people were the Imperial Promotion crowd, equivalent to high-level samurai and belonged to the second level of the leadership of Shimazu Yoshihiro's army. Even the heir of Shimazu family, Katsuki Kami, was killed in battle.
above picture_ North Korean Prime Minister Liu Chenglong War history written by himself
. The Shimazu family's historical materials unconcealedly acknowledged the defeat of the Japanese army.
"Korean Joseph Record" records that the Korean navy fiercely pursued Japanese ships. After the Japanese army was chased, they fought fiercely while retreating.
The biography written by Shimazu Yoshihiro himself admitted that the Ming army used large ships to violently attack Japanese ships, and the Japanese army was unfavorable in combat, so they had to choose to retreat.
"Yihiro Gong Yu Ji" unabashedly admits that Japanese officers and soldiers were either killed in battle or injured, and even "most of them were destroyed."
From the above historical materials list, we can see that the failure of the Japanese army was a failure that he admitted. Even the word "most of the destruction" can be expressed in Japanese historical materials, which proves that the Ming army did defeat the Japanese army in the Battle of Luliang.
Of course, the two heroes Deng Zilong and Li Shunchen are also worthy of the eternal respect of future generations.
Author: Sun Yi Correct/Editor: Lilith
Reference:
［1］ "The Complete History of the Korean War in Wanli" Zhu Erdan Democracy and Construction Press
［2］ Li Korean War in Wanli Liang Xiaotian Modern Publishing House
text was created by the team of the History University Hall, and the picture is from the Internet and the copyright belongs to the original author
