Episode 708: Second Yellow Sea Battle (6)
Early November, Year 9 of the Imperial Calendar (1457).
As promised with Emperor Gyeongtae, the Ming Dynasty fleet was able toplete preparations for war by the end of October.
“Now it’s time topete!”
“It’s a fight!”
Although the weather was getting colder, the air at the military ports where the Ming Dynasty’s Yellow Sea navy gathered was getting hotter.
Soldiers prepared for war, regardless of their rank, visited temples or convents near military ports, offered offerings, and prayed earnestly.
“Please let mee back alive this time too!”
Veterans who had experienced thest war earnestly prayed for their survival.
“Please help me achieve great sess by umting meritorious deeds in this war!”
On the other hand, soldiers and military officers who had not experienced the previous war hoped to achieve sess by umting merit.
“The Joseon navy is formidable!”
The seniors continued to warn, but the neers simply ignored their opinions.
“I’m worried too much! “We have a two-headed dragon!”
The Ming Dynasty navy was confident as they looked at the two-headed me dragon proudly perched on one side of the military port.
-A one-man navy with a double-headed dragon is invincible!
Their pride had some basis.
The Double-Headed me Dragon was a two-headed me dragon that was connected to tworge shipsrger than therge ships used by Zheng He’s fleet in the past.
In order to resist the artillery fired by the Joseon army, the hull was surrounded by 2 inches (about 6 cm) of iron armor.
Lastly, there was the presence of a gun mounted on the dragon head located at the bow.
Although it was smaller than the Hwaryongpo made and used by Ju Ji-jin, thergest gun among the guns used by the Ming Dynasty navy was mounted on the dragon head.
The Ming Dynasty navy’s confidence surged every time they saw the huge gun muzzle of a gun with its wide open mouth and the shiny copper-ted dragon head on the outside.
“Compared to the two-headed me dragon, the ck me dragon is just a weapon!”
***
Four days before entering Weihai (present-day Weihai City), where the Ming Dynasty Yellow Sea Fleet headquarters was located.
In therge yard attached to the fleet headquarters, the Ming Dynasty naval officers gathered and held arge ceremony.
Admiral Deng Su-lin,mander of the Yellow Sea Fleet, who was in charge of overallmand of this war, read the list of candidates in a loud voice, and then a Taoist monk known for his spiritual powers raised an offering to the sky.
Simr ceremonies were held at other military ports at the same time.
When the ancestral rites were over, the wine and meat given by Emperor Gyeongtae were distributed to the soldiers and officers. The soldiers and officers sitting around in groups of twos and threes were eating meat, emptying their sses, andughing heartily.
As the next day dawned, ships sailed simultaneously from all the military ports where the Yellow Sea Fleet was stationed. Families of soldiers and military officers flocked to the dock to see off the departing ships.
As the front lines outside the port disappeared from sight, the family visited nearby conduits and temples and began praying as best they could.
* * *
The day after the Yellow Sea Fleet set sail. A self-powered flying ball was moving slowly in the sky over the West Sea.
“Oh~. Shit! “It’s so cold even in the summer, but now that it’s winter, it’s freezing!”
The guards, who were feeling the cold winter wind high in the sky, were swearing as they adjusted their thick cotton quilted winter clothing.
When self-powered flight equipment was improved to the point where it could be used, the first ce to adopt it was, of course, the Imperial Army.
-You can see details in low ces, but you can see far in high ces!
The Imperial Army, which had greatly enjoyed the use of flying aircraft in thest war, introduced self-powered flying flying equipment and was putting it to good use.
Of course, the soldiers who operated the self-powered aircraft had to suffer.
“Damn you bastards! “In a winter like this, I’ll just stay in the harbor and drink!”
Even as they worked hard to open the cors of their winter clothes, the guards continued to curse at the Ming navy as the cold wind blew through them.
For some time now, intelligence has beening in that the movements of the Ming Dynasty navy are suspicious, and ordingly, the Imperial Navy has strengthened its reconnaissance of the ind sea.
Large and small scout ships searched the ind and southern seas, and self-powered flying aircraft floated in the sky, scanning all directions.
Even while swearing hard from their mouths, the guards put their telescopes to their eyes and diligently examined the sea below.
“uh! Smoke to the southwest!”
“Wait a minute!”
At the call of the guard watching in that direction, Ki-chong, who was in charge of Bhikkhu, hurriedly ran in that direction, scanned the sea with a telescope, and shouted into the transmission pipe.
“Turn to the southwest!”
At the shout of the gun, the bhikkhu slowly turned and moved towards the ce where the smoke in question wasing from. And Gi-chong looked at the map and figured out their location.
Before we knew it, the guards had closed their mouths and were very nervous as they scanned the sea with telescopes.
Then at some point.
“found! Starboard bow direction!”
At the colleague’s shout, all the guards fixed their gaze in that direction.
“At least 70 ships!”
“More than 50rge ships!”
“Two-headed man! no! Confirmed three double-headed me dragons!”
Among the Imperial Navy, the two-headed dragon was called a two-headed snake, or two-headed snake.
-It moves by turning a water wheel? In the middle of the sea? Is that also a wire? Then it’s a snake, not a dragon!
-If it has two heads, does a snake’s head be a dragon’s head?
Among the imperial navy, the two-headed dragon was an object of ridicule.
Gi-chong, who personally confirmed the soldiers’ reports, recorded the movement speed and location of the Ming Dynasty fleet and then captured Jeon Seong-gwan.
“Return immediately! “Turn your head!”
At Ki Chong’smand, the monk slowly turned around and began to go back the way he came.
“Shit! Damn backwind!”
As the season entered winter and the wind direction changed, Bhikkhu’s speed was not working properly, so Gi-chong swore, looked at the map, and gave orders to the guards.
“Prepare fireworks for signaling! “Look for amunication line nearby!”
“ancient!”
The guards shouted loudly at the gunmand and diligently scanned the sea again.
* * *
One of the biggest problems facing the Imperial Navy during this period was theck of a fast and efficient means of long-distancemunication.
Fastmunication was possible onnd using a light-emitting signal tower, but this was not possible at sea.
To solve this problem, what came out after much deliberation was tounch small ships at regr intervals in the ind sea and the southern sea.
The small ships were equipped with arge number of signal kites and new devices, and when urgent news came from othermunication lines or bhikkhus, their mission was to use these means to contact othermunication lines andmunication towers installed on nearby inds.
Although it was a good means, there was a fatal problem in that the small ships could not go out to sea if the weather was even a little bad.
Thanks to this, finding a way to solve this problem has be a top challenge.
And every time a rted issue was pointed out, Hyang had to ce his hand on his forehead and mutter to himself.
‘ah! ‘It’s like electricity and it’s like rubber!’
* * *
Fortunately, the bhikkhu found amunication line and was able to convey approximate information using a luminousmunication device and signal fireworks.
And, usingmunication lines and the luminousmunicationworks of nearby inds, urgent reports were immediately delivered to the Ind Sea Command in Seosan and Seoul.
“The Ming Dynasty bastards have finally moved.”
Cho Jin-woong,mander of the Ind Sea Fleet, urgently summoned themanders and exined the situation.
“ording to the information received so far, the number of battleships mobilized by the Ming Dynasty bastards who moved this time is about 120. Among them, 100 ships are Daeseon. And of those 120 ships, 50 have moved toward Yeosun and 70 areing this way.”
Nam Ki-nam, the second captain of the Maeng Jin-ho, asked a question in response to Cho Jin-woong’s exnation.
“Where did the two-headed man go?”
“All three of those snake heads areing this way.”
At Cho Jin-woong’s answer, the face of Ki-nam Nam and the captain of the assault ship, who was sitting next to Nam Ki-nam, brightened.
Jo Jin-woong, who saw the bright faces of the captains of the assault ship, burst outughing and muttered to himself.
‘Aren’t those guys scared in the first ce? After all, they are the ones who raised those guys like that…’
* * *
Nam Ki-nam and his fellow assault return ship captains were people who watched and learned from previous captains. And the previous captains were the first to sail the Challenger-ss battleship across the ocean.
To put it nicely, they were ‘courageous and daring people’, and as Hyang put it, they were ‘unparalleled thugs in the world’.
And since they were people who had seen, learned from, and been trained by such people, there was no way they were normal.
* * *
Jo Jin-woong immediately came to his senses and continued his exnation.
“Anyway, the only ones who can properly deal with those snake heads are our dragon heads. However, the problem is that they are outnumbered 3 to 2. The good news is that when ites to fleet size, we are not pushed back. The same goes for firepower.”
Themanders all nodded at Jo Jin-woong’s words.
The number of ships deployed to the Ind Sea Fleet is approximately 90. Among them, if you subtract the number of small ships used asmunication lines, the number of ships that can be deployed in battle is 72. Two ships were assault return ships, 30 of the remaining 70 ships were challenger-ss ships, and the rest were sea emergency ships.
It was a situation where we were not inferior in numbers at all. fire power? No matter what the Ming thought, the Imperial Navy had no intention of being outgunned.
* * *
Since thest war, the Ind Sea Fleet has strengthened its strength.
-There is no way people can stay still!
The local government and ministers all made this judgment and the decision was made ordingly.
ording to the decision of the local government and ministers, new Challenger-ss battleships were supplied inrge quantities to the ind sea fleet.
With the auxiliary sea emergency fronts in ce, the Panokseon went through the process of being retired, leaving behind only a few in good condition.
And the Panok ships that survived were equipped with small steam engines, armed with bigyeokjincheonroe and double-type freight cars, and were deployed to the Yeosun region fleet.
The mission of the Panokseon, whose deployment was changed, was to assume the role of anding ship in the 21st century.
If a conflict with the Ming broke out, the mission of the Panok ships deployed in Yeosun was tond troops in Tianjin and attack Beijing.
* * *
Cho Jin-woong continued his exnation.
“ording to the previously established operational n, if Ming did something, we wouldbine with the Northern Fleet in Lushun and attack Beijing.
However, this incident has proven that they also have heads. Thanks to this, we got a little more busy.
Smash the snake headsing this way as quickly as possible and head north. Then….”
Cho Jin-woo exined the operation n he had in mind.
After hearing the exnation, themanders expressed their opinions, and the n was revised little by little, bing sharper.
Cho Jin-woong, who confirmed the final n that waspleted, nodded with a satisfied face.
“It’s okay. Then just keep going like this. The name of the operation was ‘Snake Hunt.’ “How is it?”
“Then, everyone, go back to your assigned ship, check the supply situation, and immediately fill in any gaps. “We will set sail tomorrow at dawn!”
“yes!”
Themanders responded vigorously and left the conference room and ran to their ships.
Cho Jin-woong, who was left alone in the conference room, opened a nk piece of paper and grumbled.
“Damn it… Writing a report is the most troublesome thing, but you damn Minggu bastards…”
No matter how politely you wrote a report, you had to follow etiquette, and that was never an easy task.
“Shit! It would be easier to go out to sea and fight to the death! What kind of sess this guy has! So does Captain Shin! “Why are you leaving me out?”
‘The situation with Myeong-gwa is unstable, so the owner should stay for a while. ‘You know I trust the owner, right?’
In thest personnel change, Shin In-son kept Cho Jin-woong in his position by saying this. At that time, Cho Jin-woong liked that there was no need to go through hardships in Shinji.