“I believed the words of slander spoken by that small man Chung Eung-t‘a, and doubted in my mind as to the loyalty of the king of Korea. I cannot now be oblivious to the unmerited sufferings of Gen. Yang Ho. Chung Eung-t‘a is a radically bad man. I was on the brink of a disastrous mistake. I will now deprive him of rank and make him one of the common herd. Let him appear before me at once.”
When Chung Eung-t‘a arrived in Nanking[Nanking] he was cut in two at the waist.
Chapter III.
Japanese mix with Koreans.... Chinese and Korean advance.... Japanese victory.... attempts at bribery.... Admiral Yi Sun sin’s last fight.... a young Korean captive.... Hideyoshi poisoned.... his character.... Japanese recalled.... a Korean teacher in Japan.... a memorial temple.... party changes.... Japanese envoy.... posthumous honors.... factional strife.... revenue.... envoy to Japan.... a welcome heir.... negotiations with Japan.... a dark outlook.... Chinese commissioner duped.... treaty with Japan.... reign of terror.... the young prince murdered.
By this time the Japanese were becoming mixed with the Korean people among whom and near whom their camps were placed. They were probably good customers and the people doubtless felt that it was not their business to fight them; so all up and down the coast for a distance of three hundred miles the Japanese lived in their “holes” as the Koreans called them, and in many cases they took wives from among the women of the country and devoted themselves to farming, except at such times as the Korean or Chinese forces came into their vicinity. There were three Japanese military centers. One was at Ul-san on the eastern coast, held by Konishi. In the west was Sun-ch‘ŭn in[in] Chŭl-la Province where Kato had his headquarters, while half way between these two in the town of Sa-ch‘un on the Si-jin River a third station was held by Gen. Sok Mang-ja. These three stations kept up regular communication with each other, and in case of need rendered each other assistance.
We now enter the last campaign of this eventful war. We are not informed as to the numbers of the Japanese at this time but it probably fell short of 100,000 men. The Chinese had assembled again in force at Seoul and in the ninth moon of 1598 a grand move was made against the invaders. The Chinese forces were led by Generals Hyöng Kă and Man Se-dŭk. The whole army was divided into four grand army corps. Gen. Ma Kwi led the eastern division southward to attack Ul-san. Under him were eleven other generals and 24,000 men.
The central division, of 13,000 men, was led by Gen. Tong Il-wŭn under whom were eight other generals. The western division was led by Gen. Yu Chung and six other generals with a force of 13,000 men. The admiral of this campaign was Chil Lin who was already in the south with eight other commanders handling 13,200 men. It is said that the entire expedition numbered 142,700 men, but the above items sum up to less than half that and we must conclude that there were something less than 100,000 men in all.
On the last day of the ninth moon, already well on toward winter, the three divisions deployed before the walls of Ul-san. Kato had not been idle all this time; after the terrible scenes of the last siege he had made the best of preparations. He had accumulated an abundance of food, increased the garrison, strengthened the defenses, and he could laugh at any force that should try to sit out the winter before him. The Chinese soon discovered this and turned aside to work that promised better success. Gen. Tong Il-wŭn took a powerful force and advanced on Sa-chŭn, the central station of the Japanese. It is probable that the garrison here was smaller than those under either Kato or Konishi, for when its commander saw the force that was brought to bear upon him he hastily evacuated the place and crossed over to the island of Pom-neut and fortified it. Gen. Tong was over-confident and pressed after him. The Japanese craftily drew him on and on until his force was immediately under the wall, when a mine was exploded which, though it killed but a few hundred men, threw the whole attacking body into such confusion that the Japanese rushed out and found them an easy prey. The Chinese lay in heaps where they had been cut down. Gen. Tong barely escaped with his life and fled to Sam-gă, being chased as far as the Nam-gang (river) where the Japanese contented themselves with making way with 12,000 bags of rice belonging to the Chinese commissariat.
Gen. Yu Chung was commissioned to take a strong body of men and attack the fortress at Sun-ch‘ŭn in Chŭl-la Province. Arriving at the neighboring village of Wă-gyo he determined to overcome the old veteran Kato by treachery. He sent to that general a proposition to make peace. Kato was now an old man and the war in Korea was bringing him neither fame nor advancement, so he was ready to give up the contest, now that it had been demonstrated that the Japanese arms could not penetrate the north. He gladly assented and sent Gen. Yu a present of two handsome swords.[swords.] It was agreed that they should meet at a certain point, accompanied by only 3000 men each; but Gen. Yu secretly placed an ambush in such wise that when the Japanese force should come out it could be cut off from return to the fort. A whistle was to be sounded as a signal when the Japanese came out. But Kato was too old a bird to be caught by such a child’s trick. He had seen two or three of the Chinese lurking about in the vicinity of the gate and so delayed his coming out. By mistake the signal was given and the Chinese ambuscade rushed out only to become an object of ridicule to the Japanese. But even as it was some eighty or ninety Japanese stragglers were cut off and taken by the Chinese. Gen. Yu then surrounded the stronghold and at the same time sent an urgent letter to Admiral Chil Lin to come that very night and join in an attack on the Japanese. The admiral obeyed the summons and hurried up with his fleet. Not knowing about the tides and supposing that the shouts that he heard were the shouts of battle, he sailed straight up under the walls of the fortress. But he found that there was no fight on for Gen. Yu had failed to connect, and the ebbing tide left the astonished Admiral high and dry on the mud flats under the very noses of the enemy. In the morning the Japanese trooped out and burned forty-eight of the stranded ships and killed most of the men. Admiral Chil escaped in the early morning by boat and hurried to the camp of his tardy compatriot, Gen. Yu. In a rage he tore down with his own hands that general’s flag and rent it in pieces, meanwhile heaping upon him every species of abuse for having gotten him into such a plight. Gen. Yu was exceedingly ashamed and his face, they say, was “the color of dirt.” He beat upon his breast and acknowledged that he deserved death. So Chil Lin went back to his decimated camp to nurse his wrath.
But Gen. Yu knew that Kato really desired to put an end to the war, and so he sent another messenger saying, “This time I really mean peace. If you will take all your forces and depart I will give you a clear path to escape. Our army numbers 140,000 men and you cannot hope to face that number.” To this proposition Kato assented and began immediately to embark his soldiers to send them back to Japan. But as it happened they had to pass the position of Admiral Chil Lin who naturally sallied out and gave fight, sinking or burning a dozen or more of Kato’s boats. The rest put back in haste to the starting place and Kato blamed Gen. Yu for having deceived him; but the latter claimed that he had merely forgotten to inform Admiral Chil Lin of the agreement and that he would do so. At the same time he advised Kato to send Admiral Chil a slight testimonial of regard, which he did in the shape of a hundred ounces of silver and forty-five swords. So Admiral Chil acquiesced. Again the Japanese fleet set out and succeeded in getting by Admiral Chil Lin’s place; but they had not reckoned upon Admiral Yi Sun-sin and his faithful warriors. Kato was again obliged to turn back and go to work to bribe that doughty leader. He sent him guns and swords in large numbers but the old gentleman remarked that as for weapons he was already pretty well supplied, and sent them back. He was then approached with an offer of 1,000 ounces of silver if he would wink at Kato’s passage. This he likewise refused.