The History of Korea (vol. 2 of 2)

by Homer B. Hulbert

But Kato, the astute Japanese general, through his tool Yo-si-ra, kept at Gen. Kim[Kim], urging him to have a fleet sent to intercept a fleet of Japanese boats. He named a day on which the Korean fleet would be sure to intercept a fleet of the enemy. At last the order was given for Admiral Wŭn Kyun to carry out this manoeuvre and though he had no stomach for the enterprise he could not well demur, for this was the very thing that had cost Admiral Yi his position. So he got his boats together and sailed out to Chŭl-yŭng Island off Fusan. But a strong breeze sprang up and the sea was rather rough and in the darkness of night the Korean fleet became scattered. The next day the larger part of them rendezvoused at Ka-dok Island where they unexpectedly met the Japanese fleet and were vigorously attacked. Almost immediately all Admiral Wŭn’s forces deserted him and his only recourse was flight. Beaching his boat on Ch‘il-ch‘ŭn Island he landed and drew about him what remnants of his force he could find. When Gen. Kwŭn Ryul heard of this he sent a stern order demanding that the admiral come out and fight. That valliant[valliant] man first filled himself[himself] with wine then sallied forth only to be deserted again by his men. So the doughty admiral again ran his boat aground and took to his heels. He was so fat however that he could not run far, so he sat down under a tree to get his breath. There the Japanese overtook him and carried away his head in triumph. The second in command, Yi Yŭ-geui, fled by boat after burning all the barracks and provisions that were stored at Han-san.

When these events became known the whole country was in consternation. Yi Hang-bok, the king’s trusted councillor, said, “Yi Sun-sin must be reinstated in his former position.” It was a case of dire necessity and so the king sent and conferred upon that faithful man his former office. The trusty Yi set out on foot and rested not day nor night until he reached his former position, Han-san. On all sides he met the scattered and flying remnants of his former force. He rallied them about him, promising that the Japanese should still be held in check.

But before Admiral Yi arrived on the scene of action a tremendous force of Japanese both military and naval had landed on the southern coast. Their objective point was Nam-wŭn, where the Chinese general Yang Wŭn had pitched his camp. Upon the approach of the Japanese the latter burned all the houses outside the wall to prevent their offering cover to an attacking force; but the Japanese soon built a rough fence or palisade about the town, from behind which they picked off the Chinese soldiers on the wall, at leisure. The Chinese attempted to make a sortie but in their eagerness to get out of the gate they became jammed in it and were mown down by the long swords of the besiegers. Unfortunately for the Chinese and Koreans the following night was full moon and the Japanese cut down every man that attempted to escape. To the line of stakes which they had planted about the town the Japanese fastened swords, and when the people from the town tried to make good their escape they found themselves impaled upon these weapons. The Chinese commander, Yang Wŭn, rode at this barrier and his horse was so impaled, but he succeeded in getting over and making good his escape. The Japanese attacked the wall in its weakest point and forced an entrance. The massacre within the town beggars description. The Korean generals Chöng Keui-wŭn, Yi Pong-nam, O Eung-jung, Kim Kyöng-no, Sin Ho, Im Hyŭn, Yi Tŭk-whe and Yi Wŭn-ch‘un were all killed, which indicates how sanguinary must have been the fight.

Immediately all northern Chŭl-la was in confusion and the troops everywhere began to fall back toward the north. In Seoul itself there was consternation. The king called his officials about him and asked what should be done. They all urged that the king stay in the capital. The queen and the crown prince however were sent to Su-an in Ham-gyŭng Province and the king prepared to move whenever it should seem necessary.

But by this time Admiral Yi was again on the stage of action and as alert as ever. He had as yet only ten boats under him, but he had no lack of men, for the people all along the coast, when they heard of his reinstatement, flocked to him. He drew up his little fleet of ten boats in the shadow of a mountain on Chin-do (island) and sent out reconnoitering boats which returned just at night saying that the Japanese were approaching. As the moon dropped behind the mountain it left the Korean fleet in complete darkness and soon the Japanese boats came sailing along in single file. Admiral Yi deployed his boats in a long line and suddenly they all raised a loud shout and fired point blank at the unsuspecting Japanese. The latter thought they had run into a powerful fleet and soon scattered in all directions. The next day there was more serious work, however, for a fleet of several hundred boats appeared. The Koreans were in some trepidation, but the fearless admiral made straight for the enemy and though soon surrounded he succeeded in sinking thirty of the enemy’s boats. The rest evidently recognized the master hand of Admiral Yi and turned and fled. He gave chase, and before the battle ended the Japanese commander Ma-da-si was killed. Returning from this remarkable fight Admiral Yi proceeded to Han-san and set to work rebuilding the barracks and making salt. It is said that in two months time he stored away 20,000 bags of rice. His former captains and soldiers came back to him in “clouds.” He also found another source of revenue. The wealthy men all through the south desired to get away from the disturbed districts and so loaded their effects upon boats and sailed away. Admiral Yi however stood in the way and made them pay a toll of from one to three bags of rice for each boat. From this source alone he collected above a thousand bags of rice. He used this revenue in the purchase of copper for the casting of cannon, and for the building of boats. Thousands of people who feared to live on the mainland came and built huts about his camp, until the island actually became too small to hold more.

After the fall of Nam-wŭn the Japanese, flushed with victory, started northward toward Seoul, thinking without doubt that they would have as easy a victory as before. Yang Ho, hearing of the defeat of the Chinese, came post haste from P’yŭng-yang and severely upbraided the generals and charged them with lack of bravery. Without an hour’s delay it was arranged that Generals Ha Sang, U Pak-yung, Yang Teung and P‘a Sa should take a strong body of troops and move southward to Ch‘ung-ch‘ŭng[Ch‘ung-ch‘ŭng] Province and intercept the Japanese. This was done and the army ambushed at Keum-o-p‘yŭng in the district of Chik-san. Soon the Japanese came streaming along, neglecting all precautions, for they had no idea of meeting an enemy. When therefore the ambuscade opened fire on them it took but a few moments to throw them into utter confusion. In the rout which ensued an enormous number of the Japanese were killed. On the following day the Japanese, who had mended their broken ranks as best they could, came on to the attack, but their losses had been so great that in spite of wonders of bravery which they showed they were again crushed. The remnant of their force fled southward to Mok-ch‘un and Ch‘ung-ju. This was one of the three great battles of the war and in importance it was exceeded by none; for, though the forces engaged were not so numerous nor the number of slain so great, it broke once for all the self-confidence of the Japanese, and they never again had the hardihood to attempt the approach to Seoul. By this battle the war was definitely confined to the southern provinces. The Commissioner Yang Ho suggested to the king that he go out and survey the battle field, and so the royal cavalcade rode out the South Gate. One of the Chinese generals suspected that the king was something of a coward and so, to test him, he gave the horse the king was riding a sharp cut with a whip. The horse leaped into the air with terror but the king held his seat and showed no sign of fear. The Chinese were pleased at this and their respect for the king was visibly increased.

Seoul gave itself up to universal holiday in honor of the victory, for it was still fresh in the minds of many how Seoul had fared before at the hands of the invaders.

In the tenth moon Gen. Konishi built a strong fort on a bluff overlooking the sea at Ul-san in Kyŭng-sang Province. He named it To-san. The Chinese Yang Ho determined to cut the war short by attacking and taking this position and by so doing he expected to cut off the right arm of the invading army. Collecting all the forces that were within reach, he started south to attack Ul-san. The army consisted of 40,000 men and it went in three divisions. The left or eastern division being led by Gen. Yi Pang-ch‘ŭn, the middle division by Gen. Ko Ch‘ak and the western division by Gen. P ăng U-dŭk. Gen. Ma Kwi was sent on ahead and acted as avant-coureur. Stopping a few miles from the Japanese position he ordered Gen. P‘a Sa to go and make a preliminary attack upon the fort to discover something as to the lay of the land, and if possible to discover the number and equipment of the enemy. The attack was made with fire-arrows. Almost immediately the Japanese made a sortie, but were driven back with a loss of four hundred and sixty men. Shortly after this the three grand army corps arrived. The Japanese were arranged in three divisions. In the middle was the fort proper. On the north was a fortified camp called the Pan-gu-jun and off the south was another called the P‘a-wha-gang. It was the first business of the Chinese and Korean allies to drive these outer divisions into the central fort. To this end the left division of the army attacked the Pan-gu-jun and the right division the P‘a-wha-gang[P‘a-wha-gang]. Gen. Yang Ho put on his armor and went into the thick of the fight and urged on his men. The air was filled with the noise of drums, musketry-fire and shouts of the combatants, and a cloud of arrows concealed the heavens. Some of the Japanese huts were on fire and great clouds of smoke and flame rolled heavenward. Slowly the Japanese were forced back and finally they all entered the gates of the main fort of To-san. This fort was set on a rugged hill where it was difficult for an attacking force to manoeuvre, but there was little water in the fort and the Japanese were forced to come out secretly at night and draw water from a well nearby. Being aware of this, Gen. Kim Eung-sŭ, a Korean, placed an ambush about the well and caught upwards of a hundred of the enemy. They were badly emaciated and said that surrender was a matter of only a few days. It came on to rain, and this was followed by severe cold, as it was now the beginning of winter. Many of the besieging army had their hands and feet frozen. One of Gen. Konishi’s lieutenants wrote repeatedly to the Korean general Song Yun-mun asking for terms of peace. Gen. Yang Ho answered, “Konishi must come out and surrender and he will be treated well.” By this time the Japanese were well-nigh exhausted. They had neither food nor water, and every day they died in such numbers that it is said they had “a mountain of dead.” Many a time Gen. Konishi meditated suicide but each time was restrained by one means or another. As a last resort the Japanese threw gold and silver over the wall to bribe the soldiers without and keep them from making an attack.

But the tables were about to be turned. All the other Japanese forces in the south had become aware of the desperate straits to which their comrades were reduced at To-san. And so now at the last moment a large fleet appeared and the hard won victory was snatched from between the teeth of the Chinese and Korean allies. The exposure had greatly weakened the besieging force. Their provisions were almost exhausted and they had used up all their arrows. They were far stronger than[than] the beleagured[beleagured] Japanese but were not fit to cope with the fresh army which was burning with zeal to avenge their starving compatriots. So it was that Gen. Yang Ho was compelled to raise the siege and fall back toward Seoul. During this siege the Chinese loss was fourteen hundred, though many thousands were wounded.

From this time date the first efforts of the Roman Catholic Church to enter Korea. Japan had already many thousands of converts to Romanism and Hideyoshi was determined to leave no means untried to eradicate the foreign cult. To this end he sent many of the Catholic converts to Korea. But the most distinguished of them all was the young and vigorous Gen. Konishi who had received baptism at the hands of the Catholics and had received the name of Augustine Arimandano. It may have been because of Hideyoshi’s desire to get the Catholics out of the country that Gen. Konishi was appointed to the post in Korea. Kato was as pronounced a Buddhist as Konishi was a Christian and this of course intensified the hatred and rivalry between them. Gen. Konishi was desirous of having Catholic teachers come over to the peninsula and attend to the spiritual needs of the Christians in the army; and to this end the Vice-provincial of the Jesuits in Japan appointed Padre Gregoris de Cespedes to this arduous and important post. With him went a Japanese priest. The two first went to Tsushima and finding no means of getting to the peninsula remained there over the winter and carried on a successful mission work. The next spring they made their way to Korea and finally reached Gen. Konishi’s headquarters at a place that the Japanese call Comangai, which was without doubt the fort of Ul-san. Here they worked a year but finally, through the machinations of Gen. Kato, who worked upon the prejudices of Hideyoshi, both the foreign and native priests were sent back to Japan, and this had no little to do[do] with the return of Gen. Konishi, who went to clear himself before his master.