Battle of Busan

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The Battle of Busan of 1592 (or more accurately, the Battle of Busanpo or Battle of Busan Bay) (釜山浦 海戰) was a naval engagement that took place on 1 September 1592 during the first phase of the Japanese invasions of Korea. It was a Korean surprise attack on the fleet of Toyotomi Hideyoshi stationed at Busan. In this battle, officer Woon and six soldiers died, but the Japanese lost over 100 ships, 5,000 soldiers, and control of the seas around Korea. After this battle, the Japanese were no longer able to reliably re-supply or reinforce their land forces already on the peninsula, which compromised the further plans for expansion.

Background

After commander Yi Sun Shin's fleet decisively defeated Japanese in the Battle of Hansando on July 8, the Japanese had to change their war strategy. Their strategy was to deliver more land forces and supplies by sea to the northern part of the Korean peninsula and then they would march into Ming China. With the failure of this strategy, Japanese troops in the northern provinces of Joseon Korea had to suffer from starvation and shortages of supplies. To invade China, they needed to secure war supply routes. The alternate plan was to advance troops and supplies by roads, but this route was blocked by the Uibyeong ("righteous"). Many Korean civilians and Buddhist monks formed a voluntary army and attacked Japanese troops.^[1]

Formation of united Joseon fleet

After the Battle of Hansan Island, in which commander Yi Sun-sin's navy won against the Japanese navy around mid-July, they remained silent for nearly a month. In mid-August Japanese Kato Yoshiaki's army, Kimura's army, and Okamoto's army retreated from Hanyang, the later capital of Joseon dynasty, to Gyeongsang Province. Around this time, most of the Japanese troops retreated to Gimhae to secure their munitions. During that time in Busan, there were 8,000 soldiers and 430 vessels protecting the coast. Commander Yi, however, sent spy ships to Busan port and found out there were about 470 warships there.^[2] Commander Yi believed that the Japanese were retreating to their country, so Gyeongsang Province Governor (慶尙右水營) Kim Soo requested that Commander Yi block their sea route. Therefore, Commander Yi with Commanders Won Gyun and Yi Eok Ki united their fleets, for a total of 166 vessels. On their way to Busan, Commander Yi defeated 24 Japanese ships at Seopyeongpo (西平浦), at the Battle of Dadaejin (多大浦), and at Jeolyoungdo (絶影島). The combined Joseon fleet defeated the Japanese navy repeatedly, largely as a result of their well-trained sailors and the Joseon ships' medium and long range cannons.^[3]

Battle of Busanpo

Off the coast of Busan, the united Joseon fleet realized that the Japanese navy had readied their ships for battle and the Japanese army had stationed themselves around the shoreline. The united Joseon fleet assembled in the Jangsajin (長蛇陣),^[4] or "Long Snake" formation, with many ships advancing in a line, and attacked straight into the Japanese fleet. Overwhelmed by the Joseon fleet, the Japanese navy abandoned their ships and fled to the coast where their army was stationed.^[5] The Japanese army and navy joined their forces and attacked the Joseon fleet from the nearby hills in desperation.^[6] The Joseon fleet shot arrows from their ships to defend and restrict their attacks, and in the meantime concentrated their cannon fire on destroying Japanese vessels.^[7]

Comparisons

In terms of size, the Joseon ships were one-third that of Japanese ships. Although commander Yi destroyed over 100 ships, he did not order his soldiers to pursue the Japanese on shore, probably because he recognized that close hand-to-hand combat skills of the Joseon were significantly weaker than those of the samurai. In addition, the Joseon soldiers were exhausted from long sea travel and battle, and would have been heavily outnumbered on land. Up to that point, Commander Yi had not fought with numbers of soldiers, but rather with ships and cannons. Yi reinforced disadvantages in number of soldiers with heavy use of firearms. The Japanese also had a well-trained cavalry, which was another aspect the Joseon army lacked. Instead of the Joseon fleet, however, the Righteous Army fought against the Japanese army on land and killed 3,800 soldiers. In this battle, however, Yi lost one of his cherished officers, by the name of Woon.^[8]

Impact

After this battle, Japanese naval activity subsided and the Joseon navy was able to exert complete control of seas around the Joseon areas again. Konishi Yukinaga remained at Pyongyang because the shorelines were completely blockaded by the Joseon navy.^[9] The reinforced Joseon army also blocked the Japanese overland march. In October 1592, General Kim Si-min triumphed over 20,000 Japanese at the Battle of Jinju. General Gwon-yul also triumphed at the Battle of Haengju. After the end of 1592, the Ming dynasty's army started to participate in the Imjin war. The combined armies of the Ming and Joseon retook Pyongyang castle from the Japanese.^[10]

References

See also

• Siege of Busan
• List of naval battles
• List of Korea-related topics
• Military history of Korea
• Military history of Japan
• Yi Sun Sin
• Imjin War

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