Lee Shunchen was very familiar with the ships he had defeated and some of the ships commonly used by the Japanese. He said that the Japanese fleet was mainly composed of three types of ships. The largest type was called the Yasukuni ship. It was eight feet long, fifteen feet wide, and four feet eight inches deep. It was divided into sixteen cabins, two masts, four oars, twelve poles, and two iron anchors. He had only seen one before, and it had been sunk by him in a previous naval battle.
The remaining main warship was called the Kanzai ship. It was a smaller version of the Yasukuni ship. It had similar functions, but it did not have a deckhouse. The helmsman steered the ship from the deck. According to his judgment, this was indeed the main warship of the Japanese pirates. This was because when they fought with the Japanese pirates, they encountered the Kanzai ship the most.
There was also a type of small boat similar to a scout ship. It was mobile and flexible. It was smaller and had no defense, but it was very fast. If the navy was not careful, it would get close to them.
The main combat method of the Japanese army was to use long-range iron cannons and close-range combat. Their ships had a shallow draft and a small tonnage, so their impact force was insufficient. In the previous battle between the two armies, Lee Shunchen used the turtle boat as the main force of the collision. He rushed into the middle of the Japanese fleet in one fell swoop and then used firearms to bombard the Japanese small boats at close range.
The more ferocious method was to directly collide with them. The Japanese ships could never beat the Turtle Boat and Wooden House Boat under his command. He had won many victories by relying on this advantage in tonnage and hardness.
"All in all, the Japanese pirates' ships have weaknesses: small, light, and shallow. If they collide with our ships head-on, they are definitely not a match. The only redeeming feature is that they are faster and can quickly approach our ships. It is not easy to hit them. However, if our Turtle Boat collides with them, we will definitely die. Therefore, the advantage of the Japanese pirates is their large numbers. I's navy is small in number. At this time, there are only forty warships."
Lee Shunchen admitted his shortcomings, but immediately said, "If I had two hundred warships under his command, he would be able to completely wipe out the Japanese pirates! With the arrival of five hundred warships, the Japanese pirates will definitely be defeated! "
Overjoyed, Xiao Ruxun replied, "I am naturally very happy about General Li's assurance. I just don't know how much General Li knows about Tsushima Island. If my army were to land on Tsushima Island, would we be able to successfully capture it?"
Yi Shunchen pondered for a moment before saying, "More than a hundred years ago, our country's general, Li Congmao, led 20,000 troops on an expedition to Tsushima Island under the orders of our king. He successfully defeated the Japanese pirates who were entrenched there and made the Zong clan accept our country's position. But due to some issues, we were not able to occupy the island. However, the map of Tsushima Island should still be there."
"That map is very important. If we have it, it will be of great help to us."
Faced with Xiao Ruxun's request, Li Shunchen felt a little awkward. "The expedition map should have been stored in the royal capital's palace. If it was a year ago, we could probably find it, but now …"
Li Shunchen didn't finish his sentence, but Xiao Ruxun understood what he meant. The map had probably already been burned to ashes by the pirates during their pillaging and pillaging of the city.
"Of course, we're not completely clueless about Tsushima Island. After that, Tsushima Island was frequently mentioned. I vaguely remember that Tsushima Island has many mountains and few plains. The terrain is high and rugged, so it's not suitable for cavalry operations."
Xiao Ruxun nodded. "The Japanese pirates should have a military port on Tsushima Island, right?"
"Of course. The Japanese pirates transported rations and ordnance from their mainland to Tsushima Island and then to Pusan. Initially, when they tried to attack the waterway in Jeolla Province, I speculated that the Japanese pirates had planned to transport their rations through two routes. One was through the current route, and the other was through the waterway along the western coastline. After some consideration, I felt that we absolutely couldn't give the Japanese pirates a chance to transport their rations through two routes. That was why we came up with a way to defeat the Japanese pirates' navy."
Xiao Ruxun expressed his appreciation. "Well done, General Li. It's especially commendable that you were able to persist in resisting under such circumstances and force the Japanese pirates to transport rations all the way. Their strategic reserves were far from enough to launch an all-out attack on North Korea. General Li deserves great credit. What did you learn from your previous attempt to attack Pusan?"
At the mention of the defeat at Pusan, Lee Sun-sin gnashed his teeth.
"Someone must have leaked I's plan to attack Pusan in advance. When I's fleet arrived at the port of Pusan, there were only four hundred empty ships of the Japanese pirates. All the crew and soldiers had landed and relied on Oseong to launch a fierce attack on our navy. They attacked our navy with guns and cannons. Our navy was caught off guard and couldn't fight them. We could only set fire to their empty ships and hastily retreated. Nearly half of the navy under I's command was lost, and our strength was greatly reduced. We were no longer able to fight the Japanese pirates at sea, so we could only harass them."
Xiao Ruxun looked at the sea route map and asked, "Do the Japanese pirates have big guns in Oseong?"
"Yes, they definitely do. That kind of range is incomparable to the guns on our navy's ships."
"Although the Japanese pirates don't have many guns, I'm sure they won't lose to our Daming in terms of range. It seems that the best way is to suppress them in terms of numbers and use absolute numbers to suppress the Japanese pirates so that they can't fight back or leave the port. That's the best way … Originally, I thought of a two-pronged attack. We could attack Oseong from both land and sea, and have the navy land to assist in the battle. Now, it seems that this plan will result in too many casualties."
Lee Shunchen agreed and said, "I have also seen a thing or two about Oseong in Pusan. It is indeed frighteningly sturdy, and it seems to be closely linked. To attack one Oseong, we also need to take care of the other Oseong cities. This kind of construction technique is indeed impressive. It is indeed not to be underestimated."
"In this way, other than besieging them for a long time and forcing them to surrender, attacking them by force is really unwise. General Lee, from now on, I need you to send a fleet of ships to constantly monitor the communication between the Japanese pirates in Pusan and the Japanese pirates in Tsushima. Before the army attacks Tsushima and cuts off the Japanese pirates' food supply route, you must ensure that the Japanese pirates in Pusan do not launch a surprise attack on our navy from behind. I will arrange for the ships under your command to be equipped with Fran guns and train the gunners. My only request is to attack the Japanese pirates in Pusan when they move out."
Lee Shunchen was overjoyed when he heard this.
"I will do my best!"
That afternoon, Xiao Ruxun ordered the transfer of a hundred medium-sized Fran guns that had not yet been modified and the corresponding gunpowder shells to be delivered to the Korean navy under Lee Shunchen. He also personally explained the usage of these cannons and shells to Lee Shunchen, telling him the difference between solid shells and explosive shells. Then, he directly transferred ten cannoneers of the Ming Army to serve as instructors to Lee Shunchen's navy. They taught the navy officers how to use cannons, how to fire cannons on ships, and how to reduce the recoil force, etc.
The Korean wooden houses and turtle boats were absolutely qualified ships in terms of depth and quality. They could completely withstand the recoil force of these cannons. Although Xiao Ruxun admired Lee Shunchen's achievements in defeating the Japanese pirates, he was quite disdainful of Lee Shunchen's old tactic of "charging at close range".
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