Korea: Admiral Yi - Be Like a Mountain - Extra History - Part 2

📜 History of Korea's Admiral Yi - Part 2 - Extra History
Japan invaded Korea after a series of long civil wars that had finally culminated in Toyotomi Hideyoshi leading a unified Japanese army. Their martial society had trained extensively with weapons like the arquebus, early guns, and the civil war had given them tremendous experience with siegecraft. By contrast, Korea had not been at war for hundreds of years: they were mostly troubled by raiders from without and corrupt government officials from within. However, their unique situation meant that they had great cannons for fighting off pirates and secure if minimal hill-top forts. As a tributary ally of the Chinese, the Koreans were startled and confused when Japan asked permission to march through their territory and make war on China. Many officials thought the Japanese were only bluffing, but Ryu Seong-ryong recognized the threat and made sure his friend Yi was moved to naval service to help defend the country. Yi trained his men and commissioned a new ironside ship design called the Turtle Ship. Unfortunately, other commanders did not take the threat seriously: even when Japanese ships appeared on the horizon, the southern commander convinced himself it was a trade fleet and took no action while the ships docked, then unloaded their soldiers onto Korean soil. The well-trained Japanese army crushed the Korean army and quickly advanced to Seoul. Meanwhile, Yi organized his small fleet of warships and launched quick strikes against the Japanese navy, catching them off-guard and on-patrol. He destroyed 43 enemy ships without losing a single one of his own, and was promoted accordingly to become the new Southern Commander of the Korean navy.

*Miss an episode in our Admiral Yi Series?*

Artist: David Hueso I Writer: James Portnow I Voice: Daniel Floyd I Editor: Carrie Floyd

#ExtraHistory #AdmiralYi #History

[spaceonisorceress]

"You're doing great, Admiral Yi!"

"I'M DOING EVERYTHING!!"

[Psychohistorian]

"Letting giant foreign armies march across your country is generally a bad idea."

Oh come now. Don't let a bad idea get in the way of a good crusade.

[chickensangwich]

Japan: I have an army.

Korea: We have a Yi.

[marcusrowan]

You gotta admire Yi's resolve and resourcefulness, but I think an unsung hero in all of this is also his longtime friend, Ryu.

Always helping Yi from the shadows a master of the game of intrigue that plagued the Korean court, yet wise enough to see the storm ahead and prepare for it.

[Beriorn]

At this point Admiral Yi has been drilling so much that if Korea had significant oil reserves it would be the richest country in the world.

[grfrjiglstan]

Sort of feels like Yi was the ONLY one in Korea even remotely prepared for war in the first place.

[ryusm]

As a Korean, I've never expected to watch such in-depth series about admiral Yi produced by a non-Korean. What an awesome series. I really thank you guys for this.

[kevinleugan]

I can just imagine those Japanese battle reports.
1st day: One of our commanders went rogue and sent his fleet ahead.
Admiral: Hunt him down. Off with his head.
2nd day: The commander has landed in Korea with no casualties and has pushed almost all the way to the capital. The war may be over before it starts.
Admiral: Oh. Hunt him down. And give him a medal.
3rd day: Um... we lost 43 ships and all of our men are either dead or stranded in Korea.
Admiral: ... what? WTF happened?

Yi happened.

[snakes]

Hideyoshi: I have thousands of battle hardened samurai, heavy guns, and thousands of warships.

Korea: We have Admiral Yi

Hideyoshi: Now about that peace treaty.

[MrRemicas]

Toyotomi Hideyoshi : Let's conquer China through Korea! What could possibly go wrong?

[travonarmstrong]

"That was an AMAZING killing spree, BY THE OTHER TEAM!"- Toyotomi Hideyoshi

[CSGhostAnimation]

3:33 I can't help by laugh super hard when I see the Japanese emissary looking like a clown.

[rutger]

"Letting large foreign armies march over your territory is generally a bad idea". A peace of wisdom learned the hard way by the Byzantiums.

[mathewman]

It's funny how current Korean military (South) focuses on ground troops while Japan now focuses on Naval and Air power. This is because South Korea needs to fight the North Koreans and Chinese on land while Japan needs to defend the island from outside forces on sea or in the air. Koreans are now much better ground fighters but Japanese are some of the best Navy and Air power in Asia. Funny how things work as time passes.

[peaceribbon]

Wow. You don't just sink 43 ships out of luck. Just.. wow.

[shadowsfromolliesgraveyard]

Damn! If there's any shiny example of the Great Man theory, it would seem Admiral Yi is it.

[DarkMagician]

This is AWSOME! Are we going to get into the specifics of what tactics he used, like with Hannibal?

[eparadoxigm]

"Only one Korean Soldier was injured."

Dammit Jin, I told you not to stand so close to the cannons.

....FNG
(F**** new guys)

[sounakchatterjer]

Its actually kind of awesome how Yi despite having known nothing about Naval tactics before the invasion, adapted so quickly and efficiently that his legendary status was solidified.

[cwovictor]

Yi is the Hannibal of the seas, that's how it seems to me.