debris, muskets blazing, but our
thick hulls hold strong. In despera-
tion, it rams a Korean ship.
The Japanese ship splinters.
Ours merely shudders and fires
with the rest of the armada.
FORTY-SEVEN ENEMY
VESSELS destroyed. Twelve
seized. Fourteen escaped.
Not one Korean warship lost.
That night Mireuk’s eastern
shore resounds with celebration. As
I watch Uncle cheer from the deck
of a captured Japanese ship, Admiral
Yi chuckles beside me. “See, son, a
turtle can catch an eagle.”
I grin back. “Aye, sir!”
Author’s Note Social conditions in Korea and Japan
were vastly different during the sixteenth century. While
Korea enjoyed decades of peace, Japan was torn by civil war.
Finally, in 1590, Toyotomi Hideyoshi unif ied Japan. Having
gained control of his own country, Hideyoshi sought to take
over the Asian mainland as well, starting with nearby Korea.
He sent a message to the Korean government threaten-
ing war if it did not submit to him. However, most Koreans
thought Japan was not strong enough to attack and ignored
Hideyoshi’s warning. As a result, Japanese forces invaded
the Korean port city of Busan in April 1592. The unprepared
Koreans were no match for Hideyoshi’s battle-hardened
veterans. Within a month, Korea lost most of its army, more
than a hundred warships, and its capital, Seoul.
Fortunately for Korea, Yi Sun-Sin, a naval commander
stationed west of Busan, had anticipated war with Hideyoshi
and was ready to f ight. A brilliant tactician, he rallied Korea’s
remaining warships and turned the tide against the Japanese
in the Battle of Hansan depicted in my story—where he did
indeed receive critical intelligence from a village boy named
Cheonson.
Key to Yi’s victory were his most powerful battleships:
the “turtle ships.” In a sea battle, the Japanese would attempt
to board enemy ships and engage in hand-to-hand com-
bat. But the turtle ship had a protective roof—like a turtle’s
shell—covered with iron spikes hidden beneath straw mats.
The spikes impaled attackers while protecting the Korean
crew below decks. Although slower than the lighter Japanese
vessels, turtle ships had far superior cannon power and could
pivot quickly to f ire. The ship even had a tail like a turtle, as
well as a dragon’s head in front through which a cannon could
be shot or sulfurous smoke emitted.
Over the course of the six-year conf lict with Japan,
Admiral Yi won twenty-three battles and never lost once.
His efforts prevented Hideyoshi from conquering Korea,
and the Koreans ultimately drove the Japanese out.