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Sacheon May 29, 1592
Strategic Context
After recently unifying Japan under his one rule, Toyotomi Hideyoshi hopes that Korean King Seonjo will grant his armies free passage through the peninsula to invade China but is refused. Hideyoshi therefore invades Korea with 150,000 soldiers, routing Korean forces and capturing city after city. However, the Japanese army is reliant on the navy for supplies and Korean Admiral Yi Sun-sin receives reports of Japanese ships around Sacheon, dangerously close to his headquarters at Yosu. Yi arrives in the hopes of destroying this fleet and interdicting supply to Japanese land forces.
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Stakes
+ A Korean victory would threaten Japanese supply lines to land forces on the peninsula.
+ A Japanese victory would allow supply lines to continue and place Yi’s headquarters in danger of being captured by land.
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By Jonathan Webb, 2009

2. Sacheon, 1592 Strength Koreans Well Japanese Well Yi Sun-sin
various commanders
26 Panokson
35 Atakebune
1 Kobukson
35 Sekibune
By Jonathan Webb, 2009

3. Korea c. 1592

4. The battlefield consists of the Bay of Sacheon where the Japanese control the harbour in the northeast corner of the map. The land is mostly high cliffs around the harbour, which provide excellent fields of fire for any artillery missile-armed infantry into the harbour.
Japanese
(various)
Bay of Sacheon
Koreans
(Yi)

5. Japanese (various commanders) 35 Atakebune 35 Sekibune Koreans (Yi)
The Japanese fleet sit in the protection of their harbour under no single commander. The cliffs entering the harbour can be manned by archers so Yi plans to lure the Japanese ships out into the open waters where the superior firepower of his ponokson ships can defeat the Japanese ships. Yi’s fleet also includes a recently designed kobokson or “turtle” ship. The kobokson ship features an iron plated and spiked covered upper deck, making it almost impervious to missiles and boarding, as well as an impressive array of up to 23 cannon.
Yi now attacks with his recently developed kobokson ship, The kobokson charges into the midst of the Japanese force, causing panic and confusion as it blasts away the Japanese ships with no damage to itself; the Japanese are baffled as to how this ship can be sunk. Virtually every Japanese ship committed to battle is sunk.
Yi continues to retreat, using his superior missile range to strike the Japanese ships, which rely on grapples and hooks as their primary weapon. A number of Japanese ships are sunk at this range. The only way the Japanese can respond is by inaccurate arquebus fire; one such shot does struck Yi himself, causing only a flesh wound however.
Yi sails his force straight at the Japanese force and then abruptly swings around and sails away. Some of the Japanese commanders believe Yi has miscalculated the size of the Japanese force and retreated in the face of a superior fleet and so a large portion of the Japanese force chases out of the harbour after Yi.
Japanese
(various commanders)
35 Atakebune
35 Sekibune
Koreans
(Yi)
26 Ponoksun
1 Kobokson
Japanese
(various)
Symbol guide
Koreans Japanese
Ponoksun Atakebune
Kobokson Sekibune
Koreans
(Yi)

6. Sacheon, 1592 Casualties & Aftermath
Koreans:
Japanese: or 0% 40 Or
57%
In 1592, Yi and the Korean navy sunk 400 Japanese ships. The precarious naval supply lines, combined with Korean guerrilla tactics and Chinese intervention, forced a Japanese evacuation in 1593 but another invasion was launched four years later.
By Jonathan Webb, 2009

7. The Art of Battle: Animated Battle Maps
By Jonathan Webb, 2009