Jeju Island.
Anciently known as Tamna, it is now part of Korea and is Korea’s largest overseas island, as well as the frontline against Japan.
In the later stages of the war, the famous “Universe’s Greatest General” Yi Sun-sin used Jeju Island as his base, leading the “Ming Dynasty’s Pig Teammates” to win the “History’s First Victory” in the Battle of Myeongnyang, which thwarted the Japanese army’s strategic deployment to occupy Jeju Island and move on to southern Korea.
If Japan wanted to attack Korea, they could only do so by sea, and their naval base was Tsushima Island, not far east of Jeju Island.
Thanks to a later video game, Tsushima Island is a relatively famous place, and Yun Tianyang had specifically looked up information about it.
The distance between Jeju Island and Tsushima Island is only a little over 200 kilometers; on land, it might take some effort, but by boat, it would probably take most of a day.
With the two so close, both sides were naturally on edge. Although Ming Dynasty and Japan were currently negotiating peace, no one knew if war would break out the next second.
You ask why Korea wasn’t involved in the Korean War negotiations?
Isn’t it normal for Korea not to be in the Korean War?
However, at this stage, Korea’s navy still had some tricks up its sleeve.
Yes, only two tricks, no more.
The turtle boats they built were quite effective in close combat, especially when two ships collided and engaged in hand-to-hand fighting.
A turtle boat, as the name suggests, is a boat shaped like a turtle.
Perhaps due to cowardice or inherent timidity, the Korean, in pursuit of ultimate defense, chose to completely cover the entire ship with wooden planks, even the deck.
Even so, they still felt the defense wasn’t enough, so they wrapped a thick layer of iron plates over the wooden planks and studded them with nails and all sorts of miscellaneous things.
From a distance on the sea, rather than calling this thing a turtle boat, it would be more appropriate to call it a mobile coffin, or perhaps a large spiked club…
Although this thing was slow, as slow as its name, other ships of this period weren’t much faster anyway.
In the East Asia seas, where cannon power was relatively weak, the Korean navy’s combat strategy was actually quite singular.
Upon encountering an enemy, they would directly charge forward with their turtle boats, using the short-term burst of power from many rowers to quickly approach the enemy ship.
During this time, they would first bombard with cannons, whether they hit or not was not important; the purpose was merely to use the cannons to block the enemy’s evasive maneuvers.
This is where the turtle boat’s strength became apparent; this thing was fully armored with iron plates all over, and with cannon power not yet that great, ordinary cannons truly had no good way to deal with it.
One shot was ineffective, two shots felt nothing, three shots remained as unmoving as a mountain.
By the time you realized something was wrong and wanted to escape, it had already forcibly caught up using manual rowing.
Then came the ramming, yes, just ramming directly.
As the distance between them grew closer, they would simply drive the boat directly, relying on its sturdy hull to ram into the enemy.
This thing was covered in iron plates and nails from head to toe; if it rammed a wooden sailing ship of this era with full force, truthfully, very few ships could withstand it.
If that still didn’t resolve the battle, then they would begin boarding actions.
At this point, you would realize that this thing was completely covered by wooden planks and iron plates, not even leaving an opening…
In other words, unless it opened its own door and charged out, you couldn’t board its ship. You could only watch your fragile sailing ship be crushed beneath this behemoth, gradually sinking into the sea.
In such a combat environment and with such a strategy, the turtle boat was simply a divine weapon.
Unfortunately, this world doesn’t wait for anyone; technology changes, and tactics change. Before the turtle boat could enjoy a few years of dominance at sea, Western cannons were already becoming more and more prevalent.
In front of those powerful Frankish cannons, General cannons, and later the so-called Red-Coat cannons, this so-called turtle boat truly became a floating coffin and was immediately phased out by the era.
With its slow speed, wasn’t it just a live target for others?
Looking at the Jeju Island harbor not far away, Yun Tianyang, standing at the bow, not only changed into the Ming Dynasty Martial Arts Academy’s battle robe but also specifically had Chen Biao tidy up his attire.
That’s right, the place he mentioned where they could rest was Korea’s Jeju Island.
This was truly not Yun Tianyang’s wild fantasy or a fool’s dream. After all, as Ming Dynasty soldiers, as heavenly soldiers who saved Korea and resisted the Japanese pirates, what was it to get some supplies and provisions on your small Jeju Island?
It’s giving you face!
Compared to the calm and collected Yun Tianyang, Bai Shugui beside him appeared somewhat nervous.
“Ba Zong, we… are we really going to Jeju Island? This is, after all, Korea’s naval barracks.”
Bai Shugui leaned closer to Yun Tianyang’s ear and whispered, “Won’t we be taking too much of a risk? After all, we’ve already…”
Yun Tianyang glanced sideways at Bai Shugui and said disdainfully, “What’s there to be afraid of? Do you think these Korean dare to lay a hand on us?”
Bai Shugui quickly shook his head: “That wouldn’t happen, they wouldn’t dare, it’s just…”
“It’s just that we are already rebels, right?”
Yun Tianyang chuckled and pointed at the bow, saying, “These people don’t know we are rebels. Look, our ship’s bow still has the Ming Dynasty dragon flag flying!”
Indeed, the Ming Dynasty dragon flag at the bow fluttered in the wind, looking majestic.
Fortunately, they hadn’t thrown that thing away; now it came in handy.
Yun Tianyang’s action was indeed a bit bold.
But how does that saying go? The bold thrive, the timid starve. This time, Yun Tianyang was going to be the bold one.
Not only did the wounded soldiers need medicine, but if they didn’t get food and fresh water soon, everyone on the ship would starve to death.
They had been sailing for two days. They still had some food, as they could catch some fish every day. Although not much, at least it was meat.
But water couldn’t be replenished. On the vast ocean, water was paramount. If they dragged this out any longer, they would all die of thirst at sea.
They even ran out of firewood to make a fire. They couldn’t just eat raw fish every day, could they???
Moreover, this matter seemed risky, but in fact, it was not difficult at all.
The speed of information transmission in this era was very slow. As of today, it had only been four days since they broke out of Jizhou. Given the “diligence” efficiency of that fat Wanli in the Forbidden City, he might have just sent the order to arrest them back to Jizhou.
By the time this matter slowly fermented, spread to Korea, and then to this Jeju Island, Yun Tianyang and his group would have long since disappeared.
As for why their group, without official orders or troop deployment documents, came here, wasn’t it simply by their word of mouth?
Anyway, his only goal was some provisions and water. He believed that those Korean officials could not, and would not dare, risk offending these “heavenly soldiers” by refusing.
Look at the Ming Dynasty fu boat beneath his feet, and then look at the Ming Dynasty flag hanging at the bow; this was their protective charm!
“You’re right, those Korean wouldn’t dare to lay a hand on us.”
Thinking of this, Bai Shugui couldn’t help but let out a long sigh: “As long as we get supplies, things will be much easier for us.”
“Yes, it would be great if we could exchange all that junk in the hold for supplies.”
Yun Tianyang leaned on the ship’s railing, staring at the small island not far away, and said, “Out here on the vast sea, those things are useless.”
“That’s true. It would be best if we could exchange them for cannonballs and gunpowder.”
“Alright, don’t just stand there. Go and get the wounded soldiers ready and wait for my news. I’ll see if I can get some herbs, and preferably two healers.”
“Tell Ji Dalin to stay on the ship and not go anywhere. Tell him to keep a close eye on those boatmen; they are not allowed to step out of the cabin. If there’s any unusual movement, kill them directly.”
“Understood!” Bai Shugui quickly bowed and assented, then turned to leave.
“Wait!”
Yun Tianyang thought for a moment and said again, “Call Zhou Yong. Have him come with me.”
“Understood!”
Although he didn’t quite understand why Zhou Yong was specifically called, Bai Shugui still faithfully carried out the order.
As for why Yun Tianyang wanted Zhou Yong to come, it was simply because this guy was fierce enough.
Yun Tianyang was certainly fierce too. In terms of martial arts alone, three Zhou Yong combined might not be a match for Yun Tianyang.
One must know that the value of being the first to ascend the city wall was very high.
But whether one looked fierce or not was another matter. Appearance played a large part here. Yun Tianyang’s disadvantage was that his face looked a bit too young, not fierce at all, but rather handsome.
Yun Tianyang rubbed his chin, somewhat troubled, realizing for the first time that being handsome also had side effects.
But Zhou Yong was different. He had a square face and a wide mouth, looking fierce and menacing, with a gaping maw when he opened his mouth.
Coupled with his shaggy beard and a face full of flabby flesh, a glare from his eyes could truly scare the timid into wetting themselves.
For this first meeting, of course, they had to project the aura of heavenly soldiers, and for now, Zhou Yong was a good tool.
In a short while, Zhou Yong hurried over. Hearing the footsteps, Yun Tianyang turned to see the man had tied his hair with only a red headscarf, wore a thick iron armor, and held a sharp steel knife in his hand, grinning to reveal a mouth full of yellow teeth.
Hmm… very good, he had that soldier-thug feel.
“Ba Zong! You called me!”
Zhou Yong rushed to Yun Tianyang in a few strides, and just as he was about to bow, he saw Yun Tianyang looking at him with a strange expression, immediately bewildered.
He looked down at his equipment, somewhat confused, and looked left and right but found no problems?
After receiving Yun Tianyang’s order, he had even had someone wipe his iron armor, which could be said to be sparkling in the sun.
This iron armor was his lifeblood; it was because of this armor that he could follow Yun Tianyang and wreak havoc, so much so that it was not an exaggeration to call it his second life.
“Ba Zong, is there something you need me for?”
“Hmm, otherwise, am I looking for you to drink?”
“Heh heh, if you’re willing to treat, Old Zhou here certainly won’t be shy…”
Zhou Yong licked his face, rubbing his hands back and forth incessantly, immediately taking the hint: “You didn’t say anything, and I didn’t feel it, but now that you mention it, my heart is itching like a cat.”
As he spoke, the fellow even reached into his iron armor and scratched his chest, as if a craving for alcohol was crawling on him.
This was a clown, Yun Tianyang said to him exasperatedly, “Alright, if you perform well later, what if I treat you to a drink?”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yong immediately became energized, like he had taken a stimulant. Being a soldier, who wouldn’t love wine!
He immediately drew his right hand, clenched it into a fist, and forcefully hammered his breastplate twice, making the iron armor clank loudly.
“Just give the orders, sir. If I, Old Zhou, can’t do it, I won’t come back to see you!”
Heh, for a couple of swigs of piss, this guy really dared to say anything.
“Alright, you said it.”
Yun Tianyang said with a smile, “Later, you’ll follow behind me. When you see those Korean officials, as soon as I wink at you, you pull out your saber and scare them, understand?”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“Ha, I thought you wanted me to directly fight my way into this naval camp. Scaring people is so simple.”
Zhou Yong said with a frustrated expression, “Ba Zong, you can’t fool me. Just scaring those officials, where will the good wine come from to treat me, Old Zhou?”
“I told you you were stupid, and you didn’t believe me.”
Yun Tianyang shook his head, looking disappointed: “Think about it, whenever an official came to our camp before, didn’t we always have to treat them with good wine and food?”
“Of course! If we didn’t entertain them well, our military pay would be delayed by a few days compared to others.”
At this point, Zhou Yong suddenly realized: “Oh~~~ Ba Zong means that we are still Ming Dynasty imperial soldiers, and to these Korean, we are superior officers, so they naturally have to entertain us well!”
“Heh heh, of course. If he doesn’t treat us well, and we go back and report to our superiors, won’t they be in trouble???”
“Hahaha, they don’t know we’ve already rebelled against their mother.”
Zhou Yong immediately burst into laughter: “Don’t worry, Ba Zong, I’ll definitely play this scene well for you today. You’re definitely treating me to that wine today!”
“Alright, whether we can drink today depends on your skill.”
Seeing the fellow’s smug expression, Yun Tianyang couldn’t help but remind him again: “Remember, as soon as I give you a wink, you act. If I don’t give you a wink, you just follow behind me and don’t say a word.”
“We are taking a great risk this time. One wrong move, and all our lives will be lost! Understand?”
“Subordinate understands!”
“It’s just, Ba Zong, isn’t this what you call… uh… borrowing what Buddha again?”
“This is called, borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha!”
“Learn from me.”
