Episodes 95,96 the best so far?

[JPh]

I found the episodes 95 and 96 the best scenes of YSS so far.
The battle scenes were simply breathtaking. I wonder how historically accurate this battle scene is. I'd like to know more about this naval battle, which has to go down as one of the most lopsided victories in history by a side that were outshipped, outgunned, and outmanned by 12 to 1.

[donilpark]

The battle itself is incredible, where 13 Korean ships defeated 333 Japanese ships (if you count by battleships alone, 133. The other 200 were communications or supply vessels.) but if you think of the effect of this battle on the entire war, it's even more staggering. The effect of this battle was to block the Japanese fleet of 2000 ships with just 13 Korean ships, since the entire Japanese navy was held off and could not advance any further.
And the greater effect, of course, is that it held the Japanese infantry at bay as well.
I agree, this is one of the best battle scenes so far. No, I'd say it was the best too.
And their CG and presentation were at their best too.

[Skinz UL]

HAHAHA!!!! Did you see the cat? HAHAHA!!!

[Tresspasser]

I wonder how historically accurate this battle scene is.

It wasn't.

1. There was no chain link used. Underwater barricade, purhaps. But definitely no chain link. It would not have withstood the weight of hundreds of Japanese ships piled up on a fast current.
2. Yi Soon Shin personally beheads 50 Japanese samurais? Please.

Well, that was the last new battle scene to be shown. The last episodes will recycle the footage from Episode 1-4.

[donilpark]

1. There was no chain link used. Underwater barricade, purhaps. But definitely no chain link. It would not have withstood the weight of hundreds of Japanese ships piled up on a fast current.

We can't be so sure about that.
It may have been used.
History special production team of KBS did an experiment, and they concluded that a chain pulled by tens of bulls around a pulley could at least slow down and seperate the enemy ships from each other.
So it may not have been like in the drama or the popular theory that the chain stopped the entire Japanese fleet from advancing, but it seems quite possible that it may have been used to break the formation of the enemy fleet and cause confusion.
And apparently, the site where they coiled the chain around was visible until the 70's before they built Jindo bridge over that site, according to the testimony of the villagers there.

[Tresspasser]

That's a lot of chain link to manufacture in such a short notice. Remember, steel wasn't as plentiful back then and Yi Soon Shin was short on resources.

A series of wooden underwater barricades would have done the same, much faster and cheaper.

[donilpark]

They may have had some for other purpose.
I'm not saying anything definite here.
But how would they have kept the wooden baricades in place, when the water was flowing so fast? And the water was not like a 2m deep pool. They would have had to build pretty large baricades if they did that.

Well, I guess the immutable fact is the victory itself. Yi Sunshin did win, although we may not know exactly how.

[Tresspasser]

But how would they have kept the wooden baricades in place, when the water was flowing so fast?

My guess is that Yi Soon Shin's men cut down and tied together several large pieces of logs, then dumped them from the ship as they were passing through the channel. The barricade doesn't have to stay in place and could drift across the bottom of the sea, their purpose is to prevent any ship from moving when caught. When one ship was caught stuck by the barricade, the ships following behind couldn't stop and the result was a large pile up. Immobilized, the Japanese fleet were at the mercy of Yi Soon Shin's cannons.

[JPh]

I wondered about the chain myself. It's hard to believe that could have been possible.
This is where we need the help of Florel.

[donilpark]

I did some research and found out that Yi Sunshin did install chains at his Hansando base.
I'm not sure of its exact use, but he does talk about chains. And this is probably where this whole thing about chains at Myeongryang point comes from.
We don't know if he used chain at Myeongryang as well, but it's not a total impossibility.

[Tresspasser]

I did some research and found out that Yi Sunshin did install chains at his Hansando base.

And did anyone take the chain link from Hansando when it fell to Japanese? No one did, they just fled for their lives.

Yi Soon Shin had neither the resource or time to manufacture the chain link. There are only two possible explanations.

1. Underwater barricade.
2. Yi Soon Shin got lucky and Japanese had a shipwreck.

[donilpark]

Tresspasser said:

And did anyone take the chain link from Hansando when it fell to Japanese? No one did, they just fled for their lives.

Oh, I didn't mean that they took the chain link from Hansando base.
I just meant that the idea of chain link is not a total fiction, that it was a plausible idea, regardless of whether it was actually used at Myeongryang or not.

[florel]

JPh, did you summon me ? ;D

I'm not at all a specialist of the war stuff. I'm just studying with my limited materials.


The most reliable primary source on the Myungryang Battle is the Admiral's diary. If you have the book, I recommend to read the whole passages from April 1597 to October 1597. It tells exceptional history of this exceptional man ! (If you don't have the book.... borrow one ! ;D )


In fact, Admiral YSS didn't mention the use of iron chains in the battle of Myungryang. They are mentioned only in a few of private and regional sources. Women's dancing comes from folklore.

[Shaughraun]

Hi, I Haven't seen the episode yet or done any research on this, but the idea of a chain blockade is not impossible. See below...

Midway through the War of Independence, on April 30, 1778, the American Revolutionaries succeeded in stringing a massive floating chain across the Hudson River at West Point, N.Y. Quickly dubbed "General Washington's Watch Chain" by the Continental soldiers, the unusual obstruction denied use of this strategic waterway to the British for the remainder of the war. The chain's 800 wrought iron links, supported by a connecting forty huge log rafts, were hastily forges at nearby Sterling Furnace in the Ramapo Mountains. Each two-foot-long link weighed about 125 pounds.

[Trespasser]

Not impossible(Hansando had it for protection), it just couldn't have been moved and installed within the short time between the destruction of Won Gyun's fleet and Myungrang battle.