Joseon Military Officer, Establishing Balhae - Chapter 301



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Episode 301

Battle of Hani Strait (1)

As June began, the weather became noticeably hotter and the salty, humid sea breeze made everyone on board feel sticky, causing all of the crew to feel uncomfortable.

“Oh my! The weather is crazy today. It’s so humid I can’t even describe it.”

Captain Song Hee-rip sighed as he handed the Cheonri-gyeong to his adjutant. Not only that, but the other officers, including the captain of the Choryang, were sweating like rain.

Song Hee-rip walked to the starboard side to secure his view, looked back, and smiled faintly. Nine ships belonging to the squadron followed the Choryang ship one after another, maintaining a certain distance between them. The members of the 34th squadron were very familiar with these seas thanks to their repeated surveillance missions.

The 34th Squadron had four galleons seized from the Dutch East India Company. Two were similar in size to the Gyeongheung-class large ships, and the other two were slightly smaller, 800-ton ships. The performance of these Western ships was much better than expected. This was because Europe still had an advantage over Balhae in terms of experience in building sailing ships. Therefore, the Balhae Navy also planned to make minor improvements to the Gyeongheung-class large ships based on the information obtained from analyzing the Corea.

The 34th Squadron departed from Ansan Port in Hani Island and, as usual, headed for the nearest Ming Yue Port. Yue Port is a port located south of Xiamen at the mouth of the Jiulong River, and it was an international trade port that enjoyed prosperity during the Ming Dynasty. There were as many as 18 overseas routes connected to it, and European ships also came in to trade.

However, as the Balhae navy, a hostile state of the Ming Dynasty, occupied the Hanui Islands and entered the area, and the Balhae navy ships advanced to waters not far from the port, the number of domestic merchant ships operating there decreased significantly. This was a common phenomenon in many trading ports south of Fuzhou.

“The wind strength has changed.”

The captain of the super-large ship, Bae Gon Jeongryung, called attention to this.

“I see. It’s a strong wind from the northeast.”

Song Hee-rip raised his head and checked the condition of the sails. If it was a northeast wind, it was relatively favorable. All the sails were inflated by this strong wind. In addition, the high waves characteristic of the Formosa Strait (Taiwan Strait) rose, causing the ship to rock even more. Now, the crew on the upper deck stopped moving and held on tightly to something.

“That’s why there are so many ships stopping by our island.”

Song Hee-rip shook his head. It was something that happened every time he went out on a surveillance mission.

The waves of the Formosa Strait were famous for being rough. Strong winds also blew frequently due to the influence of tropical cyclones. As a result, many trade ships coming from the southwest or south often took refuge in Hani Islands regardless of their own schedules. As a result, Ansan Port grew even faster as an intermediary trade port.

After a while, the waves and wind finally died down a bit.

“It looks like we’re halfway through now.”

The Balhae Navy called the Formosa Strait the Hani Strait. Accordingly, the sea on the Chinese mainland side was called the Hani Strait West Channel, and the sea on the Formosa side was called the East Channel. The 34th Squadron was currently passing through the center of the West Channel.

Ding ding ding ding!

Suddenly, a loud bell sounded overhead, followed by the watchman’s shout.

“A large fleet has appeared 300 degrees ahead!”

Song Hee-rip, who came to his senses at the report of the watchman, quickly lifted his telescope and looked ahead.

“Did you come from Wolhang?”

Song Hee-rip recalled the message he had heard from the 35th Squadron Commander Jo Kang during the mission changeover before departure.

‘Strangely, I didn’t see many ships. I only saw a few small merchant ships, and none of the Ming warships that used to appear so often.’

Song Hui-rip also tilted his head when he heard that story. The Ming warships were mainly active in coastal waters. As a result, the Balhae ships often spotted them, and as soon as the Ming fleet encountered the Balhae fleet, they would flee to the port with their tails down.

Indeed, before long, the enemy fleet began to enter Song Hee-rip’s field of vision.

The watchman quickly figured out the identity of the opposing fleet and began reporting loudly.

“It’s a famous navy. It seems to number about three hundred ships. Oh, and there are six Namman ships as well.”

“Three hundred feet?”

Song Hui-rip frowned. It was difficult to discern the number of ships in his field of vision. However, he could clearly see the six ships belonging to the Dutch East India Company at the head of the fleet.

“Are you sure they’re going to attack?”

Captain Bae Gon burst into laughter at Song Hee-rip’s unexpected remark.

“Haha! Of course. Do you think hundreds of ships coming from the direction of Ming Port would come to do business?”

“Oh my! So this is how the war starts.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Now that the enemy fleet had finally appeared on the horizon, there was still some time to spare. Song Hee-rip raised his head and checked the wind direction and strength.

“We have the wind at our side, and the enemy fleet has the wind against us…….”

Dutch ships can also sail against the wind at the same speed as the Balhae fleet. Most Ming warships are also regattas that use both sail and oars, and can move under their own power because they have a crew of soldiers.

“Let’s move according to the pre-planned strategy.”

“Yes, that would be good. We are so outnumbered that it seems like we have no choice.”

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Song Hui-rip immediately ordered the supply ship Eoeun, a merchant ship belonging to a Dutch company and located at the very back of the line, to return. In this case, the ship’s mission was to return to Ansan Port, report the appearance of the enemy fleet, and bring the 35th Squadron back as quickly as possible.

“Increase your speed.”

Song Hui-rip instead ordered the speed to be increased. At his command, the lower part of the sails that had been folded were completely unfurled. Then, the ship’s speed increased significantly.

“Let’s see how they react.”

There is still a distance between the two fleets, so no significant changes have occurred.

“They will be confident. The size of their fleets is so different. Furthermore, with the addition of the Dutch ships, they also have large ships that can stand up to us, so they will be confident that they will not be pushed back.”

Captain Baegon said.

“That’s right. So we need to make better use of their confidence.”

Song Hee-rip did not lose his composure and acted solely according to the tactics he had established in advance.

* * *

Edam, a ship belonging to the Dutch East India Company.

Commander Olivier van Noort, the leader of the Dutch expeditionary fleet, had been observing the Balhae fleet on the horizon with his telescope for a long time. He, too, had time, so he focused his attention on searching for the Balhae fleet.

Van Noort was a famous Dutch explorer and pirate. He was a great explorer who successfully led a fleet around the world through the Strait of Magellan, but he was also notorious as a pirate. He built a pirate den near Manila, Philippines, and harassed Spanish galleons for a long time. He eventually returned to his home country after a large-scale punitive war.

In this way, what he saw and experienced during his world tour and in Southeast Asia had a profound influence on the establishment of the Dutch East India Company.

There was no way that such a Pan Nord would have avoided work related to the Southeast Asian spice trade, as well as the Northeast Asian oriental trade that was triggered by Balhae. When the Dutch East India Company suffered great losses due to the conflict with Balhae, they immediately recruited him. That is how he came to this place.

When he learned how the Dutch company had been treated by Balhae and the extent of the damage, he was filled with great anger. When he learned that many people, including Captain Secretary, had been executed and that many more were forced to work in Formosa, he took it as an insult.

The six ships led by Van Nord had left Hong Kong Island a few days ago at the call of the Ming. Hong Kong Island was a leased territory that had been obtained in return for participating in this war. It had been obtained under the same conditions as Macau, and the company was very pleased with it. It was very bitter to have been driven out of the Hanui Islands by Balhae, and Formosa had been taken over by Spain and Britain, so it was very meaningful to have obtained an excellent port that could be used as a port of call in mainland China.

He turned his head and looked around.

“Haha! If you live long enough, you’ll see things like this.”

It was hard to believe that he was leading Dutch ships and forming a joint fleet with the Ming navy to face the Balhae fleet. Moreover, the size of the Ming navy was terrifyingly large. There were three hundred large and small ships following them, and it seemed as if they filled the sea.

The types of warships that the Ming navy brought out were very diverse, including saddle ships, bow ships, wooden ships, and double ships. They were also much larger than the ships that were brought to Joseon during the Imjin War. About half of them were the size of Joseon’s panokseon, and the rest were slightly smaller or larger. Of course, they were incomparably smaller in displacement and less armed than Balhae ships, but their numbers were overwhelming, so everyone was full of confidence.

“What? Are you confident?”

Pan Nord had thought that the Balhae ships would evade the size of the friendly fleet, but he was surprised when they continued to approach. Moreover, their speed had also increased. Unlike large sailing ships that usually operate with only 80% of their sails spread, they were approaching with their sails fully spread. In short, they were sailing at full speed.

“Captain. The capabilities of that Balhae ship are similar to ours, but the firepower of its cannons is unimaginably strong. You must keep that in mind.”

The adjutant who had participated in the previous naval battle advised him not to let his guard down. He had suffered many hardships in the previous naval battle, including being defeated, captured, tried, and released, and so he hated Balhae more than anyone else. He also had a fear of the Balhae navy.

“Yeah, everyone was making a fuss about them shooting exploding shells?”

“That is absolutely true. And their range seems to be much longer than ours.”

“I heard that too. But the size of the fleet itself is different now, so I don’t think firepower will be a problem.”

“Well, that’s true.”

“Captain! The enemy fleet has changed course to the north-northwest.”

When the navigator beside him reported loudly, Van Noort quickly lifted his telescope and examined the Balhae fleet.

The Balhae fleet turned in a line toward the north-northwest.

“What is your intention?”

The adjutant asked.

“Turn! It looks like it’s trying to turn.”

Pan Nord’s face had hardened.

“They are people who know naval battle tactics well.”

“yes?”

“We use the wind direction. We have a headwind, so we have a hard time changing direction or controlling speed. However, if we go north-northwest and then turn diagonally to southwest, their starboard side will naturally be facing us.”

“Ah, at that time the shelling…….”

“But I think you turned around too early. What are you doing?”

Pan Nord’s prediction was right on the mark. The Balhae fleet immediately changed course and made a sharp turn from northeast to southwest. Then, the starboard sides of the Balhae ships were revealed. Dozens of gun ports were wide open, visible to the naked eye.

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