Successfully Landing on Tsushima
From the Joseon fleet, the cannons roared to life, shattering the watchtowers the Tsushima forces had erected along the shore.
"What in the world..."
The lord of Tsushima was utterly flustered. He knew the Joseon forces had cannons, of course, but he never imagined they'd brazenly fire them from their ships to bombard the coastline. Especially not in such a perfectly aligned formation, unleashing volley after volley. It was beyond anything he could have conceived.
"What should we do?"
The unexpected assault left him in a panic. But that wasn't even the worst of it—there was simply no way to counter it. They'd prepared defenses only for a landing assault, not this kind of naval bombardment, so they had zero countermeasures in place.
The Japanese troops were in the same boat, trembling in fear.
"What the hell is that? It sounds like thunder!"
Facing an attack they'd never seen before, the Japanese soldiers cowered, convinced the Joseon forces were summoning thunder itself.
"That's not thunder. It's cannons."
"Cannons?"
"Yeah. The real deal. Scary as hell—one shot can demolish a house. We're all dead..."
The Japanese soldiers who recognized the cannons were just as terrified. They'd witnessed cannons fired by Joseon and Ming forces before and knew they weren't mere thunder, but their power dwarfed any catapult, instilling pure dread.
"Don't lose heart!"
The officers tried to calm and rally their men. But then a cannonball struck one of them dead-on. His body exploded in a gruesome spray of crushed flesh and spilling entrails, and as he writhed in his final moments, the soldiers screamed and fled in terror.
Actual fatalities from the Joseon cannonade weren't that high, but witnessing such horrific deaths broke their morale. Those who didn't curl up or run simply loosed arrows blindly into the sky, wasting ammunition. The captains, relaying orders from higher up to steady the troops, were gripped by fear themselves.
At that moment, some Joseon ships advanced, raining fire arrows down on them. Spotting this, the Tsushima lord realized they were prepping for a landing.
"Stop them! Don't let them get close. Bring up the catapults! We have to hold them off!"
He urgently ordered catapults dragged forward to block the landing. But his words rang hollow as another cannon barrage erupted. The soldiers, petrified by the cannons, refused to move, and even the goading officers were paralyzed by fear.
"Damn it. Those blasted cannons."
The Tsushima lord seethed as every defense crumbled under the onslaught.
Meanwhile, Kim Sa-hyeong smirked with satisfaction at the enemy's chaos before turning to Sin Geuk-rye.
"Send in more ships now. And shower them with fire arrows—burn everything to the ground!"
"Yes, sir. Central fleet, advance! Archers, loose fire arrows!"
Under Sin Geuk-rye's command, the central fleet's ships surged forward, archers unleashing a storm of flaming projectiles. Protected by the cannon fire, the enemy couldn't mount a proper response, allowing the Joseon forces to clear out the coastal watchtowers.
Right after, Kim Sa-hyeong ordered the assault troops to land. At his signal, every ship hugged the shore, disgorging the assault troops onto the beach.
Seeing this, the Tsushima lord commanded his men to hold the line and fire arrows. But Joseon snipers with composite bows picked off the Japanese from afar, providing cover. And those weren't ordinary bows—these were powerful composite bows made from water buffalo horn, vastly outranging Japanese weapons and dominating the archery duel.
In the end, the assault troops made landfall successfully and charged straight at the enemy.
As the Joseon assault troops bore down, the Tsushima lord sent spearmen and swordsmen against them, but they were no match. These assault troops were the elite of the elite for this expedition, battle-hardened against pirates. They deflected enemy strikes with shields and cleaved through with curved swords without breaking stride.
Then Yi Cheon-u led soldiers from the Yiheung Chinguunwi ashore, pushing the Japanese further back. The Yiheung Chinguunwi were originally a vanguard unit, grizzled veterans of pirate wars who wreaked havoc on their foes.
With Joseon forces holding a numerical edge too, Sin Geuk-rye's deputies Min Mu-gu and Min Mu-jil brought their troops ashore next, hacking through the enemy ranks.
"Damn it... Everyone, fall back. Retreat to the fortress."
The Tsushima lord finally ordered a withdrawal. Anymore, and they'd be annihilated.
As the enemy began retreating, Army Commander Kim Sa-hyeong observed.
"They're pulling back. Land the cavalry to pursue and secure the beachhead."
"Yes, Commander."
The Joseon forces deployed cavalry to chase the fleeing Japanese while seizing the southern coastline. Hours later, the Tsushima lord barely shook off pursuit and fell back to his fortress—at the cost of heavy losses.
Once he reached safety, the Joseon army halted the chase, landed all remaining troops, and fully secured the shore. They'd established a stable beachhead on Tsushima.
From there, they swept south, occupying the entire southern half of the island and torching every enemy ship in sight.
With southern Tsushima under control, the Joseon forces regrouped and debated next steps. Min Mu-jil, alongside Min Mu-gu, was reorganizing the central army under Sin Geuk-rye's orders.
Regrouping revealed no major issues. The victory had come too easily for significant casualties. Sure, southern Tsushima was a smoking ruin, but who cares? It wasn't our land. Let them fix it themselves later. No sympathy here—they're the ones who pillaged foreign shores.
Anyway, the Joseon army had successfully landed on Tsushima and seized the south. Cannons were unbeatable against pirates. Seeing those bastards frozen by the thunder of gunfire felt so damn good. Artillery really was the god of war.
Which meant Joseon needed even stronger firepower. More powerful cannons. I'll put Jang Yeong-sil on it later. As a tech genius, he'd manage. I'd just provide the blueprints. My past life and this possessed body could at least draw well enough for that.
Come to think of it, I'd gotten pretty chummy with Jang Yeong-sil. He used to eye me warily at first, but after tagging along with Wol-i to hear my old tales, things warmed up. Time to put him to good use.
Early Joseon troops were undeniably elite, especially the assault troops. Pirates were damn good in close quarters, yet we'd crushed them there too. Casualties were a mere sixty or so, while we'd slain over a thousand. Overwhelming.
The cannons and composite bows did the heavy lifting, but the assault troops' role was no small thing. No wonder history praised early Joseon assault units—they earned it.
The problem? Sejo's military reforms buried them in the dustbin of history. Not entirely his fault—the era of peace reduced the need for melee specialists—but he drove the nail in.
Still, we needed a way to preserve these assault troops. At least until the Imjin War; their value persisted.
My contributions here were light, though. Time to rack up merits smashing the Iki pirates in the log entry.
Then a military officer approached.
"Staff officer, the Central Army Commander summons you."
Meeting's over, huh? This one was just the top brass. Everyone else was busy regrouping.
Time to hear the results.
Entering the command tent, Sin Geuk-rye wore a broad grin. Why so chipper?
"Commander, good news?"
"Just thrilled at our easy win. Landings are always tough, right? Minimal losses for a clean beachhead—how could I not be?"
Fair enough. Once everyone arrived, Sin Geuk-rye spoke.
"Here's the plan: We'll split the army. Left and Right Naval Forces will head north, smashing hidden enemy ships and seizing that sector. The ground forces will assault the Tsushima lord's fortress."
"But will he even defend it?"
The fortress wasn't suited for a siege anyway—too few troops. And after tasting our cannons? No chance.
"Exactly. He'll likely abandon it for the mountains. Left and Right will take the fortress, then encircle the peaks—just like we planned."
"Understood."
"Our central force rests here today, then heads south tomorrow to hunt remaining pirate ships and link with the Iki fleet. Regroup your men swiftly."
"Yes, Central Commander."
Pretty much the original plan. Probably just a final review.
We reorganized and sailed south the next day. Felt weird climbing back aboard so soon after landing, but war was like that.
Kim Sa-hyeong, Sin Geuk-rye, Min Mu-gu, and others torched hidden Tsushima ships en route—about sixty vessels. We conserved powder by burning them outright.
Not that we stopped there. Scouts checked for ambush spots ahead.
After torching the ships, we scanned for good ambush points. Cross-referencing maps and scout reports, Kim Sa-hyeong pointed.
"This looks ideal."
Spot on—the shortest path chokepoint.
"You're right, Commander. From how they defended the coast, it seems the Tsushima lord planned to hold us there while Iki pirates hit our rear."
"Precisely. When he calls Iki for aid, they'll take the fastest route—straight through here. We ambush at this spot."
Min Mu-gu chimed in.
"If I may, couldn't Iki just surrender?"
Kim Sa-hyeong dismissed it outright. That 250-ship fleet wasn't just Iki's—it was a pirate coalition from Kyushu. The Iki lord couldn't control them unilaterally. They'd rescue Tsushima, then raid Joseon's southern provinces.
Spot-on read of pirate nature. Of course—they're pirates. Decades battling them made these guys true veterans.
Sin Geuk-rye asked,
"Will we open with cannon fire?"
"Disrupt their vanguard with cannons, then swarm. Best tactic."
True enough. This era's ships couldn't win with gunfire alone. Not even in the Imjin War. Line-of-battle ships maybe?
We sailed to the ambush site and waited.
Wonder when they'll show?
Soon, reports came: enemy ships sighted.
Time to smash them.
Meanwhile, the Iki lord led his 250-ship coalition from Kyushu toward Tsushima.
"Damn it, never thought Joseon would send such a massive expedition."
He'd expected maybe a hundred ships, so he'd prepped accordingly—detaining Ming-bound pirates under the guise of blocking Joseon. Rescue Tsushima, then ravage Joseon's south en masse. Kyushu pirates bought in, swelling his fleet.
He'd awaited Tsushima's call, but news of hundreds of Joseon ships blindsided him. For a moment, he considered bowing to Joseon, but the Kyushu horde insisted on flanking the anchored fleet for total annihilation and southern raids. Lacking authority to overrule, the Iki lord mobilized everything toward Tsushima via the quickest route.
Delay too long, and a fallen Tsushima coast meant counterattack.
Thus, the Iki forces and countless Kyushu pirates steamed toward Tsushima—clueless to the Joseon ambush lying in wait.