As the Ming navy lost their reason and fell into internal strife, their fleet became even more sluggish.

Seizing this opportunity, the Joseon naval vessels rushed in and began tearing them apart.

With the addition of warships from the Right Naval Command of Gyeongsang, the enlarged Joseon naval fleet formed a massive eight-character formation and began their bombardment.

Bang! Boom!

With each fierce bombardment from the Joseon navy, Ming warships shattered and collapsed in all directions.

As the Joseon navy’s attack began, the Ming fleet became even more entangled.

“We must flee! Full speed retreat!”

“The escape route is already cut off! Fight to the death!”

Ships trying to escape to the end became entangled with those determined to fight with nothing left to lose.

Fierce arguments broke out between the captains of the entangled ships.

“Don’t block my retreat! Now is the time to withdraw and plan for the future!”

“The retreat path is already blocked! Our only option is to break through those Joseon warships!”

“With such a difference in firepower, do you think that’s possible!”

“Even if we run, we’ll be caught by Joseon’s Haeungs! The best defense is offense!”

“When the Black Dragon arrives, everything’s over!”

“That’s why we should break through before it gets here!”

“Shut up and move! Or I’ll shoot!”

“Desertion in battle is punishable by beheading! Execute them immediately!”

“Fire!”

Bang!

Finally, intense artillery exchanges broke out between those trying to flee and those wanting to fight.

This was the moment when Ming’s navy, which Emperor Xuande had spent over ten years carefully nurturing, collapsed into an undisciplined rabble simply because there was no one to control the whole.

***

While Ming’s navy crumbled in internal strife, the Joseon navy steadily reduced the enemies before them.

The sight of dozens of warships maintaining perfect formation while bombarding enemy vessels with artillery fire struck terror into not only the Ming forces but also the watching Japanese.

“Is this what naval warfare is…?”

The older samurai couldn’t hide their fear watching the battle unfolding before them.

Until now, the naval battles they had experienced were hand-to-hand combat. The only difference from land battles was that they took place on ships at sea.

The standard procedure was to furl the sails to guard against fire attacks when encountering the enemy, sprinkle sand on the deck, then row at full power to ram the enemy ship before engaging in hand-to-hand combat across each other’s decks.

They fought hand-to-hand while staring into the enemy’s eyes and feeling their killing intent with their whole body. Sometimes, in traditional hand-to-hand combat, even when defeat seemed certain due to inferior forces, momentum alone could reverse the outcome.

However, the naval battle now being displayed by Joseon and Ming ships was different.

It was combat where they fired shells from such distances that they couldn’t even make out the enemy’s expressions, let alone see their eyes.

In such combat, even slight damage would greatly break the allies’ fighting spirit. They had experienced this sufficiently during the recent civil war. When casualties started mounting from the Ouchi army’s artillery and gunfire seen from afar, the soldiers’ morale instantly plummeted.

Of course, maintaining strong fighting spirit and momentum was important even in such artillery battles. However, it was different from maintaining spirit and momentum in hand-to-hand combat. Not getting excited and doing one’s best at their assigned position – this was the biggest difference shown in the current battle between Ming and Joseon.

Of course, there were quite a few who stubbornly insisted on mental victory.

“But if we accept the sacrifices and get into hand-to-hand combat, we’ll win! Trade flesh for bone! That’s the way of the samurai!”

Later, when Joseon commanders heard such talk, they sneered and commented:

“Nice words, but against us, they’d have to give up their bones too.”

However, even those shouting about the way of the samurai lost their words when the Maengjin ship passed by them.

The Maengjin ship, which moved by itself without sails or oars, was covered with what appeared to be iron plates for its roof and hull, and had a massive dragon head on its prow, looked like a legendary sea monster.

And when the dragon-mouthed cannon of this Maengjin ship, which had passed by them and plunged into battle, spewed enormous flames, even old samurai who had experienced decades of battle wet themselves.

***

The battle quickly concluded once the Maengjin ship joined in.

As it pushed into the center of the entangled Ming fleet, its ship cannons spewed fire, beginning to shatter the surrounding warships.

Having learned from the previous battle that Ming’s artillery lacked the power to damage it, the Maengjin ship moved slowly, methodically destroying the surrounding Ming warships.

Thus attacked from both inside and out, the Ming fleet once again had to accept the result of annihilation.

Once again, the few Ming warships that were lucky enough to survive frantically fled toward the rear.

Following signals from the Joseon naval command, several Haeung-class vessels chased after the fleeing Ming ships.

Their orders were not to pursue and sink them, but to herd them.

-Prevent them from fleeing to strange areas other than naval bases. Having too many survivors with actual combat experience would be troublesome in many ways. Herd them into the naval base and destroy them together later.

Following these orders, the Haeung-class vessels drove the fleeing Ming warships toward Qingcheng’s naval base.

While this herding continued, the remaining Joseon naval forces began cleaning up the battlefield. Among the surrendering Ming vessels, they sank all the large and medium ships without exception, capturing only the small ships to hand over to Norihiro along with the prisoners.

“Is it alright to hand over so many prisoners?”

To Norihiro’s question, the Right Naval Commander of Gyeongsang answered as representative of the naval commanders.

“It’s a gift to strengthen the friendship between our Joseon and the Ouchi clan. This has already been approved from above.”

***

The decision to hand over prisoners to the Ouchi had been determined in advance.

“Those near ink become black… Ming customs are not good for our Joseon, so we don’t need too many prisoners. Better to hand them over to Japan.”

“The Prime Minister’s suggestion is appropriate.”

“Indeed it is.”

All the other ministers agreed with Hwang Hui’s proposal, and Hyang also immediately nodded.

***

At the Right Naval Commander’s answer, Norihiro bowed his head with a bright expression.

“I am truly grateful for His Majesty’s boundless grace like the sea!”

“When you think about it, isn’t the Ouchi clan practically our relatives? Relatives should help each other.”

“Indeed, indeed!”

Norihiro and the naval commanders continued creating a warm, friendly atmosphere.

***

Among various operations carried out to make the Ouchi clan firmly Joseon’s allies, one was creating and presenting them with a genealogy record.

When they presented the Ouchi clan with a genealogy making Crown Prince Imseong of Baekje their ancestor, fitting their clan’s legend, all the Ouchi clan elders, including the current head Mochiyo and former head Morimi, were overjoyed.

It was because this wasn’t just their own claim – it was recognition from Joseon, which could be called their roots.

Especially Morimi, who had strongly advocated “leaving Japan to join Joseon”, forced his weakened body to move and personally entertained Joseon’s envoys with joy.

“With this, our clan is no longer just a provincial countryside family but proud descendants of royalty!”

***

After cleaning up the battlefield, the Joseon navy’s main force reorganized their formation and headed toward Qingcheng on the Shandong Peninsula.

Interestingly, the Maengjin ship, which had always appeared late before, now took the lead position.

Watching the Maengjin ship advancing at the front while spewing black smoke, the naval commanders each made comments.

“Black Dragon? Quite a grandiose nickname.”

“Somehow it seems fitting…”

“Well, even the Jurchen called the iron horse a dragon and made offerings when they first saw it…”

“But surely they’re not thinking of actually renaming it from Maengjin ship to Black Dragon?”

“Captain Kang has his quirks, but they’re not that severe.”

“That’s true. Come to think of it, the second battle report must have reached Hanseong by now.”

At the Yellow Sea Naval Commander’s words, the Gyeonggi Naval Commander picked up with curiosity all over his face.

“I’m truly curious about Hanseong’s reaction when they heard the term Black Dragon.”

“I agree.”

***

“Black Dragon?”

Upon receiving the more detailed battle report including interrogations of prisoners captured in the ‘West Sea Great Naval Battle,’ Hyang’s expression became truly peculiar when he saw the term ‘Black Dragon.’

What! Why is this appearing here?

While Hyang’s expression became hard to describe, the ministers reading the copies showed quite favorable reactions.

“Black Dragon… While Chinese people have always been known for exaggeration, this seems very appropriate.”

“Isn’t it better this way? We didn’t give the name, they did. That means they fear it that much, doesn’t it?”

“I think it fits quite well. With its pitch-black body covered in tar from roof to keel, and dragon head on the prow.”

Finally, Hyang stepped in to settle the discussion.

“We didn’t ask them to call it that, and they call it a dragon out of fear, so let them call it that. However, since it has the name ‘Assault Turtle Ship,’ using the name Black Dragon is forbidden.”

“We shall do so.”

Even as he made this decision, Hyang had another thought.

Won’t this later become the Black Dragon Shock instead of the Black Ship Shock?

Meanwhile, the court historian recording all these facts added:

-Thus when the Crown Prince forbade the use of the name ‘Black Dragon,’ all the ministers followed.

The historian says: The dragon is an auspicious creature. Therefore, its name or image should not be used carelessly. If misused, it could become an object of lasting shame.

As the Crown Prince said, since we didn’t call it a dragon ourselves but they called it that, the shame is theirs.

But this is troubling. The name Black Dragon rolls off the tongue too easily.

***

By the time the Joseon navy’s main force arrived at Qingcheng, it was already in chaos.

“The Joseon navy has blocked the port!”

“Flee to land!”

It was only ten Haeung-class vessels. That number was insufficient to blockade the port.

However, the Ming naval forces, having already lost their reason, ran their ships aground on the shore and fled to land.

“Stop right there, you bastards!”

“Catch all those fellows!”

“Collect the artillery, gunpowder, and shells from the grounded warships!”

“Reinforce the battery with the collected shells!”

The commanders of the units responsible for defending the naval base caught the fleeing sailors and strengthened their batteries by collecting artillery, gunpowder, and shells from the grounded warships.

Then they ordered the captured sailors to operate these reinforced batteries.

However, as soon as the Maengjin ship appeared, the deployed sailors began deserting.

“The Black Dragon has come here! Run away!”

As the terrified sailors began deserting, even the original soldiers at the batteries began to fidget.

Finally, General Wang Homing, in charge of defending the naval base, issued orders.

“Capture all these deserting scum, chain their legs, and tie them to the artillery!”