Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader wants to point out that today is the anniversary of the great naval battle of Noryang.

What? Never heard of the battle of Noryang?

Well… It was the great battle in 1598 that was the last major engagement of the Japanese invasions of Korea during the rule of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (the Taiko).

Here is the Wiki page on the battle.

The major figure in this engagement was Admiral Yi Sun-Sin, the Korean commander. Admiral Yi has been described as the Nelson of the East. (Although given the time difference, perhaps it would be better to describe Nelson as the Yi of the West.)

Now you may be saying to yourself, “My, my. My Maximum Leader is such a learned man that he can spout off famous naval battles of the East as well as the West…” Well, let your Maximum Leader set you a little straight. While he is mostly self-taught in what he knows of Korean, Japanese and Chinese history, this is a special case. (NB: your Maximum Leader did take a year long course on Chinese history in college. It was a great class, but as with all survey classes you wind up missing a lot of good stuff in the name of getting everything in…)

Why is the battle of Noryang and Admiral Yi a special case you may be wondering? Well let your Maximum Leader tell you.

Your Maximum Leader’s best bud Kevin is part Korean as you may know. At Kevin’s house was (and still may be) a model of a turtle ship. Admiral Yi used turtle ships against the Japanese. They were his fast assault ships. Now, your Maximum Leader has always had a love for things naval, and a fairly large model of a turtle ship in his friends house was pretty damned cool. Many years later Kevin gave your Maximum Leader a carved statue of a pretty kick-ass looking warrior as a gift. At first your Maximum Leader thought the statue was just your run-of-the-mill Korean warrior. Indeed, your Maximum Leader thought it was a Korean “samurai.” Your Maximum Leader was sorely mistaken. The carved statue was in fact a replica of a famous statue of Admiral Yi. (If you click through on Yi’s link above you will see the statue in question. You will also see that Admiral Yi looks like a veritable badass. Indeed, your Maximum Leader should suggest Admiral Yi to Ben Thompson of Badass of the Week.) So, for many years your Maximum Leader has had a statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin in his office/room/home. His children have asked who the “samurai” was in the past and he’s had to set them straight. Just a little while ago the Wee Villain asked if he could borrow the statue of Admiral Yi. When asked why the Wee Villain responded that he couldn’t find his Darth Vader action figure and he wanted a big guy with a sword to use “against the Barbies.”

Your Maximum Leader let the Wee Villain play with the statue for a while… Seeing as his motives were pure…

Carry on.