589.take the choke points now.
As the sun tilted toward the horizon that day, the smoke of the guns finally began to thin.
Inside the bay, half-sunken ships lay slumped at angles.
On the water, wood, blood, and oil were tangled together.
A single burning strip of sail drifted, trembling like the skin of a wounded beast.
The control officer reported.
"Confirmed sunk: thirty-seven.
Non-navigable: twelve.
Seizable: five."
Jin Chong spoke calmly.
"Tow out the ships that can be seized first.
Let the gunners cool the guns and redistribute ammunition.
Calculate powder consumption and begin remanufacturing tonight."
The Daehan powder master muttered beside him,
"On a day like this, even an all-night effort won't be enough."
Park Seong‑jin nodded without a word.
Then a signal rose from the shore.
It was from a reconnaissance boat.
The torch waved twice.
Paused.
Then waved once more.
Song I‑jeong read the meaning.
"They fled into the mountain paths.
Roughly forty.
Possibly over fifty.
There are traces of them entering storehouses in the villages behind the coast."
Jin Chong asked immediately,
"And the civilians?"
"There are signs they hid. We need confirmation."
Park Seong-jin opened his eyes.
Fatigue clung to them, but heavier still was the weight in his chest.
He issued a short order.
"Landing party.
Form it now."
Zhang Shiyi widened his eyes.
"Now?
The sun is setting—"
"Dusk is best."
Park Seong-jin's voice remained even.
"They were struck by cannon fire and fled.
This is when fear burns hottest.
We take the choke points now.
Let them collapse among themselves in the mountains overnight."
Jin Chong answered at once.
"Understood.
Two Daehan officers.
Ten gunners remain aboard to guard the artillery.
The rest—those best with blades—will form the landing party."
He looked out over the shattered silhouettes drifting on the water.
Each was a fragment of an enemy ship that had lost its way.
Enemies who had lost their way had gone ashore.
The War Behind the Gun Muzzle — Searching for Saltpeter and Sulfur
After the Battle of Seungju ended, a strange stillness settled over the Naju camp.
On the sea, Japanese ships were sinking amid smoke and flame.
Behind the camp, in a small workshop, artillery masters and powder masters clutched their heads.
On the ledger atop the worktable, red characters stood out:
"Saltpeter shortage."
Sulfur, too, was nearly gone.
Charcoal could be gathered if the local people lent their strength.
Saltpeter was different.
Saltpeter—niter—was the land's salt, formed when organic matter, waste, soil, and straw fermented over long years.
Only those who knew the craft knew how to obtain it.
Even the Daehan artillery adviser frowned.
"Powder is harder than guns.
Without powder, cannon are nothing but lumps of iron."
Park Seong-jin burst from the tent.
"Naju, Seungju, Paeju, Damju, Haenam—
all coastal magistrates.
Summon them here.
Now."
County officials, clerks, and local magistrates arrived after riding dozens of li, their faces tight with tension.
Park Seong-jin spoke without preamble.
"Saltpeter.
Do you know it?
Where it exists.
Where it can be dug.
Who can make it.
Speak.
Our powder supply is cut."
The officials exchanged glances.
Many did not even know what powder was.
Saltpeter was even more unfamiliar.
One man spoke cautiously.
"Saltpeter requires nitrate earth made from latrine soil.
It must ferment for years.
At once, it is—"
"We will not wait years."
Park Seong-jin's voice fell like a blade.
Then the Daehan adviser stepped forward.
"There is a way.
Full refinement is difficult.
But emergency saltpeter can be made."
Everyone held their breath.
The adviser picked up a stick and drew a diagram on the ground.
Dig soil from old latrines and privies.
Scrape earth from aged mud walls.
Take soil from livestock pens.
Dig into compost heaps of rotted straw and grass.
Place these soils into large vats and add water.
Pour in lye to settle impurities.
Boil the remaining liquid.
Collect the white crystals—saltpeter.
The Goryeo officials stiffened.
"From latrine soil… military powder?"
"Yes.
Half of powder comes from what humans and beasts excrete."
A peculiar silence spread through the tent.
Park Seong-jin spoke.
"Good.
Then dig every latrine in Jeolla.
Behind temples.
Private households.
Cattle and pig pens.
Search all of them.
Scrape the soil and collect the crystals."
The officials' faces drained of color.
"General—at a time like this—"
"With the Japanese raids, public sentiment—"
"The state comes before sentiment."
Park Seong-jin's words were final.
That very evening, hundreds of soldiers and conscripted laborers around Naju and Seungju took up shovels.
On one side of the camp, powder masters lined up large jars and waited.
"To think we'd come to this,"
one officer muttered.
Park Seong-jin silently took up a shovel as well.
"You'll do it yourself, General?"
"Powder is more precious than swords.
A sword cuts one man at a time.
Powder buries dozens at once."
The stench was foul and biting.
The soldiers worked without complaint, lifting soil.
Sulfur proved an even greater obstacle.
Southern Jeolla had few sulfur deposits.
Park Seong-jin dispatched search parties in all directions.
They scoured mountains with hot springs.
They searched valleys where yellow earth showed through.
They traced ancient volcanic terrain.
They sought places where geothermal heat rose.
One night, Song I-jeong came running.
"General.
A report from Sannamdo*.
Near Jinju, an old yellow-earth cave reeks of sulfur."
*Sannamdo: an administrative region roughly corresponding to western South Gyeongsang Province.
Park Seong-jin sprang up.
"Send men.
Now."
They rode beneath a crimson sunset.
At the cave mouth, sulfur's sharp, acrid stench filled the air.
Technicians took samples and raised them to their noses.
"It's sulfur.
Impure—but usable after refinement."
Park Seong-jin brought his hand down.
"Organize a mining crew. Dig for three days and nights. This war will end with powder."
*Gunpowder.Saltpeter (焰硝) is potassium nitrate (KNO₃), the core ingredient of black powder. It was obtained by mixing ash with soil that contained nitrate residues left behind after the decomposition of human or animal waste—such as earth from beneath floors or around latrines—then boiling and refining the mixture. Because production yields were low, it was treated as a highly precious material.