All students at Sutton High were invited to enter a competition to win the Young Walter Scott Prize. It is the only creative writing prize in the UK for budding historical novelists. Students had to plan and write a story that is “set in a time before the writer was born”. Poppy-Mei S from Year 8 entered. If she wins, a £500 travel grant and invitation to the Borders Book Festival in Scotland will be awarded. Three students from Year 9 – Nhyira A, Ira N and Riya J also submitted entries.
Read Poppy-Mei’s story below named The Kobukson.
Meanwhile, Admiral Yi sighed. After spending days on his improved design, he was still nowhere near being finished. The ships they had in service were ancient and he was convinced that they could be improved – and that improvement could be the difference between victory and defeat. The Japanese were beating them on land. There was nothing he could do about that, but they were pouring men and supplies into battle via the sea, so cutting them off there would give the Joseon defences a fighting chance.
Jusang Jeonha, His Majesty the King, had already had to evacuate the capital. They were running out of time. Dropping his head into his hands, he realised that he had been working for hours without a break. He was pushing himself too hard. It would do him good to relax a bit. He ambled over to where Jag-Eun was clearing up her sewing. “Jag-Eun, do you want to take a break and play with me?” “Of course! Can we play war?” “…Really?” He sighed. “Okay, I’ll be the Japanese.” “Okay, but I’m going to invade first!” “What? You can’t do that! Why would you even be interested in these tiny islands?” “Well, if I invade you first, then you’ll be too busy defending yourself to invade me!” The admiral thought about this and could see no flaw in this childish logic. “Okay but look, I’m beating you now, I’m pushing you back.” Despite himself, he was really starting to enjoy this. Memories of his childhood began floating to the surface of his mind. “No way!
My brave sailors ram their boats into yours!” “Our boats are the same! If you ram yours into mine, we’re both going to sink! And I have more boats than you, so I’ll win! And anyway, the Japanese are known for doing – this!” The admiral picked up some sailor f igurines, using them to board his daughter’s boat when it got close, before it could ram his. “The Japanese – much as I hate to admit it – are better than us at hand-to-hand combat. Once they’ve boarded one of our boats, that’s it for that boat.” “Oh. Well, in that case…” Jag-Eun picked up some of the needles she’d just scattered. “I’m going to put spiky bits on my boat. Here, here, and here. Your feet are going to get poked to bits if you try boarding my boat!”
The admiral felt a little tingle at the back of his mind. Jag-Eun looked around and picked up a turtle. “Protection of the sea! Mr Turtle lends a hand and covers the ship so your Japanese sailors can’t see what’s even on it!” The admiral’s mind was racing now. So was Jag-Eun’s, as she brought even more of her toys into play. “A magic dragon appears! Fire shoots from its mouth! Your sailors are so terrified they turn back!” He could use that idea too!
A bigger and scarier boat would have a psychological effect on the Japanese. And fire – a cannon, hidden behind the dragon! 2 “Jag-Eun, remember when you said you wanted to help with the war?” Her face lit up. “I can come with you and Hoe-oppa?” “No, of course not! But I am going to use some of your ideas in this ship design – and I think they will help us win!” Face shining with glee, game forgotten, Jag-Eun sat watching him as he picked up his brush again. The same manoeuvrable basic shape as before – don’t fix what isn’t broken. But larger, to better carry additional weapons.
Covered with a shell like a turtle, so the sailors inside could look out, while protecting their positions from enemy eyes. Spikes to fend off boarders. A powerful cannon, hidden behind an imposing dragon head. The cost of building such a ship would be astronomical, but they wouldn’t need many. And all because he had taken the time to listen to the childish fancies of a little girl who wanted to help the war effort.
The kobukson – turtle ship – was instrumental in the Joseon (part of modern-day Korea) naval victories over the Japanese in a series of conflicts between 1592 – 1598 that are today known as the Imjin War. Despite having barely any naval experience prior to the war and being outnumbered, Admiral Yi Sun-Shin fought 23 battles against the Japanese and won every single one of them without losing a single ship, thanks to a combination of superior technology and tactical skill. The Joseon mastery of the sea led to the ultimate failure of the Japanese invasion as their supply lines were cut off, and the war ended in 1598. Sadly, Admiral Yi did not live to see the end, as he was killed by a stray shot in one of the final battles and his body was brought back to Joseon by his son, Yi Hoe. He is known as one of the great admirals in history, often compared to Vice-Admiral Nelson, and he is still venerated today as a national hero in Korea.
