military stalemate in the south of the peninsula.Annals of the Joseon Dynasty Chinese language http://sillok.history.go.kr/inspection/insp_king.jsp?id=wna_13110012_007&tabid=w After the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi on September 18, 1598, the Council of Five Elders, in late October, issued orders for the withdrawal of all forces from Korea. Hideyoshi's death was kept a secret by the Council to preserve the morale of the army. Battle of Noryang The Battle of Noryang was the final naval battle in the war. A Japanese fleet of approximately 500 ships, under Shimazu Yoshihiro, was assembled and preparing to link up with the blockaded fleet under Konishi Yukinaga, and together withdraw via Busan back to Japan. The Korean navy under Yi Sun-sin discovered the Shimazu fleet anchored in the narrow strait of Noryang. Noting the narrow geography of the area, Ming general Chen Lin, who led Deng Zilong and Yi Sun-sin, made a surprise attack against the Japanese fleet, under the cover of darkness on December 16, 1598, using cannon and fire arrows. By dawn, more than half of the Japanese fleet was scattered and destroyed. During the pursuit of the remaining Japanese ships, both Yi Sun-sin and Deng Zilong were killed. Despite suffering high casualties, in the end the battle was a great tactical victory for the Korean forces and resulted in the loss of over half of the Japanese fleet and the deaths of thousands of their men. Strategically, the Japanese attained their objective by allowing Konishi Yukinaga, who was earlier blockaded by the Ming and Korean forces, to leave his fortress on December 16 with his men and withdraw unopposed by sailing through the southern end of Namhae Island, bypassing both the Noryang Strait and the battle, with the cost of betraying his own fellow Japanese generals. Konishi Yukinaga, Shimazu Yoshihiro, Katō Kiyomasa, and other Japanese generals of the Left Army, congregated in Busan and withdrew to Japan on December 21. The last ships damaged sailed to Japan on December 24, bringing an end to six years of war. Post-war negotiations As Tsushima Island had suffered greatly from its loss of trade with Korea as a result of the invasions, Sō Yoshitoshi of the Sō clan, then dominant in Tsushima, undertook the lead in the peace negotiations by Japan. He sent four peace missions to Joseon in 1599 to normalize relations. The first three were captured and sent directly to Beijing by Chinese troops, but the fourth