The Battle of Sangju was a battle during the
Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98)
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diasp ...
. After capturing
Busan
Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, ...
and
Dongnae
Dongnae District is a '' gu'' in central Busan, South Korea.
Administrative divisions
It has a population of about 300,000, and an area of 16.7 square kilometers. It was once a separate city, the principal port of southeastern Korea. Numerous ...
, the Japanese army under
Konishi Yukinaga advanced at a rapid rate of almost 20 kilometer per day towards the Joseon capital of
Hanseong
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
(present-day Seoul) .
Background
Joseon General
Yi Il
Yi Il (; 1538 – 1601) was a Korean military official of the mid-Joseon Period. During the reign of Seonjo of Joseon, he made a great contribution to the conquest of the Jurchen people in the north. When Imjin War occurred, he was appointed Mob ...
arrived at
Sangju
Sangju () is a city in North Gyeongsang Province, central South Korea. Although Sangju is rather rural, it is very old and was once a key city. Along with Gyeongju, it gives rise to half of the name of the Gyeongsang provinces. Sangju is nickn ...
on 2 June with only a force of 60 cavalrymen. On receiving his formal assignment to block the Japanese advance from Busan towards Hanseomg while he was still in
Gyeongsang Province, he found that his company of 300 supposedly first-rate troops consisted largely of untrained students and clerks conscripted out of government offices to replace men whose names were on the military lists, but who were either missing, already deceased, or claiming exemption due to illness. Rather than attempting to march this untrained force into battle, he took only his veterans, and hoped to recruit forces from the local garrison. On arriving in Sangju, he found that the garrison was completely depleted, as all of the soldiers had been called away to defend the provincial capital of
Daegu to the south. With no soldiers, Yi decided to use grain from the government warehouses to recruit local peasants, and managed to gather a force of 900 men. These men were untrained and were little more than a mob, and Yi thought that he might have perhaps a week to train them. however, the Japanese army under
Konishi Yukinaga arrived the following day.
Battle
When one of Yi's peasant conscripts brought word that the Japanese advance contingent had been spotted, Yi refused to believe it and had the man beheaded for spreading rumors. He felt that it was impossible that the Japanese could have advanced from Busan to Sangju in only ten days. However, the report was soon verified, and Yi deployed his force on a hill behind Sangju.
Konishi divided his army into two groups. The first, led by Konishi and
Matsura Shigenobu took the town of Sangju without a fight. The second, consisting of 6700 men led by
Sō Yoshitoshi
was a Sō clan ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the domain of Tsushima on Tsushima Island at the end of Japan's Sengoku period, and into the Edo period. His name is sometimes read as Yoshitomo.Papinot, Jacques. (2003)''Nobiliare du Japon'' -- Sō ...
,
Ōmura Yoshiaki
was a ruling head of the clan of Ōmura throughout the latter Sengoku period of Feudal Japan. As Yoshiaki was the respective son of Ōmura Sumitada, he followed his father in succession at some variable time, at which relations with the Jesuits a ...
, and
Gotō Mototsugu, headed directly to confront Yi. They approached through a forest, observed but out of range of Yi's archers. The archers failed to send warning to Yi, fearing the same fate as the man who had just been beheaded, and Yi was unaware of the Japanese approach until the vanguard emerged from the forest and shot down a scout less than a 100 meters from his position. The Japanese army then fanned out in three groups and rushed the Koreans. At 50 meters Yi's untrained forces broke and were cut down.
Aftermath
Yi managed to escape north, discarding his armor and his horse in the process. He continued through the strategic Choryong Pass, which could have been held to good effect against the Japanese, and joined his superior, General
Sin Rip
Sin Rip (sometimes romanized as Shin Rip or Shin Rib) (Hangul: 신립, Hanja: 申砬; 16 November 1546 – 7 June 1592) was a Korean general and a member of the Pyeongsan Sin clan.
He passed the Korean national military examinations at the age o ...
at
Chungju.
The Japanese army continued its advance towards
Chungju.
See also
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Battle of Ch'ungju
The Battle of Chungju or the Battle of Tangeumdae was the last battle of the Chungju Campaign fought between the Koreans and Japanese during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592. Chungju is located just south of the Han River and Seoul, Kore ...
Citations
Bibliography
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* 桑田忠親
uwata, Tadachika ed., 舊參謀本部編纂,
yu Sanbo Honbu 朝鮮の役
housen no Eki(日本の戰史
ihon no SenshiVol. 5), 1965.
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{{coord missing, South Korea
Sangju
Sangju () is a city in North Gyeongsang Province, central South Korea. Although Sangju is rather rural, it is very old and was once a key city. Along with Gyeongju, it gives rise to half of the name of the Gyeongsang provinces. Sangju is nickn ...
1592 in Asia
1592 in Japan
Sangju 1592