The Battle of Ichi was fought on August 14, 1592, in Jeolla Province during the

Japanese invasions of Korea 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 diaspor ...

Kwon Yul Gwon Yul (; December 28, 1537 - July 6, 1599) was a Korean Army General and the Commander-in-chief (도원수; 導元帥) of the Joseon Dynasty, who successfully led the Korean forces against Japan during the Japanese invasions of Korea (임진� ...

and

Hwang Jin Hwang Jin (, 1550–1593) was a general during Japanese invasions of Korea. His courtesy name was Myeongbo and his posthumous name was Mumin. He is best known for his defense at the castle of Jinju at the Siege of Jinju (1593). There were two ba ...

's one-thousand-man army battled against the two-thousand-man army of

Kobayakawa Takakage was a samurai and daimyō (feudal lord) during the Sengoku period and Azuchi–Momoyama period. He was the third son of Mōri Motonari who was adopted by the Kobayakawa clan and became its 14th clan head. He merged the two branches of the Kob ...

. The Koreans won this battle and stopped the Japanese army from advancing to Jeolla Province.

Background

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

made an order to

to attack the Jeolla Province. Jeolla Province was famous for it rice, and Japan needed that rice to feed their army. Also, Admiral

Yi Sun-sin Admiral Yi Sun-sin (April 28, 1545 – December 16, 1598) was a Korean admiral and military general famed for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Imjin war in the Joseon Dynasty. Over the course of his career, Admiral Yi foug ...

's naval force was stationed in Jeolla Province. Capturing Jeolla Province would provide a land route for the Japanese army to attack Admiral Yi, who had interfered with Japanese supply lines for the past two months. So Kobayakawa, who was in Seoul at the time, advanced to attack the Korean army.

Flow of the battle

Japanese army needed to go from Geumsan County to Jeonju to capture the province. There were two paths that the Japanese could take. One path was blocked by a hill called Ungchi and the other was blocked by Ichi hill. The Japanese split their forces and so did the Koreans. So the battle for Ichi and Ungchi happened at the same time. At the same time, Ko Kyong-myong was advancing to Geumsan to try to trap the Japanese. Although force at Ichi were winning by the 8th, Korean force at Ungchi routed to Jeonju at that time and the Japanese force advanced to Jeonju by that path. However, later on, Japanese force retreated from Ichi and Jeonju. Ko Kyong-myong force has arrived and was attacking the Japanese rear. As a result, Japan failed to provide enough rice for its army, which affected its ability to fight. Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) {{battle-stub