Siege of Haengju

Battle of Hangju Fortress
Part of Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)
Date February 12, 1593 Location Haengju Fortress Result Decisive Korean victory
Belligerents
Korean (Joseon) army	Japanese army under Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Commanders and leaders
Gwon Yul Jo Gyeong Seon Geoi Kim Cheon-il Heo Uk Cheo Yung	Ukita Hideie Kato Kiyomasa Konishi Yukinaga Kuroda Nagamasa Ishida Mitsunari Kikkawa Hiroie Kobayakawa Takakage Kobayakawa Hideaki
Strength
2,300	30,000
Casualties and losses
unknown	15,000

Siege of Haengju
Hangul	행주대첩
Hanja	幸州大捷
Revised Romanization	Haengju Daecheop
McCune–Reischauer	Haengchu Taech'ŏp

The Battle of Haengju took place on February 12, 1593 during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598). Approximately 3,000 Korean defenders led by general Kwon Yul successfully repelled more than 30,000 Japanese forces. It is considered as the greatest Korean victory during the seven years of war with the Siege of Jinju and the Battle of Hansan Island.

Background

During the second week of February, 1593, a 30,000-strong Japanese army commanded by Ukita Hideie and Kato Kiyomasa was advancing toward the Haengju Fortress in order to occupy the Goyang country. The Japanese were victorious in the previous Battle of Byeokjegwan, but their supplies were running out, due to Yi Sun-sin's role in preventing supply ships from landing on the western coasts of the Korean peninsula. Therefore, it was crucial for the Japanese forces to finish the siege quickly.

Kwon Yul's Preparations

Meanwhile, Kwon Yul gathered about 2,300 men, including Jo Gyeong (조경), Seon Geoi (선거이), and Heo Uk (허욱)'s reinforcments as well as Kim Cheon Il (김천일)'s militia and Cheo Yeong (처영)'s monk soldiers., and left his base at Doksan, near Suwon. He later arrived at the Haengju. While dubbed mountain in today it is more accurately termed a hill, being only 413 feet (124 metres) high above sea level. On the arrival, Kwon Yul's army built field fortifications, consisting of 10-foot high earthen walls reinforced by a wooden palisade. The construction of field fortification took three days. Sufficient arms and supplies were stocked in the fortress, and around 40 Hwachas (화차) were positioned on the fortress wall.

The Attack

Ukita Hideie was the Japanese general victorious at the Battle of Byeokjegwan. Confident of another victory at Haengju, he and Kato Kiyomasa marched 30,000 soldiers out of Hanseong (Seoul) hoping to quickly annihilate the Korean army of 2,300 in the fortress.

Arriving at Haengju at dawn, Ukita divided his force into 3 groups and surrounded the fortress. Anecdotes suggesting a tactical reliance upon sheer numbers, Ukita and Kato dispensed with ordering the Japanese to attack by advancing up the slopes of Haengju. On 12 February 1593, 6:00 a.m the Japanese launched their attack.

As the Japanese soldiers fought to breach the earth and wooden walls of the defensive paliside, the Koreans hurled boulders and tree trunks from their defensive positions, arrows, arquebuses, mortars, and storms of explosive hwachas rocket-arrows into the massed ranks of the attacking Japanese. Although the Japanese overran the first line of defense, they did not break through further defenses. A total of nine repeated assaults were ordered against the Korean positions.

After incurring massive casualties and failing to overrun the Korean position, Kato ordered a retreat. Ukita and Kato were both wounded, as were other top Japanese commanders: Ishida Mitsunari, Maeno Nagayasu, and Kikkawa Hiroie. The Koreans inflicted more than 10,000 casualties on the Japaneses during the battle and recovered 727 spears and swords from the retreating Japanese.

Historical anecdotes suggest an arrogance by the invading army and an overabundant defensive preparation as contributing to the Japanese defeat. It should be noted during this time the terrain and technological advantages of this time for the Korean fortifications. The natural mountainous terrain and separation by sea would have made provisions of Japanese siege weapons an arduous task in contrast to the vast army. After the battle, Kwon Yul credited the role of hwachas for Koreans' victory. The Korean fortifications were situated atop a steep hill, and during this period the Japanese employed a preferred traditional of dense troop deployment common to armies throughout the historical world and were thus ideal targets for the Korean hwachas, mortars and other large area defenses.

Historically, Koreans credit and view Kwon Yul as a strong tactical leader who with those under his command, maintained high morale during the defensive siege at the battle of Haengju.

Aftermath

After the war, in 1602, King Seonjo erected a monument for General Kwon Yul and the fighters at Haengju fortress, but this monument was destroyed during the Korean War. From the 1960s to the mid 1990s, the Korean government constructed another memorial, now at Haengju fortress which is open to tourists.

See also

• Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)
• Castles in Korea
• Kwon Yul
• Hwacha
• Battle of Hansan Island
• Siege of Jinju (1592)

External links

• Haengju Mountain Fortress
• 행주산성
• 행주대첩에 대해
• 역사스페셜 - 승리를 이끈 하이테크 신무기