Battle of Haengju
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The Battle of Haengju took place on February, 1593, during the Imjin War (1592 - 1598). It was one of the most successful battles for the Koreans, and the Japanese retreated with 10,000 casualties. After the battle, General Kwon Yul credited Koreans' victory to the employment of Hwachas.
Arriving at Haengju at dawn, Ukita divided his force into 3 groups and surrounded the fortress. Knowing that they would crush the Koreans with numbers, Kato and Ukita ordered the Japanese to attack by simply advancing up the slopes of Haengju. On 12 February, 1593 at about 6:00 the Japanese launched their attack. But the Koreans were waiting for them. While the Japanese soldiers struggled to breach the wooden paliside walls and fences, the Koreans fired arrows, arquebuses, mortars, boulders, threw tree trunks, and creatively used the anti-personnel artillery rockets called hwacha, which were a major factor in defeating the Japanese. Although the Japanese overran the first line of defense, they failed to break the next defenses. Kwon Yul rallied the Koreans and finally beat off the Japanese after substantial use of the hwacha and mortars. A total of nine repeated attacks were made by the Japanese, but the Japanese failed to overrun Haengju.
Kato ordered the retreat after seeing that the battle was hopeless. Ukita was wounded as well and Kato lost at least 10,000 men. Other Japanese commanders who were wounded were Ishida, Maeno, and Kikkawa. The Koreans recovered 727 spears and swords from the retreating Japanese.
It was during this battle that the now-famous Haengju Chima (Haengju apron) was created. While Korean men fought the Japanese, Korean women helped their men by gathering rocks to fight off the Japanese siege of the fortress. However, General Kwon noticed women wearing aprons over their skirts to carry rocks, when he asked why, the answer was simple; a single layer of skirt would reveal women's legs when carrying rocks. Haengju Chima became a famous symbol of the region.
After the war, in 1602, King Sonjo erected a monument for General Kwon Yul and the fighters at Haengju fortress. Sadly, this monument was destroyed in the Korean War. From the 1960s to the mid 1990s, the Korean government reconstructed another memorial and Haengju fortress is currently open to tourists now.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.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 region of Goyang. The Japanese had success in a previous battle at Pyŏkje, and their supplies were running out[[Citing sources citation needed]], due to Admiral Yi's role in preventing supply ships from entering 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, General Kwon Yul gathered about 2,300 men, including monks studying under Monk Ch'oyoung[[Citing sources citation needed]], and left his base at Toksan, near Suwŏn. He later arrived at the run-down mountain fortress of Haengju (행주산성; 幸州山城), and set up camps and repaired the fortress. Ditches, wooden pikes, and paliside walls were built on the steep slopes of the mountain[[Citing sources citation needed]]. Arms were gathered in ample amount, and around 40 hwachas were implemented on the fortress wall.The Attack
Ukita Hideie was the Japanese general who won the battle at Pyŏkje. Sure of another victory at Haengju, he and Kato Kiyomasa marched 30,000 soldiers out of Seoul hopefully to annihilate the puny army of 2,300 at Haengju.Aftermath
One large reason why the Japanese lost the battle, even with overwhelming numbers, was that there was a lack of planning. The dense formations of the Japanese climbing up the steep hill were ideal for the hwacha, mortars, and boulders, since they spread damage over a large area. Another reason why the Japanese lost was that the Japanese position at Haengju was geographically inferior to fight. Finally, the strong figure of Kwon Yul during the battle helped the Korean morale and the Koreans fought fiercely, even when outnumbered.References
External links
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