Battle of Ch'ungju

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Battle of Chungju (Choryang Pass)

Date	1592-04-02 – 1592-04-28 (according to Lunar Calendar)
Location	Tangumdae Hill, near Chungju
Result	Decisive Japanese victory

Combatants

Japanese army

Korean cavalry division

Commanders

Konishi Yukinaga
So Yoshitoshi
Matsuura Shigenobu
Arima Harunobu
Omura Yoshiaki

Gen. Shin Rip†
Lieut. Kim Yeo-mul†
Gen. Yi Il
Mag. Yi Jong-jang†

Strength

First Division (ca. 18,700 men)

Korean cavalry division (ca. 8,000 men)

Casualties

500

3,000 killed, hundreds POW

1 Prelude
2 Cavalry Charge
3 Aftermath
4 Sources

[edit] Prelude

Chungju is located just south of the Han River. North of Chungju is Seoul, Korea's capital. The Battle of Chungju or the Battle of Tangumdae was the last battle of the Chungju Campaign fought between the Koreans and Japanese during the The Japanese Invasion of Korea. This battle was an early battle in the Imjin War and the failure to defend it led to the capture of Seoul.

[edit] Cavalry Charge

After having lost Busan, the Court in Hanseong (present-day Seoul) placed their hopes in a prominent general, Shin Rip, who had earned much recognitions for his successes against the Mongolians in the North.

Although Shin Rip was a notable general, he failed to protect Choryang Pass in a military blunder and retreated to Chungju castle where he believed he could stop the Japanese. When Shin Rip learned of the Japanese approach, he decided to meet the Japanese out on the flat plains near Chungju. Since his entire army was an 8,000 strong cavalry division, Shin Rip was sure that he would destroy the Japanese.

Shin Rip lined up his cavalry division, which was a quite experienced army, along the river. The rice paddies and the river not only covered the Korean lines' flanks and the rear, but also encouraged the soldiers to fight and withstand the fearful sound effects of the Japanese guns -this Chinese classic strategy is called bae-soo-jin (in Korean). Although fighting on a flat plain seems reasonable, the various vegetations that grew there at the time actually hindered troop movements. The odds were greatly against Shin Rip because unfortunately, Shin Rip did not realize that the Japanese' tactic of mowing down enemy troops with thousands of arquebuses was to be used by Konishi Yukinaga's 18,700 men.

Shin Rip met the enemy and charged heroically toward the Japanese. Konishi placed his fire on the cavalry and hit the Koreans hard. Shin Rip regrouped his men and charged again but the repeated volleys of arquebus fire forced the Korean cavalry to retreat into the river. At the river, thousands of Koreans drowned or were cut down by Japanese spears. Shin Rip escaped but later killed himself. The Japanese killed 3,000 of the Korean cavalry and took Chungju with minimal losses.

There are disputes between historians on whether the tactics that he imployed were disastrous or the best. Many other Korean generals argued on setting a defense on the Choryang Pass, but this attempt on the rocky and steep path failed as the entire army was a cavalry division. Although a defense at Choryang Pass might have stopped Konishi, the army of the Second Division was already approaching Seoul to the East.

[edit] Aftermath

A messenger brought the news quickly to King Seonjo. The loss at the Battle of Chungju left no hope for him, and his entire family and court took flight to Pyongyang, where he hoped a few good defenders could delay the capture of the capital of Hanseong (Seoul). Later King Seonjo eventually retreated in disgrace to China where he sought military aid.