Battle of Haengju

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Battle of Haengju
Hangul:	행주대첩
Hanja:	幸州大捷
Revised Romanization:	Haengju Daecheop
McCune-Reischauer:	Haengchu Taech'ŏp

Battle of Hangju Fortress

Part of Hideyoshi's Invasions of Korea

Korean soldiers repel Japanese troops on Haengju Fortress.

Date	February 12, 1593^[1]
Location	Haengju Fortress
Result	Decisive Korean victory

Combatants

Korean (Joseon) army

Japanese army under Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Commanders

Gwon Yul
Cho Geyong
Cheo Young
Yi Bin

Ukita Hideie
Kato Kiyomasa
Konishi Yukinaga
Kuroda Nagamasa
Ishida Mitsunari
Yoshikawa Hiroie
Kobayakawa Takakage
Kobayakawa Hideaki

Strength

2,000 regular army, 1,000 local monks

30,000

Casualties

unknown

10,000

The Battle of Haengju took place on February 12, 1593 during Hideyoshi's Invasions of Korea. The Korean defenders were successful in repelling the Japanese forces. After the battle, General Kwon Yul credited Koreans' victory to the employment of hwachas.^[1]

1 Background
2 Kwon Yul's Preparations
3 The Attack
4 Aftermath
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] 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, but their supplies were running out^{[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.

[edit] Kwon Yul's Preparations

Meanwhile, General Kwon Yul gathered about 2,300 men, including monks studying under Monk Ch'oyoung^{[citation needed]}, and left his base at Doksan, near Suwon. 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 palisade walls were built on the steep slopes of the mountain^{[citation needed]}. Arms were gathered in ample amount, and around 40 Hwachas were implemented on the fortress wall.

[edit] 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.

Arriving at Haengju at dawn, Ukita divided his force into 3 groups and surrounded the fortress. Knowing that they would crush the Koreans solely 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 a.m the Japanese launched their attack with little overall plan.

While the Japanese soldiers struggled to breach the wooden paliside walls and fences, the Koreans fired arrows, arquebuses, mortars, boulders, threw tree trunks, and used hwachas effectively from the Haengju armory. Although the Japanese overran the first line of defense, they failed to break through further defenses. A total of nine repeated attacks were made by the Japanese.

After failing to breach the Korean lines after 9 attacks, Kato ordered a retreat. Ukita was wounded as well and Kato. 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.

Strategy and position contributed to the Japanese defeat. 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. Finally, the strong figure of Kwon Yul during the battle helped the Korean morale, even when outnumbered.

[edit] Aftermath

After the war, in 1602, King Sonjo 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 open to tourists.