Battle of Sangju
The
battle of Sangju was one of the first Korean battles in the First Invasion of the
Imjin War. The Koreans attempted to stop the Japanese invasion and prevent the
siege of Ch'ungju Castle. However, the Japanese' superior technology of the
arqubuses proved again effective. Like nearly all the Korean generals at the start of the war,
Yi Il performed terribly. The Japanese were victorious and pushed on to
Chungju.
Yi Il gathered 1,000 from among the local peasantry in Sangju.
Yi Il did not want to be annihilated inside Sangju so he arranged his men on a small hill nearby. When a messenger arrived, warning of the Japanese approach, Yi had him beheaded, so that his announcement would not lower his men's morale.
Yi Il then sent out a scout to locate the position of the Japanese army. Unfortunately, the scout was shot by a Japanese sniper and was killed. When the scout did not return, Yi Il assumed the Japanese were nearby. Soon, the Japanese soldiers under general
Konishi Yukinaga appeared.Konishi and his generals then ordered his
ashigaru to fire upon the Koreans with
arquebuses. Then he had the Japanese charge up the hill. As the Japanese began to charge up the hill, Yi ordered his men to return fire but their arrows fell short.
Konishi Yukinaga split his force and began to encircle the Korean emplacement, trying to surround the Koreans. Yi Il knew that his army was going to be destroyed so he turned his horse around, and retreated with his remaining army. Konishi's army killed 300 of the Koreans and were victorious. Konishi then led his men to
Chungju for another victory.
*
Battle of Ch'ungju*Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.
