Battle of Ch'ungju

Battle of Chungju (Choryang Pass)
Part of Imjin War
Date June 8 1592 – 28d 04m 1592 (according to Lunar Calendar) Location Tangumdae Hill, near Chungju Result Decisive Japanese victory
Belligerents
Japanese army	Korean army
Commanders and leaders
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)	At least 8,000
Casualties and losses
500	3,000 killed, hundreds POW

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 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. Chungju is located just south of the Han River. North of Chungju is Seoul, Korea's capital.

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 Jurchens 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 much of his men were cavalry, Shin Rip was sure that he could destroy the Japanese.

Shin Rip lined up his cavalry division 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 classic Chinese strategy is known as 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. Another factor that might have impeded the Korean cavalry would be their weapons. Their main weapon was the Korean composite bow. Lances were seldom used, with short sabre being the only effective arms de blanche of the Korean cavalry. Considering that the Japanese employed considerable number of pikemen, combined with the unfavourable terrain, the Korean cavalry might have had great difficulty charging the Japanese. Also Shin Rip, while he was known for his successful attacks on the Jurchens, was unaccostomed to dealing with Japanese musketeers deployed by Konishi Yukinaga's 18,700 men.

Much of the accounts on this battle are rarely detailed, and there is much difficulty reconstructing the sequences of battle accurately. However, several records from Korea and that of Luis Frois do imply that the cavalry-based Korean army wasn't successful at breaking Japanese infantry. It is likely that the Japanese musketeers were successful in driving back the charging Korean cavalry, whose movement was much hampered by terrain. The Koreans were defeated and while Shin Rip escaped he later killed himself. The Japanese killed 3,000 of the Koreans and took Chungju with minimal losses.

An intriguing account regarding this battle is a part of the diary of Jeong Joh(조정) who, commenting on the battle, claimed that there were two divisions of Japanese army. According to him, one of the divisions assaulted the Korean army from the rear, while the Koreans were fighting the other Japanese division in front of them. However, whether this claim is true or not, remains uncertain.

There are disputes between historians on whether the tactics that he employed 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.

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).

Source

• Choson JoongGi, Noon-Eu-Ro Bo-Nen, Han-Gook-Yuk-Sa. 1998 Joong-Ang-Gyo-Yook-Yun-Goo-Won, Ltd.