Siege of Namwon

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=The Siege of Namwon

http://www.tournamwon.org/img/img_munhwa/munhwa/city_3.gif]
caption=The Siege of Namwon, by Kawakami Hisakuni(川上久國)
partof=Imjin War
date=August 13th-16th, 1597(according to Lunar calendar)
place=Namwon,North Jeolla
result=Japanese victory
combatant1=Japanese Left Army
combatant2=Korean Garrison
commander1=Ukita Hideie
Konishi Yukinaga
Shimazu Yoshihiro
commander2=Yang Yuan(Ming)
Yi Bok-nam†
Jiang Biao†
Mao Cheng Xian†
strength1=ca. 56800
strength2=Ming : 3,000 men
Korean : 1,300 men
and 6,000 civilians
casualties1=Unknown
casualties2= 3,726 (Japanese accounts)
10,000 (in total from Korean accounts)
campaign= Japanese Left Army (1597)Infobox Korean name
hangul=남원전투
hanja=南原戰鬪
rr=Namwon Jeontu
mr=Namwǒn Chǒnt'u

Background

The Forces

Chinese-Korean forces

Ming-Chinese forces 3,000 men

Yang Yuan (Hanzi :楊元)
Middle Army : Li Xin Fang(李新芳)
Mao Cheng Xian (Hanzi :毛承先)
Jiang Biǎo(Hanzi : 蔣表)

Korean forces 1,300 men

Yi Bok-nam (Hanja : 李福男, Hangul : 이복남) - 1,000 men
Yi Chun-won (Hanja : 李春元, Hangul : 이춘원)
Sin Ho (Hanja : 申浩, Hangul : 신호)
Kim Gyeong-no (Hanja :金敬老, Hangul : 김경로)

Miscellaneous

Jung Gi-won (Hanja : 鄭期遠, Hangul : 정기원)
Oh Ung-jung (Hanja : 吳應鼎 or 吳應井, Hangul : 오응정)
Im Hyeon (Hanja : 林鉉 or 任鉉, Hangul : 임현)
Yi Deok-hoe (Hanja : 李德恢, Hangul : 이덕회)

Japanese besieger's forces

According to the map of the Siege of Namwon drawn by Kawakami Hisakuni, Japanese forces established their lines at Namwon on the four directions.

The Siege of Namwon

The order of battle of the Japanese Left Army. The position of units on... . The armies are listed north to south.

A Japanese Force of 56,000 soldiers led by Ukita Hideie besieged and assaulted Namwon, defended by 4300 Korean and Chinese Soldiers and 6000 women and children. The city was protected by a wall, constructed in the northern Chinese style, with a shallow dry moat, and corner gun towers. The Koreans wanted to relocate to the nearby mountain fortress because of their knowledge of the terrain. This also would've given them the higher ground. However the Chinese general Yang Yuan demanded the defense of the city claiming that he had fought and won numerous battles in China therefore he knew what strategy would serve them best. He wanted to hunker down within the city walls. He felt more comfortable defending the Chinese style city wall than a Korean style hill top fortress. However, being on flat land, with high grounds all around it, the city was immediately placed under arquebus fire from day one, from all sides. General Yi Bok Nam and his calvary was able to successfully repel the Japanese attack several times. However, with the annual rainfall the flat land was reduced to fields of mud rendering the Korean horsemen and their steeds useless. As morale plummeted and casualties mounted, the Chinese general Yang Yuan who was defending the South wall with his troops negotiated with the Japanese in a secret meeting. In exchange for a safe retreat for himself and his troops Yang Yuan would give up the south wall and entrance to the Japanese without aggression. When Yang Yuan left abandoning the south wall the Japanese entered through the gates, and all Korean soldiers and civilians were put to death except for one 12-year-old boy who either carried the royal seal, was a flag bearer, or a messenger was taken back to Japan where he was adopted and raised within a Japanese household.

In Namwon, there is a small section of restored wall today, near the train station. However, the only true remains of the wall is just north of the train station, in the small farm houses, where large stone piles are still found (as of 2002).

Aftermath

References & External Links

* [http://www.tournamwon.org/img/img_munhwa/munhwa/city_3.gif]
* [http://battle.culturecontent.com/content/battle_tactics/view.asp?bat_idx=466&bat_kind=¿Üħ°ú%20¹æ¾î]
* [http://www.hwasong.org/zboard/data/castle/namwonsung.jpg]
* [http://www.namwonculture.org/jaro/freeboard.html?no=824&bbs=jaryo15 The Siege of Namwon (in Korean)]
* [http://www.goosejuice.com/wiki/index.php/Beyond_Turtleboats:_Siege_Accounts_From_Hideyoshi%E2%80%99s_Second_Invasion_of_Korea%2C_1597-1598.#The_Siege_of_Namwon Beyond Turtleboats: Siege Accounts From Hideyoshi’s Second Invasion of Korea, 1597-1598 - The Siege of Namwon]