Seven-Year War

:For the 1756–1763 war, see Seven Years' War. For the 1563–1570 war, see Nordic Seven Years' War.

The first invasion

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who established his hegemony in Japan in the latter part of the 16th century, had wanted to conquer Ming China. Motivated in part also by a need to satisfy the perpetual land hunger of his vassals and find employment for restive samurai, he began making plans for the conquest of China. He first made his intentions to conquer China known to Mori Terumoto in 1586, then set about trying to realize it after he defeated the clans of Shimazu and Hojo. First he intended to secure the Korean peninsula as an invasion route for his forces. After King Seonjo refused his offer of an alliance against China and military access for the Japanese troops, Hideyoshi launched a war against Korea in 1592 to secure passage to China.

Related Topics:
Toyotomi Hideyoshi - 16th century - Ming - China - Samurai - Mori Terumoto - 1586 - Shimazu - Hojo - King Seonjo - 1592

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Japanese Blitzkrieg in Korea

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The Japanese invasion of 1592 with 160,000 troops had great initial success mainly due to the element of surprise and its use of European firearms. Two armies, under Konishi Yukinaga and Kato Kiyomasa, landed on the 25th and 26th of May and marched north.They also had skilled lieutenants such as S? Yoshitomo. They had to punch through two korean main forts in timely manner, Busan and Donglae, to maintain their initiatives.

Related Topics:
Konishi Yukinaga - Kato Kiyomasa - S? Yoshitomo - Busan

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Chungju Campaign

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After the southern defense perimeter was breached in matter of days, Korean Royal Court was quick to send the response force from the northern military sector commanded by General Shin Lip. His battle-hardened cavalry units were, however, wiped out by Japanese musketeers who were trained to provide a continuous rain of fire when faced with cavalry. This tactic was devised and used by Shogun Oda Nobunaga and his successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi to help establish his hegemony in Japan. The use of this tactic worked out to the advantage of the Japanese since Korean troops did not adopt the idea of fire concentration yet. Japanese generals believed that, if employed massively, muskets were a far better and cheaper weapon system than bows. Korean generals, on the other hand, believed that muskets were hard to mass-produce and had horrible accuracy and effective firing range compared to well-made bows. Therefore only a small experimental detachment was armed with muskets while at least half of the Japanese invasion forces were armed with small firearms. Korea had the advantage when it came to cannon technology, but the artillery of that time did not have the mobility of its modern-day equivalent. So on the field, Japanese armies easily crushed their Korean opposition.

Related Topics:
Shin Lip - Oda Nobunaga - Toyotomi Hideyoshi

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The Road to Hanseong and the Slow march to China

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With the strongest Korean army unit gone and most of the defense forts under Japanese control, the road to the capital was wide open. The entire defense perimeter collapsed as the Japanese forces advanced. They met little resistance on the field.

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Konishi reached the Han River south of Hanseong (present-day Seoul) and entered the city on June 12, just 18 days after landing at Busan. King Seonjo and his court withdrew first to Songdo, then Pyongyang and finally to Uiju, on the Yalu River. Japanese troops ravaged many key towns in the southern part of Korea, took Pyongyang and advanced as far north as the Yalu and Tumen rivers. (See also Kato Kiyomasa's campaign in the North-Eastern part of Korea)

Related Topics:
Han River - Seoul - Busan - King Seonjo - Songdo - Pyongyang - Uiju - Yalu River - Tumen - Kato Kiyomasa - Campaign in the North-Eastern part of Korea

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The Four Campaigns of Admiral Yi

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In May and June, a small Korean fleet commanded by Yi Sun-sin destroyed several Japanese flotillas and wrought havoc on Japanese logistics. The Korean iron-roofed Geobukseon, or turtle ships, were technologically superior in almost every way. In all perhaps 72 Japanese vessels were sunk by the end of June.

Related Topics:
Small Korean fleet - Yi Sun-sin - Turtle ship

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Harassement of Japanese Rearguard by Korean Irregular Army

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Korean marines and irregulars harassed the Japanese rear so no attempt was made by the Japanese to exploit their initial advantage.

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The Intervention of Ming China

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In July, the Wanli Emperor, responding to King Seonjo's request for aid, sent a small force of 5,000, which was not enough to fend off the Japanese. At this juncture Hideyoshi, after suffering numerous setbacks, including logistical problems caused by Korean saboteurs and major naval defeats at the hands of the Korean navy, proposed to China the division of Korea — the north as a self-governing Chinese satellite, and the south to remain in Japanese hands. The peace talks were mostly carried out by Konishi Yukinaga, who did most of the fighting against the Chinese. The offer was promptly rejected. This negotiation was, of course, done out of sight of the Korean Royal Court.

Related Topics:
Wanli Emperor - King Seonjo's

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Having seen the token forces they had sent to Korea wiped out, China sent a much large force in January 1593 under Song Yingchang and Li Rusong. The expeditionary army had a prescribed strength of 100,000, made up of 42,000 from five northern military districts, a contingent of 3000 soldiers proficient in the use of firearms from South China, and far more from Siam and the Ryukyus. Seaports in China were closed for fear that the Wokou invasions of the 1550s would be repeated. In February 1593 a large combined force of Chinese and Korean soldiers attacked Pyongyang and drove the Japanese into southward retreat. Li Rusong personally led a pursuit with an advance force of 1000 cavalry. He was checked by a large Japanese formation outside Seoul and was almost killed in battle before the main force of Ming arrived to relieve his unit.

Related Topics:
1593 - Song Yingchang - Li Rusong - Siam - Ryukyus - Wokou - 1550s

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These engagements ended the first phase of the war, and peace negotiations followed. The Japanese evacuated Hanseong in May and retreated to fortifications around Busan. Some Japanese soldiers left the army and settled down in Korea, even marrying Korean women. The ensuing truce was to last for close to four years.

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