battle of Sacheon

The 1598 battle of Sacheon was a siege by Korean and Chinese forces against the Japanese fortification of Sacheon, during Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea.

Background

Sacheon is a natural harbor located on the southern coast of Korea, in what was then called Jeolla province. Shimazu Yoshihiro and his son Tadatsune came to Sacheon in 1597 after aiding in the Japanese capture of the fortress of Namwōn. There, they built a new Japanese-style castle directly on top of the old Silla fort, and shortly afterwards another, larger castle right at the port, about six kilometers to the south. By 1598, this new castle contained an inner wall around the keep, surrounded by a natural moat which filled with sea water during high tide only, allowing ships to enter the moat. The outer wall encompassed a much larger area with additional guntowers and several fortified gates.

The Siege

Koreans and their Ming Chinese allies began pushing south in 1598, reclaiming territory lost to the Japanese in the battles of the preceding years. By September, an army of 34,000 Chinese warriors under the command of Ton Yuan, along with 2000 Korean warriors, was ready to lay siege to the newer, larger Sacheon castle. Murakami Tadazane, commander of the smaller garrison, brought his 300 men to the larger castle, joining up with Shimazu Yoshihiro's force of 8000, before the Chinese/Korean force began their assault on October 1.

The old castle fell quickly, and the Japanese split their force in three, sallying forth from the new castle's three gates. The besiegers were pushed back, and suffered heavy casualties. According the chronicle of the Shimazu family, 37,000 heads were taken. A hole was dug, twenty ken across (about 36 meters), to bury the bodies.

References

• Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co. pp249-50.

See also

• Battle of Sacheon (1592)

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