The Immortal Yi Soon Shin Battle of Jinju part 1

The Siege of Jinju was one of two battles during the Japanese invasions of Korea; the first in 1592, and the second in 1593. The first battle of Jinju along with the Battle of Hansan Island and the Battle of Haengju are regarded as the three most important battles of the war. The second battle of Jinju was not as successful, and it fell to the Japanese

Jinju castle was an important castle that guarded Jeolla province. Ukita Hideie and Hosokawa Tadaoki agreed on taking Jinju castle because if the Japanese captured it, it would open up a new road to Jeolla, and they would be able to attack Gwak Jae-u's guerilla forces hiding in the area. Jeolla was also place for plenty of loot. Ukita also agreed to recapture Changwon, a small fortress that led to Jinju castle. Therefore, an army of 20,000 men to recapture Changwon and Jinju set out.

The general at Changwon placed his army at a hill awaiting the Japanese. Arquebuses played a strong role again and the Koreans were cut down by the bullets. Changwon was recaptured. The Koreans retreated to Haman, another castle, which fell to the Japanese as well. After this, the Koreans were forced to run to Jinju castle.

The Japanese heartily approached Jinju castle. They expected another easy victory at Jinju but the Korean general Kim Si-min defied the Japanese and stood firm with his 3,800 men. Again, the Koreans were outnumbered. Kim Si-min had recently acquired around 170 arquebuses, equivalent to what the Japanese used. Kim Si-min had them trained and believed he could defend Jinju.

The Japanese charged and began to bring ladders to scale the wall. They also brought a siege tower to try to gain the higher ground. As a counter, the Koreans unleashed massive volleys of cannons, arrows, and bullets. Surprised, Hosokawa tried another angle of approach by using his arquebuses to cover the soldiers scaling the wall. This still had no success because the Koreans ignored the bullets and smashed ladders with rocks and axes. When the Koreans began to lob mortars down at the Japanese, the Japanese began to lose even more men.

After three days of fighting, Kim Si-min was hit by a bullet on the side of his head and fell, unable to command his forces. The Japanese commanders then pressed even harder on the Koreans to dishearten them. But the Koreans fought on. The Japanese soldiers were still unable to scale the walls even with heavy fire from arquebuses. The Koreans were not in a good position since Kim Si-min was wounded and the garrison was now running low on ammunition.

Gwak Jae-u, one of the main leaders of the irregular armies of Korea arrived at night with an extremely small band, not enough to relieve the Koreans at Jinju. Gwak ordered his men to grab attention by blowing on horns and making noises. About 3,000 guerrillas and irregular forces arrived at the scene. At this time, the Japanese commanders realized their danger and were forced to abandon the siege and retreated.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Battle
• of
• Jinju
• Museum
• Gwak
• Jae-u

[ANsetsuBUtai]

@DeusSoli92 1593(enough?)

[DeusSoli92]

@ANsetsuBUtai What year did the fortress fall to japanese hands?

[ANsetsuBUtai]

1st battle is a victory for koreans but in the 2nd siege of jinju,the fortress fell the japanese and lossing a lot of lives.....

[RalghaNarHhallasClan]

To the brave Korean warriors. I salute you.

[kempaku982]

Well I guess this is typical of Korean military leadership early in the war.. You only have to read Samuel Hawlyey's Imjin War to saw how many times Korean commanders led small forces in pointless attacks on larger Japanese forces sheltered behind castle walls.

[seeker21008]

im applying to cornell next year and for my application essay im using yi soon shin as a model of potential where he showed great leadership.

P.S This dude is a legend

[yichen100]

the troop should rush with the shield on that mean those who had shield would be in the first row and the rest would go behind them . That wad i was thinking .

[JanDzban000]

Gemini 8650150G070205081009926S3f1fb2­

[yisoonshin12]

Once the guy starts playing its like the Pied Piper lol.

[sixshot4]

japanese soldiers looks pretty good i like their awsome head gear lol