Battle of Byeokjegwan

Part of the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598)

Date	January 27, 1593
Location	Byeokjegwan, a lodging house along the main road to China
Result	Japanese victory

Belligerents

Japanese army

Ming Dynasty army and Korean allies.

Commanders and leaders

Tachibana Muneshige
Ukita Hideie
Kobayakawa Takakage

Li Rusong

Strength

30,000 to 40,000 including infantry, cavalry and arquebus squads

20,000

Casualties and losses

Korean source claim: 120+ killed

Chinese claim: 3,000-5,000

Estimates by Western historians: 6,000 killed

Japanese source claim: 6,000 killed

Japanese victory

Korean source claim: 120+ killed

Estimates by Western historians: 6,000 killed

The Battle of Byeokjegwan (or Pyŏkje) (Chinese: 碧蹄館大戰; Bì tí guǎn dàzhàn) was a battle fought on January 27, 1593 (January 26 according to the Japanese calendar of the time), between the armies of the Ming Dynasty led by Li Rusong, and the Japanese forces under Tachibana Muneshige, Ukita Hideie, and Kobayakawa Takakage. As part of the Japanese Invasion of Korea (Imjin War), it was the first field battle fought during the war between the two sides.

Li Rusong and the Ming army of 36,000 set out from Liaodong on December 25, 1592, in an effort of the Ming army to aid the Joseon Dynasty, which had already largely been overrun by Japanese forces. Li was initially successful, and he retook Pyongyang in a one-day direct assault on January 8. He recaptured the major city of Kaesong not long after.

The capital city of Seoul was the Ming force's next target. Li began to send early scouting parties towards Seoul in late January. A few skirmishes occurred between the two sides. Li left behind a few thousand men to defend Pyeongyang and Kaesong and set out for Seoul with his main force.

Soon after retaking Pyongyang, Li also succeeded in retaking the major city of Kaesong on 19 January and met only minor resistance from the Japanese defenders. Overconfident with his recent success and possibly misled by false reports, Li Rusong advanced towards the capital city of Seoul with his allied army of 20,000 on January 21 of 1592. On January 26, the force ran into an unexpected confrontation at Byeokjegwan by a large Japanese formation of about 30,000.

On the same morning, Li's advance party, under General Zha Dashou (查大受) along with the Korean general Go Eon-baek (고언백(高彦伯)) approached the Byeokjewan area north of Seoul. The Japanese force became aware of the advance and Tachibana Muneshige sent out a small party of 500 to 600 men to lure the Ming army forward. The Ming party took the bait and attacked the Japanese party. The Ming advance party was soon met by Muneshige's main force (3000 strong) coming in from the flanks and was forced to pull back, becoming trapped in the nearby hills.

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Wikipedia