Day 7…….
The Battle of Salsu (612 CE)
Korea V China…..
Who Fought Who: Korean kingdom of Goguryeo VS Imperial China
Casualties: Goguryeo – minimal, Imperial China – 300,300
Legacy: The Sui dynasty fell into decline through loss of manpower and replaced by the Tangs. Goguryeo was left in peace.
This battle holds the reputation as being one of the most lethal open field battles in military history. Fought by the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo against the invading armies of China, the battle killed over three hundred thousand men within hours of starting on the Korean northern plains.
Under the Sui dynasty, imperial China was hell bent on expansion to secure it’s hold on domestic policies (seeing a pattern among these battles? one way to annoy your neighbours…start expanding). It saw the small kingdoms of Korea as easy pickings as they saw the Koreans as weaker both military and politically.
Over one million Chinese soldiers marched into Korea, one of the largest land invasions ever attempted by imperial China and the Koreans were not prepared to submit and roll over. The Chinese were constantly harassed by the retreating Koreans who wore down the huge army, diminishing it’s moral and frustrating efforts made by the Chinese to secure the Korean countryside. They eventually reached a shallow river north of Pyongyang where the Koreans had stopped running and now met their invaders.
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| Another Artist’s impression |
Korean General Euji Mundeok knew he could not beat the Chinese army via a set piece battle so instead he harnessed the powers of nature. The river the Chinese were crossing was dammed upstream which meant the water was shallow (you can see where this is going….). He opened the dam just as the Chinese were in the middle of fording the river, creating a huge wave of water that rushed down the valley, there was no time for the Chinese to react.
As the Chinese soldiers struggled in the water with their heavy armour, a huge Korean cavalry swept down on top of them, running down hapless survivors. The Chinses had to retreat so quickly that many of the soldiers could not outrun the Koreans, creating a trail of blood and death leading all the way back to the Chinese/Korea border at the Liadong Peninsula.
Sources (because I don’t know everything):
All About History, Vol. 7 pg 79
thehistorymonsteruk.wordpress.com 