Uiryeong Battlefield (의령)
In 1592, as the first three divisions of Hideyoshi’s invasion force reached the Imjin River north of Seoul, the first bright spot in the ground war happened in a manner worthy of a Hollywood movie, along a shallow stretch of the Nam River. There, Ankokuji Ekei attempted to lead several thousand Japanese troops across the river as part of a two-pronged invasion of Jeolla Province. His scouts identified the shallows of an old ford site and planted stakes in the river marking the route for the rest of the force. Korean guerrillas found the stakes before the main force arrived and moved them into more treacherous water. When Ankokuji’s men arrived and tried to cross, they foundered, causing great disruption. At this point, Guerrilla leader Gwak Jae-u ordered his 2,000 men stationed on the heights lining the western bank to attack, pouring arrows down upon the hapless enemy troops below. Ankokuji made several attempts to force the crossing, taking significant casualties, but Gwak’s rebels held firm and the Japanese withdrew north. The invaders were human after all!
There’s an old rail bridge on the site of what used to be Chongam Ford that has forever altered the battlefield. Flood control efforts along the Nam River have likewise made it difficult to imagine, today, why this was such a difficult obstacle for the Japanese to cross in 1592.
There is a nicely placed pavilion overlooking the site, giving some impression of the bluffs along the western bank of the Nam River.
Looking back toward those heights from the east bank of the river gives a good idea of what Ankokuji and his men faced as they attempted to cross what they thought was an undefended ford site.
View north from the western bank.
Looking north from the railroad bridge. The flatlands in that direction—with mountains and hills behind me to the south—are what inspired my most recent blog post titled “Why???” What a singularly bad place to cross the river!
And a view nortwest from the east bank. The flood control levee is visible, but there’s little real terrain once one gets north of Gwak Jae-u’s heights.
Uiryeong Sott’ba-ui has long been considered a lucky spot…no real connection to the 1592 victory as far as I can tell. Just one of the interesting things you run into when visiting famous historical sites!
A nice view of the heights along the west bank and the rail bridge in the late afternoon sun. It was a chilly day, but the lighting was nice.
Standing along the west bank and surveying the river (with less than optimal light settings!), I was forced to visualize the range of a Korean bowshot to get some idea of where Ankokuji attempted to cross. The tiny—but powerful—Korean bow could reach out to 300 meters, though effective range is about half that. With that rough calculation in mind, and knowing the high ground disappears quickly to the north, this is a likely crossing point. Again, given the nature of flood control efforts, it’s hard to imagine this being a difficult obstacle…
…that is until you see this photo from the 1800s, on display below the pavilion. That rocky island is Sottba-ui, looking north from the newly constructed rail bridge. This picture presents a MUCH more difficult obstacle to the invaders—and helps explain the need for such extensive flood control efforts. As the Battle of Uiryeong took place just after the rainy season, there’s a good chance this photo is more representative of what Ankokuji’s scouts found than the modern day pic above.
This memorial stone acknowledges the Gwak family and its contributions to the kingdom. The reason for it to be placed here is, of course, obvious!
No surprise either that this is the site the Korean people chose to honor the “Heaven Descended Red Coat General”…Gwak Jae-u.