The siege of Ulsan () was an unsuccessful Ming-

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

attempt to capture

Ulsan Ulsan (; ), officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's seventh-largest metropolitan city and the eighth-largest city overall, with a population of over 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighbo ...

from the Japanese. The siege lasted from 26 January to 19 February 1598.

Background

Yang Hao, Ma Gui, and Gwon Yul met up at

Gyeongju Gyeongju (, ), historically known as Seorabeol (, ), is a coastal city in the far southeastern corner of North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is the second largest city by area in the province after Andong, covering with a population of ...

on the 26 January 1598 and marched on

with an army of 50,000.

Battle

The allied army reached

on 29 January. The battle began with a false retreat that lured the Japanese garrison into a frontal attack. They were defeated with 500 losses and were forced to retreat to Tosan fortress. The allies occupied the city of Ulsan. On 30 January the allies bombarded the fortress and then took the outer wall of Tosan. The Japanese abandoned much of their food supplies and retreated into the inner fortress. The allies assaulted the inner fortress, at one point even taking a portion of the wall, but suffered heavy casualties. Their cannons were of no help since the fortress was situated too high to reach. Eventually the attack was called off, and a long

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

began. On 19 February the allied forces attacked again and were repelled. Seeing Japanese reinforcements arrive, Yang Hao decided to lift the siege and retreat, but the disorganized movement led to many stragglers being cut down by the Japanese, leading to heavy casualties.

Aftermath

Joseon and Ming forces losses according to Ming sources numbered 798 killed at the battle and a further 823 dead by injuries for a total of 1,621 dead. The wounded reached 2,908.There are also records that 10,000 to 20,000 Ming troops were killed in battle. Japanese records confirm 10,000 Ming army dead. According to Hawley, the Japanese garrison at Ulsan Castle numbered 10,000 men, with less than 1,000 surviving the siege. However, primary historical sources put the original garrison force at 20,000 and 23,000. Yang Hao would ultimately be called back to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

for his failure at Ulsan on 12 August 1598.

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * 桑田忠親 uwata, Tadachika ed., 舊參謀本部編纂, yu Sanbo Honbu 朝鮮の役 housen no Eki��(日本の戰史 ihon no SenshiVol. 5), 1965. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ulsan 1598, 1st Sieges of the Imjin War 1598 in Korea Conflicts in 1598 History of Ulsan Sieges involving China Battles involving the Ming dynasty Attacks on castles in Korea Encirclements