Post-Ulsan skirmishes (Patreon)

While Siege of Ulsan already ended, hostilities between both sides did not simply stop. As a prelude to the coming Siege of Sacheon, a series of skirmishes was fought between Ming and Joseon army and Japanese troops under Shimazu Yoshihiro (島津義弘). While these skirmishes had little to no direct consequence to the overall strategic picture of Imjin War, reading about them can shed some insights on the overall situation and atmosphere after the siege, as well as what was happening in-between the better remembered set-piece battles and major siege campaigns. 

Information in this article is taken from the well-researched 《万历朝鲜战争全史》 authored by Zhu Er Dan (朱尔旦), a.k.a. the critic of Samuel Hawley's book. I highly recommend anyone interested in learning more about Imjin War (and can read Chinese) to buy a copy of this book.

Before Ming army attacked Ulsan in the earnest, Ming military commissioner of Korea Xing Jie (邢玠) arranged a contingent of Ming troops to be stationed at Uiryeong to stand watch against potential reinforcement from Konishi Yukinaga (小西行長) at Suncheon Fortress and Shimazu Yoshihiro in Jinju and Sacheon Fortress, although the contingent did not see major action throughout the siege campaign. On February 11, 1598, one day after Ming army retreated from Ulsan, the contingent at Uiryeong dispatched a small scouting party of 15~16 Ming cavalrymen to reconnoitre the outskirt of Jinju. Unfortunately, they were discovered by the Japanese. Defending commanders of Jinju city, Mihara Shigetane (三原重種) and Minowa Jibuemon (蓑輪治部右衛門), quickly sent out their troops to engage Ming scouting party. Upon encountering Japanese troops, Ming scouting party immediately retreated. However, one of the scouts failed to escape in time and was captured.

The scout was brought back to Jinju for interrogation, and confessed that he was part of the forward scouting party of a ONE MILLION strong Ming army, which had arrived in Jeonju and Namwon and was about to launch a new offensive to annihilate all Japanese in Jinju (he was obviously bluffing, but the Japanese had no way of knowing it). Upon learning the scout's confession, Shimazu Yoshihiro was worried that Japanese army at Jinju could not stand up against such a massive attack, so he ordered Mihara Shigetane and Minowa Jibuemon to immediately pull out of Jinju and retreat to the more secure Sacheon Fortress. Meanwhile, other Japanese commanders were also deeply terrified by the news. On March 3, 1598, Ukita Hideie (宇喜多秀家), Mōri Hidemoto (毛利秀元) and Hachisuka Iemasa (蜂須賀家政) as well as many others wrote a joint petition to Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣秀吉), seeking permission to abandon Ulsan, Suncheon and Yangsan Fortress in order to narrow down the battlefront to a more manageable size. Hideyoshi angrily declined their request.

On March 4, 1598, Hideyoshi, in reflection of the total intelligence failure that resulted in the disastrous first day of Siege of Ulsan, specifically wrote a letter to Shimazu Yoshihiro, asking him to strengthen reconnaissance and intelligence gathering as well as bolster defence. On his part, Shimazu Yoshihiro also quickly realised that the so-called "one million-strong Ming army" was suspiciously silent, so he ordered his troops to return to Jinju and resume raiding and pillaging activities.

Thus began a series of skirmishes between Shimazu Yoshihiro's troops and Ming and Joseon army in Gyeongsang and Jeolla Province.

The Skirmishes

On March 27, 1598, about 200 Shimazu Yoshihiro's troops left Jinju to raid the countryside. They formed into three raiding parties, one moving towards Aneum of Gyeongsang Province, while the other two attacked Hamyang (also in Gyeongsang) and the neighbouring Unbong and Sannae (inside Jeolla Province). The Koreans were quickly alerted by Japanese activities, and several Joseon commanders such as Yi Gwang-ak (이광악 or 李光岳), Yi Gyeong-jun (이경준 or 李慶濬) and Won-sin (원신 or 元愼) joined force with Ming army and set out to relief Sannae. Unfortunately, the raiding party at Sannae immediately retreated after detecting Joseon and Ming movement. Ming and Joseon troops arrived at the scene only to find not a single Japanese in sight, and had to return empty-handed. After Ming and Joseon troops left, Japanese raiding parties in turn raided and burnt Deunggu-hyeong (등구현 or 登丘縣) under Hamyang. Yi Gyeong-jun attempted to engage the Japanese again, but was prevented from doing so by heavy snowing.

On April 3, 1598, Ming army received report about raiding activities of Shimazu Yoshihiro's troops at Geochang. Ma Gui (麻貴) dispatched Jie Sheng (解生) and Bai Sai (擺塞) to suppress the Japanese. Jie Sheng and Bai Sai moved out on April 6, 1598, arriving at Chunju one week later. Unfortunately, Bai Sai fell ill during the journey (afflicted with a condition called "phlegm fire" in Traditional Chinese medicine) and was unable to continue his mission. He returned to Jinwi on May 1, 1598, and died shortly after. After Bai Sai's passing, command of his troops was transferred to Jie Sheng.

On April 29, 1598, Jie Sheng led 500 retinues and joined force with Joseon commander Jeong Gi-ryong (정기룡 or 鄭起龍). The combined force then split into two contingents. The main contingent, headed by Jie Sheng and Jeong Gi-ryong, departed Jirye and went to Hapcheon and Samga, while the secondary contingent marched west to Geochang and Gampal (감팔 or 憨八).

After arriving at their destinations, Jie Sheng stationed his troops at Hapcheon, whereas Jeong Gi-ryong stationed his at Samga. Before long, Jeong Gi-ryong detected Japanese pillaging activities at Sampa, and called Jie Sheng to engage the Japanese together. Shimazu's troops, numbered around 200 men, immediately retreated in the face of the large combined force and were pursued to the southern part of Samga. There Shimazu's troops climbed to the top of a mountain and tried to rely on natural terrain to defend themselves. Unwilling to risk an uphill battle, Jeong Gi-ryong conduct a feigned retreat to draw Shimazu's troops out to flat ground, then attacked and defeated them in a pincer attack with Jie Sheng. In this skirmish, Joseon troops beheaded 24 Japanese troops whereas Ming troops beheaded 72. In addition, they rescued 150 Korean captives. 

The secondary contingent wasn't as lucky. While it also encountered another group of Shimazu's troops numbered around 300 men, Shimazu's troops at Geochang and Gampal quickly took on a defensive posture. Due to narrow roads and difficult terrain, secondary contingent was unable to mount an effective attack, and only managed to behead one Japanese troop.

On May 15, 1598, Joseon commanders Yi Gwang-ak, Yi Gyeong-jun and Won-sin led a large force of several thousand Joseon troops and marched toward Jangsu in Jeolla Province along with about 500 Ming troops. As they closed in on Janggye where Shimazu's troops were located, Shimazu's troops immediately retreated. Joseon and Ming troops also left after their retreat.

On May 16, 1598, Shimazu's troops stationed in Sacheon Fortress moved out to pillage Hamyang and San-eum. Jeong Gi-ryong joined force with Ming army and defeated them.

On May 24, 1598, Shimazu's troops once again raided Geochang. Ming commander Li Ning (李寧) received news that Shimazu's troops were coming from Saneum, so he led 130 troops and joined force with Jeong Gi-ryong to intercept them. They engaged the Japanese at Sageundo Postal Station of Hamyang. Unfortunately, during battle Li Ning's mount was shot by Japanese matchlocks. He fell from his horse and was subsequently hacked to pieces by Shimazu's troops. The lost of two capable commanders (Bai Sai and Li Ning) in such a short amount of time dealt a heavy blow to Ming army.

(It should be noted that there were multiple commanders named Li Ning in the Ming army. This particular Li Ning was the same one that fought at Battle of Byeokjegwan. There was another Li Ning who was a subordinate of Liu Ting and took park in Siege of Suncheon. He survived Imjin War.)

On July 7, 1598, Shimazu's troops from Sacheon Fortress left the fortress by ships to pillage the countryside. Instead of Gyeongsang Province, this time they targeted Jeolla Province. Upon landing, Shimazu's troops split up and marched towards Nag-an, Boseong and Heungyang, causing a mass exodus as Korean civilian fled before the pillagers. As Shimazu's troops passed by Chohyeon, dozens of Ming troops joined force with several Joseon commanders and tried to resist them but were defeated. 

Joseon admiral Yi Sun-sin (이순신 or 李舜臣), who used to command Jeolla Left Navy (although he had since been reinstated as the supreme commander of Joseon Navy before Battle of Myeongnyang), learnt of the news about Shimazu's activities in Jeolla Province, and wanted to sent his troops to defend it. However, he was ordered by Ming admiral Chen Lin (陳璘) to cancel the mobilisation, as Chen Lin felt that land battle was of a very different nature from naval battle, and didn't want to put Yi's naval troops at unnecessary risk. Without Yi Sun-sin's interdiction, Shimazu's troops continued their raiding activities unopposed until they reached Baegyewon (배계원 or 培界院) in Nagan, then they returned to Gyeongsang Province.

On August 24, 1598, around 20 Shimazu's troops stationed in Gonyang sneaked out of the town into Jeolla Province. They were engaged and repelled by Ming troops near a river called Jibuncheon (지분천 or 知分川) in Gwangyang.

Around late August or late September, about 500 Shimazu's troops left Sacheon Fortress to pillage the countryside. They split into two groups, one group passed through Hamyang and raided Yuksimnyeong at Gyeongsang-Jeolla border, while the other group passed through Geochang and headed towards Muju and Geumsan. Joseon commander Baeg Yeong-nam (배경남 or 裴敬男) led several hundreds Joseon troops and rushed to Muju. He joined force with local defenders to resist the Japanese, but was nevertheless defeated. Desperate, Baeg Yeong-nam sent an alert to Ming army stationed in Jeonju. Upon hearing the alert, Ming general Dong Yi Yuan (董一元) immediately dispatched several hundred Ming infantry to assist Joseon troops, and together they defeated Shimazu's troops, beheading 20 Japanese.

On September 21, 1598, Shimazu's troops that were defeated during the previous encounter evacuated Jeolla Province and returned to Gyeongsang Province. Ming commander Lan Fang Wei (藍芳威) dispatched his troops to pursue them all the way to Hamyang, beheading 42 Japanese troops and rescued about 100 Korean captives in the process. Soon after, Ming army in Jeolla Province began a major mobilisation. Several thousand Ming troops poured into Gyeongsang Province through Jeonju, Geumsan and Namwon. Alerted by Ming movements, Shimazu Yoshihiro sent his troops in Sacheon Fortress to San-eum to access the situation. Unfortunately for him, Lan Fang Wei found his scouts and defeated them, beheading another 40 Japanese. Despite repeated victories, Lan Fang Wei was not confident that Shimazu's army could be decisively crushed by several thousand Ming troops, so he ordered Ming army to pull out of Gyeongsang Province.

On late September 1598, around 500 Shimazu's troops once again left Jinju to pillage. They arrived at Jirisan at the border of North and South Jeolla Province and massacred the locals. After being alerted of Japanese raiding activities, Lan Fang Wei once again dispatched his troops and defeated them. This defeat finally put a stop to Shimazu Yoshihiro's pillaging activities, at least for a while.

EXTRA

I've put together a map in with all locations mentioned in this article marked (to the best of my ability) using Google Earth. You can view the Google Earth map with this link, or download it in .KML format from the attachments section below.