Battle of Salsu

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Salsu


caption=
partof=the Goguryeo-Sui Wars
date=612
place=Salsu River, present-day Chongchon River
result=Decisive Goguryeo victory
combatant1=Sui Chinese
combatant2=Goguryeo Korean
commander1=Yu Zhongwen Yuwen Shu
commander2=Eulji Mundeok
strength1=305,000cite web |title = The Three Kingdoms |publisher = National Assembly of South Korea |url = http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php |accessdate = 2007-02-12 ]
strength2=10,000
casualties1=~302,300 casualties (mostly from drowning)
casualties2=FewInfobox Korean name
title=Korean name
tablewidth=315
color=lightsteelblue
hangul=살수대첩
hanja=薩水大捷
rr=Salsu Daecheop
mr=Salsu Taech'ŏpThe Battle of Salsu was an enormous battle that occurred in the year 612, during the second Goguryeo-Sui War, between the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo and Chinese Sui Dynasty. Goguryeo cavalry forces, although outnumbered, overwhelmed the Chinese troops in combat and eventually emerged victorious.

In 612, the Sui Emperor Yangdi invaded Goguryeo with a million men. [ [http://rki.kbs.co.kr/english/korea/korea_history_con22.htm KBS World ] ] [ [http://kokuryo.com/goguryeo_war.html Goguryeo War - Kokuryo.com ] ] However, at this time, Goguryeo General Eulji Mundeok defended fortresses against the Sui army and navy for several months and destroyed the Sui troops in retreat. An ambush at Salsu (Chongchon River) caused massive Sui casualties. When the Sui army had reached Salsu, the water level was shallow. Eulji Mundeok had already cut off the flow of water with a dam. When the Sui army had half crossed the river, Eulji opened the dam, and the onslaught of water left many thousands of Sui soldiers dead. The Goguryeo cavalry then charged the remaining Sui force. The surviving Sui forces were forced to retreat to Liaodong Peninsula to avoid being killed. This led to an overall campaign loss of all but 2,700 Sui troops out of 305,000 men. [ [http://www.asianresearch.org/articles/1613.html Association for Asia Research- The forgotten glory of Koguryo ] ] The Battle of Salsu is listed among the most lethal "classical formation" battles in world history.

With the victory over Sui dynasty in Salsu, Goguryeo eventually became the victor of the war itself, while the Sui Dynasty started to crumble from within and was finally brought down by internal strife, replaced by the Tang.

References