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The Battle of Salsu was an enormous battle that occurred in the year 612, during the second Goguryeo-Sui War, between Goguryeo (Korea) and Sui Dynasty (China). 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.[2][3] 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 lead to an overall campaign loss of all but 2,700 Sui troops out of 305,000 men.[4] 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.
[edit] References
- ^ a b The Three Kingdoms. National Assembly of South Korea. Retrieved on 2007-02-12.
- ^ KBS World
- ^ Goguryeo War - Kokuryo.com
- ^ Association for Asia Research- The forgotten glory of Koguryo
