Japanese troops ravage and loot many key…
January 1593 CE
Japanese troops ravage and loot many key towns in the southern part of Korea, take Pyongyang, and advance as far north as the Yalu and Tumen rivers.
Konishi is by 1593 already planning to invade China.
Second Division commander Katō Kiyomasa, unhappy because of Konishi's glory from the capture of Seoul, plans to invade Hamgyong province in northern Korea and begin his China campaign.
With an army of twenty thousand men, Katō advances north, capturing every castle he arrives at, including all the castles along Korea's eastern border.
His first real resistance is at Haejungchang.
Katō meets northern Korean contingents, who are renowned as élites among the Korean army.
Korean cavalry charges the field and smashes Kato's army.
Katō, surprised, falls back to Haejungchang, a rice storage center, builds cover from rice pouches and waits for the attack to stop.
The Korean commander, feeling confident, orders the cavalry to charge and harass the enemy under cover.
Katō responds with heavy arquebus fire behind a 'rice wall' and forces the Koreans back to a nearby hill.
After nightfall, Katō silently leads his troops to the foot of the hill, orders an attack from three sides, and destroys the Korean force, thereby eliminating the last Korean resistance to his advance into northeastern China.