Kwà Ân Yul (; 28 December 15376 July 1599) was a Korean army general and the commander-in-chief () of the Joseon period, who successfully led the Korean forces against Japan during the Japanese invasions of Korea. He is best known for the Battle of Haengju where he defeated an attacking force of about 30,000 Japanese with 2,800 troops.
Kwà Ân Yul hailed from the prestigious Andong Kwà Ân clan (); his father, Kwà Ân Ch'à Âl (), was the yeonguijeong. However, Kwà Ân did not begin his political or military career until he was 46. In 1582, he was first appointed to a position in the Korean government and promoted to several different positions including the mayor of Uiju () in 1591.
When the Japanese forces invaded Korea in 1592, Kwà Ân was appointed the mayor of Gwangju, Jeolla province and given the military command of the region. Kwà Ân and his troops followed his commander Yi Kwang and headed towards Seoul to join the main force. However, Yi was eventually defeated by Japanese at Yongin. Kwà Ân managed to retreat back to Gwangju, and gathered around 1,000 militia.
When Japanese troops at Geumsan, Jeolla province began to move to Jeonju, Kwà Ân moved his army to Ichi (ë°°ê³ ê°Â, ì´ì¹Â; 梨å³Â), a gateway to Jeonju. Ten thousand Japanese troops under Kobayakawa Takakage attacked Ichi. About 1,000 of Kwà Ân's men fought and won the battle. Kwà Ân supervised his unit by executing deserters personally, and his vanguard commander Hwang Chin () kept fighting despite a gunshot injury. The battle resulted in the recapture of the Jeolla province.
The Joseon Government recognized Kwà Ân's heroics, and named him the new governor of the Jeolla province in the following year. Kwà Ân then led an army of 10,000 to Gyeonggi Province to recapture Seoul once more, where he was joined by local militia and monks, which enabled Kwà Ân to gather up to 20,000 men. Kwà Ân's troops were stationed in Doksan Fortress near Suwon. Japanese forces led by Ukita Hideie laid siege to the fort for one month, and Kwà Ân's army was running out of water supplies. One day, Kwà Ân ordered several war horses to be brought on the fort wall and washed with grains of rice. From a distance, it looked like the horses were bathed with plenty of water. The Japanese, who were waiting for the fort's water supply to run out, lost their spirits and retreated to Seoul. Kwà Ân chased the retreating Japanese, inflicting heavy casualties of over 3,000 men. After the war, the king Seonjo built a monument on the top of Doksan named Semadae (), "the place where horses were washed", as a tribute to Kwà Ân. After the battle, the Joseon government ordered Kwà Ân to march northward and combat the Japanese in Seoul.
Kwà Ân and his men set up camp in the run-down fortress of Haengju () near Seoul. Although his forces were joined by local militias led by Kim Ch'à Ânil and monk soldiers led by , his entire unit in Haengju was no more than 2,800 men. Threatened by this action, Japanese commanders Katà  Kiyomasa and Ukita Hideie, attacked Haengju fortress with 30,000 men, trying to finish off Kwà Ân's troops once and for all. Ukita, who never led the attack in the frontline directly, led the Japanese toward the fortress. The Battle of Haengju commenced early in the morning of 12 February 1593. Japanese troops under Kato and Ukita, armed with muskets, surrounded the fortress and launched several massive attacks. However, Kwà Ân's forces and the civilians at the fortress resisted heavily, throwing rocks, arrows, iron pellets, burning oil and molten iron at the Japanese. Korean anti-personnel gunpowder weapons called hwachas and explosive cannon shells called heaven-shaking explosive shell () were also utilized in this battle. The Japanese, with over 10,000 casualties and top generals Ukita, Ishida Mitsunari, and Kikkawa Hiroie wounded, were compelled to retreat and fled the region.
After the battle, he kept his position, until the peace talks between Emperor Wanli of Ming Dynasty and Daijà Â-daijin Toyotomi Hideyoshi began. Then he moved to Jeolla province, and from then on, Kwà Ân Yul became the Dowonsu, the Commander-in-chief of Korean forces. He was briefly removed from office due to his harsh treatment of deserters, but was restored back again in the following year. He ordered the Admiral of the Navy, Wà Ân Kyun, to battle the Japanese in the Battle of Chilchonryang, which was won by Japanese. However, Admiral Yi Sun-sin was able to defeat the Japanese navy under Todo Takatora in the Battle of Myeongnyang. In 1597, Kwà Ân and the Chinese commander Ma Gui planned to combat the Japanese in Ulsan, but the Chinese commander-in-chief ordered Kwà Ân to withdraw. Then Kwà Ân tried to attack the Japanese in Suncheon, but the idea was again rejected by the Chinese.
After the war, Kwà Ân retired from all of his posts and eventually died on July 6, 1599. After his death, he was given the posthumous title of Yeonguijeong, and awarded the title of the Ildà Âng Sà Ânmu Kongsin () along with Yi Sun-sin and Wà Ân Kyun.
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