During the Imjinwaeran(壬辰倭亂), Hanseong(漢城, Seoul) had been occupied by the Japanese army for about a year. In this period, the battles to recapture Hanseoung broke out between the Chosun and the Japanese armies. This research shows each battle was not separate but consistent in that they occurred in the process of recapturing Hanseoung through the battle between two countries around Hanseong. And the study investigates that the battles made a chance to withdraw the Japanese army from Hanseong and were of the tactical importance during the Imjinwaeran.
Kwonyul(權慄) led his troops from Jeolla-do(全羅道) and moved to Suwon(水原) to recapture Hanseong. Doksanseong(禿山城) battle occurred between the Japanese army and the Chosun army under the command of general Kwonyul on December, 1592. This battle induced to withdraw the Japanese army without military collision. As a result, the activities of the Japanese army were limited to the Southern area of Hanseong.
At the end of January 1593, Kwonyul led his troops and stayed to Haengjusanseong(幸州山城) in Goyang(高陽). The Japanese army stationed in Hanseong led 30,000 troops and attacked Kwonyul''s forces. But his army succeeded to prevent the attacks from the Japanese. The victory of Haengjusanseong battle was due to both geographical and tactical factors. And battles which Kwonyul fought occurred in the strategic movement for the combined operation with the Ming.
After Haengjusanseong battle, various battles occurred in Sahan-ri(沙閑里) and Nowonpyeong(蘆原坪), northern area of Hanseong. The Chosun army beat the Japanese by using tactics different from the past. In these battles, Ryu seong-ryong(柳成龍) used an ambush operations and won the fights.
The Japanese army was under a strong pressure from the Chosun army through the defeat in the battles around the Hanseong. Other causes that led the Japanese army to withdraw from Hanseong were the loss of troops and food shortages. So the Japanese sought to expand to the vicinity of Hanseong to solve the food shortages, but ended in failure by the interruption of the Chosun army. Moreover, in the cause of these lots of battles, the Japanese suffered huge loss of troops.
The Chosun army developed superior tactics to break the Japanese army up through the various battles around Hanseong. On the basis of the experience, Chosun succeeded to put pressure on the Japanese troops stationed in Hanseong and to withdraw them.