Author: Jin-myung Kim
Publisher: RHK
2-volume set
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About This Book
The latest hit novel by the bestselling author Kim Jin-myung. In this exciting
new novel, Kim tells a story about the Great General Eulji Mundeok of Goguryo
(in Korean Peninsula) and his Great Battle of Salsu against Sui Dynasty of
China.
Eulji Mundeok was a Goguryeo military
leader. He was born in the mid-6th century and died in the early 7th century,
sometime after 618. He was born and raised in Goguryeo, in the turbulent Three
Kingdoms period of Korean history. Goguryeo was a powerful and warlike empire,
constantly warring with its neighbours, Silla to the southeast and Baekje to the
southwest. The balance of power was roughly equal between the Three Kingdoms,
however, and it took the injection of an outside influence to tip the balance.
This influence was supplied by the kingdoms much larger western neighbor,
China. In 589 China had been united under the Sui Dynasty, and this new dynasty,
hungry for power, would be the deciding factor in the struggles between Baekje,
Goguryeo and Silla. This was the background for Ulji Mundeok as he grew up. He
was an educated man, and eventually became a Minister of Goguryeo, with skills
in both the political and military sciences. He was called upon to render
service as a military leader, however, when the very existence of the dynasty
became threatened by alliances between its rival neighbors.
The great battle of Salsu: The Sui
Dynasty was suspicious of Goguryeo and saw its aggressive ways as threatening,
so, in 612, Sui Emperor Yang Di decided to subdue this dangerous neighbour and
prepared to attack. He mustered an army of over 1,138,000 combat troops and
auxillary of more than 2 million men and personally led them against Goguryeo.
They quickly overran Goguryeo's borders, camped on the banks of the Liao River
and prepared to bridge it. Ulji Mundeok, commisioned a Field Marshal, was called
upon to assist in the defence of the nation, and so he prepared to meet the
superior Sui forces with a strategy of false retreat, deception and attack.
After the Sui forces crossed the Liao River, a small contingent was sent to
attack the Goguryeo city of [Liaotung]], but Field Marshal Ulji sent his forces
to meet them there and drove them out. As the rainy season progressed, the Sui
forces tried other probing attacks, but these were not really of any
significance, as they were mainly biding their time until the rainy season
passed. When the rains stopped, Yang Di moved his forces to the banks of the
Yalu River in northwestern Korea and prepared for a major assault. General Ulji
visited the Chinese camp under the pretense of surrender in an attempt to
discover any Sui weaknesses. Yang Di's generals, Wu Joong Mun and Wu Mun Sul,
listened to Field Marshal Ulji and allowed him to leave the camp, but shortly
after changed his mind and set out after him. But it was too late – the general
had discovered what he needed to defeat the force. He had learned that the Sui
forces were short of provisions and had overstretched their supply lines, and so
he decided to pursue a strategy of gradual retreat, hoping to lure his enemy
deeper and deeper into hostile territory. He drew the Sui on and fought a kind
of guerrilla warfare, picking when and where he fought and allowing the Sui
forces to feel as though victory was close at hand, all the while luring them
deeper into his trap. A Sui advance force of over 305,000 men was sent to take
the city of Pyongyang. Field Marshal Ulji continued to lure them closer and
closer to the city, but led them to a strategic point where he could strike. His
forces attacked from all sides, driving the Sui troops back in utter confusion.
His troops pursued the retreating army, slaughtering them at will, so that it is
recorded that only 2,700 troops successfully made it back to the main body of
forces. This was the great battle of Salsu, and it has come to be known as one
of the most glorious military triumphs in Korea's national history. Following
this defeat, winter began to set in and the Sui forces, short on provisions,
were forced to return home. The Sui Dynasty was beginning to disintegrate and
Yang Di decided that he urgently needed to expand his empire in order to regain
power, but the two more desperate attacks on Goguryeo by Yang Di following
spring met with similar disaster, and eventually internal rebellion in China
forced the Sui to give up its desires on Goguryeo. By 618, the relatively
short-lived Sui Dynasty was replaced by the Tang Dynasty. Field Marshal Ulji
Mundeok's strategy and leadership had protected Goguryeo from the Chinese
ambition. Probably the most distinguished military leader of the Goguryeo period
and one of the most well-known generals in Korean history, Ulji's leadership and
tactical acumen was the decisive factor in saving Goguryeo from destruction at
the hands of the invading Chinese Sui Dynasty. He faced forces of far superior
numbers and not only turned them back but was able to pursue and destroy them
with such vigor that they were not able nor inclined to return. His life was
filled with enough spectacular success to earn him a permanent place among
Korea's most remembered. He is still celebrated as a great Korean hero, and a
main street in downtown Seoul, Ulji-ro, is named after him. The second highest
Military Decoration of South Korea, Field Marshal Lord Ulji's Order of Military
Merit, is named in his honour.
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