Battle of Salsu

Part of the Goguryeo–Sui War

Date	612
Location	Salsu River, present-day Cheongcheon River
Result	Decisive Goguryeo victory, contributing to the collapse of the Sui dynasty

Belligerents

Sui (China)

Goguryeo (Korea)

Commanders and leaders

Yu Zhongwen
Yuwen Shu

Eulji Mundeok

Strength

~305,000 (nominal)

Unknown

Casualties and losses

302,300 casualties

Unknown

Korean name
Hangul	살수대첩
Hanja	薩水大捷
Revised Romanization	Salsu Daecheop
McCune–Reischauer	Salsu Taech'ŏp

The Battle of Salsu was an enormous battle that occurred in the year 612 during the second campaign of the Goguryeo–Sui War between Goguryeo of Korea and Sui of China. Goguryeo won an overwhelming victory over the numerically superior Sui forces at Salsu River.

In 612, Emperor Yang of Sui invaded Goguryeo with well over one million men. Unable to overcome the stalwart Goguryeo defense at Liaoyang/Yoyang, he dispatched 300,000 troops to Pyongyang, the capital of Goguryeo.

Goguryeo General Eulji Mundeok defended against the Sui forces for months, inflicting damage while feigning retreat deep into Goguryeo territory, where an ambush at the Salsu River (Cheongcheon River) was prepared and waiting. Eulji Mundeok had cut off the flow of water with a dam in advance, and when the Sui troops reached the river, the water level was shallow. When the unsuspecting Sui troops were halfway across the river, Eulji Mundeok opened the dam, causing the onslaught of water to drown thousands of enemy soldiers. The Goguryeo cavalry then charged the remaining Sui forces, inflicting enormous casualties.

The surviving Sui troops were forced to retreat at a breakneck pace to the Liaodong Peninsula to avoid being killed or captured. Many retreating soldiers died of disease or starvation as their army had exhausted their food supplies. This led to an overall campaign loss of all but 2,700 Sui troops out of 300,000 men. The Battle of Salsu is listed among the most lethal "classical formation" battles in world history.

With victory over Sui China at the Salsu River, Goguryeo eventually won the Goguryeo-Sui War, while the Sui dynasty, crippled by the enormous loss of manpower and resources as a result of its Korean campaigns, started to crumble from within and was finally brought down by internal strife, to be replaced soon thereafter by the Tang.

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Wikipedia