Joseon’s Anti-cavalry tactics in open-field warfare during the War with the Manchurians that started in the Byeongja-year - Examination of the Joseon Royal Guard’s tactics in battles -

Rise of the Jurchens in the early 17^th century forced Joseon to change its tactics from the earlier years. After the war with the Japanese that broke out in the Imjin-year(1592), Joseon switched to a defense system heavily based upon artillery, which was neither ideal or optimal in responding to the Jurchens who were armed with a large cavalry force. When the Jurchens founded Hugeum(後金) and seized control of the Liaodung region, Joseon was significantly alarmed and began contemplation of employing new anti-cavalry tactics. Several options including cavalry training, spear-fighting and the use of chariots were discussed, but the aftermath of the previous war was still looming, preventing Joseon from pursuing any of those options. In the end, Joseon chose to employ two new options as the only viable yet practical and efficient alternatives.<br/> One of them was the ‘Yunbang(輪放)’ method using the Jochong(鳥銃) rifles in custody of the Joseon army. “Yunbang” referred to the practice of engaging the enemy with continuous group-wide open-fire in rotations, done so to maintain constant firepower upon the enemy. The Jochong rifles at the time required a lot of time in reloading, so in order to stop or stall the enemy advance, such method was considered to be necessary and imperative. The other was ‘Yajeon Chukseong(野戰築城),’ which could be translated literally as ‘constructing fortresses to assist field battles,’ but in reality it rather meant construction of makeshift-combat platforms for open-field warfare. Said platforms were realized as movable defense-tools against horses such as stockades, which were supposed to be effective in protecting gunnery personnel from horsebound attacks.<br/> However, in the midst of this shift the Qing cavalry launched a full-scale attack on the Han’yang capital of Joseon, and King Injo and the Joseon government took refuge at the Namhan Sanseong fortress. Joseon’s new tactics were put to the test, as soldiers of the Royal guard -who were conscripted from everywhere throughout the country- converged on the fortress to save the King and valiantly fought the Qing army. In this article, such struggles are examined from the perspective of anti-cavalry tactics.