panese had for
generations maintained a trading post. After the arrival of Kato the two
divisions marched towards the capital, reducing without difficulty the
castles that lay in their way. The greatest terror prevailed among the
inhabitants, and the court, with King Riyen at its head, resolved to flee
into the province bordering on China. The armies reached the capital and
then set out northward. The dissensions between the commanders had by this
time reached such a point that they determined to separate. Kato traversed
the northeastern provinces and in his course captured many Koreans of
rank.

Konishi marched to the north and found the king at Pingshang on the
borders of the river Taitong-Kiang. Here he was joined by Kuroda Noritaka,
whom the Jesuit fathers named Condera(181) Combiendono, and by Yoshitoshi
the prince of Tsushima, who had marched with their forces by a different
route. An effort at negotiations at this point met with no success. The
king continued his flight northward to Ichiu, a fortified town on the
borders of China. After he left a sharp contest took place between the
besiegers and defenders, which resulted in the abandonment of the town and
its capture by the Japanese. The stores of grain which had been collected
by the Koreans were captured with the town.

Konishi was anxious to conduct further military operations in connection
with the Japanese vessels which had been lying all this time at Fusan.
Directions were accordingly sent to have the junks sent round to the
western coast. The Koreans picked up courage to show fight with their
vessels, which seemed to have been of a superior construction to those of
their enemies. They allured the Japanese boats out to sea and then turned
upon them suddenly and treated them so roughly that they were glad to get
back to the protection of the harbor and to give up the purpose of
cruising along the western coast. The result of this little success
encouraged the Koreans so much that it may be said to have been a turning
point in the invasion.

In the meantime the piteous appeals of the Koreans to China had produced
some effect. A small army of five thousand men, which was raised in the
adjoining province of Laotung, was sent to their aid. This insufficient
force rashly undertook to attack the Japanese in Pingshang. But they led
the invaders into the town, and then so thoroughly routed them that the
escaped remnants made their way back to Laotung. This experi