| Date | July 6th - July 10th 1710 | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Sonbong Korea | ||||||||||||||
| Result | Decisive Russian Victory | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
The battle at Sonbong was the first action of the First Russo-Korean War. This battle was one of the least bloodiest for the Russians. For the Koreans, they lost the most at the battle in the whole war. This battle was considered the first action of unified Russia. This battle lasted from July 6th to July 10th, 1710. This was also the quickest battle of the war only lasting approximately four days.
Background[]
When Russian troops crossed the border into the Korean peninsula there was little fighting for the beginning of the war. When July 6th rolled around also known as the beginning of the First Russo-Korean War Russia saw very little fighting for the first couple of hours. Korean troops did not know what to do they fell back until 1:45 in the afternoon the troops got their orders to hold ground from Sukjong of Josen. Actually Sukjong did not really know what to do either. He also told his troops to hold their ground. Sukjong was visited when the Koreans held their ground.
Fighting in the Outskirts[]
When Russian troops finally confronted Korean troops in the outskirts many Koreans thought they would lose instantly so many ran away. When the Russian Commander Boris got info about the fighting in the outskirts he pushed his men to fight farther and closer into the main town. In the outskirts Korean strength was minimal compared to the full might of the Russian army. In the first few hours many Koreans died and many more were wounded.
Russian Flank[]
Although Russia had a large amount of troops on the outskirts there was another army coordinated mainly by Boris to flank the fighting in the outskirts. The Russian troops flanked the next day on July 7th leading to many Korean deaths. This flank lead the Koreans back into the town where fighting will carry on for the next two days.
Fighting Inside The Town[]
Once most of the Koreans were pushed back into the town Boris quickly ordered his troops to encircle the town to avoid any escapes. When the Koreans saw this happening many took a shot at leaving and many did succeed but were unfortunately rounded up to be sent back to try to break the Russians tight grip on the town. Once the Russians had a good encirclement they pushed in all at once on July 9th this push immediately resulted in many Korean deaths. .There was much fighting in corner to corner. Sukjong left to gather up an army leaving a very inexperienced commander behind to command whats left of the Korean defense force. With many more Russian Units on the way hope for the Koreans seemed hopeless. Then at 9:25 in the morning of July 10th, 1710, the surviving Koreans in the town surrendered to the Russian army. All Korean relief efforts failed due to lack of communication and poor troop experience overall.
Aftermath[]
The aftermath was 50 Russians killed 300 Koreans killed and many many more wounded. Due to it being the first battle, Russian propaganda made this look like a very large victory when it really wasn't. Russia marched through the town only to be pushed back months later.