One of the most determined and largest scale attempts to conquer the Korean peninsula was made by the Sui Dynasty Chinese state in the 6th Century CE. It ended as a total disaster that lead to the ending of the Sui dynasty itself and a significant reduction in the ambitions of subsequent Chinese emperors. What happened and why was it so disastrous?
The Sui emperor Yang Jian (known as Emperor Wen) achieved his conquest of China by 589 CE, thereby uniting the various Chinese cultural regions from the antipathy and warfare that had engulfed them. He appealed to his people according to Buddhist principles and claimed authority as a Cakravartid king - that is, a universal ruler worthy of kingship because of personal virtue and the mandate of heaven. Emperor Wen energetically set about reordering the administration of his empire and setting the military onto a more rational basis - as a result of internecine warfare, military units had been dispersed far and wide and command systems were very different. This reorganisation was the precursor to armed expansion in all directions. To the west, attacks on Turkic peoples were aimed in part at obtaining horses and horse-rearing territory, which was always an important objective for Chinese military leaders. In the south, an army destroyed the Cham state, deploying crossbows and pit traps to defeat the dreaded elephants.
In the north, Sui hegemony was resisted by Koguryo and the Korean peoples. Koguryo at this time occupied lands as far west as the Liao river, while aggressive Manchurian tribes had invaded to create the states of Silla and Paekche which shared the peninsula with Koguryo. Mountainous and inhospitable, Korea represented just as daunting a task then as it does now. Its capital was then Pyongyang, in the north of Korea, which was then conveniently located to direct military operations against invaders from the west. One of the most important problems facing the Chinese was how to mobilise the large armies they would need and supply them in a hostile environment. Chinese field armies were generally cumbersome entities provided with a wide range of conveniences and comforts that slowed down any movement or manoeuvres.
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