Koguryo forces had allied with a Tungusic tribe to raid Sui lands in 598 and this both enraged Emperor Wen and provided a sufficient reason to launch an invasion. Some 300,000 troops were mobilised for the invasion but the advent of heavy rains slowed them down and sickness and disaffection destroyed the offensive capability of the force. Nevertheless, the Koguryan king felt it prudent to apologise and this led to the continuance of an uneasy peace.
In the following years, Emperor Wen was able to complete the canal network linking the economic powerhouse of the southern region with the strategic northern region and, in 607, as a result of the revelation of secret negotiations between Koguryo and the eastern Turks, had a suitable reason to make war. As many as 30,000 naval labourers were brought up to Shandong to create an invasion fleet and the entire labour force of two provinces was ordered to provide supplies for the force. The Emperor himself arrived to take charge of the effort. As many as 600,000 people, according to the chronicles, were designated to draw 'deer trucks' - wheelbarrows used to transport goods. To crew the fleet, 30,000 native javelin and skirmishing infantry were brought up from the south - hardly the type of troops likely to prove a sustainable menace in the changeable weather of Korea.
Chinese armies tended to rely on heavy weight of numbers and, while we may not believe the chronicles are always accurate in actual numbers, we may be confident that the relative numbers, especially compared to the enemy, are reasonably accurate. In contrast to the wild and whirling style of battles involving the cavalry of the nomads on the northern and western borders, Chinese battles tended to be relatively static and involve massed use of archery and crossbows, as well as artillery, together with the push of spears. The ability of the general to bring overwhelming force to bear on a single point was the most likely method of obtaining a major victory. Clearly, being able to ensure this tactic as part of a seaborne invasion is always likely to prove extremely problematic, especially in the face of inhospitable terrain and with the need to import nearly all supplies.
One of the main reasons why, as late as the second half of the twentieth century, Korea ranked as one of the world's ten poorest countries is the lack of natural resources and the difficulty in finding sufficient food.
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