over the Han River, where he would wait for Chinese reinforcements. After he was informed that the Ming army under Li Rusong was pushed back at Byeokje, Gwon Yul decided to fortify Haengju. Kwon's force of 2,300 men were a mixture of regulars, warrior monks, and Righteous Army guerrillas. Bolstered by the victory at the Battle of Byeokjegwan, Katō Kiyomasa and his army of 30,000 men advanced to the south of Hanseong to attack Haengju Fortress, an impressive mountain fortress that overlooked the surrounding area. An army of a few thousand led by Gwon Yul was garrisoned at the fortress, waiting for the Japanese. Katō believed his overwhelming army would destroy the Koreans and therefore ordered the Japanese soldiers to simply advance upon the steep slopes of Haengju with little planning at about 6 am. Gwon Yul responded to the Japanese advance with fierce fire from the fortification using hwachas, rocks, handguns, and bows. The hwach'a ("fire wagon") was a cart that could fire either 100 rockets or 200 arrows at once; the hwach'a took much time to load, but were capable of bringing down deadly fire. Gwon had trained his men to fire their hwach'as all at once, and as the Japanese were packed closely together, the volley from the "fire wagons" inflicted heavy losses. The women of Hanseong joined their menfolk, bringing up rocks in their skirts. In the course of nine assaults, the Japanese pushed the Koreans back to their second line, but could no further, losing about 10,000 dead in the process. The Jingbirok wrote: "Gwon Yul ordered his soldiers to gather the dead bodies of the enemy and vent their anger by tearing them apart and hanging them on the branches of the trees". Facing unexpected resistance and mounting casualties, Katō Kiyomasa burned his dead and finally pulled his troops back. The Battle of Haengju was an important victory for the Koreans, as it greatly improved the morale of the Korean army. The battle is celebrated today as one of the three most decisive Korean victories (the other two being the 1592 Battle of Hansan Island and siege of Jinju). Today, the site of Haengju fortress has a memorial built to honor Gwon Yul. By this time, the Japanese invasion force of about 150,000 men were down to about 53,000 men, with Chinese reinforcements arriving every day. Most of the Japanese were suffering from hunger,