invasions as a challenge and threat to the Imperial Chinese tributary system. The Ming's interest was also to keep the war confined to the Korean peninsula and out of its own territory (to avoid territorial destruction); they entered into the conflict by dispatching reinforcements to attack from the north. In the engagements that followed, the majority of the Joseon army was focused on defending the northern provinces from Japanese offensives, while also supporting Ming army campaigns to recapture territory occupied by the Japanese. Consequently, it was the combination of these Ming-led land campaigns and Joseon-led naval warfare that eventually forced the Japanese army to withdraw from Pyongyang to the south, where the Japanese continued to occupy Hanseong and the southern regions with the exception of the southwestern Jeolla Province. The pursuing Ming and Joseon armies attempted to advance further into the south, but were halted by the Japanese army at the Battle of Byeokjegwan.Turnbull, Stephen. 2002, p. 143. Subsequently, the Japanese armies launched a counterattack in an attempt to reoccupy the northern provinces but were repelled by the defending Joseon army at Haengju fortress. Additionally, Joseon's civilian-led armies actively waged guerrilla warfare against the Japanese forces in the south, which weakened the Japanese hold in the cities they occupied. Afterwards, with supply difficulties hampering both sides, neither the Japanese nor the combined Ming and Joseon forces were able to mount a successful offensive or gain any additional territory, resulting in a military stalemate in the areas between Hanseong and Kaesong. The war continued in this manner for five years, and was followed by a brief interlude between 1596 and 1597 during which Japan and the Ming engaged in ultimately unsuccessful peace talks. In 1597, Japan renewed its offensive by invading Korea a second time. The pattern of the second invasion largely mirrored that of the first. The Japanese had initial successes on land, but the contribution of the Ming forces, as well as the Joseon navy's disruption of Japanese supply fleets, resulted in a withdrawal of Japanese forces towards the coastal regions of the peninsula. The pursuing Ming and Joseon forces, however, failed to dislodge the Japanese from their fortresses and entrenched positions in the southern coastal areas where both sides became locked in a ten-month long military stalemate. With Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death in September 1598, limited progress on land, and continued disruption of supply lines along the western and