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Battle of Pyongyang

After the initial fighting further to the south in July 1894, the Chinese ground forces focused on holding Pyongyang, beyond which there were no other defensible positions until the Yalu River, the border between Korea and China. The city was near a river to the south and east, mountains to the north, and was surrounded by walls. The Qing deployed 13,000 troops there from China, and the defenders spent almost two months preparing fortifications after they arrived in the city on August 4, including 27 forts. The Chinese were planning to use Pyongyang as their headquarters from where they would retake the rest of the Korean peninsula. The Qing forces in the city had a large quantity of modern equipment, and some of their best troops.

At 04:30 on 15 September, the Imperial Japanese Army converged on the city of Pyongyang from four directions, with a total of 23,800 troops. They launched an artillery barrage from the east and a feint from the south as a diversion from the main attack, coming from the north, which was the easiest direction to approach from. The Chinese put up a strong resistance, and it was some of the fiercest fighting of the war, but they did not fire on Japanese troops crossing the river and were not expecting another attack from the north. Once the Japanese entered the city, the defenders were defeated and the survivors fled, being attacked by a separate Japanese force as they retreated. The Japanese captured 35 artillery pieces, hundreds of rifles, and ammunition. The troops led by the Chinese Hui Muslim general Zuo Baogui notably fought well, until he was killed in action by Japanese artillery.

Taking advantage of heavy rainfall overnight, the remaining Chinese troops escaped Pyongyang and headed northeast toward the coastal city of Uiju. In the early morning of 16 September, the entire Japanese army entered Pyongyang.