Yi Il gathered 1,000 men from among the local peasantry in Sangju. Yi Il did not want to be annihilated inside Sangju so he arranged his men on a small hill nearby. When a messenger arrived, warning of the Japanese approach, Yi had him beheaded, so that his announcement would not lower his men's morale. Yi Il then sent out a scout to locate the position of the Japanese army. Unfortunately, the scout was shot and killed by a Japanese sharpshooter. When the scout did not return, Yi Il assumed the Japanese were nearby. Soon, the Japanese soldiers under General Konishi Yukinaga appeared.