Hastened Report on Meeting Vanguard Commander Shen and Discussing Affairs馳。啓見沈遊擊論事狀
沈遊擊昨日夕時自嘉山來宿于此今早發向肅川臣預送軍官問安于中路到舘後卽親詣候之則答以多謝且云路中只著行衣不便相見臣令譯官更通曰我以國命檢勅一路糧餉老爺無乃有分付之事乎答云雖行衣未安相見無妨臣入行禮後遊擊令設交椅自移其椅來就臣所坐幾於接膝云吾武人不閑禮貌勿咎因辟左右細問軍兵幾何糧料儲備幾何臣答以軍兵有管領之員非所管然大槪則可知遂言順安及三縣暨李鎰軍數又言諸道處處起軍勦賊之事糧料則粗備萬餘兵十餘日之糧今秋糓已熟方百計措辦答曰此處之軍恇怯善走吾當往彼親見其可用與否臣對以向來。天兵亦非不足而適天雨失利今若。天兵更出則蕩平非難此小邦日夜之望不然遲緩時日賊若集諸道之散出者合勢西來則恐有難支之患遊擊曰前日將官之罪不可勝言臣曰乃天時不齊而然非將官之罪遊擊曰旣誤軍機且誣言朝鮮與倭同反安有如此之事乎其將二人皆當死臣答曰小邦之事天日在上不須多說蒙老爺軫念如此不勝感激此外所說煩多而不能盡達同來譯官言遊擊來時小駐控江亭有一擺撥兒自順安來遊擊問我軍形止其人對云以朝鮮兵力無平賊之望其屯住順安不爲退北者亦爲多幸云云大槪我軍今日之勢極爲孤弱每日惟向釜山院往來而已更無他策賊安居飽食以逸待勞寧有自退之理乎臣日夜憂悶不知所出適湖城監之軍自遠來到頗慰軍情與之掎角稍可濟急而湖城監以肅拜事留軍三和獨向。行在朝廷急速發還便統其軍前進平壤之賊專備西北不備東南在我不無可乘之便而近日我軍每出一道不爲設奇乍進乍退終無望於挫其大勢極爲可慮其他糧料等事隨勢措置從後馳。啓計料但賊兵未退警報相續郡縣人民皆無固志事事渙散難集尤爲憂悶
Vanguard Commander Shen (沈遊擊) came from Gasan (嘉山) toward evening yesterday, lodged here, and set out this morning for Sukcheon (肅川). Your servant sent an officer ahead to pay respects on the road, and meant to go in person to see him as soon as the Vanguard Commander reached the government office; he said, "I am much obliged," yet also, "On the road I wear only travelling dress, so it is not convenient for us to meet." Your servant had an interpreter convey further, "I am overseeing the army grain of this one road by command of the state; has Your Honor nothing to charge me with?" — to which he said, "Travelling dress is awkward, but there is no harm in our meeting."
After your servant went in and performed the ceremony, the Vanguard Commander had a chair set out, and moved his own chair over to where your servant was sitting until their knees all but touched, and said, "I am a military man and not practiced in courtesy; do not hold it against me." He then dismissed his attendants and asked in detail how many troops there were and how much grain was laid up.
Your servant answered, "For the troops there are officers separately in charge of them and it is not what I am charged with, but in the main I can tell" — and thereupon gave the numbers of the troops at Sunan, in the three districts, and under Yi Il (李鎰), and spoke too of the raising of troops and striking of the enemy in various places in the several provinces. As for provisions, he said that a little over ten days' provisions for some ten thousand troops had been roughly provided, and that since this autumn's grain had already ripened they were just now preparing more by every plan.
The Vanguard Commander replied, "The troops here are full of fear and quick to flee; I ought to go there and see for myself whether they are usable or not." Your servant replied, "The other day the Ming troops too were not wanting, but it happened that rain fell from Heaven and was unfavorable. If now the Ming troops come out again, it will not be hard to sweep the enemy away, and this is what our small country hopes for night and day. If not, and the days are drawn out, and the enemy should gather the hosts that have spread out into the several provinces, join their strength, and come westward, it is to be feared there will be the trouble of our being hard put to hold out."
The Vanguard Commander said, "The guilt of the commanders and officers the other day is beyond telling." Your servant said, "This came about because the season of Heaven was unfavorable; it is not the guilt of the commanders and officers." The Vanguard Commander said, "They had already ruined the military plan, and then falsely charged that Joseon had rebelled together with the Japanese — how can there be such a thing? Those two commanders both deserve to die." Your servant answered, "In the affairs of our country the sun of Heaven is above us, so there is no need to say much. That Your Honor weighs it so deeply leaves me unable to overcome my gratitude." What was said besides this was too much and too tangled to report in full.
The interpreter who came with him said that on his way the Vanguard Commander halted a while at Gonggangjeong (控江亭), and when a courier came from Sunan the Vanguard Commander asked him the state of our troops, and the man answered, "With Joseon's military strength there is no prospect of pacifying the enemy; that they garrison and hold at Sunan and do not fall back and flee is itself good fortune."
In the main, the state of our troops today is deeply solitary and weak; daily they only go back and forth to Busanwon (釜山院) and there is no other plan. The enemy live at ease and eat their fill and await our weariness in their comfort — what reason is there that they should withdraw of themselves? Your servant is anxious and vexed night and day and does not know what to do.
As it happens, the troops of Hoseonggam (湖城監) have arrived from afar and have greatly comforted the hearts of the soldiers; if we take hold front and back together with him, the urgent need may be a little relieved. Yet Hoseonggam has left his troops at Samhwa (三和) and gone alone to the royal travelling court on the business of making his obeisance; let the court send him back with urgency, so that he may at once lead those troops and advance.
The enemy at Pyeongyang guard only the northwest and do not guard the southeast, so there is no lack of openings for us to seize. Yet of late our troops always go out by the one road and lay no extraordinary stratagem, advancing a little and withdrawing a little, so that there is in the end no prospect of breaking their great strength, which is deeply worrying.
As for provisions and other such matters besides, your servant plans to dispose of them as the situation allows and to report with haste afterward. Only, the enemy soldiers do not withdraw and alarms come one after another, so that the people of the districts are all without firm purpose and scatter at every turn and are hard to gather, which is the more worrying and vexing.