Receiving Orders, on Why We Were Beaten at Byeokje有。旨祇受後論碧蹄敗北緣由狀
今見李提督則深以我國軍兵善遁爲戒碧蹄之戰未知何將奔北卿其詳覈。啓聞事本月初七日同副承旨成貼有。旨書狀臣在東坡祇受臣觀於前世危亂之時必有一二將才而今時則絕乏雖統率軍兵而部分不明約束不定紛然雜糅有同趨市之人及其遇賊之際望風奔潰不可收拾國事之至此者不過因此而然耳加以軍不精鍊而將無撫循之素下多飢困而上無吮疽之惠將卒之心不相合一何能使之赴蹈湯火乎近觀諸陣中惟高彥伯所率楊州之軍頗從彥伯指揮出入戰陣不避死生蓋緣彥伯平時頗得士心與同甘苦臨事約束堅明故如此只恨其軍數少不能摧郤大敵耳至於他將則誅殺軍士非不多而士卒益不用命以此知爲將之道不專在於嚴酷也其日碧蹄之戰臣在坡州見。天將初無號令約束之事早朝高彥伯隨查將先進碧蹄斬殺倭賊甚多李薲率軍陣于前路十里餘及提督不意挺身獨出馳去欲親自體探不爲戰備李薲聞提督之去從他路隨進未及合勢而。天兵已為退來若於交戰之際我軍精銳數千從傍突出橫擊賊陣則似當不至於敗衂而未能爲之若論其罪則李薲當之矣然此日之事。天將自無號令所致不但罪在我軍其時臣猶在坡州而元帥金命元隨。天將在後目見其事更當詳問處之聞碧蹄之役各官出站下人及輸運糧草之人爭先呼號奔走擁塞前道與軍兵相雜俱退或多爲賊所害者云大功不成遷延至此者實此日一戰爲祟追思至今徒切痛惋
「Now, seeing Commander-in-Chief Li, I find that he takes it deeply as a warning that our country's soldiers are given to running away. It is not known which commander fled at the battle of Byeokje; let you examine the matter in detail and report.」 Such was the written directive, stamped with the seal and sent down by the Third Deputy Royal Secretary on the seventh day of this month, which your servant received at Dongpa (東坡).
As your servant sees it, in ages past, in times of peril and disorder, there were always one or two men of a commander's stuff; but now there are none at all. Though they lead troops, the divisions are not clear and the discipline is not settled, so that all is confusedly mixed, like people hurrying off to a marketplace. When they meet the enemy they break and flee at the mere sight of their force, beyond all gathering up. That the affairs of the state have come to this is from this alone.
Moreover, the soldiers have not been drilled to a keen edge, and the commanders have done nothing in ordinary times to soothe and settle them. Below, many are starved and worn out; above, there is no such kindness as sucking a man's boil. The hearts of commanders and soldiers are not joined into one; how then can they be made to leap into boiling water and fire?
Looking of late among the several camps, only the Yangju troops led by Go Eonbaek (高彥伯) do indeed follow Go Eonbaek's direction, going in and out of the field of battle without choosing between death and life. This is because Go Eonbaek has in ordinary times won the hearts of his soldiers well and shares with them bitterness and sweetness alike, and because in the face of a task his discipline is firm and clear. It is only to be regretted that his troops are few in number and cannot break and drive back a great enemy. As for the other commanders, they have cut down and killed not a few soldiers, yet the troops obey orders all the less. By this one may know that the way of being a commander does not lie in harshness and cruelty alone.
On the day of that battle at Byeokje your servant was at Paju, and he saw that the Ming general had from the first no commanding or disciplining whatever. Early in the morning Go Eonbaek followed General Zha (査將) and advanced first to Byeokje, where he cut down a great many of the Japanese, and Yi Bin (李薲) led his troops and encamped some ten li up the road ahead. But the Commander-in-Chief unexpectedly broke away and went forward alone, riding off meaning only to look things over himself, and made no preparation for battle. Yi Bin, hearing that the Commander-in-Chief had gone, followed after by another road, but before he could join his strength to his the Ming troops had already withdrawn.
Had several thousand picked men of our army rushed out from the side when the fighting was joined and struck the enemy's lines in the flank, it seems it would not have come to defeat; but this was not done. If the fault be weighed, Yi Bin ought to bear it. Yet this day's affair came of the Ming general's having no commanding of his own, and the fault does not lie with our troops alone. At that time your servant was still at Paju, while the Field Marshal Kim Myeongwon (金命元) was behind, following the Ming general, and saw the matter with his own eyes; let him be questioned again in detail and the matter settled.
Your servant hears that at the battle of Byeokje the servants who had come out to the post stations from the several districts, and the men carrying grain and fodder, cried out and ran forward each before the other, choking the road ahead, and, mingling with the soldiers, withdrew together with them, so that many of them suffered harm from the enemy.
That the great work has not been accomplished and has dragged on to this pass was truly brought on by that one day's battle. Looking back on it even now, your servant can only feel grief and bitter regret.