Requesting Two Hundred Hwanghae Examination Graduates for the Upper River, and Arms from the Capital請以黃海道出身二百名分守上流及京中軍器優數下送狀
臣觀今日京城防守形勢上流爲急而自驪州以及廣津凡二十三灘道里一百八十餘里設令賊兵全向一處則猶可合力支撑萬一散漫於江以南而隨處刼渡則軍兵數少力分勢弱恐難處處把截左防禦使邊應星時率束任選兵僅二千餘名分屯龍津婆娑等處措備守灘諸具而昨日因巡察使懲兵之令分送京城者亦多其餘束伍之軍則或入於。天兵馬草刈取之役或應刷馬支供之事奔走無暇故不得全聚待變形勢極爲孤弱如使上流有失則更無所望臣日夜寒心不知所出前日因臣。啓請徵召黃海道精兵一千名則方在京城不可出來而本道出身先運二百名則使之分守上流以爲添兵把截之計似爲便當令該司急速處置江灘防守之處必須多設火炮器械可以禦敵前日啓請火藥火器除婆娑等處守城排設外用於江灘者其數不多軍器寺所藏唐制子母炮火箭伏兎及連珠木棍勝字銃鉛鐵丸玄子銃弓子長片箭幷爲優數令次知官李自海押領載船下送交付於防禦使處以備戰用
Looking today at the posture of barring and holding Seoul, your servant finds the upper river urgent. From Yeoju to Gwangjin there are twenty-three fords in all, and the length is a hundred and eighty li and more. Supposing the enemy troops headed wholly for one place, we could still join our strength and hold out; but if they scatter along the south of the river and force a crossing at place after place, our troops are few in number and their strength divided and their posture weak, and I fear it would be hard to bar and cut them off at every place.
The sogo troops (속오군, 束伍軍) and picked troops now led by the Left Defense Commander Byeon Eungseong (邊應星) are barely two thousand and more; they are stationed in division at Yongjin, Pasaseong and those parts, and are furnishing the several engines for holding the fords. Yet by the Inspector's order of levy yesterday, those sent off in division to Seoul are also many. Of the sogo troops that remain, some have entered the service of cutting fodder for the Ming army and some are answering the duty of furnishing pack horses, and they are harried and have no leisure, so that they cannot be gathered whole to await events. The posture is utterly solitary and weak, and if there is a fault on the upper river there is nothing further to hope for. Your servant is sick at heart night and day and does not know what to do.
By your servant's request the other day, one thousand picked soldiers of Hwanghae were called up, but they are just now in Seoul and cannot come out. It would seem fitting to send first the two hundred military examination graduates of that province, to hold the upper river in division, and to make this the plan for adding troops and barring the crossing; let the office concerned dispose of it with urgency.
At the places where the river fords are barred and held, firearms and weapons and engines must be set out in quantity if the enemy is to be stopped. Of the gunpowder and firearms requested the other day, if what has been laid out for holding the walls at Pasaseong and those parts is taken away, what is left for use at the river fords is not many in number. Let the Chinese-made jamo cannon, fire arrows, boktto, yeonjumokgon, seungja muskets, lead shot, hyeonja cannon, bows and long pyeonjeon arrows kept in the Armory be made up in sufficient number and, under the charge of the duty officer Yi Jahae (李自海), loaded on ships and sent down and handed over to the Defense Commander, to be furnished for use in battle.