Articles for Ordering the Troops into Ranks編伍事目

Item. The men of old set place and village side by side and so raised their soldiers. Now, following this intent, let each county first seek out what wards there are in its land, what villages there are in one ward, what hamlets there are in one village, and what households there are in one hamlet; and by each ward and each village, dividing them as they are wide or narrow, let company officers be appointed, and let each put forth banner chiefs and squad chiefs and pick the people and have them drill. This is the very method of raising the net-cord and taking hold of the collar. If hereafter the picking of soldiers be not exact, or able-bodied men be left out, or the drilling be not done diligently, the company officer and the banner chiefs and squad chiefs shall bear the guilt of it, and it cannot be pushed off on others.

Item. The method of dividing the charges follows the Jixiao xinshu (紀效新書), with a little added and taken away. One camp leads five battalions, and the battalion has its battalion commander (把摠); one battalion leads five companies, and the company has its company officer; one company leads three banners, and the banner has its banner chief; one banner leads three squads, and the squad has its squad chief; and one squad, counting the soldiers who cook the food (火兵), is eleven men. This is the great net-cord of it.

Yet within this there is besides a living and moving method, and one must not be bound fast. Now, following the people who live in each village and each hamlet, let those who are near one another be bound together to make a squad: if the men are many, then besides three banners, four banners or five are all well, and besides three squads, four squads or five are all well; and if the soldiers are few, then though one squad cannot be filled to eleven men but has only six men or seven, all is well. One must not shift these and attach them to those, nor take away what is near and attach it to what is far.

Yet once the division is clear — the soldier bound to the squad, the squad to the banner, the banner to the company, the company to the battalion, the battalion to the camp, and the camp to the commanding general — it is the posture of the arm working the fingers, and cannot be thrown into confusion. Whenever the art of formations is practiced or the troops are called out, the commanding general passes the order to the several camps, the camp commander passes the order at once to the battalion commander, the battalion commander passes the order at once to the company officer, and the company officer has the banner chiefs and squad chiefs each lead his own soldiers and all go forward together to the post in their charge. The hour must not be let slip; one who comes after the time appointed is dealt with by military law.

Item. Though the number of soldiers be great, when the commanding general gives an order to the camp commanders those he leads are only five men; when the camp commander gives an order to the battalion commanders those he leads are likewise five men; when the battalion commander gives an order to the company officers those he leads are likewise five men; and when the company officer gives an order to the banners and the banner to the squads it is only three men. Who under heaven cannot work five men or three? This is the very way of keeping the hold simple while the reach is wide. That Han Xin (韓信) handled them the better the more there were came only of the division being clear, and it goes no further than this. Now, because those who are commanding generals would all lead the soldiers with their own persons, they wear out their spirits and tire their strength and yet bring nothing into shape; which is truly a bewildered thing as well.

The left camp of Gyeonggi is Yongjin, and to it belong the troops of the eight counties of Icheon, Yeoju, Gwangju, Yanggeun, Jipyeong, Yangju, Pocheon and Gapyeong. Icheon makes the van battalion, Yeoju the left battalion, Gwangju the right battalion, Yanggeun and Jipyeong the center battalion, and Yangju, Pocheon and Gapyeong the rear battalion.

The right camp is Dokseong in Suwon, and to it belong the troops of Suwon, Namyang, Incheon, Bupyeong, Yangcheon, Tongjin, Gimpo and Anseong. The van camp is the mountain fortress of Seokseong in Yongin, and to it belong the troops of Juksan, Eumjuk, Jinwi, Ansan, Yangji, Yongin, Geumcheon and Gwacheon. The rear camp is the mountain fortress of Paju, and to it belong the troops of Goyang, Paju, Gyoha, Pungdeok, Jangdan, Yeoncheon, Sangnyeong, Yeongpyeong and the city of Gaeseong. The dividing of the battalions in each camp follows the pattern of the left camp.

The center camp is the troops of the Military Training Directorate in the capital; in ordinary times they are divided among the several camps, the several battalions and the several companies for drilling, and at the great review the troops of all five camps gather together in one place.

Ganghwa and Gyodong, being in the midst of the sea, make a camp of themselves and do not belong to the land forces.

For army provisions, let each camp reckon its troops and gather food; and when half a year's food is furnished and there is a surplus, let it be laid up little by little. Even a year's or two years' food — the more the better. Let one fit to handle food and army provisions be put forward and given charge of that business.

Arms too are to be furnished by each according to the number of its camp's troops, and here likewise the more the better. As for the banners and the gongs and drums and the like, let each camp furnish them. Let every camp choose a place that is vital and steep in its posture and looks down upon a broad field before it, where a training field may be set up, and there build a wall and raise towers and watchtowers and strive to make them sound; and in the places where the several battalions are, let ground be chosen as well and small redoubts made. In ordinary times the troops of the five companies are joined and taught and drilled here; and when there is business, the old and the young and the food and grain of the places near by are gathered in, the fields emptied, and they go inside and hold it. In the several companies and the several villages as well let training fields be set up, to make the training convenient.