Instructions to the Gyeonggi Right Defense Commander諭京畿右防禦使文
傳聞秃城城前設爲木栅排比太密其處形勢不能目見徒以傳聞便否難知但木栅太密遮蔽眼目賊之在遠時則可以石車砲矢制之若近在木栅之下城上之人爲木栅所礙放砲發矣皆不如意反爲有害南方鎭堡城外垓子之外自前兩樹枳木亭時以爲奇䇿而賊來反以枳本自蔽放砲城上之人不得制之此亦可爲深戒設栅形止急速詳審牒報勿令畫蛇添足徒困民力城堞多少預爲參量分定各軍東西南北某堞則某某人守之各定其所不相紊亂又出遊軍俟賊勢所向合力守禦此乃守城大法秃城之堞幾何而守城之軍足與不足預爲參定磨鍊於五垜立小旗五十垜立大旗垜上各書軍士之名一聞砲聲則軍士一齊城上守把信地城中寂然若無人如此整齊閒暇然後可以守城守城節制備細開錄牒報
I hear that a stockade has been set up before the wall of Dokseong (禿城), and that what is ranged there is far too thick. Not having seen the lie of that place with my own eyes, and having only what is told me at second hand, it is hard to know whether it is handy or not.
But if the stockade is too thick it blocks the view. While the enemy is far off they may be kept down with stone-throwers and guns and arrows; but if the enemy presses close beneath the stockade, the men on the wall will be blocked by the stockade, and the firing of guns and the loosing of arrows will all fall short of their intent and turn instead to harm.
At the forts and garrisons of the south, trifoliate orange trees were planted of old outside the moat beyond the wall, and at the time this was held a rare device. But when the enemy came they used the orange trees instead to screen their own bodies, and the men on the wall, though they fired their guns, could not keep them down. This too is well worth deep warning. Look closely and with all speed into the state of the ground where the stockade has been set up, and report; and let there be nothing like drawing a snake and adding feet to it, wearying the people's strength to no purpose.
Reckon beforehand how many the battlements are and apportion the troops accordingly, appointing that such and such a battlement, east or west or south or north, shall be held by such and such men, so that each has his place fixed and they do not fall foul of one another. Send out a roving force as well, to watch where the enemy's strength turns and to join their strength in blocking it. This is the great method of holding a wall.
Reckon and fix and provide beforehand how many Dokseong's battlements are and whether the troops to hold the wall are ample or short. Set a small flag at every five battlements and a great flag at every fifty, and write each soldier's name upon his battlement. At one sound of the gun let the troops go up on the wall all together and hold the place each is charged with, and let the inside of the wall be still, as though no one were there. Only after it is thus ordered and unhurried can the wall be held. Set down in full and in detail the discipline for holding the wall, and report.
Interlinear notes 5
The base text has 放砲發矣, but this is taken as an error for 發矢.
The base text has 自前兩樹枳木亭時, but this is taken as an error for 種樹 and 當時.
The base text has 反以枳本自蔽, but this is taken as an error for 枳木.
Dokseong (禿城) is the Dokseongsanseong fortress south of Suwon.
A roving force (遊軍) is troops that are not charged with one place but move about as the situation goes and lend help.