General Introduction (Ch’ongsŏ) 41Surveying the corpse-strewn landscape, T’aejo was so saddened he could
hardly eat or sleep. Arriving in Namwon with his aides, Anyeol and others,
he was only 120 li away from the enemy. Our military commanders,
including Pae Kŭngnyŏm, were glad to see T’aejo arrive, and all went out to
meet him on the road.
T’aejo planned to fight the following day after resting the horses. His
aides, however, tried to persuade him to take a little more time. They said,
“Since the enemy is now occupying a rugged, easily defensible position, it
would be better for us to wait until they come out.” T’aejo replied indig-
nantly, “When I raised my army, I was worried that I might have difficulty
finding my enemy. Having now found where they are, how can I just sit here
doing nothing?” Then he immediately reorganized various units for the
impending battle.
The following morning he led his troops to the east after renewing his
pledge to fight. As he crossed Unbong, the distance from the enemy was
no more than a few dozen li. Arriving northwest of Mt. Hwangsan,^104 he
climbed a peak called Chŏngsan and surveyed the terrain. Discovering a
shortcut over rough terrain that branched off to the east from the main road,
T’aejo said, “I am sure that the enemy will certainly take that road and
attack us from behind. We must hurry.” After speaking, he immediately
took the lead.
Other commanders marched on upon the flat road. However, finding the
power of the enemy forces too strong to deal with, they withdrew without
engaging in battle. The sun had already set.
By this time, T’aejo was deep in enemy-held territory, and as he expected,
the seasoned enemy forces launched an ambush on T’aejo. T’aejo quickly
shot down the enemy, using twenty big arrows with feathers and fifty smaller
willow-leaf arrows called yuyŏpchŏn. None of them missed their mark, each
striking an enemy soldier in the face. They all dropped dead with the sound
of the trembling bowstring. T’aejo encountered the enemy at very close
quarters three times and fought with all his strength until he saw them fall.
The battleground was also so wet and muddy that the soldiers from both
sides were mired on the ground. However, the enemy soldiers were the ones
unable to escape; none of our soldiers were hurt.
As the situation unfolded, the enemy troops tried to take advantage of the
rugged mountain terrain to defend themselves. So T’aejo deployed his
- Located 16 li east of Unbong District.