Err.. Yeah about the big-ass nation thingy (lol)...
I really can't describe how big it was (because when Tang dynasty of China invaded and sacked Koguryo Capital at 668, Pyong Yang of present North Korea, they set fire on the royal libraries, filled with old records and maps)
but luckily we have a large stone slab in manchuria, still standing and preserved.
It is a stone slab full of Chinese characters( I guess Chinese characters were in style those days
), honoring Goguryo's greatest king (or emperor even) Eyung-lak (known as Guang-gae-to....can't spell it right...it's ±¤°³Åä in Korean, ask some Korean dude that lives near you
.
It shows how Goguryo was created, how King Eyung-lak was born, how much he conquered, and on the lil' itsy part, about the slab maker.
on the conquering part, it states:
"Emperor's imperial flag and his might shaked the world(Asia in this case), his troops were sent to the four seas of the world(not sure if this means the Salt river in Manchuria or the Four seas itself). Emperor himself led his mightiest army to Mongolia, Yu-Ju(Northern China, to Gobi desert to the San-dong peninsula. it's a big-ass strip of flat land), and Imna."
in Korean,
"Å¿ÕÀÇ À§»óÀÌ ÃµÁö¸¦ µÚÈçµé¾ú°í, ±×ÀÇ ±ºº´µéÀÌ »çÇØ¿¡ À̸£·¶´Ù. Å¿ÕÀº Ä£È÷ ±ºº´À» À̲ø°í À¯ÁÖ, ¸¸ÁÖ, ºÏ¸¸ÁÖ,ºÎ¿©, ±×¸®°í ÀÓ³ª¸¦ Á¤¹úÇÏ¿´´Ù"
Now we know where four seas, or Salt river is.
Salt river is located at Inner Mongolia.
four seas may indicate:
Yellow Sea
Ohochsk(no idea how to spell it. Sea North of Hokkaido)
East Sea ("Sea of Japan" for some ignorant Japanese)
and the Korean Strait.
I already stated Goguryo streatch as far as beijing and the San-dong Peninsula.
but one question remains.
where IS Imna?
Some Japanese historians insist that Imna is Gaya.
BUT, Baekche took control of Imna quite a few times,
and so did Yamato.
BUT Baekche and Yamato never attacked Gaya.
I like posted before, Gaya has one of Korea's largest iron deposits, and they had the wealth and enough iron to equip their troops in full plate armor(and I mean full plate armor).
Most tombs of Gayan warriors always include a full plate armor, horse armor, a saddle(I believe Europeans didn't have the saddle back then), Hwan-do-dae-do, iron spear, and maybe speartips, and most recently a suicidal dagger for "seppuku"(it's a Japanese word...look it up;)).
These tombs show that Gaya had enough iron deposits to feed and army, equip and army, trade em, export em, make spoons and chopsticks out of em.
Hell, they had enough iron to paint the whole peninsula shiny grey.
Iron was use as currency in many part of Asia, and iron meant wealth and power.
so Yamato and Paekche(although it was a powerful nation) attacking and taking control of Gaya,
is like....hmm...Canada attacking America and actually suceeding to capture Washington D.C and the Whitehouse in less than 60 years of combat
.
so that theory is pure junk.
There is also another theory, that Imna may be Tsusima+Kyusu area of Japan.
I really can't say what's right and what's not, so the choice is yours.
and Baekche, I already said that it's regions stretched to Japan and Eastern China.
Also, in Southern Asian and Indonesian islands, there are records, sites, and legends that shows "this region was claimed by Baekche".
one of the obvious ones are Island of Black teeth.
it's located near Okinawa, and it is pronounced:
Hukchi-do
(ýÙöÍ=hukchi, it means black teeth)
there was a Baekche Govenor named Hukchi-Sangji,
who governed the island, and later giving himself the family name "Hukchi".
when Baekche fell by Silla(Sinla) and Tang Troopsat 660 A.D,
he fought to the last for the independency of Baekche, but surrendered, and became a general of Tang dynasty.
he was a hero in Tang, as well as Baekche, for his bravery and his swordmanship.
but he was accused of treason and was killed.
many "barbarian" officers of Tang dynasty was slaughtered this way after use.
after his death, his son insisted that his father was innocent, and Hukchi-Sangji was buried with China's greatest heros and emperors.
But now, he is a forgotten hero
.
anyways back to the task, Baekche didn't have much soils inside their country, but their sea legions are large as hell.
it goes all the way to Yellows Sea to Indonesian Seas, and the Seas near Japan. they might've went as far as mid-Pacific.
that's as much as U.S Navy patrolls in Asia.
in conclusion:
*Goguryo went as far as SouthEastern Russia, Mongolia, and NorthEastern China
*Baekche didn't have much, but she had a sick-ass navy that dominated Asian waters.
So.... yeah it is pretty big
but not as big as Roman Empire, or Russia, or U.S of A.
...Nah... they're too big
Asians are not fit for big tasks and big lands
we're happy this way.....