Ch.228Nagasaki (4)

The attack on Yangdong was successful.

However, the legend of the eight-foot leap might not have been just a legend, as Yoshitsune and his main forces managed to retreat safely.

I wanted to pursue them but couldn’t.

This was because chasing after the fleeing Yoshitsune carried a high risk of being counterattacked.

In front of Nagasaki, there was a small plain area.

But just beyond that lay mountainous terrain.

This made it perfect for a counterattack.

“It would have been easier if we had captured the enemy commander…”

But we had already lost that opportunity.

Regretting it now was pointless.

“Gurkhan.”

Elunka, wearing a Cuman mask, approached me.

He removed his mask before addressing me.

“We lost the enemy commander. I apologize.”

“No need. Thanks to your timely appearance, we were able to defeat the enemy.”

Elunka had performed brilliantly in the Nagasaki battle.

Thanks to his appropriate use of cavalry that had moved to the rear, we were able to force Minamoto Yoshitsune to retreat.

Because of this, we could now defend the region rather than just defending our position, which had been our original goal.

As I mentioned before, defending a position with cavalry wasn’t a particularly good strategy.

Even in RTS games, using highly mobile units to defend positions was rarely done.

Most defensive strategies involved placing archers or siege weapons with good firepower, blocking entrances, and projecting firepower at approaching enemies.

We could have used mounted archers to concentrate fire and break the enemy.

However, if we converted cavalry to mounted archers to project firepower, we couldn’t properly utilize the mobility advantage of cavalry.

Mounted archers who lost their mobility were just archers.

If they were reduced to simple archers, Yoshitsune, with his numerical advantage, would clearly have the upper hand in battle.

So if our forces had failed to defeat Yoshitsune, we would have faced the worst-case scenario.

That’s why the military achievements of Elunka and the Tamma were truly remarkable.

“Thanks to you and the Tamma forcing Yoshitsune to retreat, we’ve gained control not only of Nagasaki but also of this entire area.”

Nagasaki’s terrain wasn’t favorable for cavalry.

As I mentioned earlier, if Yoshitsune had entered the mountainous terrain, we would have been vulnerable to counterattack.

“You’ve worked hard. I’ll reward you and the Tamma. But first, get some rest.”

“I’m grateful for the Gurkhan’s consideration.”

After saying this, Elunka bowed.

Then he turned his head and signaled to the Tamma.

The Tamma responded by cheering my name and the Ulus.

“Long live Gurkhan!”

“Long live the Ulus army!”

After these cheers, they moved to take their rest.

The reason the Tamma moved away was because the battle wasn’t completely over yet.

After determining the winner and loser in battle, the most important follow-up was to kill enemies pretending to be dead.

If confirmation kills weren’t properly carried out, survivors could return to their army with valuable information, causing significant damage to our forces.

Additionally, when confirmation kills were carried out, enemy soldiers who hadn’t managed to escape would surrender out of fear.

Only when this confirmation process was complete could the battle be considered truly over.

If someone else had witnessed this scene, they might have suggested that the Tamma should help clean up the battlefield.

But regardless of our victory in battle, the Tamma needed to keep moving for regional defense, so it was better to give them rest whenever possible.

“It’s almost like they’re on standby rotation.”

It would be foolish to deploy troops across the entire region for regional defense.

This was something that shouldn’t be done even in friendly territory, let alone in the middle of enemy territory.

One might ask how regional defense should be carried out.

The key to regional defense was having the highly mobile Tamma respond first to enemy incursions, with follow-up units arriving to continue the defense.

For this reason, it was natural to give the Tamma rest, as we needed to use them actively.

“Anyway, the Nagasaki area is somewhat settled…”

I said this while looking toward Tsushima Island.

The naval battle was the key element of this conflict. Victory at sea was essential to receive stable supplies from Goryeo.

Therefore, the Ulus-Goryeo-Liaodong combined navy absolutely had to defeat the Bakufu navy and secure control of the sea.

* * *

Boom, boom, boom.

“The enemy is approaching Tsushima!”

Yoshitsune’s right-hand man, Benkei, confirmed the approaching enemy fleet.

As the fleet commander, he issued orders to the entire fleet.

“Turn the ships!”

“Prepare the grappling hooks and be ready for hand-to-hand combat on my signal!”

The Bakufu navy was in high spirits.

This was because Japan, as an island nation, possessed an excellent navy.

From a technical perspective, they were inferior to the Song Dynasty navy.

However, being an island nation had led to the development of naval tactics that could overcome such technical gaps.

In fact, it was thanks to these developed naval tactics that Japanese pirates, who were closer to privateers, could operate so freely.

The core tactic of the Japanese navy was hand-to-hand combat.

Ships of this era were essentially moving fortresses, primarily used for crossing the sea.

This necessitated the development of tactics where they would load as many soldiers as possible, approach enemy ships, throw grappling hooks to board and occupy enemy vessels.

Of course, this wasn’t a uniquely Japanese tactic.

It was a tactic used by all nations operating navies.

However, among these nations, Japan, being an island nation, was simply more proficient than others.

“It’s the Goryeo fleet!”

The Goryeo fleet approached rapidly with the tailwind.

The Bakufu forces began to move quickly in response.

“Everyone prepare to throw the grappling hooks!”

“We’ll show them the terror of the Japanese army!”

“Throw the grappling hooks!”

The lieutenant’s order was given.

At that command, the Japanese naval forces simultaneously threw their grappling hooks.

Naturally, the Goryeo ships were pulled toward the Japanese vessels.

“Cut the ropes immediately!”

“Don’t let the Japanese board!”

The Goryeo naval forces resisted fiercely.

However, in terms of naval experience and quality, the Japanese forces had a slight advantage.

As a result, some Japanese soldiers managed to board the Goryeo deck before the Goryeo forces could cut the ropes connected to the grappling hooks.

“It’s the Japanese!”

“Draw your swords immediately!”

“Slaughter all the Goryeo men!”

“Don’t let a single one escape alive!”

Thus, hand-to-hand combat broke out on the deck of the Goryeo ship.

“Ugh…”

“Why are the Japanese so strong…?”

Even though only some of the Bakufu forces had boarded, the Goryeo naval forces began to fall into a disadvantage.

As the Goryeo naval forces were pushed back, the Liaodong and Ulus naval forces who were aboard joined the fight.

“Turn the Japanese into fish food!”

“I’ll kill you right now!”

The Goryeo, Liaodong, and Ulus naval forces charged together.

But the Japanese naval forces dodged their attacks with snake-like flexibility before launching counterattacks.

The Goryeo naval forces didn’t retreat from this counterattack, but the Liaodong and Ulus naval forces, unfamiliar with naval battles, had no choice but to be pushed back.

“Ugh…”

“How can they be so calm in this rocking environment?”

As repeatedly mentioned, they were fighting on the deck.

The natural rocking of the ship made it difficult for the Ulus and Liaodong naval forces to even stand still.

“Tsk…”

“This is bad. If the Ulus and Liaodong naval forces can’t help us… we’ll be at a numerical disadvantage.”

The Goryeo naval forces were indeed the main force.

Therefore, the naval power of the allied forces essentially depended on Goryeo.

The Ulus and Liaodong navies participated to support this.

But with them being overwhelmed by the Japanese attacks, they were practically nonexistent.

This meant that the Goryeo soldiers would have to face the Japanese forces alone.

“Don’t panic! We are the Goryeo navy!”

A man wearing a two-piece armor appeared saying these words.

As soon as he appeared, Japanese soldiers rushed at him.

The man, as if he had predicted this, calmly counterattacked and pushed back the Japanese forces.

“General!”

“It’s General Irin!”

With the appearance of the Goryeo general, the situation, which had seemed bleak, began to change rapidly.

War was a battle of momentum.

When the commander-in-chief, who far surpassed the field commanders, directly entered the frontline like this, the Goryeo naval forces began to be influenced.

With increased morale, the Goryeo naval forces overwhelmed the Japanese forces through counterattacks.

But this was short-lived, as a large monk suddenly appeared.

“Hmmph!”

Boom!

As the enormous man appeared, the Japanese forces cheered.

“It’s Oniwaka!”

“General Musashibo!”

Though they couldn’t understand Japanese, they could feel that the momentum had shifted.

Irin’s lieutenant approached him and added:

“General. It seems the enemy naval commander has appeared. If we attack and capture him, we can subdue all of the Japanese naval forces at once.”

The ability to subdue the Japanese naval forces.

This was an irresistible proposal from the allied forces’ perspective.

But Irin didn’t act rashly.

“The fact that the enemy commander has appeared alone on our deck means he has that much confidence.”

Irin’s words were accurate.

The fact that the commander appeared on the enemy’s deck, of all places, meant that he possessed tremendous abilities capable of changing the tide of battle.

Of course, with the enemy commander here, if they cut the grappling hooks and broke away from the Japanese fleet, the enemy would essentially be defeated.

This was because if the enemy commander became separated from his main force, he would be isolated.

Therefore, it was unthinkable for an enemy commander to directly appear on the deck during a naval battle.

Yet Benkei took that risk and appeared on the deck.

This led to the inevitable conclusion that Benkei had that much confidence.

“This will be a life-or-death battle from now on.”

Irin gritted his teeth as he said this.

Irin trying to break through, and Benkei trying to stop him.

No one could predict whose hand victory would raise.