Ch.237Temuge (2)

“It seems I’ve arrived just in time.”

I nodded at Munglig’s words.

I could see that Temuge’s forces at the bottom of the hill had been significantly reduced.

In contrast, Yoritomo’s forces had visibly increased.

This meant that most of those who had surrendered alongside Temuge had returned to the Shogun due to his persuasive words.

“However, if we had arrived just a bit earlier…”

“Don’t regret it, Munglig. Think of it as weeding out those who would have caused internal problems anyway.”

Though I spoke of weeding them out, the loss was undeniable.

With soldiers defecting to Minamoto, a battle between the Ulus army and the Bakufu army was now inevitable.

It was obvious that battle would cause casualties, making this a significant loss overall.

However, looking at the details, there were some advantages to be gained.

“Elunka.”

“I await your command, Gur Kagan.”

“Prepare the charging formation.”

The charging formation was meant for a direct assault.

The enemy was already changing to an encirclement formation.

Deploying an encirclement formation when having numerical superiority was natural.

Additionally, for the Bakufu army, which had never properly experienced battle against cavalry, this was their best option.

For these reasons, the Bakufu army was deploying an encirclement formation, and I intended to counter with a charging formation to break through.

“Approach as close as possible to the enemy, fire arrows, then retreat.”

“Are you planning to use deception tactics?”

This was the same tactic I had used to defeat Temuge, now my son Yoshitsune, at Nagasaki.

Given this, there was a high possibility that enemy troops who had defected to the Bakufu army would remember this tactic and not pursue.

Considering this, Elunka was asking me this question.

“Yes, but this deceptive tactic will be different.”

I said this while looking at Munglig.

He looked back at me as if he had been waiting for this moment.

“When the Tamma led by Elunka approaches on horseback, fires arrows, and pretends to lure the enemy, immediately increase speed and crush them.”

The core of this tactic was focused attack.

We would disguise it as a swarm tactic to lure the enemy after the arrow attack, then break through the unsuspecting enemy.

Overall, it might look like a deceptive tactic, but it was surprisingly direct.

Throughout history, additional troops have been deployed to increase breakthrough power.

However, since we had previously deployed swarm tactics, we could aim for the additional effect of deceiving the enemy.

With these brief tactical instructions complete, Elunka took the lead.

He beat his chest three times and shouted loudly.

“Blue Wolves! The Gur Kagan’s orders have been given!”

Click, click, click.

At his words, the Tamma began putting on their Cuman masks.

As these faceless ones reappeared on the battlefield, the Bakufu army couldn’t help but be terrified.

* * *

“Th-the faceless ones are here.”

“N-no! I never thought th-they would be here…!”

“What’s going on…?”

“Why are those with strange masks…?”

“Th-they’re monsters who approach on horseback like ghosts and pierce your neck with arrows!”

“Even if you try to chase them, you can never catch them… ugh… ugh…”

The Bakufu army could only look puzzled at the terrified words of the surrendered troops.

But soon they understood what the surrendered soldiers meant as enemy troops charged forward, shaking the ground.

“Hyah! Hyaaaah!”

“Slaughter the enemy!”

The Mongol soldiers charged in, shouting words incomprehensible to the Japanese.

Soon the Bakufu army began falling like autumn leaves.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Kuhuk!”

With just one charge, the front line of the Bakufu army collapsed.

Yoritomo was considerably shocked by this.

“Incredible destructive power. Is this what a cavalry charge is?”

The adjutant nodded at the Shogun’s words.

He had originally been Yoshitsune’s adjutant but had switched sides at the Shogun’s offer.

“Yes. With horses larger and heavier than men charging like lightning, there’s no way to stop them.”

“Are spears not effective?”

“Spears can block them. However, the enemy predicts our spear attacks like evil, cunning demons.”

“Then is pursuit our only option?”

The adjutant was horrified at the Shogun’s question.

He waved his hands in strong opposition.

“The enemy are riders who shoot arrows from horseback. If we chase them, we’ll suffer heavy casualties from their counterattack.”

“Shooting arrows from horseback…”

The Shogun’s expression was one of disbelief.

At this time, the bows used by the Bakufu army were quite large.

This was because larger bows had greater tension, increasing penetration power.

As a result, their standard bow was not small but reached from a grown man’s feet to his waist.

Of course, it was impossible to shoot such a bow while on horseback.

However, the Shogun, unaware that Mongol bows were small, couldn’t help but be surprised.

In any case, the Bakufu army suffered considerable damage from the charge of the faceless ones.

And as the adjutant had said, they began shooting arrows while retreating.

It was then that the Shogun could see with his own eyes that Mongol bows were small.

“So their bows are small enough to allow archery on horseback. But how can such small bows have such high penetration power?”

The Shogun showed interest in the enemy’s bows as he said this.

“When the battle ends, capture one of the enemy bows and bring it to me.”

“I will obey your command, Shogun.”

Afterward, the Shogun stood up.

And he shouted loudly to his entire army.

“The enemy uses deceptive tactics with false retreats! Do not pursue when they retreat after charging!”

“Yes!”

“We will follow your orders!”

The adjutants spread the Shogun’s orders.

Seeing this, Yoritomo sat back in his chair and looked at the battlefield.

The Shogun remained calm despite the ongoing battle.

This was because Japanese combat had a certain order.

It was like kendo, with exchanges of moves.

There was a certain flow, where blocking an attack would lead to a chance to counterattack.

Therefore, the Shogun thought that after the charging attack, the right to attack would naturally return to the Bakufu army.

But war was not like kendo.

It was a battlefield where lives were at stake.

However, the Shogun, born as a nobleman and raised with etiquette and principles in strategy and tactics, did not fully understand this fact.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Kuhuk.”

“Th-the enemy continues to charge!”

“What!”

The Shogun looked at the battlefield in great surprise.

And he could see with his own eyes that Mongol cavalry were launching additional charges, just as his soldiers had reported.

“This is absurd…!”

Having received information from his adjutant that the faceless ones would pretend to retreat, the Shogun had ordered his men not to pursue them.

As a result, the Bakufu army had let down their guard when the Tamma retreated.

The Mongol army did not miss this opportunity.

As soon as the faceless ones retreated, the Kheshig rushed in as if they had been waiting.

“Chaaaarge!”

At the forefront was the muscular general, Munglig.

Behind him followed the Kheshig with their oni-like rugged appearances.

“Hyaaaah!”

“Die! Japanese!”

“God protects us!”

If the Tamma were masters of mobile warfare, the Kheshig were masters of charging.

As the Kagan’s guard unit, the Kheshig had thick armor and sharp weapons.

Additionally, while their horses were slower than those ridden by the Tamma, they had excellent endurance and agility.

This gave them power comparable to European heavy cavalry.

Above all, Munglig, who led them, was one of Mongolia’s great commanders who had led numerous battles to victory.

He was a field commander who always stood at the front of battle leading cavalry charges.

The overwhelming destructive power of the Kheshig combined with Munglig’s excellent command.

This allowed them to serve as a hammer, inflicting enormous damage during these additional breakthroughs.

“Gurrrk.”

“Kuyuk…”

“Ugh… aaaah!”

Only death remained where the Kheshig passed.

Realizing that the entire Bakufu army could be split in half if this continued, Yoritomo sensed that something had to be done.

“We must stop the enemy cavalry.”

“B-but stopping Mongol cavalry with such momentum…”

“Charges are based on speed. The enemy has penetrated deep into our forces, and their acceleration has decreased.”

“Ah…!”

Yoritomo didn’t know much about cavalry.

But as a former commander, he immediately recognized the weakness of cavalry.

When cavalry loses speed, they can be defeated by encirclement and interception.

This was the solution Yoritomo found.

“The damage will be great, but the enemy’s numbers are fewer than ours. If we surround and intercept the enemy who have penetrated deep into our forces, they will not dare to charge again.”

The adjutant nodded at the Shogun’s order.

And he spread Yoritomo’s orders to other adjutants.

Accordingly, the Bakufu army tried to block the path of the Kheshig who had penetrated deep inside, attempting to reduce their speed.

“Hahaha! Many have tried to stop our Kheshig this way!”

Munglig laughed heartily.

At his words, the Kheshig also mocked the Bakufu army’s actions.

“Foolish ones.”

“Did they really think we charged without knowing we would be surrounded?”

Munglig nodded at the Kheshig’s words.

Then he drew the sword he had separately attached to his back.

Two swords.

The sharp crescent-shaped blades gleamed in the sunlight.

“Slaughter them all!”

Munglig and the Kheshig held swords in both hands.

And they strongly squeezed their horses’ bellies with their legs.

The horses reared up in place, then charged forward, kicking the ground.

“Aaaaargh!”

“B-block them!”

It took about four strong men to stop a Mongol horse.

They gathered to subdue the horses, but Munglig and the Kheshig riding them were not ones to remain idle.

Flash!

“Kuhuk…”

“Kuk.”

With each flash of the swords in the Kheshig’s hands, Bakufu soldiers began falling like scarecrows.