Ch.238Temuge (3)

Watching the Mongol army fight, Temuge couldn’t help but stick out his tongue in amazement.

“So this is the true fighting power of the Mongol army.”

Temuge had fought against the Mongol army in Nagasaki before.

Because of that experience, he couldn’t help but be surprised seeing the current Mongol army fighting even better than they had at the Battle of Nagasaki.

“General. Do we not need to provide assistance?”

At his adjutant’s question, Temuge nodded.

And instead of answering, he pointed with his hand to Yesugei on the hill.

“Father has not yet given me orders.”

Temuge found himself beginning to feel reverence for Gurkhan.

This was because he was deploying his soldiers in a way that deserved nothing but respect as a commander.

This could be attributed to the capabilities of the vanguard leaders commanding each unit.

But Temuge, who had gained much experience traveling through countless battlefields, valued more highly Gurkhan’s ability to allow the vanguard leaders to demonstrate their capabilities without worry.

The vanguard leaders on the field were like racehorses.

They focused solely on moving forward without hesitation.

However, being human, they couldn’t help but worry.

So typically, vanguard leaders would worry about their rear whenever they advanced.

But the vanguard leaders following Gurkhan seemed to have no such concerns, completely immersed in their assigned roles.

This meant they had absolute faith in their commander.

It was consistent with the fact that Gurkhan had never betrayed their trust.

While Temuge was admiring this, the sound of drums echoed from Gurkhan’s direction.

And the order to advance was given to Temuge’s unit.

“Father’s orders have been issued.”

Temuge mounted the horse he had received in Mongolia.

And seeing his father’s gesture, he immediately understood what he needed to do.

“Father wishes for the safe return of the vanguard. I will follow his will.”

With that, Temuge raised his command fan.

And he ordered the infantry to deploy in dispersed formation.

“G-General. In this situation, a dispersed formation is…”

As mentioned repeatedly, Temuge’s forces currently numbered only a few hundred.

Using a dispersed formation in this state was tantamount to suicide.

“I’m worried that Gurkhan might be using us as sacrificial pawns.”

“That’s right. We’re essentially bait…”

“Enough.”

Temuge raised his hand to calm his staff officers.

Then, with a determined expression, he looked straight ahead.

“Look with the eyes of grand strategy. This is not a death trap, but a path to victory.”

At his words, the staff officers stopped their fuss and looked ahead.

Then, as he had said, they belatedly realized that this was not a path to death, but a path to glory.

It seemed unbelievable that advancing in a dispersed formation with a small number of troops could be a path to glory.

But as the cavalry broke out to both sides, the infantry formation naturally weakened in the center.

After two consecutive charges, the shogunate infantry forces were split in half.

To reunite, they needed to gather in the center, but not knowing when the cavalry might counterattack, they had to maintain distance while converging toward the center.

In that fleeting moment.

Yesugei was essentially giving Temuge the opportunity to achieve the greatest military merit in this war.

“Draw your swords! Soldiers of the ulus! Advance! Glory awaits us!”

At those words, Temuge’s soldiers moved forward.

As if by agreement, cavalry were breaking out on either side of him.

Behind them, the shogunate forces were charging.

It felt almost like heading into the eye of a typhoon.

It was a blood-chilling, skin-prickling moment.

Temuge felt alive.

“Chaaaaarge!”

* * *

The battle with the shogunate forces had ended.

The battle took place in what is modern-day Kure, so this battle should be recorded as the Battle of Kure, but at that time this place was nothing.

Because of this, it was likely to be named after the nearby Hiroshima.

So in later generations, this battle would be called:

The Battle of Hiroshima.

In this battle, the shogunate forces suffered massive casualties.

“Four thousand infantry, two hundred cavalry, and various other forces. The total enemy casualties appear to be over five thousand.”

I nodded at the messenger’s report.

A single clash.

In that clash, our forces, fewer in number than the shogunate forces, not only defeated the enemy but inflicted five thousand casualties.

“However, we let the shogun and some core forces escape.”

“Don’t worry about that. It was intentional from the beginning.”

When striking the shogunate forces, I deliberately put Temuge at the forefront.

Since he was a former enemy general, I intended to let him achieve merit and gain everyone’s recognition.

But separately, because Temuge’s forces were not numerous, I anticipated he would let the shogun escape and assigned him this important role for that reason.

The key to this battle was not the annihilation of the shogun and the shogunate forces.

The greatest purpose was to inflict defeat on the shogun to shake the entire shogunate while simultaneously announcing the division within the Minamoto clan throughout the archipelago.

“That way they’ll turn against each other.”

Saying this, I looked at Temuge, who had become my son.

He came before me and performed a full kowtow, begging forgiveness.

At this, I raised my hand and had the interpreter translate what he was saying.

“I’m sorry, Father. I let the shogun escape.”

“It’s alright, my son. You’ve achieved unprecedented military merit.”

Then I grabbed my son’s shoulders and raised him up.

I looked at him and smiled.

“Because of this, the archipelago will remember you. Not as Minamoto Yoshitsune, but as Borjigin Temuge.”

“Father…”

“You’ve worked hard. Munglig and Elunka will handle the aftermath of this battle. Spoils have been prepared, so share them with your soldiers and then rest in the rear.”

“Thank you, Father…”

Hearing “oyaji” in Japanese gave me a strange feeling.

Anyway, seeing Temuge’s moved expression, I felt I had done well.

As I was thinking this, suddenly Temuge turned his head and said something to his subordinate soldiers.

They then cheered my name with expressions full of emotion.

“Gurkhan! Gurkhan!”

“Thank you! Gurkhan!”

Not understanding what they were saying, I looked at the interpreter.

The interpreter immediately translated, telling me what they were saying.

“They are deeply moved by the fact that Gurkhan is sharing the spoils with them.”

“Moved, you say…”

“In the archipelago, spoils are rarely shared, and even when they are, they’re only distributed to nobles or samurai.”

“I see.”

Since it was uncommon for ordinary soldiers to receive spoils, they were moved like this.

Whatever the case, this was a good situation for me, so I raised my hand in response to their cheers.

After all, these spoils were taken from the shogunate.

So I was taking credit without spending my own money, and I just needed to enjoy the moment.

Anyway, after the soldiers cheered, they moved to the rear for rest.

After they disappeared, Elunka, who led the Faceless Ones, and Munglig, who led the Kheshig, approached.

“We’ve cleaned up the battlefield.”

“We’ve rechecked those still alive and eliminated all potential threats.”

“Good work.”

Killing those pretending to be dead on the battlefield was quite important work.

That’s why it was important to take time and handle it carefully like this.

“By the way, where did Temuge go, brother?”

“I gave him spoils and told him to rest.”

Munglig nodded at this.

After all, Temuge was the one who had achieved the greatest military merit in this battle.

Because of this, even though he was a former enemy general, Munglig respected his achievements.

Mongolia was a strictly meritocratic society.

As such, Temuge, who had achieved military merit, deserved respect.

“I didn’t expect them to move exactly as you predicted, brother.”

“Indeed. Thanks to letting them live, we’ve gained time to regroup.”

The reason for letting the shogun live was simple.

It was to have him block the Oshu forces that were coming for the shogunate.

“Whether they negotiate or fight, they’ll have to waste time. Meanwhile, we’ll regroup here.”

In truth, with our forces, we could have annihilated the shogunate forces.

But the reason we didn’t was because if the shogunate forces disappeared, the Oshu Fujiwara would take their place.

Then we would have had to fight the Oshu forces without proper rest.

This would not have been good for us.

So I deliberately did not annihilate the shogunate forces.

“By the way, when do you think Goryeo’s supplies will arrive?”

“They’re currently passing through Shimonoseki and heading here.”

I nodded at Elunka’s report.

If we received Goryeo’s supplies here in Kure, we could quickly regroup.

After regrouping like that, we planned to conquer the entire archipelago.

* * *

As Elunka said, Goryeo’s supplies arrived.

The food and weapons that had been lacking were supplied, and additional troops joined.

“I apologize for causing you concern, Khagan.”

At Irin’s words, I shook my head.

Then I turned my head and pointed to the person being dragged in, completely bound.

“Who is that?”

“He’s the naval admiral who was leading the shogunate navy. A man called Benkei, said to be Yoshitsune’s right-hand man.”

Hearing the name Benkei, I nodded.

He was the figure who, to protect Yoshitsune, had endured being shot with arrows and died standing.

I wondered if this was really possible, but seeing Benkei’s robust physique before me now, I thought it might well be possible.

“Why have you brought him?”

“I wish to present him to Gurkhan.”

“It seems you want something in return.”

At this, Irin nodded.

Then after bowing, he addressed me.

“I ask that you recognize the military achievements of Goryeo, which served as an allied force in the eastern expedition.”

That statement was equivalent to asking for territory.

Since the Goryeo navy’s request was entirely reasonable, I nodded and asked what land they wanted.

“What land do you want?”

“We want Tsushima Island.”