Ch.295Downfall (5)

# Yesugei was a warrior of the steppes.

In battle, he was more courageous and merciless than anyone else.

The Mongol cavalry led by Gurkhan was the same.

These people, who had been oppressed by the Central Plains for a long time, knew no mercy.

They showed no intention of forgiving the suffering their ancestors had endured.

So they mercilessly trampled the Song Dynasty soldiers who stood in their way.

“Show no mercy to the enemy!” shouted the Mongol centurion.

At their commander’s words, the Mongol soldiers began beheading the Song soldiers.

Feeling terrified, the Song soldiers tried to flee for their lives.

But the Mongol soldiers weren’t about to just watch them escape.

They were people born on horseback, raised on horseback, and destined to die on horseback.

Being the best riders in the world, the Mongols didn’t let the Song soldiers escape on foot.

Eventually, the fleeing Song soldiers stopped running.

They realized in their bones that escape was impossible.

Moreover, they had no strength left to run.

So some soldiers surrendered their lives to the Mongol soldiers.

The Mongol army took their heads as if in gratitude.

Another Song soldier saw the severed heads rolling on the ground.

Seeing this, he started running again.

Because the severed heads seemed to be in agony, their eyes tightly shut.

The young Song soldier felt the same way.

These thoughts kept circling in his mind:

I don’t want to die.

I don’t want to die.

So he ran.

As he ran, he became lost in thought.

The young soldier had been intoxicated by the emperor’s victory over Goryeo.

Drunk on that victory, he had foolishly hoped they could drive away the Mongols.

So, just like the emperor,

He deliberately ignored when his hometown was thoroughly destroyed by the Mongols.

If the emperor led the troops, the Mongol soldiers would be defeated.

He was drunk on victory.

Like someone intoxicated with alcohol.

When the Mongols didn’t retreat but continued beheading them, the soldiers came to their senses.

Or rather, they had no choice but to face reality.

The harsh reality was cruel and merciless.

All kinds of noises reached the young Song soldier’s ears.

Screams, wails, sobs—all the sounds of death tormented the soldiers’ ears.

Even if they tried to cover their ears with both hands, they couldn’t.

The moment they covered their ears, a Mongol soldier’s sword would cut off their heads.

So other soldiers threw down their weapons and begged the Mongols for their lives.

Thinking that perhaps they might survive that way.

The young soldier briefly considered this too.

He felt he would do anything to escape this agony, even if it meant becoming a slave.

But the Mongols didn’t even show that much mercy.

They refused to spare lives, as if determined to erase the future of the Central Plains people.

Seeing this, the young soldier blankly looked up at the sky.

Then he lowered his head and looked around.

Those who resisted.

Those who fled.

And those who surrendered.

In this chaotic battlefield, the young soldier couldn’t be sure what choice he should make.

Beside him, soldiers in splendid armor rushed forward.

Among them was someone who appeared to be the emperor, running with a sword in hand.

Seeing this, the young Song soldier followed the emperor.

He thought that if he followed the emperor, perhaps the Mongol soldiers would retreat again.

This wasn’t just the young soldier’s thought—other soldiers followed the emperor too.

When the emperor thrust his sword, a Mongol soldier fell.

Yes, we can survive.

The young soldier thought this.

But only for a very brief moment.

The reason his thoughts changed so quickly was simple.

A massive figure on horseback appeared before the emperor.

This enormous figure was an old man with white hair and a white beard.

But perhaps due to his muscles, he exuded an incredible aura of intimidation.

Each time he swung his sword, the emperor’s guards fell like autumn leaves.

As this monster cut down people and approached the emperor, the emperor recoiled in horror and stepped back.

Seeing this, the young soldier sensed death approaching.

His legs trembled.

If this continues, I’ll die.

Just as he thought this, the word “retreat” fell from the emperor’s lips.

Where should we flee to?

But this was an order. I must escape. So the young soldier started running again.

Away from his hometown in Jiangxi Province, south to Fujian Province.

There must be food in Fujian. There has to be.

With these thoughts, he ran forward.

Countless corpses lay beneath his feet.

He ran over neighbor Mr. Zhang, good-natured older brother Zhong, and ill-mannered younger brother Xiao.

They had fought back-to-back, but now they were sprawled on the ground.

The young soldier knew that if he lingered here, his life would end the same way.

* * *

“A great victory, brother.”

I nodded at Munglig’s report.

“How many of the emperor’s troops remain?”

“About 700,000 remain.”

“Still many.”

I said this while looking at the mountain of corpses piled higher than the city walls.

With tens of thousands of bodies stacked like this, there were more corpses than ground beneath.

A horrific sight, but having grown accustomed to the life of the ulus, the nomadic life, I felt numb.

“Where did the emperor flee to?”

“He’s heading to Fujian Province, as you wished.”

“Good.”

The emperor’s army was still numerous.

And they would continue to be reinforced.

This wasn’t an army that would collapse after a single defeat.

The frightening thing about the Central Plains army was that it would revive and rise again, even after continuous defeats.

“To be precise, it’s not that they revive.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing.”

I shook my head at Munglig’s question.

Then I summoned Jadaran Elunka.

“You called for me, Khagan?”

“Tell the Mongol Pirates to lift the blockade of the coastal areas near Fujian Province.”

“Lift the blockade near Fujian? But then they will surely escape across the sea.”

I nodded at Elunka’s words.

“Let them escape. No, make them escape.”

At my words, both Munglig and Elunka looked puzzled.

Just days ago, I had said I would kill all the Song Dynasty people and Central Plains people, so they were understandably confused by my sudden order to let them escape.

There was actually a reason for this.

Even if the Mongols destroyed the Central Plains civilization and carried out a massacre, it would be impossible to completely erase the Central Plains people from this land.

Of course, that didn’t mean I wanted to show them mercy either.

“We need to create an escape route so they won’t fight to the death.”

“Ah…!”

“I understand now.”

Beyond Fujian Province lay Taiwan.

Crossing the 180 km Taiwan Strait would lead to an island that was technically Goryeo territory, but essentially unclaimed.

180 km was roughly the distance from Seoul to Iksan.

Crossing it by ship in this era would take about 5 days.

No one wanted to die immediately.

Therefore, if the ulus surrounded Fujian Province and prevented the emperor from heading to Sichuan, the Song emperor would certainly try to escape to Taiwan.

This meant that many Song people would have to follow the emperor to Taiwan.

“Additionally, many will die during this migration without us having to lift a finger.”

The journey by boat to Taiwan would not be smooth.

After all, Fujian Province had been thoroughly destroyed by our hands.

Therefore, the Song people would have to rely on hastily made sailboats or rafts to reach Taiwan.

Such sailboats and rafts would struggle to withstand strong waves.

Those aboard would likely become fish food.

“But if they survive, they’ll become a problem.”

“That’s right, brother.”

“True. But even if they safely cross to Taiwan, there’s no guarantee they’ll survive.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Taiwan is not ulus territory—it’s Goryeo’s land.”

There were several reasons why I had Goryeo attack the Song Dynasty.

The biggest reason was to twist the relationship between the two countries.

War inflicted irreparable wounds on both sides.

It was difficult for countries with such wounds to reconcile.

In such a situation, what would happen if the Song emperor and his people sought refuge in Goryeo territory?

Obviously, Goryeo would be eager to kill the Song people.

Even if they didn’t kill the Song emperor and his people, they would have to persecute them.

Otherwise, they would lose Taiwan, which they had just acquired, to the Song Dynasty.

After hearing my explanation, Munglig smiled and said to me:

“You are truly wicked, brother.”

“Wicked? Goryeo wanted land, so I gave it to them.”

Refugee issues were serious even in modern society.

The refugees from the Syrian civil war alone were shaking all of Europe.

I knew it wasn’t morally right.

But as I’ve mentioned repeatedly, this was a harsh era with no compassion for refugees.

So I planned to pass this refugee problem to Goryeo.

In fact, this had been my plan since I promised Taiwan to Goryeo.

Anyway, just as I was about to finalize my plans for the Song emperor,

Suddenly the ger door opened and a messenger appeared urgently.

“T-terrible news, Gurkhan!”

“What happened?”

“What’s going on that you’re making such a fuss?”

Munglig and Elunka pressed the messenger.

I raised my hand to calm them down and addressed the messenger.

“Explain slowly.”

“The Song army that was attacking Sichuan has stopped their assault on Chengdu and is heading to Hubei Province!”

“What!”

I was greatly surprised by the messenger’s report.

If the Song army that had been attacking Sichuan (which had been taken by the Jin Dynasty) turned back and attacked Hubei, our troops would be in danger.

Hubei was close to Jiangxi Province.

This meant that the moment Hubei was lost, our troops in Jiangxi would be surrounded by Song armies in Hubei and Fujian.

If they launched a pincer attack, it was clear our forces would suffer critical damage.

In that case, the ulus army would have no choice but to retreat.

Even if we retreated, the Song Dynasty couldn’t recover since all their land was devastated.

But from the ulus perspective, we would need to regroup to occupy the Song territory again, which meant a delay.

In a situation where I wasn’t sure how much time I had left, such a delay was unacceptable.