Ch.335Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun (1)

# Two years passed quickly.

From 16 to 18 years old, I had grown much taller than before.

In modern terms, 16 would be equivalent to the third year of middle school, so I still had plenty of growing to do.

Perhaps that’s why, by the time I reached the age equivalent to a second-year high school student, I had grown even taller.

“Not only is your face handsome, but you’ve become tall and slender too. If this were modern times, you’d have the looks to be a celebrity.”

In modern times, I could have made a living with my face, but unfortunately, this was the pre-modern era.

Moreover, as a general who had to lead armies and engage in life-or-death battles with enemies, there was no use for a handsome face.

While I was lost in these thoughts, Go Yoon approached me.

At his appearance, I stopped washing my face in the stream and looked at him.

“Perhaps because it’s spring, the Liao River is still cold.”

We were in the Liaosi region.

Being much further north than Goryeo, it was considerably colder.

Of course, it was better than Liaodong with its biting winds.

“How is the reaction from the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun?”

“They’ve mobilized troops for defense. The scale of their forces is approximately 200,000, mostly consisting of cavalry.”

The Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun was a small region when looking at China as a whole.

However, being traditionally a military stronghold, it had many military facilities concentrated there.

Additionally, it had quite a large population, so it could mobilize more troops than Goryeo despite occupying less land.

And not just ordinary infantry, but cavalry that required high maintenance costs.

“Furthermore, Taisun Khan is condemning our forces for intervening in the War of the Princes.”

“But the other princes won’t even react.”

As I’ve mentioned before, the Emperor of Goryeo was the elder of the Golden Clan.

Condemning such a figure for intervening in a family dispute would be futile.

Additionally, from the perspective of the other princes, they didn’t care if Taisun Khan fell.

This was because Taisun Khan had been staying in the imperial capital, Great Capital, and had been interfering in the internal affairs of other princes’ territories as if he were the Khagan.

Of course, the princes didn’t comply with this willingly.

Anyway, Taisun Khan had made himself thoroughly disliked by the other princes for acting above his station despite being just another prince.

“It’s the perfect situation for an attack.”

Go Yoon nodded at my words.

As I was conversing with Go Yoon, General Nurhachi approached me.

“The enemy seems to be preparing for a field battle.”

Nurhachi began explaining the enemy’s formation.

Most of Taisun Khan’s forces were cavalry.

This made it difficult for them to defend along the city walls.

Additionally, there was a problem with the walls themselves.

After I conquered the Jin Dynasty, I renamed Zhongdu Daxingfu to Great Capital.

At the same time, I had most of the walls that had existed since the Tang Dynasty demolished and rebuilt as lower walls.

This was done for the expansion of the Great Capital.

To make the Great Capital the imperial capital, free passage was necessary.

However, since this place had traditionally been a military city since the Tang Dynasty, the walls were high and passage was not free.

This was understandable as it was meant to defend against attacks from northern forces.

Unlike the Central Plains forces, we were northern forces, or nomads.

So it was much more efficient for us to send cavalry to handle situations rather than building walls for defense.

Those who know military tactics might question this strange idea.

It would be natural to not understand why we would use cavalry for defense when walls would provide protection automatically.

This was intertwined with the situation when I came to power.

When I was Yesugei, there were no forces in East Asia capable of resisting the Mongols.

The Central Plains forces were the only ones who might have rebelled, but they had been completely uprooted through large-scale massacres.

That’s why I could do such things.

Anyway, as a result, there were no walls in the Great Capital capable of stopping large-scale forces.

“Thanks to that, we’re now benefiting.”

Nurhachi gave me a puzzled look at my muttering.

I waved my hand dismissively and continued speaking.

“How is the enemy cavalry organized?”

“The total cavalry force is 100,000, with 60,000 in the center, 20,000 on the left, and 20,000 on the right.”

At Nurhachi’s words, Go Yoon added a comment.

“It seems they’re deploying a wedge formation.”

The wedge formation was commonly known as a charging formation.

It was a triangular formation that placed the strongest troops in the center and auxiliary units at the front, center, or rear to maximize breakthrough power.

“It seems they want to decide the battle on the plains.”

Taisun Khan must know that most of our forces are infantry.

This was because Goryeo traditionally had weak cavalry.

“He seems to have chosen the wedge formation, which is most effective against infantry, thinking that most of our forces are infantry.”

Nurhachi and Go Yoon nodded at my words.

In battles before the advent of gunpowder weapons, cavalry mostly deployed wedge formations against infantry.

This was because they could project formidable destructive power against the enemy by combining the high mobility and breakthrough power of cavalry.

The formation to counter this was the crane wing formation.

For modern people, the crane wing formation is familiar as adding cavalry that plays the role of a hammer in the hammer and anvil formation.

However, the basic form of the crane wing formation traditionally made the anvil thicker rather than the hammer.

This was because the crane wing formation was an encirclement formation.

To encircle, the role of the anvil, which blocks the enemy’s attack, was naturally important.

For this reason, it was important to make the anvil as thick as possible.

Even in infantry versus infantry battles this was the case, and the crane wing formation deployed against cavalry required an even thicker anvil.

If the vanguard acting as the anvil was thin, the central army would be broken through by the cavalry charge.

One might ask why deploy an encirclement formation against cavalry.

This was because, as mentioned earlier, cavalry held a military advantage over infantry.

Exaggerating somewhat, one cavalryman could devastate 50 infantrymen, so without using numerical superiority for encirclement, it would be impossible for infantry to defeat cavalry.

“That’s right. In a traditional cavalry versus infantry battle, it would be important to maximize breakthrough power through a wedge formation to escape encirclement.”

After this explanation, Nurhachi smiled.

His smile was filled with the conviction that we would never lose.

“But the current Goryeo army is not a traditional infantry force.”

“That’s right. The front units are armed with long spears for anti-cavalry combat, so they won’t collapse under a cavalry charge.”

Infantry armed with long spears, unlike those with swords, were not inferior in anti-cavalry combat.

However, the disadvantage was that the long spears made it difficult to change direction.

Additionally, being heavier than swords, it was difficult to pursue the enemy while holding spears.

From the beginning, it doesn’t make sense for infantry to chase cavalry, but before the advent of gunpowder, spearmen had to chase cavalry.

Otherwise, they couldn’t inflict damage on the enemy and would continue to suffer damage from cavalry that made large lateral movements to attack their flanks.

Spearmen were a type of soldier with clear strengths and weaknesses.

They were effective against cavalry but found it difficult to inflict damage on the enemy.

In other words, it was hard to harm the enemy.

“They just need to not collapse under a cavalry charge. Anyway, cavalry that fail in their charge will turn their horses around to retreat, and that’s when our gunners can step in to deal with them.”

The disadvantages of spear infantry were compensated for by gunners capable of long-range fire.

The gunners could shoot and kill enemy troops who had lost mobility.

This might sound like a perfect strategy just by hearing it, but this strategy also had limitations.

If the enemy cavalry outnumbered our forces, they could penetrate our flanks.

But this problem had also been resolved with the joining of the Jurchen cavalry.

While I was thinking about this, Yi Hwang approached me.

He bowed and spoke to me.

“The preparations for crossing the river are complete, Your Majesty.”

Once we crossed the Liao River, the plains where Taisun Khan was located would be right in front of us.

I nodded and raised my command baton.

“Cross the river.”

* * *

Taisun Khan was already waiting in the plains near the Liao River.

He was in a ger, having a strategy meeting with his subordinates.

“What are the chances of the Goryeo army winning?”

“The Goryeo army’s forces are 50,000 fewer than ours. Moreover, most of their forces are infantry, so they will be trampled under the hooves of our cavalry.”

Taisun Khan nodded at his adjutant’s report.

It was difficult for infantry to defeat cavalry.

History had proven this.

This could be seen just by looking at the battles between the Mongols and the Song Dynasty.

Although the Song Dynasty had more troops than the Mongols, they were ultimately defeated.

If cavalry could win despite being numerically inferior, it was impossible for Taisun Khan, who had more troops than the Goryeo army, to lose.

“However, that 10% chance bothers me.”

However, Taisun was a person who pursued perfection.

Therefore, he wanted to reduce even that 10% chance.

As if understanding this feeling, the adjutant continued his explanation.

“The 10% I mentioned takes into account natural disasters like floods or heavy rain.”

At the mention of natural disasters, Taisun nodded in understanding.

This was because it was something beyond human control.

Excluding such variables, Taisun’s chance of winning could be considered 100%.

The meeting continued in an atmosphere where victory seemed predetermined.

As the meeting was coming to an end, a soldier rushed in urgently.

“The enemy is crossing the Liao River!”

Taisun Khan nodded at the subordinate’s report.

Then he grabbed the reins of his horse and raised his sword high.

“The enemy has started crossing the river! All troops! Prepare to move!”

If they moved now, the Goryeo army might have already completed the crossing.

However, this wasn’t a significant issue for Taisun Khan.

What was important was that the enemy had the river at their back.

Having the river behind them meant they had no escape route.

Of course, they could try to escape, but the cavalry led by Taisun Khan wouldn’t let them go easily.

They would pursue the Goryeo army to the end, and the Liao River would turn into a hell flowing with the blood of Goryeo soldiers.

For this reason, Taisun Khan had been waiting for the Goryeo army to cross the Liao River.

After such a wait, they had finally started crossing, so it was time to move.