Ch.336Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun (2)

“Still, he’s a kid who has the basics down, worthy of being my descendant.”

As soon as we crossed the Yoha River, Taisun Khan’s soldiers revealed themselves.

This meant they had already been waiting in the vicinity, anticipating our river crossing.

“Judging by how they waited for our crossing to finish rather than attacking during it, I’m convinced that Taisun Khan truly belongs to the Golden Clan,” Joshik remarked, clicking his tongue.

As he said, Taisun had a good tactical eye.

Launching a surprise attack while the enemy is crossing a river would be a good strategy, but it would result in chaotic fighting. In such chaos, cavalry couldn’t properly utilize their mobility, so it wasn’t the best approach.

Once we had crossed the river, the situation changed. With our backs to the river, we were essentially in a “back to the water” formation.

With nowhere to retreat, it was natural for our troops to fight for their lives. However, this only worked when forces were evenly matched—it didn’t apply when outnumbered.

Moreover, Taisun Khan was a shrewd leader. He deliberately left an escape route open for us.

In Eastern military tactics, such a retreat path was called a “life gate.” Rather than forcing cornered soldiers to fight desperately with no escape, providing a life gate encouraged them to flee.

From a soldier’s perspective, if there was a way to survive, the natural choice was to escape.

“This isn’t an enemy we should underestimate,” commented Nurhachi, wearing heavy armor.

I nodded at his remark.

“General.”

“I await your orders, Commander.”

“Send mounted riflemen to scout the enemy’s movements.”

“I will carry out your orders.”

Lightly armed Jurchen soldiers equipped with pistols and one-handed swords moved out.

As they advanced, the enemy promptly dispatched their vanguard.

Cavalry against cavalry.

In this engagement, Taisun Khan’s soldiers used arrows to keep our forces at bay.

Two of our men were unhorsed by enemy arrows, but most managed to evade thanks to their swift mobility.

The evading soldiers moved diagonally as ordered, observing the enemy’s flanks.

The enemy wasn’t complacent. Unwilling to reveal their formation, they dispatched additional troops to eliminate our cavalry scouts.

A chase ensued.

If this continued, our outnumbered cavalry would inevitably be defeated.

So I had Goyun sound the retreat horn.

Pwooooo.

When the horn sounded, our cavalry ceased their offensive and withdrew.

As our forces retreated, the enemy pursued them all the way to our main formation.

Anyone could see they were here to assess our military strength.

This put me in a brief dilemma.

Should I respond and reveal our strength?

Or sacrifice some troops to deceive the enemy?

In that split second, I decided to show our forces to the enemy.

“Spearmen!”

My aides relayed the command.

The infantry advanced in a horizontal formation according to the crane wing formation they had practiced.

Seeing this, the enemy turned their horses and retreated.

Normally in such situations, we would deploy riflemen to fire upon retreating enemies.

But there was no need to waste firepower on such a small cavalry force.

So I raised my hand, ordering the formation to hold.

Thus ended the reconnaissance battle.

The enemy cavalry suffered no casualties, but two of our men were injured from being unhorsed.

“The wounded shall move to the rear and focus on recovery.”

After ordering rest for the injured, I surveyed the front.

Seeing the enemy vanguard’s horses being prepared, it seemed a major cavalry charge was imminent.

“The enemy is preparing for full-scale battle. All troops, prepare for the impact that will follow the cavalry charge!”

The destructive power of a cavalry charge wasn’t just about its lethality.

The greater problem was the aftermath of formation collapse caused by the charge.

That’s why I ordered preparation against the enemy’s large-scale charge.

While we couldn’t completely block it, mental preparation was important.

While I was thinking this, Taisun Khan’s cavalry charged in a fish-scale formation.

“Ugh… uuugh…”

“The… the ground is shaking.”

The infantry were gripped by terror.

Understandably so—the hoofbeats of hundreds of thousands of cavalry horses were comparable to a natural disaster.

Like a fierce wave that crushes everything in its path.

That was cavalry.

“Fear not!”

I shouted these words as I drew my sword.

I moved to the front, standing in a similar position to the soldiers.

The soldiers’ expressions changed at my appearance.

“His Majesty stands with us!”

“The Samguk Daejanggun fights alongside us! Have no fear!”

A commander’s presence made a huge difference.

Believing they shared the same fate, the soldiers could somewhat alleviate their fear.

The cavalry approached within reach.

They charged toward us with sharp swords, aiming for our necks.

I am afraid.

No, I am not afraid.

I will not die.

I am one who has returned from death.

Yesugei.

Tolui.

And Park Soo-hyun.

I am.

“Immortal!”

With this cry, I thrust my sword forward.

Simultaneously, the soldiers beside me extended their spears.

The air filled with the screams of horses and men.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Keuuk.”

“Neeeigh.”

The vanguard’s charge was halted by our long spears.

The following cavalry, not wanting to lose momentum, leaped over their falling comrades toward us.

Horses jumping over us.

As the horses’ shadows blocked the sunlight, our soldiers thrust their spears into the exposed bellies of the horses as trained.

The horses wailed and their riders fell.

This might sound advantageous for us, but it wasn’t.

When a horse was impaled mid-air, it meant our forces had to bear the full weight of these animals weighing hundreds of kilograms.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Keuuk.”

As the horses died with their abdomens pierced, the spears broke under their weight.

With the spears broken, the horses’ corpses caused significant casualties among our infantry.

Soldiers crushed under the heavy horse carcasses died instantly.

So while we were inflicting damage on the enemy, our own casualties were mounting.

Nevertheless, the first cavalry charge had failed.

The enemy cavalry began turning around to retreat.

Engaging in close combat with infantry after losing momentum wasn’t a good strategy.

Though still superior to infantry, cavalry without momentum could only exert about 1/3 of their original destructive power.

So it was better to retreat, regain momentum, and charge again.

Knowing this, the enemy cavalry turned away from our forces.

They openly showed their backs as they attempted to return to their main force.

If the enemy had been infantry, this would have been a fatal move.

But since they were cavalry, it was natural.

No matter how hard infantry tried, they couldn’t catch cavalry.

That’s why Taisun Khan’s cavalry could retreat while showing their backs to us.

“Now’s the time.”

But times had changed.

The glory of steppe warriors roaming the plains belonged only to my era.

This was now the age of gunpowder.

It was time for the spirits of the steppe to return to the plains.

* * *

“They’re defending better than I expected.”

Taisun Khan said this as he observed the Goryeo army’s condition.

They had deployed a crane wing formation with extremely thick rows of infantry to minimize damage from cavalry charges.

This prevented the formation from collapsing, making it an excellent strategy.

“But their limitations are clear.”

Infantry cannot pursue cavalry.

So no matter how thick the defensive formation, cumulative damage would occur with repeated cavalry charges.

In contrast, the enemy found it difficult to harm Taisun Khan’s cavalry due to their limited mobility.

In other words, the Goryeo army would suffer one-sided casualties.

“Even if a cavalry charge fails, we can simply try again.”

Taisun Khan surveyed the battlefield with a triumphant expression.

As he was observing, a strange sight caught his eye.

“The enemy spearmen are moving…?”

The spearmen who had been acting as an anvil were moving hastily.

And between their ranks, soldiers with firearms appeared.

Seeing their emergence, Taisun Khan jumped to his feet.

He shouted loudly:

“Change to dispersed formation immediately! Hurry!”

Hearing this, his aide frantically waved a green flag signaling the order to disperse.

The cavalry tried to scatter, but it was already too late.

Bang bang bang bang.

Cavalry made the ground tremble.

In contrast, the riflemen made the sky roar.

Goryeo’s riflemen began tearing the sky apart with the tremendous noise from their guns.

But the bullets didn’t just tear the sky.

They also shredded human flesh.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Keuuuuk!”

The retreating cavalry, their backs exposed, had their bodies torn apart by bullets.

Firearms had low accuracy.

But with tens of thousands of bullets fired at once, accuracy no longer mattered.

What mattered was that blind bullets were tearing through flesh and taking lives.

“Damn it!”

Taisun Khan clenched his fist.

The appearance of riflemen had caused cumulative casualties.

He could clearly see that increasing distance only invited more bullets.

This meant they couldn’t show their backs.

In other words, there was only one thing left to do.

A mud fight.

Only close combat remained.

“Turn around! Engage in close combat!”

At Taisun Khan’s command, the cavalry charged again.

Though they lacked momentum, this was their only chance to kill the troublesome riflemen.

No one could fire properly in the face of an incoming cavalry charge.

So the cavalry rushed to kill the riflemen.

At that moment.

The riflemen retreated as if they had anticipated this situation.

The riflemen turned their backs and fled hastily.

And in their place stood the spearmen—the nightmare of cavalry.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

“Taste our spears!”

Taisun Khan couldn’t comprehend the fluid formation changes.

As time passed, he was speechless at the horrific scene unfolding before his eyes.

“I… lost?”

Taisun Khan’s defeat.

The Goryeo army of 150,000 had achieved a great victory against 200,000 cavalry.