Chapter 147
Only half a shijin (one hour) earlier, Yi Man-ju had thought victory was as good as theirs.
The Jurchens prided themselves on being strong enough to make the world tremble once they united, despite their one flaw of failing to unite among their tribes.
That confidence was by no means unfounded.
Even Kim Daebung, buried in paperwork far away in Hanyang and solely responsible for supplying provisions to an army of more than 25,000 men, had been wary of the powerful Jurchen cavalry.
However, that well-founded confidence, pride, and arrogance vanished like melting snow the moment he saw the Joseon army with his own eyes.
“Commander, is this really the Joseon army that was nothing more than a rabble aside from the Gapsa guards and a few elite troops?”
To the Jurchens, who had learned war through lifelong hunting and had continuously fought battles in which they killed and were killed, the Joseon soldiers of the past had looked like nothing more than a rabble.
They would ride over, shoot a few arrows, and flee, then return to shoot and flee again.
If they repeated that several times, the Joseon soldiers’ morale would fall to rock bottom...
Then, if they brought in their heavy cavalry and exploited that opening, they would be able to trample them thoroughly.
“Look over there! Even from this distance, there is not a single break in their ranks or files, and they do not appear the least bit afraid despite us being right in front of them.”
“Do you think I don’t know that?”
“Shouldn’t we reconsider the plan?”
Yi Man-ju’s hand moved toward the hilt of his sword.
He wondered whether he should cut off the neck of the man making such morale-sapping remarks in order to restore discipline.
However, he mastered his emotions and stopped himself from beheading the small tribe’s chieftain before him.
He judged that although they had some chance of victory only if they fought as one, beheading a man who was speaking the truth would cause discord and harm their side.
‘If we scatter, we die.’
One of the chieftains, a white-haired old man, even looked at the Joseon army and let slip a forbidden thought.
“It feels like we are looking at the Gabyeolcho from the days when Daehyeong (Yi Seong-gye) was alive.”
Yi Seong-gye had not known military drill, so even when the Gabyeolcho was at its peak, it had been unable to align its ranks and files as perfectly as the Joseon army did now.
However, their high morale and the sight of everyone moving as one were more than enough to remind him of the Gabyeolcho.
"Commander!"
"Shut up! Are you saying it would be fine if these Joseon bastards plundered the land where we live? You selfish bastard—you care so much about your own life that you cannot even think about the future of your tribe’s warriors, wives, and children."
Yi Man-ju had already revised his assessment of the Joseon army several levels upward.
Even so, he still thought they had a chance.
‘The moment the Joseon army realizes it can do nothing but helplessly endure the horse archers’ attacks, its morale will plummet.’
"Shut up, and send out all the horse archers to throw the Joseon army’s formation into disarray! Once their formation collapses, we will send out all the heavy cavalry and exploit the opening. If we trample those bastards, we win."
Warfare in this era was broadly similar in form whether in the East or the West.
Even if the enemy had an army of a million, a small force could easily defeat it as long as its formation broke.
Conversely, even if one’s own side had superior numbers, it could do nothing but suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of a smaller enemy if its formation collapsed.
"We are all warriors, but only a few of the Joseon soldiers can be called warriors! Only the cavalry known as Gapsa guards and some elite soldiers deserve that title. The rest are no different from slaves who were dragged here. Give spears to wretches who merely plowed the earth, and their nature will not change!"
Yi Man-ju could not even imagine it.
He could not imagine that military drill had transformed the men he had just disparaged as slaves into fierce warriors.
Thus, he foolishly convinced himself that victory was his.
And that delusion spread to the other Jurchen chieftains like a plague.
That was because the common belief they shared was that farmers who merely plowed fields were lowly beings no better than slaves—weaklings who were utterly helpless.
"I will personally lead the horse archers out and ravage the Joseon army’s formation. Once their formation breaks, I will send a signal... Ahugai, when you receive the signal, lead the heavy cavalry and smash the Joseon army’s formation."
"Yes, Commander."
After issuing his orders, Yi Man-ju immediately led the horse archers in a charge toward the Joseon army.
And he prayed over and over in his heart.
He prayed that those men were merely sturdy on the outside, while inwardly still being the frail Joseon soldiers he knew.
Yi Man-ju normally never sought out Buddha, but at that moment he prayed to Buddha more fervently than anyone else as he slowly charged toward the Joseon army.
One only galloped at full speed after coming within range of the Joseon army’s arrows.
If they started galloping at full speed now...
Their horses might collapse from exhaustion when it was time to launch their actual attack.
"Commander, the Joseon army has entered the range of our horse archers."
"Follow me! Everyone, fire your arrows at will!"
Among the Joseon soldiers visible to him, only those carrying long spears wore breastplates, while many of the others had no armor at all.
Therefore, if they fired arrows, many of them would be helpless against the attack.
"Fire!"
When Yi Man-ju loosed his arrows, the Joseon soldiers began to fall dead.
The Joseon soldiers desperately wanted to counterattack, but the range at which they could expect their matchlocks to hit was only around 50 meters.
By contrast, the effective range of the horse archers, including Yi Man-ju, was roughly 150 meters.
That was beyond the reach of the matchlock men and spearmen, even if they tried to retaliate.
Thus, counterattacking now would be futile.
Moreover, because matchlocks took a long time to reload, one mistaken shot would leave them defenseless for a prolonged period, making it even more impossible to counterattack.
Seeing the Joseon soldiers, unable to retaliate, collapse one after another whenever arrows came flying, Yi Man-ju and the horse archers under his command breathed sighs of relief.
The Joseon army had looked like an elite force from the outside and had made them tremble, but it turned out to be nothing more than a hollow log, so they mocked it to their hearts’ content.
At the same time, they felt proud that the Jurchen horse archers were still formidable.
However, the scene that unfolded next left them aghast.
"Re-form the front line."
As that command rang out from various places, the Joseon soldiers immediately filled the gaps left by their dead comrades even while gripped by terror.
The soldiers stepping forward trembled with fear, and some even wet their pants, but...
What mattered was that they maintained their formation without a single exception.
Even the posture, gait, and movements of the soldiers standing in line matched precisely, as though they were a single person.
There was no sign that their formation could be broken.
This was possible because, during military drill, soldiers who left the ranks were subjected to extremely severe corporal punishment through a brief but proper procedure, imprinting on them that ‘leaving the ranks’ was more frightening than death.
.......
It was absurd.
Even well-trained elite infantry began to show gaps when mounted horse archers started shooting arrows at them, but the Joseon soldiers continued to show not the slightest opening.
Then arrows fired by Joseon archers from behind the Joseon infantry poured toward Yi Man-ju and the horse archers.
"Arrows are coming!"
A tremendous number of pyeonjeon and arrows flew toward the horse archers.
Of course, because the horse archers were moving at high speed, most of them were able to evade the arrows, but the number of horse archers still began to decrease slowly under the Joseon army’s attack.
From Yi Man-ju’s perspective, this was a tremendous disaster.
The Joseon soldiers had suffered no serious losses, and their formation was holding firm.
Yet only the horse archers, who could be called the tribe’s finest troops, were being worn down?
‘Damn it.’
Flustered by the fact that they had achieved nothing whatsoever, Yi Man-ju missed the proper moment to order a retreat by a little.
Yi Sun-mong seized that opening and thrust into it.
The lancer cavalry led by Yi Sun-mong, along with flail cavalry wielding the flails created by Kim Daebung, began slaughtering the Jurchen horse archers.
"If we take Yi Man-ju’s head, His Majesty will grant us a tremendous reward! Kill him!"
Yi Man-ju fled desperately from Yi Sun-mong.
"Commander, if this continues, only our horse archers will die! What use is circling around and shooting arrows when their formation is not breaking?"
"Damn it! Retreat! Then send a signal to Ahugai and order him to trample the place we just attacked! They cannot completely stop our charge with long spears alone!"
"Yes, Commander!"
Of course, every Jurchen vanguard soldier who charged toward the cavalry carrying long spears would be slaughtered.
However, were they not now facing the loss of the very land where they lived?
Even if they had to accept the sacrifice, they had to inflict damage on the Joseon army.
They had to make it impossible for the Joseon army to even contemplate continuing its expedition.
"Commander! Joseon’s horse archers—their horse archers are targeting our flank! If this continues, we will be annihilated!"
"Retreat without looking back. We will regroup afterward!"
"Yes, Commander!"
Yi Man-ju experienced firsthand just how insanely tough the Joseon army was.
He now understood that the Joseon army was far more frightening than the Ming army.
If the Ming were merely a rabble with superior numbers, the Joseon army had fairly substantial numbers as well as a strength that could never be broken.
**
Left Army Military Commissioner Yi Jing-ok was inwardly marveling at the sight before him.
It was only natural that the Jurchen horse archers were being beaten senseless by the Joseon horse archers and lancer cavalry, so that was not what surprised him.
What truly astonished him was that the Joseon army maintained its formation without wavering even under the Jurchens’ barrage of arrows.
"The outcome of a war depends not on the number of soldiers, but on how well they maintain their formation..."
Although there must have been casualties, the Joseon soldiers endured the horse archers’ barrage of arrows to the very end.
Although the soldiers were terrified and trembling, and some even wet themselves in fear... their formation remained solid.
If this army had sufficient numbers, it could trample the Ming army as well.
No, it would do more than trample it.
The ‘spirit of Goguryeo’ that had lain dormant within him for so long suddenly awoke and began to stretch.
"Military Commissioner! The Jurchen cavalry is charging toward us!"
"Form up!"
An anti-cavalry square formed by combining line infantry and tercio formations.
With the pikemen blocking the cavalry’s approach, the matchlock men would fire their matchlocks, whose range was about 50 meters, without end and annihilate the enemy.
The formation would soon demonstrate its true worth.
Even as the heavy cavalry charged with spears, not a single Joseon soldier made a rash move, and they maintained a perfect square formation.
This was possible because even the slightest deviation from the ranks during training was punished severely with a whip.
The Jurchen cavalry fired their arrows just before charging.
The formation wavered for only a moment, but the soldiers filled the gaps on their own, allowing it to continue holding firm like unyielding bedrock.
"Lower your spears, and matchlock men, aim for the enemy’s stomachs!"
Anyone would die from a single hit anyway.
So it was probably best to aim around there.
"Fire!"
When the order was given, the soldiers in the first, second, third, and fourth ranks fired their matchlocks in sequence.
Not only the vanguard but also the men behind them were slaughtered one after another before the matchlocks’ might.
Yi Jing-ok swallowed as he watched the scene.
"...... The Jurchen cavalry could not even crack the soldiers’ square formation, let alone break through it."
Thousands of Jurchen corpses now lay strewn before his eyes.
It was an overwhelming victory for the Joseon army by anyone’s measure.