Matchlocks and Northern Expedition (11)

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 Dae-bung, 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...