Sword Master of Joseon - Chapter 521

521. Chapter 63. hit from behind (4)

“It’s not the merchants or the people fleeing, right?”

“Judging by the speed at which the dust cloud spreads, it doesn’t seem like it’s moving on foot… We’ve been moving around like that, but will the top move?”

Looking at the smiling platoon commander, the company commander nodded while chewing a chewy fish shell.

“It looks like it’s coming this way… Get ready. “I’ll hit you when you get close.”

“yep!”

As soon as the company commander finished speaking, the company soldiers, who had been resting comfortably, dismounted from their horses and moved to their positions between the trees on the mountain.

As befits those who rode and hunted over the rugged mountains of Joseon and the North, they were so good at hiding and moving around the cavalry… they blended into the mountains to the extent that it was difficult to imagine that there were cavalry here when viewed from a distance.

“Shanhaiguan cavalry. “Do you know how to write an article?”

“well. “You probably know how to use real elite soldiers, but there won’t be many of them, right?”

“Is that so?”

“It must be true because Liaodong County from Gwangnyeong Province said that. “You wouldn’t lie to us.”

The company commander and platoon commander continued their conversation while looking at the dust cloud with a telescope.

It is natural that the Liaodong cavalry, which had to deal with the Mongols and Jurchen forces, was superior in skill to the cavalry from Shanhaiguan. Of course, it varies depending on each individual’s capabilities, but the overall level was the same.

Just because they’re cavalry doesn’t mean everyone knows how to knight… Especially since the fall of the Ming Dynasty, wouldn’t the number of cavalry in the Beiping Army have been smaller since they no longer had to fight against nomadic cavalry?

“I don’t know about the soldiers guarding Geoyonggwan, but didn’t they feel helpless after we destroyed Geoyonggwan? “It won’t be much.”

“yes.”

The platoon commander nodded slightly, agreeing with the company commander’s words.

It is said that there are a lot of cavalry in Bukpyeong County, but that is more than other regions of China, and it is definitely not more than Liaodong, Mongolia, or Joseon.

Moreover, over the past ten years, the Mongol cavalry of the Southern Mongolian Alliance, who had crossed through the side roads of the Yeonsan Mountains and the Taehaeng Mountains, had been raiding the northern part of Bukjikrye.

Since there were no cavalry losses, it must have become even more difficult to raise elite cavalry.

While we were waiting and talking. The enemy’s appearance was captured through the binoculars of the company commander and platoon commander.

As the platoon leader expected, the cavalry was right, but instead of the White Tigers, there were approximately fifty cavalrymen running along Guando.

“As expected, they come here.”

“It would be hard to find a better place than here.”

Even though it is a scouting party, it is not something that randomly disperses and wanders around individually. The basic idea is to set up a temporary garrison near the enemy lines and spread out in all directions around that area to keep an eye on the enemy.

This is the same for any army, so of course they can read the terrain and areas that can be used as temporary garrisons.

“I thought we would split our forces and scout this place separately…”

“Because they are the ones who are in urgent need.”

The company commander shrugged his shoulders at the words of a platoon leader.

Isn’t time on the side of the Joseon Army, not the Bukpyeong Army? They need to liberate Nanha quickly, so they gave up scouting for a temporary garrison and just rushed in like that.

The scouts probably couldn’t refuse orders from above even though they were swearing inwardly.

“Get ready. “The 2nd and 3rd platoons hit the back.”

“yep!”

“Loyalty!”

Gwando was located at the bottom of the mountain where they were ambushed, and the platoon leaders who had gathered around the company commander dispersed to their subordinates.

The platoon members quietly stood up, mounted their horses, and took out their bows. After waiting for a moment, the sight of the enemy cavalry broke through the dust cloud and caught everyone’s eye.

As they were also getting closer to their destination, their speed seemed to be gradually decreasing, and some of them were about to move separately.

Beep beep! As soon as the company commander’s whistle sounded, all the company members rushed out.

Hee hee hee! Rumble. As the speed began to increase as we climbed down the low mountainside, the platoon members formed their formation around the platoon leader without anyone telling them to do so.

As we formed a camp that resembled a crescent moon rather than a wedge and ran away from each other, a cloud of dust rose up from the middle of the highway.

The enemies also began to react when they saw the Joseon army suddenly popping out, and hey! Without anyone giving any commands, a rain of arrows flew as soon as they entered the range.

Shake shake shake! About 60 arrows rained down on the enemy cavalry in an instant, and as soon as several cavalrymen fell down after being hit by arrows, the enemy closed the distance and rushed towards the Joseon army.

‘Seeing them trying to stick together like that, it seems like not many of them know how to write articles.’

The company commander was so scared to think like that, beep, beep! He blew the whistle in his mouth vigorously, and at the same time grabbed the reins and ran to the side.

Behind the company commander, who took the lead, other company members followed suit, and the Korean army ran to the side of the hill as if it had enemy cavalry on its side.

Everyone does this, but their hands don’t stop.

Rather than facing each other in front and shooting, isn’t it much easier to hit by looking at each other and shooting from the side at similar speeds?

Here in the plains of Yeongpyeongbu, there were not only farmland around Gwando, but also uncultivated wastelands and rocky fields, so the cavalrymen slowed down while running slightly out of the way from Gwando.

Shake shake shake! The arrows that continued to fly rained down not only towards the enemy cavalry but also towards the enemy warhorses… puk puk puk! Although the warhorses could somehow withstand being hit by one or two bullets while bleeding, they could not endure an arrow hitting the nape of their neck.

Kurung. Unluckily, the horse with an arrow stuck in its neck twisted its body in a wild twist, and when the cavalryman holding the reins lost his balance, they tangled together and turned over on the ground.

There were cavalrymen who leaped over fallen battle horses as if performing stunts, but there were also cavalrymen who could not.

As they continued to fall off their horses, creating a cloud of dust, the speed of the enemy cavalry slowed down slightly, and the Joseon army also slowed down and rained down arrows to match it.

While swarm tactics, not swarm tactics, are unfolding. Before I knew it, the battlefield had moved to the other side of the hill where the original ambush was…

“Wow!”

“Hit!”

With loud shouts, the 2nd and 3rd platoons hiding on the other side caught up behind the enemy cavalry and started firing arrows.

It is clear that the enemy does not know how much the Joseon army has landed. Perhaps he thought it was a scouting party with a similar number to his own, but he couldn’t hide his surprise when he saw the Joseon cavalry that suddenly popped out.

The enemy cavalry ended up being caught between the company commander’s troops, who were slightly ahead, and the cavalry of the 2nd and 3rd platoons that suddenly jumped out.

“Spread out!”

“Get out!”

just as expected. The enemies broke up their formation, scattered, and started running recklessly. I’m already behind in numbers and can’t keep up with the news, so is there any need to hold on any longer?

The failure of not being able to reconnoiter was painful, but the fact that we realized that the enemy reconnaissance group was here was already an achievement.

‘You’re good at it.’

The company commander also glanced at the battlefield and muttered while running after one of the enemy cavalry and shooting arrows.

The special forces didn’t just carry out power reconnaissance once or twice, but wasn’t this their main job? Even without any specific orders, the special forces members each found their own target and grouped in groups of two or three to track down an enemy cavalry.

‘I can’t lose either.’

Sigh! The company commander strengthened his resolve and tried to fix his gaze, which was swinging up and down in sync with the hooves of his horse.

‘now!’

When the trajectory I had drawn in my mind matched the enemy cavalry’s back, I held my breath and released the bowstring.

Sigh! The arrow flew in an instant and luckily landed in the horse’s butt.

Hee hee! No matter how thick the meat on the horse’s buttocks is, how can it not hurt when hit by an arrow? As he struggled in pain, he could feel the speed of the enemy cavalry increasing, and the company commander continued to fire arrows repeatedly, hitting the horse’s buttocks with the enemy cavalry.

‘oh!?’

Puff! Again, luckily, an arrow pierced the armor and stuck in the side of the enemy cavalry, and the speed of the enemy cavalry was seen to slow down significantly.

Whilick. In an instant, he moved his hand and placed the bow in the arrow holder on his waist, and the next movement continued like a flowing stream. As soon as the enemy cavalry pulled out the spear that was stuck at an angle in the saddle, the enemy cavalry turned around and boom! The company commander mercilessly struck the enemy cavalry on the back with his spear.

The enemy cavalry swayed and swayed on their horses. At the same time, the platoon member following the company commander moves to the side, boom! He plunged the spear into the nape of the enemy’s horse.

Hee hee! In a final blow that put an end to the pain, the enemy war horse immediately lost strength in his legs and collapsed, and the enemy cavalry, who was already unable to maintain his balance, was thrown off his horse and rolled on the ground.

The platoon members and company commander who had gone ahead, leaving behind the fallen enemy cavalry, slowed down and came back.

“Good job.”

“yes. Obediently captured. This is it…”

The platoon member was embarrassed by the company commander’s praise, made a complaint that was not a complaint, and brushed off the blood on the blade of the spear.

“…”

The company commander looked around as he approached the still alive, writhing enemy cavalry.

Because of the sudden chase, everyone dispersed for a while, but the dust clouds were seen shrinking one by one.

You may have missed some, but isn’t it important to catch them anyway?

“I can’t catch them all.”

“That’s right.”

The platoon member also seemed to be thinking the same thing, and muttered softly.

As soon as they arrived in front of the enemy cavalry, the platoon member quickly got off his horse, pointed out his spear, and struck the enemy cavalry, disarming it.

“Ugh…”

The enemy soldier was completely unconscious, as the pain from falling from his horse was so severe that no bones were broken.

Soon, the platoon member took a rope from the horse’s saddle and skillfully tied his hands to the saddle, and the two immediately dragged the prisoner back to the mountain.

The captive was in such a mess that he didn’t know if he was walking or being dragged, but anyway, as long as his mouth was still alive, that was it.

The two arrived at their original location without any hesitation, handling the enemy cavalry roughly.

“Who is the injured unit member?”

“no way. “How could you get hurt if you didn’t do anything?”

The company commander must have followed him quite far, so one of the platoon commanders who had arrived in advance gave him a sly answer.

“Did you take many prisoners?”

“Seven.”

“It’s not bad. “Let’s interrogate right away.”

“yep!”

As soon as the company commander’s order was given, the platoon leader gathered several members and began interrogation.

Is there anything special about interrogation? After keeping the prisoners at a distance, they just randomly beat them up and cross-checked the information.

Not only the Special Forces but also the Joseon Army had quite a few people who could speak Chinese, so interrogating them was not difficult at all.

There were Mongolians and Jurchen people who knew how to speak Chinese, as well as naturalized Liaodong people, Koryo people, and other Han people.

It was clear that Joseon was a much more advanced and prosperous country than the country they lived in in the past.

However, it goes without saying that it is not easy to adapt to Joseon’s changing times every day after the reform, and it is also unfamiliar and difficult to make money in keeping with the times.

For such people, the path to military education, which had been avoided everywhere, became the answer.

At least the Joseon military not only gave quite a lot of bonuses, but the lifestyles of the soldiers were similar whether they were from Mongolia or Han Chinese.

So the interrogation was carried out quickly and without difficulty at all, and by the time all the company members safely joined, the information had been completely gathered.

“The main team is already here.”

“Five thousand… that’s not a small number.”

“It’s fortunate that there are no artillery pieces.”

When the company commander said a word, the platoon leaders who were huddled together, smelling of sweat, also added a word.

Shanhaiguan said that while a scouting party was being sent out, the main force had already departed along Guandu. It takes two days to get from Nanhe to Shanhaiguan on horseback, and it takes five days for infantrymen to move while preserving their stamina.

“So, there are only two days left until the main force arrives.”

“Rather, it is said that the troops of Tangsan, Junhwa, and Nanju are mobilized together… How did they contact each other?”

“That’s right, you’re just following what the Shanhaiguan tells you.”

“It’s impossible to block the entire Yeongpyeong-bu with just one battalion in the first place, right?”

When one of the platoon leaders asked a question, each person found the answer on their own.

Although it is possible to find and destroy the enemy’s scouting party first, isn’t it impossible to catch all the messengers moving alone in this wide area of ​​Yeongpyeong?

There must have been more than one or two messengers sent from Shanhaiguan.

Also, even if the navy occupied the Nan River, they could not completely block and protect the entire Nan River. This is also a hidden ferry boat or raft. At least if they swim across the river, how can they catch them?

In the first place, the mission of the special forces was to buy time by confusing our troops and their positions, not to prevent the exchange of messages between Shanhaiguan in the east and Beiping in the west.

“The place they are targeting is Jeonganjin…”

“Isn’t this the place we burned down?”

“Well, the river seemed narrow.”

Jeonganjin is located slightly above the lower reaches of the Nan River, and the special forces had already passed through it once.

It was a small ferry port that could only be cleared by a special forces unit. In other words, it was not a place where the current was strong or the river was wide enough to create only a very small ferry boat.

“Are you really trying to cross the river?”

“I guess so?”

“It may not be a lie, but… it could be that they are trying to cross from somewhere else at the same time.”

The platoon leaders expressed various opinions, but no conclusion was reached. In the first place, don’t they have the authority to decide the navy’s movements?

“That’s the Navy’s job to take care of. What should we do?”

“I guess I should go check on the main unit, right?”

“That’s right. Messengers and scouts can move around the plains at will, but a large army of about 5,000 soldiers cannot move at will. At least it will move along the canal route. “You can just look at it and see if it’s on standby.”

“yes.”

“That would be great.”

“1st platoon leader. Send a messenger to the Navy and other companies.”

“yep!”

The company commander gave the order, and the assembled company members immediately got ready and moved after sending the prisoner to the other world.