Chapter 329. Another March 2
Go Youngchang regularly rode up beside Youngwoo and brought his horse close.
At first, he pretended to be checking the condition of the column.
The next time, he matched his horse's pace to Youngwoo's.
Before long, he was simply staring at Youngwoo's face.
"Is anything uncomfortable?"
Youngwoo laughed like a sigh.
"Oh, quite a lot."
Go Youngchang asked in surprise,
"Where are you uncomfortable?"
"You keep worrying over a man you could simply leave alone. Someone as insignificant as me is beginning to feel terribly uneasy."
Go Youngchang could no longer hold it in and burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Hahaha!"
Still smiling broadly, he quickly rode back toward the front of the column.
When he returned some time later, he brought new information.
"They say Xiao Baoxian is making thorough preparations in Liaoyang."
Youngwoo nodded.
"I imagine he is tormenting the people beneath him. You said there is not much else he knows how to do."
Go Youngchang laughed loudly.
"Hahaha. That is true. How did you know?"
"I asked Lady Okjeong about him. She explained him in detail."
Go Youngchang drew his reins slightly and moved even closer to Youngwoo.
"What strategy would be best in a case like this?"
Youngwoo thought for a moment.
Passages from military texts and examples from battlefields he had crossed rose one after another in his mind.
Things he once had to drag out of memory with difficulty now found their places quickly and connected on their own.
"In a situation like this, it is better to make the people inside the city move first."
Go Youngchang's eyes changed.
Youngwoo continued.
"There must be many people inside Liaoyang who hate Xiao Baoxian.
"There will be Balhae soldiers.
"Han clerks who suffered rewriting registers.
"People whose horses and metal goods were confiscated.
"We should send people to them in advance.
"Find those guarding the gates, those in charge of the granaries, and those making the night patrols whose loyalty has already begun to waver."
Go Youngchang listened without breathing.
"If we strike the city too hard from outside, the people inside may become frightened and rally around Xiao Baoxian.
"So we must first show them a way to survive.
"If they open the gates, their lives and property will be protected.
"Neither Balhae nor Han people will be harmed without cause.
"The granaries and government offices will be sealed.
"Private looting will be forbidden.
"We must make those promises clearly.
"Then those in contact with us can secretly open the gates."
"Entering without bloodshed?"
"Yes.
"It does not mean simply waiting.
"We put people inside first.
"Persuade ten men.
"Those ten then move the men closest to the gates.
"If the gates are opened from within, we reduce the casualties.
"And the people inside the city will not see us as nothing but enemies."
Go Youngchang's eyes flashed.
He suddenly raised his clasped hands in salute from the saddle.
"Thank you for the excellent advice. I will put it into practice at once.
"Entering without bloodshed…"
He repeated the words once more under his breath, then rode toward the front of the column with a pleased expression.
There was less of a general's excitement before battle in his back than the impatience of a man about to reclaim a city.
Once Go Youngchang had ridden away, Go Hoewon approached.
He looked in the direction Go Youngchang had gone and smiled slowly.
"That boy will be busy again."
The three of them took turns coming to Youngwoo's side.
Go Hoewon watched over the broader flow of the march.
Go Youngchang moved back and forth through the column carrying news.
Okjeong remained quietly beside Youngwoo and added only what was necessary.
Youngwoo asked first,
"How long will it take us to reach Liaoyang?"
Go Hoewon answered seriously.
"From Hubodagang to Liaoyang is roughly thirteen hundred to fifteen hundred li.
"If we cover one hundred to one hundred and fifty li a day, it should take between ten and fifteen days.
"With infantry and wagons, it could take more than twenty.
"But we captured many horses at Hubodagang.
"Everyone is mounted, so we can estimate around ten days.
"And this is a road we have traveled once before.
"The road home always feels much faster."
Youngwoo laughed.
"Hahaha. Ten to fifteen days."
Go Hoewon tilted his head.
"It is strange, though. The way back really is faster than the way there."
Youngwoo gave a small laugh.
"Perhaps it only feels that way because the scenery is familiar."
Go Hoewon shook his head.
"It is not only a feeling.
"It really does take less time.
"We already know where to cross the rivers.
"We know where the horses can be fed.
"We know which roads turn to mud.
"On the first journey, you travel while searching for the road.
"On the return journey, you simply follow a road you already know."
Youngwoo grumbled with amusement at the awkward truth of it.
"One day I will have to test whether that is really true."
Go Hoewon burst into laughter.
"Hahaha."
Then he asked,
"Are you bored?"
Youngwoo shook his head.
"No.
"So many people have shown interest that I am actually enjoying myself.
"And I am curious about Liaoyang.
"If it was once a capital of an ancient empire, I truly want to see it."
Go Hoewon's expression brightened slightly.
"Liaoyang is not merely the Eastern Capital of Liao.
"In the days of Goguryeo, it was Liaodong Fortress itself.
"It was the fortress that withstood the great armies of Sui and Tang.
"It was the key stronghold in the defense of Liaodong."
Youngwoo drew in a short breath.
"Ah… Goguryeo."
The name seemed to touch some hidden trigger inside his chest.
The city of Liaoyang suddenly took on a different face.
It was the city to which the Balhae soldiers would return.
It was where the office of Liao's Eastern Capital Regent stood.
And long before that, it had been the fortress where Goguryeo soldiers had endured the great armies of Sui and Tang.
Youngwoo stared for a long while in the direction of Liaoyang from horseback.
"Commander Yi."
"Yes, go ahead."
"Do you not regret giving up every office and position like this?"
For a moment, the distance of time seemed immense.
"Hmm.
"I was once only an ordinary soldier.
"There were not many people in the camp who even called me by name.
"I lived by seeing to my ration and the one spear assigned to me.
"Then I earned merit in battle, and little by little my position rose.
"I studied, and my swordsmanship improved as well.
"Simply coming this far is already an extraordinary thing for someone like me.
"But none of it happened because I was especially great.
"Names and offices can change or disappear at any time.
"I do not want to bind my heart too tightly to them.
"I intend to live with a higher goal than that.
"Because I have another goal, laying down an office was not so difficult."
"Oh? Another goal?"
"Yes.
"I am learning martial arts from the immortals.
"Most of the time I train alone, but it is certain that I am still walking the road of learning.
"My family will probably think it a waste when they hear I resigned.
"So telling them when I return home may be a little difficult. Hehe.
"But I do not live according to the mood of my household.
"I have already provided enough for them to live."
"Oh. You are wealthy, then."
"I used to be poor.
"Now I suppose I count among the wealthy.
"When I was helping Jin, I sent a great deal back home.
"With that, we bought a house and land.
"Now the household can stand on its own even if I am not there."
Go Hoewon studied Youngwoo quietly.
"Even so, it must have been hard to give up.
"Your official rank may have been Commander, but you were playing a role greater than that of the highest commanders in the Jin army."
Youngwoo turned in the saddle and looked back.
Of course it hurt to leave.
The more care he had poured into those things, the harder it was to let them go.
The thought that everything he had worked to build might come to nothing pressed heavily on his chest.
Because he had cared for the work, the sense of loss was equally great.
Youngwoo let out a long sigh.
"To be honest, it pains me greatly.
"The things I worked on there feel like parts of myself now.
"I touched everything one by one.
"Repairing armor.
"Equipping weapons.
"Counting horses.
"Making ledgers.
"Turning spoils into military supplies.
"I worry about what will happen once all of that leaves my hands.
"It pains me enough that I can hardly stop thinking about it."
Go Hoewon lowered his head.
So even while saying he was fine, this was what Youngwoo truly felt inside.
"I am sorry. Because of us…"
"Do not say that.
"This has to be done.
"And in one way, I want to see it.
"I want to see whether they really do well without me.
"When I gave them things, they gobbled it all up without hesitation, but now their faces have changed.
"People stop looking human when they change their faces like that.
"I do not want to see men like that anymore.
"If I keep thinking about it, I am going to start cursing."
Youngwoo had judged that the Jurchens had lost the sincerity they possessed at the beginning.
"That is unfortunate."
"Do not change your heart later.
"Do not lose your original resolve.
"Never lose it."
"Ahhh. Commander Yi truly is an extraordinary man."
"I am not extraordinary.
"I am petty, narrow-minded, rough, and ignorant."
Go Hoewon smiled awkwardly.
Perhaps that was the most honest description Youngwoo could give of himself.
Go Hoewon had heard him say similar things many times.
But he knew that those words described only one side of the man.
"By the way.
"That thing hanging from your daughter's wrist—did she make it herself?"
Youngwoo was pointing toward the tiny bow attached to Okjeong's wrist.
It was a repeating crossbow slightly shorter than her forearm.
Folded, it rested along the inside of her wrist.
Unfolded, it could fire several short bolts in succession.
Youngwoo remembered seeing short bolts fly several times from Okjeong's wrist when she covered the rear at Hubodagang.
At first, he thought she was switching between small bows.
Later, he realized that a folding bow was attached to her wrist.
Go Hoewon laughed loudly.
"Hahaha. Why did you not simply ask her to show it to you?"
Youngwoo smiled awkwardly.
"I cannot exactly ask to see a woman's wrist."
"Are you curious?"
"Yes.
"It looked like a very functional weapon."
A hint of pride appeared on Go Hoewon's face.
"Our Okjeong has a fair amount of skill.
"She has studied mechanisms and Gimunjinsik extensively."
Youngwoo tilted his head.
"Something like Gimundungap?"
Go Hoewon waved a hand.
"What you are thinking of is closer to the study of directions and mystical arts.
"What Okjeong learned concerns machinery and structure.
"Making waterwheels.
"Making wheels.
"Hiding mechanisms inside gates so that people outside cannot tell how to open them.
"We call such structures and devices Gimunjinsik.
"Okjeong has always had a strong interest in such things.
"She made that wrist bow herself."
Youngwoo's eyes widened.
"Oh. That is impressive."
Go Hoewon smiled proudly.
"She cannot easily compete with male commanders through strength alone.
"So she makes devices that suit her body and adds several weapons useful at close range.
"It may sound like a father boasting about his daughter, but that is why she is quite formidable."
"Ohhh. Truly impressive."
"I will ask her to show it to you when we stop to rest this afternoon."
Youngwoo waved a hand.
"There is no need to go that far.
"I was only curious what it was."
"It is a repeating crossbow.
"A small repeating crossbow."
Youngwoo thought for a moment, then revealed what he had been thinking.
"I wondered whether it could be issued to our cavalry."
Go Hoewon nodded, then immediately added an explanation.
"It is worth considering.
"But because it is small, the range is short and the penetrating power is limited.
"It is less a weapon for long-range shooting than one for surprising an enemy at close range.
"If used together with swordsmanship or spear fighting, it becomes dangerous.
"The enemy approaches watching only the sword or spear, and then a short bolt suddenly shoots from the wrist."
Youngwoo slowly nodded.
"Ah. There is that problem as well.
"Later, may I ask your daughter for advice about military weapons?"
"Of course.
"Okjeong will probably enjoy that."