Chapter 332. The Battle of Liaoyang 1
"What is it you want, Go Youngchang?"
Go Youngchang raised his head from horseback.
"Give up the city and withdraw. Do that, and I will not ask about your crimes until now."
Xiao Baoxian burst into mocking laughter from the gate tower.
"You? You are going to judge my crimes?
"Throw down your weapons and prostrate yourself before the gate. Then perhaps I will consider sparing your life."
Go Youngchang's face turned cold.
"You speak of forgiveness?
"Even a passing dog would laugh."
Go Youngchang had once been Xiao Baoxian's aide.
His subordinate.
For Xiao Baoxian to hear such words from him sent anger surging through his chest.
His face flushed red.
"You bastard!"
Go Youngchang answered without missing a beat.
"You bastard, you son of a bitch!"
What followed was a spectacle.
The two thousand cavalry behind Go Youngchang shouted the exact same words at once.
"Xiao Baoxian, you bastard! You son of a bitch!"
The field before the southern gate seemed to overturn.
Horses raised their ears.
Soldiers on the walls flinched.
Xiao Baoxian gripped the railing and trembled.
"Get out there! Go now and bring me that bastard! Bring me his head!"
His shouting was immediately buried beneath another roar.
"Xiao Baoxian, you bastard! You son of a bitch!"
This time it was louder.
The Balhae soldiers struck their spear shafts against the earth.
Those carrying shields struck the shield rims with their spearheads.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
"Xiao Baoxian, you bastard! You son of a bitch!"
Xiao Baoxian's name, the authority of the Eastern Capital Regent, and the dignity of the gate tower were torn apart inside that single insult.
The Balhae soldiers on the wall lowered their heads.
Some struggled not to laugh.
Others bit their lips.
Someone gripped his spear shaft more tightly.
Xiao Baoxian could not endure the humiliation from outside the walls.
He knew perfectly well that rage was making him act exactly as his enemies wanted.
Even so, he could not suppress it.
He still failed to see toward which side the hearts of the soldiers inside the city were leaning.
At last, Xiao Baoxian gave the order.
His face red atop the gate tower, he waved one hand violently.
Drums sounded inside the gate.
The heavy iron bar was withdrawn.
The southern gate of Liaoyang slowly opened.
Five thousand soldiers poured out.
Most of them, however, were armored infantry.
They carried shields, raised long spears, and wore heavy armor.
Even while passing through the gate, their ranks repeatedly tangled.
The front lines stopped.
The rear ranks pushed forward.
Armor struck armor with dull metallic sounds.
Go Youngchang watched them and slightly raised one corner of his mouth.
Youngwoo also watched quietly from horseback, then smiled.
Most of Liao's cavalry had been drawn toward Changchun Circuit.
Many more had been destroyed at Hubodagang.
There was no proper armored cavalry left.
The troops Liaoyang could hastily send out were now centered on infantry like these.
The loss of Liao's mobility was being revealed clearly before the southern gate of Liaoyang.
The Balhae army did not meet them.
Go Youngchang raised a hand.
A retreat signal went up, and the two thousand cavalry slowly withdrew.
Their formation did not break.
Their banners did not collapse.
The armored infantry outside the walls gritted their teeth and followed.
But heavily armored foot soldiers could not catch cavalry.
At first, they advanced boldly from the gate.
After a hundred paces, their breathing grew rough.
Some idiot above them had ordered them out, so out they came.
They knew they could never catch the cavalry.
All they could do was pretend to obey the order.
Their spearpoints began to sway.
Gaps opened between the shields.
The Balhae cavalry stopped a little farther away.
Then withdrew again.
Slowly, they drew the infantry deeper onto the plain.
Xiao Baoxian ground his teeth atop the gate tower.
He ordered the remaining cavalry out to support the infantry.
There were not many.
With another burst of drums, roughly five hundred cavalrymen emerged from the gate.
They were the mounted troops in Liaoyang still capable of moving quickly.
They passed along both sides of the infantry and pushed ahead.
Youngwoo spoke quietly.
"That will do."
Go Youngchang lowered his hand.
The cavalry behind the Balhae formation split to the left and right.
The retreating formation curved smoothly, and both wings spread wide.
The five hundred Liao cavalrymen thought the Balhae force was breaking apart.
Taking confidence from that sight, they charged faster.
At that moment, the drums sounded.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Every Balhae horse turned at once.
The men who had been retreating raised their bows.
Those who had spread to either side drove inward at an angle.
The Liao infantry were still far behind.
The five hundred Liao cavalrymen had ridden ahead and now hung exposed in the middle of the Balhae formation.
Youngwoo shouted briefly,
"Imaginary enemy!"
The Balhae soldiers raised their bows without a hint of laughter.
It was no imaginary enemy now.
They had repeated this movement throughout the ten-day march.
The rhythm they had practiced with empty bows now carried real arrows.
"Loose!"
The arrows flew together.
Horses in the first Liao ranks crashed to the ground.
The riders behind them collided and tangled.
Two thousand against five hundred.
The Liao charge lost its speed from the very beginning.
The Balhae wings drove into that confusion.
Go Youngchang's spear flashed first.
Short bolts shot from Okjeong's wrist.
Go Hoewon held the banner high from the rear and tightened the formation.
The two thousand cavalrymen who had been mocked only moments before were now cutting down the last mounted force Liaoyang could send into the field.
Go Youngchang sent a mobile detachment around behind them and blocked their retreat.
Then the Balhae soldiers advanced slowly.
The Liao cavalry surrendered without managing to loose even a single proper volley.
Go Youngchang took their horses and weapons and drove the men away.
They scattered in every direction before eventually drifting back toward Liaoyang.
The armored infantry, unable to endure the sight, advanced.
They never reached the Balhae line.
Go Youngchang's cavalry used the Jurchen tactics Youngwoo had taught them.
They raced forward, poured arrows into the enemy, and withdrew before the infantry could form properly and return fire.
They approached from the front, center, and rear angles in turn, shooting and withdrawing again and again.
The armored infantry formation, never especially solid to begin with, gradually began to break apart.
Normally, any gaps could simply have been filled.
But whether there were not enough men or the troops lacked proper training, the missing places remained empty.
The exchange of arrows continued.
Then Balhae cavalry swung far around and cut the road back to the southern gate.
From the gate tower, Xiao Baoxian stamped his feet and screamed at his men to fight.
He knew how to do nothing himself and merely shouted that his subordinates were incompetent.
An idiot like that could be found almost anywhere.
And Liao's Eastern Capital Regent, Xiao Baoxian, was one of them.
A man who could do nothing once he stepped outside the shelter of authority, yet screamed endlessly from within it.
Could such a man truly defend Liaoyang?