Prepared Victory
Even if the heavens collapsed, there was always a sliver of hope—or so they said. Something about that made Kim Jun's lips curl into a smile.
"Why are you grinning?"
Thwack!
Just as Subutai found it odd, an arrow loosed by Kim Yunho slammed into his back with a vicious whistle. In that split-second opening as the shaft buried itself in his flesh, Kim Jun summoned every ounce of strength, gripped his sword tighter, and thrust it straight into Subutai's chest.
Squelch!
"We're Goryeo. We favor bows over swords."
"You bastard... Gahk!"
Subutai, sword lodged in his chest, lunged for Kim Jun's throat. But Kim Jun yanked Subutai's own blade free, and the Mongol gushed blood as he crumpled to the ground.
Slumped there, Subutai glared at Kim Jun, vomiting more blood. The young Goryeo warrior had been outmatched by his raw power earlier, yet he'd seized that fleeting gap to pierce his heart. To think Goryeo harbored such talent—the daughter of that military regent was truly blessed with fortune in her subordinates. And at the very moment the Mongols were rising as an empire, Goryeo had surged forth like a gale, shattering their path. Even on the brink of death, Subutai couldn't predict the empire's fate.
But that was that.
Subutai wanted to hear the name of the man who'd slain him.
"What's your name?"
"Kim Jun of Goryeo."
They didn't share a language, but Kim Jun sensed the question and answered. Subutai, for his part, burned the name "Kim Jun" into his mind.
"Impressive."
With those final words, Subutai murmured the name a few more times before collapsing lifelessly, never to rise again.
"Grand Commander! Damn it! What's with this ground? You filthy Goryeo cowards!"
More mines detonated amid the remnants, plunging the Mongol forces into pandemonium. Terrified by weapons they'd never seen, they couldn't even retreat properly.
In that chaos, Kim Gyeongson's main army under Choi Yeon arrived, spearheading with longspearmen and iron cannon troops to assault the Mongols en masse.
"I have no idea what's going on, but let's attack first and figure it out later."
Something had clearly befallen Subutai, but Choi Yeon had no intention of giving the Mongols time to regroup.
Something had definitely happened to Subutai. For now, I ordered the iron cannon troops into the fray. We couldn't risk cavalry charges hitting more mines.
The Mongol cavalry couldn't recover even under the iron cannon barrage. With eerie blasts erupting from the ground ahead, they had no attention to spare for the gunners.
"Iron cannon troops, form up in three-rank advancing fire formation!"
Bang-bang-bang!
"Argh!"
"Guhk!"
Longspearmen thrust, iron cannons fired, utterly ravaging Subutai's main force. To the Mongols, the Goryeo troops advancing in orderly volleys amid the thunderous blasts looked downright otherworldly.
Some tried turning their horses to breach the minefield, but Kim Jun and Kim Yunho's raiders made even retreat impossible.
"Keep firing as you advance!"
"Clear a path! We have to break through the Greater Khingan Range!"
No longer baited, the Mongols now desperately fled. But ignorant of the mines' locations, their lines dissolved into chaos, formations crumbled, and they fell apart before our assault.
As the Mongol ranks fully shattered:
"Fix bayonets and charge!"
The iron cannon troops bayonet-fixed and barreled into the Mongols. Blood sprayed, the metallic stench thickened the air. Here, the hunters were Goryeo's forces; the prey, the Mongols. The world's finest army lay thoroughly butchered.
How much time passed? Subutai's vanguard of 30,000 evaporated—over 25,000 dead, the rest captured. A miraculous victory. No—a prepared victory.
Kim Yunho and Kim Jun's detachment had harried the enemy for nearly three weeks, buying us time to ready our army.
"Engineers, clear the mines. General Kim Gyeongson, take the remaining cavalry over the Greater Khingan and head south. Ugaha's forces seem intact—let's crush the Mongol remnants from both sides."
The southern enemy was just a delaying force anyway; they wouldn't clash head-on with Ugaha.
"Yes, Commander!"
"You lot, head to Yoyang Castle and spread word of this triumph. Reassure the castles, starting with Yoyang, that submitted to us—show them Goryeo's army stands firm."
Jurchen troops dispatched to Yoyang and other forts spread news of our momentum.
"Commander! You're safe!"
And there was wild-man Kim Jun, blood-soaked from fierce fighting. Skilled in martial arts, at least it was Mongol blood.
"Kim Jun, you've done great work. I'll write a dispatch for you to deliver to the Regent in Gaegyeong."
"Yes, ma'am."
The second army might react differently hearing Subutai was dead. With this much done, I could finally head back. Once their second force routed too, the Mongols wouldn't invade for a while.
Not long after Subutai's vanguard annihilated, the man commanding the Mongol second army was Sachontak. A Han Chinese general from the Jin, born in Zhongdao Daoxing Prefecture, he'd surrendered to the Mongols at Takju with his father Sabyeongjik, family, and locals from Yeongcheong County. His eldest brother Sachonye had risen to chiliarch, leading troops, and Sachontak himself had served as a Mongol general.
But history had shifted. Expert in Chinese siege engines and infantry tactics, he'd come to Liaodong with Subutai to crack Goryeo's mountain forts. Subutai had left him 20,000 for the second army.
"What in the world is going on?"
The second army's goal: pin down the Jurchens on this southern path. Meanwhile, Grand Commander Subutai would smash Choi Yeon's main force or use mobility to crush Ugaha first.
But things had gone awry. No word from Subutai despite the time passed.
"Any news?"
"They're probably still fighting, sir."
"Dragging it out this long? Since when was Goryeo that strong?"
They'd dismissed the first war as fluke, but who could've foreseen Subutai struggling?
In that case...
Sachontak eyed the foes facing his Mongols. Jin's old heavy cavalry, ironclads, glared murderously at the forefront. Absorbing even Jurchen riders? Who was this Choi Yeon of Goryeo?
But he couldn't get bogged down.
"Slaves of Goryeo, you've got some nerve! Is that wench your empress? Fitting masters for rootless wanderers like you!"
Jin still existed, but these Jurchens were stranded in Manchuria. With Mongols tearing Jin between Manchuria and the Central Plains, they'd lost their nation—former Dongjin troops, no less.
"How dare you insult Lady Abka-i Hehe! You steppe dogs want death!"
What? Abka-i Hehe? He'd meant to prod their pride, sow division or provocation. Instead, the Jurchens erupted in fury. And for some reason, war horns blared from their ranks.
"Slaughter the steppe scum defiling Lady Abka-i Hehe!"
Rwaaaar!
Precisely, Ugaha had heard of Subutai's battle and charged to tie down the Mongols here. Anyway, Ugaha's 30,000 slammed into Sachontak's force without mercy.
"Butcher every Mongol!"
Slash! Thrust! Spurt!
Liaodong's battlefield reeked of gore. Nomad cavalry clashed in all-out fury, screams unending. Ironclad spears decapitated Mongols; Mongol swords gutted ironclads, spilling entrails.
A brutal back-and-forth. Ugaha fought personally, the Jurchens' rebellion for their new nation fiercer than imagined.
"Those mad bastards! What got into them?!"
What was Subutai doing? Shouldn't he strike from behind now? Sachontak thought so, struggling to hold the field. Subutai had entrusted 20,000; heavy losses would incur the Khan's wrath.
"Retreat! Fall back!"
He tried pulling away, but horns sounded from the rear too.
Tooooooot!
"What the hell is that? Whose army?!"
"Phoenix banners! It's Goryeo!"
"Why are Goryeo here? No—don't tell me!"
Subutai's army defeated at the Greater Khingan. That explained Ugaha's ferocity.
Not too late—flee somehow. But the Goryeo pursuers were no pushovers: Kim Gyeongson's elite cavalry.
"You won't escape easily!"
With flanks hit, the stalemate tipped to Goryeo. Pinned Mongols dwindled under dual assaults.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
Sachontak barely rallied a retreat, down to 3,000—barely saved from pursuit.
Back at Yoyang Castle, Choi Yeon received Kim Gyeongson's report: Ugaha's army had repelled the Mongols alongside them.
"Decent losses this time, but we won. Cavalry clashes and Greater Khingan cost us thousands from the Choe elite Byeolcho—nearly 1,000 there alone. South path: Ugaha vs. Sachontak, thousands more. Total casualties near 9,000.
But not bad. Foes: 50,000 down to thousands survivors. Over 40,000 dead.
Thus ended the Second Mongol Invasion. A touch of luck, but another great Goryeo victory.
Gaegyeong, Goryeo's capital, buzzed with activity around then. News of 50,000 Mongols invading Liaodong stunned the Council of Elders. Especially doting father Choi U regretted leaving daughter Choi Yeon there.
Unlike last war, Mongols upped to 50,000 vs. our 70,000 hybrid garrison and Jurchens. No guarantees.
"Shouldn't we march north? We don't even know if my girl's okay."
"Regent! We'll save Sister!"
Give the young masters a token force and send north? Northwest already had troops, but she'd ordered Amnok River defense—prepping for Liaodong's loss? Unclear.
As he paced anxiously, someone rushed in.
"Regent!"
"Kim Jun, right? What's the situation in Liaodong? Did you flee alone after defeat, or—"
His daughter's valued slave, talented enough for Choi U to cherish. But if he'd abandoned Yeon, he'd tear him limb from limb—
"A great victory, sir! Under Yoyang Commander Choi Yeon, our Goryeo army annihilated Subutai's host at the Greater Khingan and took his head!"
Technically Kim Yunho's arrow and Kim Jun's sword, but all credit to the Yoyang Commander, no?
Choi U got the full report: 50,000 foes—over 40,000 killed or wounded, 3,000 fled, 5,000+ captured. Bigger win than last.
"Regent! Elder Hong Bok from the Council."
Goryeo victorious again—not on home soil, but Liaodong. Such a thrill in our history? The Dragon King's Wang descendants never triumphed there. Pious Hyeonjong fled Khitans; blocking Sobaeap at Gaegyeong was luck; Gwiju Victory was