[The Three Kingdoms] Golden Sun Exhibition

20 – Tiger Hunting (2)

“I apologize, My Lord!”

Hwangjo touched his forehead to the ground. Even though he knew that the looks cast his way were not kind, this was his choice.

-The way to survive, even if it means wearing the insult of being called a traitor.

-The way to endure a minor humiliation and relieve the burden for the rest of his life.

-The way that requires hardship now and potentially more in the future.

-The strategy is conveyed. The rest is the general’s choice.

He was given various options for his path.

And Hwangjo chose to retreat one step backward and advance two steps forward.

“Although we attempted a siege against Son-Gyeon’s forces, we were hit by an arrow fired from the base of the wall up.”

“Yes, sob.”

Hwangjo’s head was bandaged with blood.

Even the bureaucrats who didn’t know much about warfare could see his large injury, knowing he truly had a near-death experience.

“General Chae, what are your thoughts?”

“… had there been no walls, we would’ve been utterly annihilated.”

“Ah, are you saying that Son-Gyeon’s forces are that strong?”

Yu-Pyo sides with Hyungju and deeply sighs.

The bureaucrats gathered on both sides were no different.

Who would dare insult Hwangjo’s defeat?

Sanyone who would have gone to Kangha would have experienced the same result.

“Deciding to retreat through the back door, but Son-Gyeon’s forces pursued us from behind?”

“Yes, because of that… I lost half of my troops!”

Hwangjo swallowed his anger.

If things had gone as originally planned, none of them may have needed to die.

Son-Gyeon’s pursuit was close, but the essence of the plan was to have the reduced forces play ‘dead’.

But Son-Gyeon moved faster than the strategy.

-Some of the soldiers will be seen to have fled due to fear of Son Gyeon’s forces. These people will be used as a double force that will aim for Son-Gyeon’s rear in the future.

There was a considerable number of soldiers who fled from the indiscriminate slaughter by Son Kyeon’s army.

– Have the boats ready at the harbor for escape. Evacuate your soldiers first and the cavalry can follow at the end.

When it became difficult to chase after the retreating Hwang Jo’s infantry, Son Kyeon galloped over with his two generals and killed the soldiers by shooting arrows from his running horse.

If Hwang Jo had not fought back at the rear, he could not have saved even half of them.

Rather, because Hwang Jo swallowed his humiliation and chose the path to save the soldiers, he could save some of Hwang’s soldiers.

“It’s actually better this way. Just lock the gates and fight. Fortunately, the walls of Yang Yang are sturdy and tough to climb, so the guys that have come from a long distance won’t be able to climb over the walls easily.”

“Gen, General Chae. But there is a problem.”

Yupyo rubbed his forehead with his hand, clenching his teeth.

“How much grain can there be in the granary inside the castle? There’s not enough to sustain the many mouths of Yang Yang.”

“……..”

“The villains will plunder the vicinity of Yang Yang. And then… in the end, we will have to make a choice. Either to open the gates or to break the siege.”

In the middle of the table, on the map that depicted Yang Yang, red soldiers surrounded Yang Yang in a circle.

* * *

“Eya. Suppose you were Won’s force. Then what command would you give Son Kyeon?”

“Hm… Occupy Yang Yang?”

“But at least three times the military forces would be needed to hold the castle. What would you do if you were Teacher Sun?”

“I would surround each gate of Yang Yang and prevent anyone from leaving. Then, Son Kyeon’s objective would have been achieved.”

“The objective? Occupation of Yang Yang? Are you suggesting that we will block all the roads to starve them to death?”

“No. If it were me, I would send a messenger.”

I put the jar containing the chess pieces on the eastern side of the river. There were more pieces in the jar than there were on the board.

“Once the news that Son Kyeon has surrounded Yang Yang arrives, Won’s main troops would be on the move.”

“Son Kyeon’s forces are the advance party. Compared to that, the main forces that Won has are almost tens of thousands of massive troops.”

“So what do we do? There isn’t any relief force to help Yupyo nearby.”

“That’s right. So, we have to break the enemy’s vanguard.”

I moved some of the scattered chess pieces from the river to the land near Yang Yang.

“Who in the world would fight a tiger face-to-face. Everyone uses traps.”

“What if they don’t fall into the trap?”

“We all die.”

I explained the plan.

But if things don’t go as planned, there’s only one way.

“Master Sun Yu. Can I establish a Taeyang Academy in Jin Ryu?”

“I’d be more than happy. hahahahaha.”

“…….”

“Why? Eya, why do you look so surprised? We never know what will happen in life. You should prepare for any situation. What if Hwang Jo betrays us and comes at us?”

Then we run.

“Eya, life doesn’t always go as planned.”

* * *

Would this have been the state of mind of the king in the crisis?

Yupyo couldn’t help but let out a sigh of frustration while looking at the map and the fierce amount of troops Son Kyeon had.

“…Why does it seem like only clever people exist in Hyung’s state?”

Won Soo has Ahn Yang and Moon Choo, Jo Jo has Ha Hu Don and Jo In, and Dong Taek has Yeopo.

I don’t even hope for them.

As Son Hyun has Hwang Gae, Jo Bo, and Han Dang, if he had even one warrior of similar level, he could have trusted and left everything to him.

There is one such person.

But he is a man from the Cha family, a nobility with considerable power in Yangyang.

Cha Mo.

He is currently in a scramble with Yoo Pyo.

Yoo Pyo pulled in the powerful nobility including the Cha’s and Goe’s in Hyungju to his side, but they tried to boss him around.

Yoo Pyo’s defeat is not their defeat.

Whether it’s Cha’s or Goe’s, they aren’t intimately associated with Yoo Pyo yet. They could just attach themselves to whoever — be it Son Hyun, Won Soo, anyone — becomes the new ruler of Hyungju.

In fact, I initially wanted to send Cha Mo fiercely.

The only one capable enough to confront Son Hyun was none other than Cha Mo.

However, Cha Mo dared to refuse.

The Cha clan vehemently opposed this.

Yoo Pyo, who was on the verge of losing one of his biggest supporters, suffered from the pain of reorganization and sent Hwang Jo fiercely.

“Ah…”

Yoo Pyo was frustrated.

As expected, Hwang Jo was defeated, and many scholars are spouting useless advice based on their rudimentary knowledge of military tactics.

What’s despairing is the fact that Yoo Pyo isn’t much different from them.

Nearly all of the Hyungju officials are merely experts in inner politics; they lack talent in military tactics.

“I can’t go on like this…Hmm?”

“My Lord.”

Hwang Jo, with a bandage wrapped around his head, appeared. Yoo Pyo, though internally let out a sigh at his potential, expressed his gratitude for his efforts.

He was thankful. He wished he could be more thankful, but anything beyond that was his own greed.

“Please give me five hundred of your best soldiers. I will risk it all to break through the enemy line and rush northward to request for Won Soo’s aid.”

“Won Soo’s aid?”

“Yes. No matter how far the distance, if you can hold on until Won Soo’s reinforcements arrive, we have a chance.”

“Do we need as many as five hundred to break through the siege?”

“Yes.”

At Hwang Jo’s assertion, Yoo Pyo held his head.

He could only think, ‘Isn’t it wasteful to use five hundred of my best soldiers?’

However, he had no other option.

There was no one else but Hwang Jo that he could trust.

Whether to die of hunger under the siege, or to make the siege thicker as Won Soo led tens of thousands of soldiers.

“…General Hwang. You might get killed.”

“It’s okay. I, who should have died in Kanghwa for you, my lord! Please give me another chance!”

“……I see.”

Yoo Pyo made a decision.

Five hundred.

Even if lost, it would be bearable, and perhaps if Hwang Jo successfully broke through, hope would emerge.

“If Huangjo were to die, it seems Chae Mo would only then realize the gravity of the situation and begin to act.”

“Very well. Proceed swiftly. Wonso will not want Wonsool to have Hyungju, they will definitely provide backup.”

“Your Majesty!”

Roughly two hours later.

Huangjo’s suicide squad of five hundred men broke through the encirclement.

And after that, Yoo Pyo collapsed when he heard that Songyeon personally joined the pursuit.

* * *

“hahahaha! Chase them!”

Songyeon, in high spirits, pursued the fleeing soldiers.

Not only Songyeon, but all the other soldiers eagerly chased after Huangjo’s troops.

“Spare those who surrender!”

Upon hearing Songyeon’s words, the soldiers on the brink of being chased by the Songyeon army dropped their swords and started to flee.

Songyeon burst into laughter as they disappeared into the dim darkness.

“hahahahaha! So these are soldiers!”

“General, please calm yourself.”

“I apologize. hahahaha, I couldn’t contain my joy thinking about cornering that bastard Huangjo.”

Songyeon chuckled and slapped Han Dang on the back.

“Why were we so afraid of Yoo Pyo’s army? They’re just these weak guys.”

“You’re right. They’re so weak, it’s yawning-level.”

Hwanggae shot an arrow towards the front.

The arrow flew like lightning and stuck in a tree, showing the sight of a bulky man climbing the mountain shake.

“hahahahaha, Huangjo! Where are you running?!”

The Songyeon army was at ease.

There were only five hundred soldiers, and their goal was not a ‘decisive defensive battle’, but a ‘request for reinforcements’.

“No chance it will reach Wonso. We’ll slowly herd the game and kill it.”

Songyeon ran his hand along the blade of his sword with cold eyes.

“What is the name of this place?”

“Hyunsan.”

“Hyunsan! Remember. That’s where I killed Huangjo.”

Songyeon smirked and shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, as always, he’ll just be one of countless soldiers I’ve killed.”

“You bastard! Running away with Okse and turning your belly to Wonsool!”

Huangjo’s curses echoed through the mountain.

Songyeon just laughed and leisurely turned his steps towards the direction the voice was coming from.

“Dying men are all alike. They curse in anger, but it’s of no use. They all died by my sword. If you kneel down now, I’ll forgive you by cutting off your tongue. hahahahaha!”

At that moment.

“While you’re playing the loyal dog here, your wife will be bedding Wonsool!”

“…whole army.”

Songyeon silently raised his hand.

“Catch that bastard, no matter what —!”

Son Kyeon’s army began charging deep into the mountains.

At a velocity that resembled light, Son Kyeon’s army began to climb frantically.

“General! We’ve penetrated too deep!”

“It’s alright, this is nothing! I will definitely crush the one who insulted my wife!”

In an instant.

“All forces!!”

Hwang Jo strained his voice as he screamed, a cry akin to a shriek.

“The one wearing the red hat, it’s Son Kyeon!”

Growl.

Following Hwang Jo up the rugged path.

One by one, those who were hiding atop the mountain started to cut something resembling a rope.

And then.

Growl growl growl!

Huge chunks, large enough to cover the entire rugged path, started rolling towards Son Kyeon’s army.

***

“It’s the third plot.”

“Just kill Son Kyeon.”

“Whether it’s the blind arrow, the stone rolling down the hill, or the sharp spear heaved at him.”

“Ambush. Surprise attack. Raid.”

“Provoke him from the river, and make him explode in the designated location, be it the mountains or anywhere.”

“As the General leading this battle to victory, you will become the hero of Hyungju.”

“Son Kyeon, who killed Hwawoong.”

“Hwang Jo, who killed Son Kyeon.”

“Ignore everyone else. The target is the one wearing the red hat.”

“Son Kyeon, it ends once you kill just him.”

“You asked, why do I hate Son Kyeon so much?”

“He halved the value of my land.”