As Prophet - Chapter 140

Only Krnovel

Episode 140. Battle of Hanseongbu

Yoo Seok-do asked Dal-cheon.

“I would like to launch a preemptive strike on their base, what do you think?”

“I have already gathered the troops from various other places. If we attack there, we will capture Yeo-ui. Would that be meaningful? I will go when they are defeated.”

“All right.”

Dalcheon turned to the king.

“Finally, please find a diplomatic master who can negotiate with the Jurchen and push for a meeting with them. I don’t know which way they will come, but if they come from Hamgyeong-do, they will have no choice but to cross Cheoryeong. If you are sending an envoy to Cheoryeong, please send a persuasive person.”

“Their guide’s sword will cut off their heads.”

“I hope not. I intend to grant all requests, so if you ask them to return the troops, won’t they be shaken?”

“I will do so.”

“Don’t expect too much. Even if we can slow their advance by just one day, it will be a huge gain.”

“Yes, please. Hurry up.”

The king stood up first. High-ranking officials stood up and ran to their posts. Dalcheon ordered the training center and Yang Ju-hyeon’s troops to occupy the area in front of Gwanghwamun, the gathering place for the men. It was the center with the three military departments on the right and the government on the left. They went ahead and raised dust while conducting mobile training.

* * *

The Hanseong magistrate returned to Hanseongbu. But the atmosphere was strange. The men standing inside were timid and there was a smell of blood. He had a suspicion that they might have tried to occupy Hanseongbu first. The magistrate glanced at the main road between the south and the north and turned his head back. He had not noticed it as he passed by. There was not a single guard guarding the gate. And the smell of blood wafted through the air…

I looked back at the troops that had been deployed.

“Request support from the military in front of Gwanghwamun. They are the enemy.”

As the chieftain turned and fled, two black unmanned men rushed forward from the left and right. Panyun and his attendants, who had ordered the contact, rushed towards them. The sound of swords being drawn was loud from all directions. Only two men were slaughtering the soldiers accompanying Panyun. With each swing, the soldiers fell like straw.

“Block them! Just block them until reinforcements arrive. Keep your distance, dodge, and buy time!”

The men ran towards Panyoon, who was screaming. During this time, the person who had been ordered to contact was able to escape through the door.

The two warriors guarding Panyun’s left and right came close to blocking him. The blades flashed and the blades of the swordsmen who were accompanying him fell on his shoulders. The warriors twisted their shoulders to dodge and barely managed to block the blow by striking down with their raised swords. Panyun took advantage of the gap and extended his sword towards the waist of the man who had been stabbed to death.

The description was long, but the actions happened almost simultaneously. The bastard twisted his waist to avoid Panyun’s sword, then swung his sword to block the next attack, gaining distance. The word ‘master’ flowed like a wave through Panyun’s mind.

“What’s going on? Stop these guys!”

Panyun shouted, but it was no use. Everyone who tried to block him fell down. Just two people were defeated by more than a dozen people. Suddenly, he remembered the method of dealing with a master that he had heard during the meeting.

“Gather! Stand shoulder to shoulder and block the way! Spearmen forward, archers back!”

There could not have been spearmen or archers in Hanseongbu. The soldiers with spears gathered together, shoulder to shoulder, and those with bows went behind them. Although there were only a dozen or so, they fell back when the battle formation was formed.

“Advance five steps while stabbing the spearman!”

As a dozen or so spear blades extended out, the men retreated and turned to the side.

“Shoot the archer!”

Arrows flew towards those who were turning to the side of the battle line. They were skilled at dodging, blocking, and striking back.

“Spearmen! Advance!”

While dodging and blocking, the spearman’s spear advanced. Alone, he can’t do anything, but if he has a comrade, there’s nothing to fear. We advance together. The army. As he retreated and dodged the soldiers’ shouts of courage, one arrow struck him.

“Ahh!”

The soldiers’ morale soared at the scream of the bastard. They rushed to him and stabbed his body with spears. They blocked and dodged, but they couldn’t stop everyone. The bastard’s body was torn apart by the spear strikes that kept stabbing him. He was no longer human. He was torn to pieces like meat in a butcher shop. In the meantime, another bastard turned around and ran toward the main gate.

“Shoot! Hit me! You little shits!”

The bastard twisted his waist and tried to strike at the sound of the arrows flying, but was hit once in the leg and once in the waist.

“Kill him!”

The soldiers ran towards him, screaming and staggering, and stabbed him with their spears. They stabbed the already dead body again and again. Pan-yoon came to his senses and asked the soldiers.

“What happened?”

“A dozen or so black men rushed in. I avoided them and ran away. They chased me and killed me indiscriminately, but there was no reason or goal.”

That means there are guys inside.

“Everyone gather together!”

The soldiers gathered at Panyun’s shout, and those who were hiding here and there crawled out. At that time, Dalcheon’s reinforcements arrived.

These are brave soldiers who took care of about fifty bases separately.

“What’s going on?”

“A dozen or so of them are breaking in and starting to slash at us as soon as they appear.”

Panyoon pointed to two black corpses.

“Gather the troops and prepare for battle. The important thing is to muster the troops. Gather all the troops in Hanseongbu. Gather everyone, regardless of whether they are regulars or soldiers. Arm them. It seems that they tried to stop the mustering of the troops. They must have made them run away in fear.”

Panyun looked inside the gate. He had already run away a lot.

“All right.”

“I will take care of the inside.”

Dalcheon led fifty soldiers and rushed into Hanseongbu. The inner courtyard was no different. Corpses were strewn everywhere like trash. Not a single person was visible in front of the main shrine, which stretched out to the left and right as if it had spread its wings. The dead and the dying were already scattered about.

Dalcheon’s eyes sparkled. He found two men coming out onto the main hall. The men who had taken off their shoes and were climbing up the stairs were crawling out while still wearing their shoes. They may have already achieved their goal.

“Archers, prepare!”

“Archers, prepare.”

At Dalcheon’s command, 50 soldiers put arrows on their bows. However, these guys did not avoid them but ran towards them. They were fearless. This was Hanseongbu, a place steeped in peace. No, it had many people but the fewest soldiers. Since they could handle them without much effort, they seemed to think they could do it again. Five people, including those who came late, ran. Several people in the vanguard flinched at their reckless momentum.

“firing!”

Fifty arrows flew at Dalcheon’s command. His steps cannot be faster than the arrows. Those who were hit by the arrows fell down one by one. He dodged with a crossbow and blocked them with a sword, but he could not dodge them all.

Dalcheon stepped forward and swung his long blue dragon pole in all directions. Those who had been holding on with difficulty fell helplessly. The morale of the soldiers rose as he went back and forth on horseback and knocked them down.

“Wow!”

I knew I could do it. There was no need to be afraid. Dalcheon divided his army. Half of them were sent to the right of the main camp and half to the left.

“Destroy the enemy!”

“Loyalty!”

No matter how big it was, it was too narrow for cavalry to maneuver. As the cavalry charged, the groups of people in black clothes everywhere began to run away. While he was subduing the remaining enemies by shooting arrows and stabbing them with spears, Dalcheon went to the main building of Hanseongbu. It was a building with nine rooms, long from left to right. The eaves of the octagonal roof stretched out elegantly as if they were about to fly. Dalcheon went up under the signboard that said Gyeongjojwadang (京兆坐堂)*.

* Gyeongjo (京兆) is another name for Hanseongbu. Jwadang (坐堂) is where the magistrate of Hanseongbu carried out official duties.

After entering, five or six people jumped out, but I felt that there were still people inside. Inside the Gyeongjojwadang, a civil servant and a secretary were lying down, covered in blood. As soon as I entered, Dalcheon shouted.

“Come out!”

The bell trembled at the loud noise. Everything alive stopped, as if time had stopped. And then five people came out. What were they waiting for after killing everyone? Did they wait for me to come since they couldn’t kill Panyun? Did they think I would come when they killed everyone and created a sea of blood?

Five people surrounded Dalcheon. Black clothes, black hats, and white-bladed swords approached. Dalcheon’s blue dragon play drew a semicircle with a whirling sound. The one who approached blocked it with his sword, and the sword and the person flew together. It made a cracking sound and broke the wooden bookcase. He blocked it with strength. He endured the shock that was enough to send his body flying.

Four blades flew around Dalcheon. The blades cut, stabbed, and struck down without any gaps in front, back, left, and right. He dodged one by half a step to the side. He turned his body to dodge the sword of the one who had killed him, pushed his side with his shoulder, and swung his Cheongryonggeuk. He struck the same side where the swords that attacked from the front and back were pushed back. Dalcheon’s Cheongryonggeuk returned and blew off the head of the one he had hit.

Read the opponent’s movements like a book. Dodge and block accordingly, and then attack one by one. After the attack, I quickly chased after one of the guys who retreated from the radius of the Blue Dragon’s attack. The guy swings his sword like a madman and blocks. He swings his sword without attacking, perhaps because he is worried about what will come. It’s because he is afraid.

The Blue Dragon Strike pushed into the lower abdomen of the guy who was retreating while taking a step back. Although he struck late, the Chang Geuk that had already entered struck the guy’s abdomen.

“three!”

Dalcheon shouted absentmindedly, and the remaining three approached him in a formation of the letter “品”. They were about the size of an arm’s length apart, and they were measuring the distance by moving their toes short, ready to rush in at any moment. Dalcheon’s Blue Dragon Sword flew horizontally toward the three. It slowly drew a circle, but it seemed impossible to dodge it. This was because they were aiming for the moment when they were about to approach.

The one at the edge blocked with his sword raised and his body turned. The one in the center stepped back, trying to get out of the range of the spear strike. The one at the end charged forward, swinging his sword vertically. The passing (合格) of blocking, dodging, and striking down was as smooth as flowing water. An ordinary person would have been unable to handle it, but Dalcheon pulled his left foot back and spun around his right foot. The length of the spear he was swinging grew longer. No, it seemed to grow longer. A white light came out of the spear that was spinning in a semicircle.

He cut the back of the guy who blocked him while breaking his sword. The arm of the guy who was rushing at him flew away. The severed arm and sword flew together and stuck in the wall. Two guys fell while looking at their wounds with eyes of disbelief. The one who was left hesitated, turned around, and ran away. Dalcheon kicked the sword rolling on the ground with the tip of his foot. The guy who was surprised by the fierce momentum turned around and struck him. The sword was already embedded in the back of the guy.

“Ahhhh!”

He quickly scanned the wide interior, but there was no one alive in the Gyeongjojwadang. Dalcheon sighed. There was no need for this, but the blind sword killed everyone regardless of status. He could even see the woman’s skirt.

When Dalcheon came out, the cavalryman who had taken care of the inside came running and reported that there was nothing wrong.

“Thank you for your hard work. Line up in five rows across the front.”

“array!”

They selected those who were good at riding horses. About fifty cavalrymen lined up.

The mayor of Hanseong approached with trembling hands.

“What a disaster this is… … Are there such bad guys in the world?”

Dalcheon stepped aside toward Gyeongjodang.

“All enemies have been dealt with. Many have died. The matter is urgent. Please concentrate on gathering the troops as planned.”

“Okay, I understand.”

A man in frost clothing was lying on the threshold.

“Hey, this guy! What the heck.”

Panyun went inside while wailing. Those who came with him also went inside. Dalcheon was worried whether Panyun could do his job, so he gave some words of advice to the people of Hanseongbu who followed him and headed to Samgunbu. It wouldn’t be like this only here.