In Hongwu, we started as rebels

Chapter 912 Plans Never Keep Up with Changes

The night, like a coarse cloth soaked in ink, pressed heavily on the Goryeo camp.

The wind was stronger than during the day, carrying fine snowflakes that pelted the tent fabric with a crackling sound.

The torchlight was blown crookedly by the wind.

In the orange-red glow, there were exhausted soldiers everywhere.

They removed their armor, and the crisp clanging sound of their armor clashing lost its daytime sharpness, replaced by a sluggishness.

Some people sat directly on the icy ground, clutching long knives tightly in their arms.

My head started to doze off, and I even forgot to brush the snow off my body.

The exhaled breath was torn into fine white mist by the cold wind and dissipated into the darkness.

The fire in the cooks' stoves had long since gone out.
Only a sliver of warmth remained in the iron pot, barely clinging to life, and even the aroma of rice was so faint as to be almost imperceptible.

Li Chenggui reined in his horse, his boots stomping heavily on the snow.

He hadn't even had time to wipe the dust off his armor, and the stray hairs at his temples had already frozen into white frost.

The guards rushed forward, wanting to help him remove his heavy armor, but he raised his hand to stop them.

"Need not."

His voice was a little hoarse; he had been led around by the Ming soldiers for most of the day, and his throat was dry and sore.

"Go and summon Li Zhilan and the other old generals."
The rest of the men went to their respective camps to check on the soldiers' conditions.

Just as the guard was about to turn around, he saw Li Zhilan walking quickly towards him.

Several gray-haired veterans followed behind him.

Li Zhilan's face also showed signs of weariness.

But his eyes were still relatively clear, and he was still clutching a roll of military newspaper in his hand:
"Prime Minister Li, the soldiers' morale is too low."
If this continues, I'm afraid we won't even be able to form a proper formation tomorrow.

"I know."

Yi Seong-gye interrupted him, his gaze sweeping over a group of soldiers huddled in a corner of a tent not far away.

They didn't even bother to take off their armor, leaving the cold iron armor to stick to the snow, like a group of soulless puppets.

He took a deep breath and strode over.
He bent down and picked up a breastplate that had fallen to the ground.

The armor still bore shallow marks from the arrows, and the cold touch sent shivers down my spine.

What are you all doing sitting there?

His voice wasn't loud, but it startled several dozing soldiers around him awake.

When someone looked up and saw it was Li Chenggui, they hurriedly tried to get up, but he reached out and pressed down on their shoulder.

"I know I'm tired."

Looking at their hands, red from the cold, and the deep, indelible bruises under their eyes, Yi Chenggui's tone softened.
"I'm tired too. I've been played like a fool all day. Who wouldn't be angry?"

The soldiers kept their heads down, and no one spoke.

A younger soldier clutched the hem of his uniform and stammered:
"Prime Minister Li, those Jurchen horses are running too fast!"
We couldn't catch up at all, we didn't even get a chance to touch the knife, and we lost a lot of our brothers."

"We can't catch up because we haven't established a firm foothold yet."

Yi Seong-gye handed the breastplate back to the soldier and pointed in the direction of Sunan Castle outside the camp.
"They only have so many people, and all they rely on is fast horses and clever tricks."

But Shun'an City is only so big. Tomorrow we'll regroup and move forward.
They gradually squeezed out all their room to maneuver.
"Where can they run to then?"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, his tone becoming more earnest.

"What are you following me, Yi Seong-gye, for?"
Isn't it all for the sake of gaining merit and rewards, so that the whole family can live a good life?
Once we've completely surrounded Shun'an City, the Jurchens won't be able to escape. Then everyone will get a share of the credit!

On the other side, Li Zhilan was standing in front of the camp of the Northwest Road soldiers.

Most of these soldiers were Lu Qidong's former subordinates.
Having heard during the day that the entire Northeast Route Army had been annihilated, he was already distracted.

At this moment, he was even more dejected, too lazy to even touch his weapons.

Li Zhilan sighed, bent down to pick up a broken arrow, raised her hand and called out loudly:
"Get up, all of you! What kind of dejected look is this!"

"Back in Suzhou, didn't we still win against Nahachu's Northern Yuan army?"

"No matter how powerful the Jurchens are, can they compare to Nahachu's elite troops?"

"Besides, they are outnumbered! You must avenge General Lu yourself!"
Tomorrow we will regroup and advance.
Let those Jurchens know that the men of the Northwest are not to be trifled with!

Several veteran generals were also busy, going to different camps to reassure the troops.

Gradually, the deathly atmosphere in the camp dissipated somewhat.

The firelight danced on the soldiers' faces, and their numb eyes gradually regained their light.

Some soldiers slowly stood up, brushing the snow off their bodies.

Someone began to tidy up the armor, and the clanging of the armor plates gradually increased from sporadic to frequent, eventually giving it back its former appearance.

Finally, someone shouted "Revenge!"
Immediately afterwards, more people joined in the shouting.

The sound grew from faint to loud, eventually drowning out the howling wind and echoing over the camp for a long time.

Seeing this, Lee Seong-gye's tense shoulders relaxed slightly.

Back in his tent, Yi Seong-gye plopped down in a chair.
The exhaustion of the day, the shock of the annihilation of the Northeast Army, and the frustration of being outmaneuvered by the Ming army.

A flood of thoughts rushed to my mind.

It was so heavy that he could barely open his eyes.

He suddenly had a misconception.
It was as if he was the one fighting deep into enemy territory, not the elusive Lu Yunyi.

At that moment, footsteps sounded outside the military tent.

Li Zhilan slowly lifted the tent flap and walked in.
He was equally exhausted, his eyes were bloodshot, and his steps were unsteady.

Lee Seong-gye slightly opened his eyes, saw it was him, and without getting up, he simply spoke weakly:
"Zhilan, how is the morale of the troops?"

"Prime Minister Li, things have improved. The brothers are all working hard, hoping to get revenge tomorrow."

"Um"

Yi Seong-gye nodded and pointed to the empty chair beside him:
"Sit down, you must be exhausted today."

Li Zhilan smiled, but her smile was full of weariness:

"Prime Minister Li, who doesn't get tired during marches and battles? You've had it even harder than us."

Yi Seong-gye sighed, his voice low and rumbling like thunder:

"I am more exhausted than ever before today."

In my thirty years in this army, the last time I was this exhausted was the day I decided to return from Tielingwei.

As it turned out, my insistence on returning home that day was the right thing to do.
The Ming army is too strong; our Goryeo soldiers are no match for them.

Unexpectedly, the defeat in the twenty-first year of Hongwu's reign...

It's been moved to today, three years late. In the end, it couldn't be avoided after all.

Li Zhilan's expression was extremely grave. She stepped forward and softly advised:
"Prime Minister Li, the situation is not yet settled; we must not boost the enemy's morale like this."

We still have over 20,000 troops; we might still have a chance to win.

Yi Seong-gye opened his eyes, his gaze empty and numb, as if he had lost his soul:
"Have you figured out the composition of the enemy forces?"

Li Zhilan said in a deep voice:

"Prime Minister Li, the ones we will be fighting today are the grassland people."

"Grassland people?"

Yi Seong-gye's brows furrowed sharply, his gaze finally hardening as if he had suddenly realized something:
"The troops under the Liao King?"

Li Zhilan nodded heavily:

"It should be the Three Guards of Doyan; they were there when the vanguard charged today."
Someone heard the name "Torukchal" being called from the enemy ranks.
This man is the former Marshal of the Doyan Army, and now the Commander of the Doyan Guard.

Yi Seong-gye suddenly sat up straight, his face increasingly distraught:

"When did the grassland people become so cunning? Why haven't Lu Yunyi's close associates shown up?"

A heavy sense of oppression permeated the military tent.

Yi Seong-gye knew very well that the former territory of the Liao King was conquered by Lu Yunyi and his men.
They also captured the Liao King, Marshal Doyan, and others alive.

Now tell him about an army that was once captured.

He simply couldn't accept that his elite troops could be defeated so easily.

Li Zhilan then spoke again, her tone carrying a hint of certainty:

"Prime Minister Li, we learned from Lu Qidong's defeated soldiers..."

Among the Ming troops fighting in the northeast, there were quite a few Ming soldiers, probably over a thousand.

The scout teams, in particular, were almost entirely composed of Ming people.

Moreover, the routed soldiers said that there was a particularly brave young man in the enemy ranks.
He charged through the enemy lines from beginning to end, breaking through many enemy formations.

He also gathered many elite Ming Dynasty figures around him.

Therefore, I speculate that the fighting in the Northeast Province...

Perhaps it was Lu Yunyi personally directing it, with his trusted subordinates by his side.

Lee Seong-gye blinked.

For some reason, although the fact that Northeast Road was destroyed is still glaringly obvious,
But he felt inexplicably relieved.
If they were all defeated by these captured soldiers, then the Goryeo army would be far too incompetent.

Did he show up today?

Yi Seong-gye pressed for an answer.

"No, my subordinates had the defeated soldiers identify it."

The two thousand cavalrymen who went into battle today were all steppe people.

It seems Lu Yunyi's army has just returned to the city and is resting. Tomorrow, we'll move our troops forward, completely surround Shun'an City, and trap them inside!
Without room to maneuver, the cavalry are far less effective than our infantry.

Yi Seong-gye's eyes returned to their vacant state, and he nodded faintly.

"I hope so."

The sky was not yet fully bright; only a faint glimmer of dawn appeared in the east.

The frost, like a fine layer of snow, completely covered the entire camp.

On the tents, on the armor, even on the horse's mane,

They were all covered with a glistening white frost, which would fall off in a rustling sound at the slightest touch.

The Korean camp was already bustling with activity.
The soldiers held hot soup dumplings in their hands.
He was exhaling white breath as he stuffed it into his mouth, his movements much more efficient than yesterday.

The generals rode their horses, moving between the various camps.

They shouted orders to assemble the troops, the sounds of clashing armor, horses' hooves, and commands mingling together.
It even had a touch of the grim atmosphere before a battle.

Yi Seong-gye, clad in heavy armor, rode a tall horse, his gaze sweeping over the neatly arranged soldiers.

They stood tall and straight, their long swords gleaming coldly in the morning light.

The fatigue from yesterday has faded considerably, and there's a hint of anticipation in my eyes.

Clearly, last night's encouragement had an effect.

He nodded in satisfaction and said to Li Zhilan beside him:

"Pass down the order: in half an hour, the entire army will set off and advance towards Shun'an City!"

Li Zhilan was about to respond
Suddenly, the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from afar.

The sounds were chaotic and disorderly, carrying a desperate urgency that shattered the tranquility.

The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw several warhorses galloping madly from the north.

The person on horseback wobbled precariously, as if they might fall off at any moment.

The horse at the front was running when suddenly its front legs buckled, and it collapsed onto the snow with a thud.

The person on horseback was thrown far away.

He rolled around in the snow a few times before struggling to lift his head, blood still trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"That's someone who went north to deliver a message!"

Li Zhilan's expression suddenly changed, and she cried out in disbelief.

Yi Seong-gye's heart sank.
An ominous premonition crept up his spine and instantly gripped his heart.

He spurred his horse forward at a brisk pace, and his guards quickly followed.
Stand in front of him to prevent any trickery.

The soldier who had fallen to the ground struggled to his feet.
His armor was torn in several places, and the exposed wounds were oozing blood, which had frozen into a purplish-black color and stained the cold clothes.

When he saw Yi Seong-gye, his eyes instantly reddened, and he staggered towards her, his voice hoarse:

"Prime Minister Li! Prime Minister Li! Something terrible has happened! The Northern Route Army has been defeated!"

"What did you say?"

Lee Seong-gye's voice instantly rose in pitch.

He dismounted and rushed to the soldier in a few steps.
He grabbed his collar and lifted him up.

What happened to the Northern Route Army?

The soldier, struggling to breathe and his face flushed red, still shouted desperately:

"Huangtu Pond! When we arrived near Huangtu Pond, we found that the Jurchens had set up an ambush!"
They hid in the woods and suddenly rushed out when the Northern Route Army began to set up camp!

Muskets! So many muskets!
And the cavalry charged too fast; we had no time to defend ourselves.”

As he spoke, tears and snot streamed down his face, freezing as soon as they welled up in his eyes.

"The Northern Route Army was caught off guard and immediately fell into chaos!"
Most of them are gone!
Only a little over a thousand people escaped; the fate of the generals is unknown!

With a clang, the riding whip in Li Chenggui's hand fell to the snow, rolled a few times in the snow, and came to rest at his feet.

He felt a sudden darkness before his eyes and a ringing in his ears.

The howling wind and the cries of the soldiers became indistinct.

It felt like there was a thick layer of cotton between us.

He staggered back a step, and his guards rushed forward to support him, preventing him from falling into the snow.

Loess Pond

He muttered to himself, his breathing rapid as if he couldn't catch his breath.
"The Northern Route Army had five thousand men and siege equipment. How could they have been defeated so quickly?"

At this moment, several more messengers ran over, equally disheveled.
One of the soldiers knelt on the ground, trembling with sobs, and added:

"Prime Minister Li, the Jurchens are too ruthless!"

They didn't chase the deserters, they just focused on attacking our main camp!

The supplies were burned, and all the siege equipment was destroyed.
Our men died from a hail of arrows or had their armor pierced by musket fire.
The snow at Huangtu Pond is stained red with blood!

The surrounding generals all turned into wooden figures.
They stood there in astonishment, no one speaking.

Li Zhilan's breathing quickened, and a bitter smile appeared on her lips as she listened to their words.
Damn it, if the Jurchens were really that powerful, they wouldn't have been hiding in the mountains long ago.

He tried to calm his breathing, stepped forward, grabbed the soldier's arm, and asked:

"Explain yourself: how many people are there? Who is leading them?"

"do not know"

The soldier shook his head, his eyes filled with fear.
"They came too fast; they didn't see the flag."

Moreover, they were all covered in blood, as if they had just finished a battle, and their murderous aura was terrifying.

"Has there been a battle recently?"

Li Zhilan froze on the spot, her heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly asked:

"Is there a young general who is particularly skilled at charging into enemy lines? What weapon does he use?"

"Yes! Yes!"

The soldier nodded hurriedly, his voice trembling.

"The man was covered in blood, and he was wielding two long spears with incredible speed!"

General Sun wanted to capture the leader first, so he rushed forward to stop him.
But the young general sent him flying with just two shots!
When he landed, his head was crushed by the horse's hooves. It was so tragic, so tragic.

The cries of the soldiers echoed throughout the camp.
Involuntarily, the image of that young man, covered in blood and charging into battle with a gun, appeared in everyone's mind.

Li Zhilan's breathing became increasingly rapid, and her vision blurred with each passing moment.
That's right, it must be Lu Yunyi!
But why would he have gone to the loess pond on the north road to set up an ambush?
Traveling hundreds of miles in a single day and fighting two major battles in succession?

Is he made of iron and doesn't need to rest?
Hearing the soldier's description, Lee Seong-gye's dizziness, which had made his vision go black, had not yet subsided.

It felt like a huge rock was pressing down on my chest, making it hard to breathe.

Eight thousand men were lost on the Northeast Route, and more than half of the five thousand men on the North Route were also lost.
These are his two most elite units!
Last night he was thinking that tomorrow he would approach Shun'an City, trap Lu Yunyi in the city, and then have a proper talk.

But now, he has lost half of his troops.
With two of their armies lost, it's questionable whether they can even maintain their current position, let alone besiege the city.

What chilled him to the bone even more was that
The soldiers in the camp had already heard the messenger's call.

The once orderly line has now become chaotic, and the noise is getting louder and louder.

"The Northern Route Army has also been defeated?"

"Even the siege equipment is destroyed? How are we supposed to take Shun'an City then?"

"How can the Jurchens be so powerful? Can we defeat them?"

Voices of doubt and fear mingled together.
The morale that had just been so hard to boost,
Like a spark extinguished by a cold wind, it vanished without a trace in an instant.

A young soldier dropped his long sword to the ground.

He stared at the knife on the ground and muttered:

"The Northeast Road is gone, the North Road is gone too, what's the point of fighting anymore? Let's just retreat."

These words were like a fuse, instantly igniting the fear in the soldiers' hearts.

"Quiet!"

Yi Seong-gye shouted with all his might, his voice hoarse.

He leaned on his bodyguard's arm, barely managing to stand upright.

His gaze swept over the chaotic soldiers, attempting to stabilize the situation:
"It's just a minor defeat! Over a thousand men from the Northern Route Army escaped back, and we still have twenty thousand troops! What's there to be afraid of?"

But nobody listened to him.

An old soldier looked up, his eyes filled with weariness:

"Prime Minister Li, the Jurchens are truly extraordinary."
"They were able to wipe out the Northeast Road and the North Road in a single day. Do you think our numbers are enough to defeat them?"

As soon as these words were spoken, more people echoed them.
"Yes, Prime Minister Li, how about we retreat first?"

"It's not too late to fight after the imperial court sends reinforcements!"

"Let's retreat! If we stay any longer, we'll all die here!"

The commotion grew louder and louder, and the once orderly military formation completely broke down.
Looking at the chaos before him, Lee Seong-gye felt a sharp pain in his chest.
He went to great lengths last night to reignite the soldiers' fighting spirit.
One piece of news of defeat, and all the efforts were ruined.

The wind picked up again, whipping up frost that stung my face.

The torches in the camp were blown about by the wind, their faint sparks flickering in the darkness, threatening to go out at any moment.

Yi Seong-gye swayed, his voice weak as a candle flickering in the wind, and gave the order:

"The entire army remains stationary."

"All will come to the central command tent for a meeting."

(End of this chapter)