127
Operations Council
Yi In-jung spread out a quickly made battle map on a packed earthen board and set it on the ground.
The commanders folded their knees and gathered around.
The outline of Gaoyou was crudely carved into the board.The lines were rough, but the overall disposition showed with precision.
"From here on, we control the pace.The northern water gate is the key.
Because of the waterway, the ground is damp, and the base of the wall has settled.Deploy the heavy crossbowmen in concentration at that point.Press down only the troops on the battlements.
Keep the fire arrows stored until right before the breach."
His finger moved slowly over the dirt board.
"The assault unit moves at night.Use sandbags to make an approach path, and set the ladders just before dawn.
The moment the heavy crossbows ignite the wall, strike the drum twice.That's the signal.
At the same time, operate the trebuchets and keep another sector shaking."
Yi In-jung paused and studied each commander's face.
"When the wall opens, cavalry goes through the gap.Securing only a foothold is enough.After that, the Yuan forces will join."
Yun Gyeong-bok did not answer at once.He pressed his lips together and swept his gaze around, measuring how far his words would land.
"They are not a force we can trust."
The air in the tent stiffened by a hair.
"Explain what you mean."
"They are an army that values politics more than battle.Toqto'a's camp is not bound by a single will.They have received different orders.
If we go in first, they'll say we stole the merit.If we're late, they'll push the blame onto us."
A low murmur spread.
Allies—yet not truly the same side.To the Goryeo commanders, this was not a familiar kind of war.A war where calculations ran ahead even on the battlefield.
Yi In-jung looked down at the board for a moment, then raised his head.
"That is why we move first."
Short. Clear.
"We do not wait for Yuan instructions.If we open the road, they will follow—naturally."
"Then where does the credit go?"It was Nangjang Jong Hui.
A faint smile touched Yi In-jung's mouth.
"They will divide the credit over there.We take the substance.
We enter the city, preserve our men, and bring the battle into order.That is our share."
Silence settled.
There was no showmanship in those words.It was the tone of someone who had already finished the calculation.
He looked like a commander who knew what victory should look like.
In the corner, Park Seong-jin watched the finger moving across the dirt board.
A single line, a single direction—and hundreds of lives were tied to it.
The weight came down as if tightening around his breath.
In that moment, he understood clearly.
War was not a matter of weapons.Doubt, desire, and calculation had already shaped the battlefield.
Politics has seeped into the army itself.
Remembering Yun Gyeong-bok's words, he steadied his breathing in silence.
Beyond the walls, fires still flickered.On that side as well, resolve and determination would be standing firm—no different from here.
Under the same night, beneath the same flames,people gripped their blades for different reasons, each taking their place.
And that night had already begun to move.
Moonlight was thin, and smoke covered the sky.Gaoyou's walls lay drowned in darkness, and beneath them a minute motion continued, like a great beast settling its breath.
In each camp, one torch after another disappeared.Shadows pressed low, and breath sank to the ground.
Yi In-jung's orders flowed like whispers.
"Heavy crossbowmen—ready your arrows.Assault unit—stand by.Huihui trebuchets—prepare on the first signal."
The crossbowmen dropped to one knee and lowered their stance.Hands on the strings froze in unison.
Arrowheads fed with resin and oil took on a faint glimmer in the dark.
The assault unit covered their faces with black cloth.Hooks and ladders rode on their backs.
Park Seong-jin watched from behind the heavy crossbow position.
The shoulders of soldiers holding their breath rose and fell in the same rhythm.
From far away, a drum sounded once.
A short, low pulse pressed down on the night.
Doom—
At once, hundreds of strings released together.The night sky flashed as if split open.
Fire arrows poured toward the walls.A roar erupted from above.
Yi In-jung lowered his hand.
"Huihui trebuchets."
Great chains creaked as they turned.The throwing arms rose—and dropped toward the wall.
BOOM—
Stone shattered, and earth and sparks burst together.A second and third impact followed.
The ground trembled, and a clear crack appeared along one section of the wall.
The heavy crossbows concentrated their fire on that point.
"Keep the Huihui trebuchets striking."
The throwers worked hard, sending stone after stone.
But it was not a weapon of perfect precision.
Even with the same weight, the same pull, the same force,the point of impact shifted each time.
They kept hammering the same area, waiting for the wall to collapse—but it took time.
And if you cannot endure work that takes time,you become the only bad man in the story.
Yi In-jung readied the assault unit.
Above the wall, shadows moved—men pouring water.At the same time, hundreds of fired rockets carried flame on the wind.
This land was wet, heavy with moisture.Fire was not the ending.It was a tool to seize the eyes.
Then movement began beneath the northern water gate.
The infiltration team—Park Seong-jin among them—entered the water.
They advanced low, cutting through the channel that rose to their knees.Cold and the stink of mud bit at the nose.
He brushed the wall with his fingertips and spoke low.
"From here, hands only."
A group of ten or so spread along the earthen wall.Droplets burst beneath their feet, and damp soil slid in thin trickles.
From afar, the tremor of the Huihui trebuchets traveled like waves through the water.
Then part of the wall settled, and water surged in.
Park Seong-jin dipped his body and raised a hand.
Now.
Hooks flew.Ladders shoved up against the wall.
He took the wall first.
As his fingers searched for a gap between bricks, heat flooded into his skin.Flames hung directly overhead.
Smoke dropped down.
Arrows rained from above.
But a brighter flare burst from their side.
When the heavy crossbow position released another spread,the shadows on the battlements lowered their bodies.
From the top of the ladder, Park Seong-jin threw himself up.
Behind him, the skilled fighters climbed in a chain.
There were those who did not depend on rope at all—men who crawled straight up the wall,men who launched their bodies in a single bound.
The moment his foot found the top of the wall,a thrown stone struck nearby.
The blast tore the night open.
In firelight and dust, Park Seong-jin's shadow lurched huge and distorted.
And the night on the wall began to split apart.