196
First Contact with Yuan元 Scouts
Dawn light spread faintly across the plain.
The sky was still dim.
A north wind blew, and each time hooves struck the frozen ground, a hard, brittle sound rang out.
It was the hour to break camp after a night's halt and take to the road again.
Morning dew clung to every blade of grass like pearls.
Park Seong-jin mounted at the head of the column.
"Rise!"
As the cry passed through, the soldiers began to move.
Armor brushed against armor.
Metal rang where blades touched.
The low breath of warhorses split the stillness of dawn.
As the ranks settled, the Princess of Noguk mounted her horse.
Her face was composed, her eyes clear like the morning light.
"Today, we cross the boundary of Ssangseong."
At Lee In-jung's brief words, everyone nodded.
In that single sentence lay both anticipation and dread.
Just as the sun began to skim the mountain ridge, a thin plume of smoke rose below the crest.
Park Seong-jin raised his hand and halted his horse.
"Fire?"
"Smoke," Song I-sul said, narrowing his eyes.
"Not the trace of beasts. Beasts do not handle fire."
"It's a signal from enemy scouts," Lee In-jung said quietly.
"They've seen us and are sending word. A kind of beacon.
A fire at this hour can only be a Yuan reconnaissance unit."
Park Seong-jin nodded.
"The light we see is the light they see as well."
The princess lifted her reins and looked toward it.
Between the mountain lines, a red glow spread clearly.
It was not the morning sun, but signal fire.
"They have seen us."
Orders fell at once.
"Mounted archers to the front!
Sword troops spread left and right!
Protect Her Highness!"
The formation shifted like wind.
Park Seong-jin pulled his reins and rode forward.
His fingertips trembled slightly.
It was the sensation just before battle began.
A flash erupted along the ridge.
From where had they come?
An arrow cut through the sky and fell.
The first struck a rock twenty paces ahead, shattering it.
"Yuan troops!"
With the shout, Lee In-jung's voice rang out.
"Shields up!"
Crash—
Metal slammed against metal, the sound rolling across the plain.
A second arrow flew in.
Then a third.
Park Seong-jin immediately turned his horse and galloped to the right.
"Left wing! Lower the shield angles!
Don't guard only above your heads!"
His voice pierced the line.
Through the thinning mist, the Yuan troops emerged.
Gray armor.
Helmets crested with red plumes.
They tightened their formation and charged.
Hooves tore at the earth.
Steel spears flashed in the sunlight.
"Cavalry! Forward!"
At Lee In-jung's command, Park Seong-jin wheeled his horse.
The princess cried out,
"Park Seong-jin, do not fall back!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
He drew his sword.
Its tip caught the sunlight and gleamed white.
In that instant, all sound seemed to vanish.
Time slowed.
His horse surged forward.
The first enemy's spear thrust straight for his chest.
Park Seong-jin's blade traced a half circle.
He pressed it aside smoothly, then cut upward—
the shaft snapped clean through.
The enemy's head followed.
The helmet split and spun up into the air, startling the soldier behind.
Drops of blood scattered across the void.
The second enemy came on, thrusting his spear.
Park Seong-jin set his blade, let it slide aside, and cut into the man's flank as he closed.
Block and cut—almost a single motion.
The third spear grazed his shoulder.
The man had pressed in close.
Park Seong-jin tilted his head, slipped past, and struck the back of the man's skull as he passed.
A wind mixed with blood slapped against his face.
Block, cut, evade, strike—
all occurred nearly at once.
The cavalry behind him surged with the momentum and crushed the charging enemy.
In that moment, Park Seong-jin felt it clearly.
The fight had already begun.
Their numbers were small, but this was a battle that would shape what followed.
They had spoken of luring and capturing them.
That now seemed unlikely.
Those who charge headlong,
and those who kill anything that charges at them—
there was little difference between them.
Neither side intended to stop.
"Her Highness to the rear! Prepare for full engagement!"
At Lee In-jung's shout, a red banner was raised high.
The soldiers' roar burst across the field.
The cavalry changed formation on the move.
They thickened the front and raised the left and right wings like shields.
The princess was placed at the safest point in the center.
As if conducting a review before the king, the formation turned and settled with machine-like precision.
The enemy withdrew.
They had only been testing the line.
On the ridge of Ssangseong, fire flared again.
Its meaning was unclear.
Perhaps a signal to return to their main force.
The flame swallowed the mountainside like a living beast.
The princess watched it, then asked softly,
"What is that light?"
Park Seong-jin flicked the blood from his blade.
Without taking his eyes from the ridge, he answered,
"Their signal.
If the vanguard had succeeded, the rest would have followed.
But since they broke on contact, it looks like an order to pull back."
"How do you know so well?"
"Armies must communicate.
By voice and word, but also by flags and smoke, by drums and gongs."
"Can you read all of that?"
"No.
Our signals are set in advance, so I know them.
The enemy's I do not.
I infer their next order from the situation.
People think differently, but patterns are much the same."
As his words fell, another roar of soldiers shook the plain.
The war had already passed the point of return.