Chapter 57 : New Tactics (2)
Chapter 57: New Tactics (2)
From Northern Wei, Northern Zhou, to the Sui dynasty.
The powers that ruled the northern part of the Central Region, without exception, raised large numbers of heavy cavalry based on immense productivity and made them the backbone of their armies.
This paradigm only changed during the Tang dynasty.
The Tang, established after the fall of the Sui, lacked the financial resources the Sui had, and thus had to fill out its cavalry forces with inexpensive light cavalry.
In order to somehow overcome this disadvantage, Emperor Taizong of Tang ordered Li Jing, the best general of the time, to study and find a way to utilize light cavalry effectively.
Li Jing then compiled the light cavalry strategies of surrounding nomadic powers like the T’u-chüeh, Tiele, and Khitan, and succeeded in presenting a new strategic framework that mixed them with heavy cavalry.
Clearly, this had to be called a makeshift solution—but once it was actually put to use, it turned out to be far better than the old methods.
Especially when compared to formations centered around traditional heavy cavalry, it proved much more flexible and mobile. Thanks to this, the Tang steadily conquered the surrounding powers.
The khan had said—
–Goguryeo was one of them. During the Battle of Mount Jupil, even the Gaema Cavalry got swept up and Goguryeo suffered a crushing defeat. If not for the fierce resistance at Ansi Fortress, things might have gotten quite grim for Goguryeo.
He said.
Afterwards, the hybrid system of light and heavy cavalry evolved through the ages—developing into tactics such as the Jin dynasty's Guai-zama strategy and the Mongol Mangudai feigned retreat tactic—and continued on as a common military tactic of many states….
Eventually, with the rise of firearms and artillery, this gradually disappeared.
‘In other words, this hybrid light-heavy cavalry tactic was the model of Eastern cavalry warfare—until firearms and artillery became dominant.’
And now, I planned to bring that strategy forward by a hundred years.
A tactic that once targeted Goguryeo’s throat—would in this history become the shield that protects it.
---
“They’re elite.”
Eulji Mundeok said as he looked at the gathered soldiers.
The Malgal light cavalry and Gaema Cavalry here were all veterans with plenty of frontline experience.
And that was exactly the problem.
“You’re saying to use light cavalry together with the Gaema Cavalry?”
“Are you nuts? Does this guy even know anything about strategy? Isn’t that just throwing away the speed of the light cavalry and the strength of the Gaema Cavalry?”
They were full of complaints about the new military regulations.
So Eulji Mundeok asked—
“It’s tough. To such elite forces, we, who’ve barely just graduated from the National Academy, are saying ‘Let’s change the strategy!’—of course they won’t listen.”
“I figured as much.”
“Then, senior, do you have a way to persuade them?”
“Here, this is my persuasion.”
What I unfurled was around fifty roots of ginseng.
Eulji Mundeok let out a dry laugh.
“With this much, you could probably convince the Jade Emperor himself….”
Just as he said, their complaints didn’t last as long as expected.
“There will be a small reward for those who perform the best!”
“A reward?”
“Ginseng? You’re giving out ginseng?”
Indeed, I resolved the issue by distributing bonuses to those who performed best.
The reason why those with wealth build strong armies isn’t just because they can buy good equipment.
It’s because there’s a difference between a task you pay 1,000 won for and one you pay 10,000 won for.
Once I oiled the gears with something called ginseng, the creaking stopped like magic.
After two, three rounds of training, they got used to it.
“Beeep—! Beeep—!”
The whistle rang out.
Crude as it may be, whistles do exist even in this era. They’re usually made of horn or wood.
As someone with military experience from the 21st century, I knew this was perfect for formation drills.
“You three over there! Get into ranks!”
“What’s the holdup?”
They also got used to various exercises, including planks. Especially strength training was never skipped.
You need muscle to function for long periods in heavy armor, after all.
“Why is only one guy stepping forward! Everyone move! Repeat after me. Our team is—one!”
“Our team is—one!”
“Is this all you got, you Yalu River rats? Look at those Amnok River guys! They’re already done and resting!”
On top of that, I mixed light and heavy cavalry and applied regional responsibility by units.
“You, not managing your junior properly?”
“I’ll correct it, sir!”
Based on experience, rank, and age, I assigned seniors and juniors and gave them armbands.
“What is this mess in the barracks?”
I even styled the barracks like a 21st-century living quarter, and ordered the Malgal and Goguryeo soldiers to eat and sleep together, from A to Z.
‘Honestly, this part was my biggest concern.’
Goguryeo was a society with a rigid class system.
Wouldn’t it be a disaster if the Goguryeo soldiers reacted with, “W-what? Sharing a bunk with Malgal scum? Are you insane?”
Especially someone like a Gaema Cavalry—likely of a hommin or jo-ui class in Goguryeo—surely they’d react like that.
But surprisingly, that was just my needless worry.
The Gaema Cavalry had no objection to living intertwined with the Malgal.
In this era, it was perfectly natural for nobles to eat and sleep alongside their servants or common soldiers in the barracks. It just so happened that now it was Malgal instead.
Granted, in the beginning, there was an issue with the Malgal being less hygienic than the Goguryeo folk, but that, too, was resolved after I instituted a rule to wash once a day.
Malgal, Goguryeo, noble, commoner—we all gathered and washed together.
Exposing our naked bodies to one another and bathing with no distinction of rank is one of the reasons the people of the Western Land call Goguryeo ‘unwholesome.’
But Goguryeo values cleanliness, and there’s no reason to distinguish rank when it comes to hygiene.
And Goguryeo also loves to fight.
At least on the battlefield, Goguryeo people are efficiency freaks.
Efficiency freaks don’t discriminate.
No matter how ugly or unappealing a character is, if they’re S-tier in performance, they go in the party.
So did these guys.
“They eat well, gather well, shit well, and wash well.”
This was the alpha and omega of troop management.
Especially in the Guai-zama tactic, it was even more important.
‘Guai-zama is a unity between light and heavy cavalry.’
The Guai-zama tactic, at a glance, might sound like some monstrous horse tactic. Even more so when you see the central ironclad cavalry.
But the guai here isn’t the “monster” guai (怪), but the guai that means “to deceive” (拐). As the name suggests, it’s a “tactic that deceives using horses.”
Its essence is for the light and heavy cavalry to complement one another, constantly throwing the enemy into disarray.
To do this, one must be trained not only in archery, javelin throwing, long weapons, and swords, but also in dismounted infantry combat—Hama-botu (下馬步鬪), fighting on foot after dismounting.
Long weapons and short blades, static power and dynamic power—all these elements must be flexibly coordinated, functioning as both sword and shield for each other, covering each other’s blind spots and striking the enemy.
In that process, the most important thing—goes without saying—is mutual trust. A belief like, “If I block this, that guy will kill the enemy,” or at least an emotional link like “Don’t you touch my buddy!”
‘The Jurchen’s Jin dynasty had something called the Meng’an-Mouke system to establish that trust.’
A structure where people from the same village were grouped together: the village chief’s son would be the commander, the wealthy villagers would become heavy cavalry, and the average folk would serve as light cavalry.
But that wouldn’t work for Goguryeo. Just by ethnicity alone, the light cavalry were Malgal, while the heavy cavalry—the Gaema Cavalry—were noble Goguryeo men.
So the method I chose was from the 21st century: creating a sense of belonging through armbands and shared barracks.
“Yalu unit, assemble! Let’s smash those idiots from Songhua River!”
“What the hell? You drank too much muddy Yalu water and went nuts?”
If Jin bonded people first, then grouped them—I’d group them first, then instill the bond.
Maeng Sap remarked—
“…Kehah! This reminds me of the Academy!”
Go Jaemu shook his head.
“Even the National Academy wasn’t like this. It’s not about how hard or not hard it is… They act like if you’re not one, you die? I mean, who even thinks of dividing squads by rivers? That’s a huge river! And using whistles to synchronize people’s steps? That’s weird too. But what’s more shocking… is that it kind of works!”
At this point, Eulji Mundeok also gave his take.
“There’s no need to question why fire is hot. What we need to think about is how to use that heat. If the outcome is good, there’s no reason not to use it.”
“…What are you writing now?”
“I’m writing to Dr. Lee Shin. I think he’ll like to hear about this. I also plan to write to Elder Goh Heul and Grand Chief Envoy Wang Jun.”
At that, Maeng Sap snickered.
“Man, it’s a blessing I graduated early from the Academy.”
---
As time passed, our Guai-zama tactic gradually took shape.
A great commander and the right amount of money.
There’s nothing more crucial for building a fine army.
“Honestly, even if it weren’t for the Guai-zama tactic, putting in this much money and effort would’ve easily made an elite force.”
At Maeng Sap’s comment, I shook my head.
“That’s only knowing half the story. What I want isn’t just one elite unit. I want this Guai-zama tactic to become Goguryeo’s standard doctrine.”
“Standard doctrine, huh.”
“Yeah. We’re paying them now, but once it becomes the norm, they’ll start learning it without needing payment.”
There’s no reason soldiers wouldn’t like new techniques. Especially when the strategy is more effective. An effective tactic means higher survival rates for soldiers.
“Originally, the reason our cavalry under command resisted the new tactics was because they weren’t proven, right?”
“Exactly. They’d rather trust a familiar tactic than a new one they know nothing about. It’s safer.”
Around that time, our Guai-zama unit also held mock battles with other units.
As expected from a newly developed strategy, we lost far more often than we won at first. That damn Go San even brought his elite troops and crushed us.
“Isn’t this too harsh from the start?”
“You said it’s a new tactic, didn’t you? Then this is exactly what we need to practice. Am I wrong?”
Damn it, he wasn’t wrong. As this kept happening, our unit naturally fell apart.
“Is this even working?”
“We’re doing it for the ginseng, but if we go to battle like this, it’ll be a massacre.”
Our morale plummeted.
But surprisingly, the one who turned it around was Maeng Sap.
“Bwahaha! Did you see that? With just twenty days of practice, we managed to knock down 80 of them!”
“Uh, is that so?”
“Hell yeah! Those guys have been doing nothing but this for ten years. With forty days of training, we can beat 160! At 80 days—we’ll win!”
Maeng Sap was overflowing with spirit.
That very energy was his strength. He had the power to turn defeat into laughter. And once he lifted the gloomy mood, Go Jaemu would step in.
“In the south where we fight Baekje, a loss like this wouldn’t even register. Is it because this is the north?”
Baekje—and the South.
Northerners didn’t like Southerners, and if you were from Goguryeo, you didn’t like Baekje.
Mention just one of those two keywords, and even a dying northerner from Goguryeo would flare his eyes open and start swearing for five straight minutes.
And here was Go Jaemu, shamelessly activating both of those deathblows at once.
“You bastard, what did you just say, junior?”
“Did I say anything wrong? You folded after just one loss. Even Buyeo Chang lost four times but still went into battle five times.”
“What the hell are you all doing? You’re gonna live with being compared to Baekje scum?”
So when Maeng Sap lifted the mood, and Go Jaemu added fuel with rage, it became Eulji Mundeok’s turn.
The one who played the biggest role in all this, without question, was Eulji Mundeok.
“At this point, it’d be better to scatter about five steps earlier.”
“Really? Isn’t that too fast?”
“No. If we move five steps faster, we’ll be able to shoot one more arrow.”
Korea’s greatest admiral was still far from being born, but the greatest general in Korean history was right here.
Of course, if you ask whether today’s Eulji Mundeok is already at the level of the Battle of Salsu, probably not.
‘He still lacks experience.’
But a tiger is a tiger, even when young—and the sprout of a successful tree is different from the rest.
He broke through the Academy gates when entering, and broke them again when leaving, didn’t he? Eulji Mundeok perfectly fulfilled my expectations.
“Gaema Cavalry, operate in teams of three—as if you’re chained together.”
This is found in Song dynasty records.
They wrote that Jin’s heavy cavalry Guai-zama tied three men together with chains?
Of course, that’s absurd.
Even Nurhaci, founder of the Qing, saw this record and scoffed: “If one guy gets hit with an arrow, the other two can’t move? Nonsense.”
Just like Cao Cao never chained ships together—the Jin didn’t chain soldiers either.
So this was more of a metaphor: “They moved as if they were one body.”
“When the center swings the long weapon, the flanks push in with short weapons. When the center is swinging, the flanks pull back. Once the swing weakens, the flanks close in again.”
“And also, once we spread out, light cavalry should dismount and transition into infantry to strike from above and below. Isn’t Hama-botu a Malgal specialty? We should form Hama-botu units in teams of five—one handles the horses, and the other four attack.”
Eulji Mundeok reviewed each part of the battle, laid out what was lacking, and hammered the key points into the heads of the lower commanders.
And me? What did I do?
I did the most important thing.
“You’ve all worked hard. How about pork tonight?”
I supplied the drinks. Of course, I didn’t just fund the meals—I also did the small things. During battles, I’d be the first to charge or shield my comrades from attacks with my arms or legs.
Did it hurt? Hell yes, it hurt like hell. But after just one injury, the way the soldiers looked at me changed.
“General Ondal.”
“I’m not a general, I’m a clan chief.”
“Ah, sorry. Clan Chief. Is your arm okay from earlier, when you got hurt saving me?”
“Oh, this? It’s nothing. Didn’t even break.”
I was in agony, but I acted like it was nothing—spinning my arm and doing 30 push-ups.
“As expected, Lord Ondal! Not even the horse tamers of the Blackwater Malgal can match you.”
“Khaha, I told you! Lord Ondal is the best! We’re losing now, but soon we’ll win everything!”
“Yeah, Lady Soyong was right. Anyway, Lord Ondal! Say a word before we drink!”
At that, I raised my cup high. Goguryeo had no “toast” custom, but it was traditional for the presider to say something before drinking.
“Eat well! Wash well! Sleep well! And fight well!”
Just as I said, I downed the drink in one gulp, washed up, slept well, and fought well.
---
Months passed since Ondal began training his troops with the new tactics, when an ominous message reached Goguryeo.
“Gao Wei has been captured.”
Yuwen Yong of Northern Zhou had finally succeeded in capturing the fleeing Emperor Gao Wei of Northern Qi.
‘Ugh, and it only took a month…’
Absurdly fast—yet again, the scent of war thickened. At this point, it wouldn’t be surprising if it poured down at any moment.
---
1. Li Jing was a general of the early Tang dynasty, considered instrumental in establishing Tang’s military system. Some say, “The beginning of Tang’s decline started when the system Li Jing built collapsed.”
He left behind many military texts such as Six Army Strategies, Records of Duke Wei’s Military Tactics, and Essentials for Military Operations. The most famous is Tang Liwen Dui—also known as The Questions and Answers of Duke Li Wei—which is part of the Seven Military Classics.
The title refers to strategic discussions between Emperor Taizong and Li Jing. Despite ongoing debates about its authenticity, the content was so accurate that people said, “We don’t know if Li Jing wrote it, but the content sure is good.”