95 – The Battle of Henae
After the military meeting, in the midst of dispersal, Xinling’s army called me to my aid.
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“But, let’s see me for a second.”
I was a bit reluctant to call out to myself in a joint army where equality is important, so I inadvertently looked around.
However, the reaction of the generals didn’t seem to be much of a problem, probably because they already knew the relationship between me and Shinneunggun. It may be to manage the expression, but I also now have eyes to see.
Above all, it is what Shinneung-gun does. There must be a calculation that there is no problem.
“If it’s something related to Yeongun, wouldn’t it be better to have General Geukshin together?”
“It’s not that important. We’ll talk about it for a little while, then let’s discuss it within the Yeongun.”
When Sinreung-gun dismissed the importance of having a private meeting with me, saying it was a trivial matter, the chieftains who had been listening to the conversation subtly slowed down their movements and began to return as if nothing had happened.
When the two of them were left alone, Shin Leung-kun instead of the solemn tone he used during the meeting, asked a question in a relaxed tone familiar to me.
“How do you feel about your first battle?”
“Until my impressions… To be honest, I didn’t even see the battle going well in the crowd.”
“That’s understandable. Even the Qin side didn’t attack because they wanted to make a life-and-death decision. Mong-wu came and it ended right away.”
Shinreung-gun, who shook his head saying he understood, asked again with a more serious attitude.
“But you must have felt it? The air of the battlefield.”
“……Yes. That was definitely different.”
The sight was still blurry in my eyes, and the noise did not fall from my ears like a noisy radio.
People die. So easily. Not one or two, but dozens or hundreds.
If that number of people had died in peaceful daily life, serial killings that would have stirred up the whole country were being committed on the battlefield as if it were a matter of course.
One philosopher said. Killing one is a murderer, killing a million is a conqueror, killing ten thousand is a god.
My brain was unable to properly think in the slaughter that took place on the ground where general justice collapsed and only the logic of power was allowed.
The stench of blood and filth spreads like it would paralyze the sense of smell.
High pitched voices and screams that make you wonder if your eardrums are tearing.
Even the feel of the air passing over my skin was sticky and gloomy and unpleasant.
A space that creates the illusion that the five senses are not mine.
The battlefield was such a place.
“Yes. A battlefield is like that. A place where all life, which should be the most honorable, becomes more ignoble than anything else. That’s why the people of the world regard the age of dang-geum as the desolate age of warring states where neither the flowers of spring nor the fertility of autumn can be found. I guess that’s what you call it.”
Sinreung-gun muttered bitterly.
“They say that hearing a hundred times is not as good as seeing it once. The crown prince knows the misery and heartlessness of the whole country, but this is probably the first time he’s seen it in person. If he realized that, the previous battle would have been worthwhile for the crown prince. .”
It was only this much because I was in the safe rear. If I had been on the front line, where the cruelty of war was most evident, I wouldn’t have been able to properly maintain my reason.
Now, as someone who lives in the Warring States era rather than the 21st century, my way of thinking has changed a lot, but my ethics and moral concepts still accounted for a large share of modern people’s.
I lived in a divided country under armistice, but war and slaughter were too distant words for me.
While reincarnating in the Age of Warring States, I repeatedly thought that it was something I would have to face someday and made up my mind, but I guess that was not enough. The horrors of the battlefield, which he personally experienced, consumed his mind even though he was separated from him.
After complaining about being overwhelmed by the war, I focused on Shinling-kun again.
“From now on, when I go to the battlefield, please stay by my side.”
Commander-in-Chief, Shin Leung-gun, climbs a watchtower so that he can see the entire battlefield and coordinates the battle.
Reading the flow of the battlefield with both eyes, her brain makes tactical decisions, and her hands and mouth move to issue orders to each unit.
Depending on the content, her orders are transmitted to various parts of the battlefield in various ways, such as flags, musical instruments, and messengers, changing the flow. Shin Leung-gun is the director of the greatest human tragedy called war.
Shinleung-gun was offering me a seat next to him.
A place where you can see the most deaths at a glance.
‘Is it some kind of vaccination that I didn’t call right away in the first place?’
It was effective, but it was really stinging, so it was a bitter fire injection.
But he couldn’t back down. It was like riding on the back of a tiger from the moment I made up my mind to keep the system of the nations alive.
“I will.”
I will look at the battlefield from a place like Sinneunggun.
To learn how to penetrate the pulse of battle, to remain calm and not be swallowed up by the madness of war.
And above all.
It was time to learn how to become an adversary against the Qin army, the nemesis of the nations.
§
On the way back after having a private meeting with Shinneung-gun.
Originally, Geuksin was in charge of the command of the Yan army, but it was operated in such a way that Geuksin asked for my permission because I was nominally the superior. Of course, in reality, it wasn’t to get permission, but it was close to teaching me.
In the future, it was necessary to announce that I would be at the headquarters with Sinreung-gun, not Yeon-gun, and completely hand over command to Geuk-sin.
He is the supreme god who advised me to learn from Shin Leung-gun’s side early on. At the point Shinleung-gun called me, he must have noticed what was going on in the conversation.
When I informed them of this fact, Geukshin was not surprised at all, as expected.
“It’s all right. Originally, the Crown Prince doesn’t need to know every detail of the battle. It’s enough to know the basics and recognize one’s own shortcomings when it comes to local battles. But how to deal with the entire joint army? Is a separate issue.”
Geuksin was in the mood to give a one-long speech and explain what he should learn from Shinreunggun.
It is a fact that I learned empirically by talking a lot during the journey from Yan to Wei.
The original image of a serious general has long since disappeared.
Still, it’s for my sake, so I’ll have to bear with it.
I was trying to take the posture of listening, but Geukshin stopped talking for a moment and immediately changed the direction of the conversation.
“You worked hard in your first real battle. There are often people from samurai families who go through their first real battle and go crazy. Compared to that, the Crown Prince endured it well. However, a person’s spirit wears away like a rock carved by the wind. , I’d better go back and rest for today.”
Did you know that the extreme god could say such a thing?
Rather than having a private meeting with Shin Leung-gun, the conversation I was having with Geuk Shin was fresher.
He is definitely not a pure military commander, but a general from the ink family of a hundred disciples, so it is not particularly strange even if he has this kind of sensitivity. Even among pure military commanders, there are those who are called Deokjang and show kindness.
Leaving behind the knowledge of the new side of the extreme god, I returned to my living quarters and saw that an uninvited guest had arrived.
“Hmm, what’s the general of Cho doing here?”
The uninvited guest, Hang Yan, turned his gaze away from Sima Xiang and Lu Hongcheng, who were having a conversation about something, and turned towards me.
“The owner is here. Excuse me.”
Hang Yan strode towards me and stood in front of me, looking down at me.
Yes. Hang Yan was bigger than me.
My height is about 170 cm, which is much higher than the average adult height, but Hang Yan was half a span taller than me.
Probably around 180cm. She was a little smaller than Yeo Hongsheng, but she was also very tall.
“The fact that he came in the middle of the night means he has an important matter, so why don’t we talk more inside?”
“Ah, there’s no such thing as that. I’ll simply go and cover my business.”
Hang-yeon’s behavior was rude if I had to question it, but I didn’t pick it up and moved on.
I knew the name of Hang Yan. I don’t know exactly what achievements he made, but one fact alone made the name Hang Yan worth remembering.
Hang Yan’s grandson was Hang Yu.
I don’t know much because I’ve only seen Chohanji at a glance, but I roughly remembered who the two main characters, Liu Bang and Hangwoo, were.
Xiang Yu, the grandson of the last great general of the Chu Dynasty, Xiang Yan.
Who is Hangwoo?
If there was Richard the Lionheart in the West.
In the East, there is Seocho’s king Hangwoo.
Man-in-law. Reverse divergence period. Paewang (覇王).
All those words came from one person, Xiang Yu.
Since Hang-yeon is about a generation older than me, Hang-wu must be a person from the next generation after me. Thinking of the future, it was advantageous to form a friendly relationship with Hang Yan here.
Also, apart from the existence of Hang Yu, the Hang Yan family, the Hang clan, was a prestigious military family that served as generals in the Chu Dynasty for generations.
There were plenty of reasons to turn a blind eye to trivial rudeness and choose to build friendships.
“That’s good. I’ll listen to your business.”