Chương 157: Aftermath

After the battle, Wanyan Zongwang came to see him. As the vanguard commander, he had wanted to break the enemy with his own hands, with all the ferocity his name deserved. This battle had given him no such chance. Because Wanyan Loushi had proposed a different plan, the fighting had turned into something less visible, less glorious, and far more troublesome.

"What do you make of this?" Youngwoo knew very well that Zongwang envied his merit. It was a pure kind of envy, born from a vanguard commander's pride in his own military standing, but the question of who would stand at the front had already caused friction between them more than once. In the first siege, Ogemai's men had won the highest honor. In the second, Youngwoo had taken the greatest merit. This time, the city had been taken without a great, visible struggle.

Fighting broke out in scattered places, here and there, but there was no grand field battle. Even when the final breach came, the assault had entered from all sides, over the walls and through different points at once.

"Let us not do it this way next time." Zongwang's words were blunt. He did not explain himself at length. It had taken too much time for a man of his temperament. The new operation clearly displeased him. Youngwoo, guided almost by instinct toward keeping harmony among them, tried to soothe him.

"I think this kind of change was necessary for the Jin army. Siege warfare has been difficult for us."

"It takes too long. It does not suit men like us." Youngwoo agreed inwardly, but he did not show it.

"From now on, the battles will only become harder. We cannot simply rush in and expect everything to work. The enemy still has many soldiers, and we have only just reached twenty thousand." Zongwang shook his head violently.

"What does number matter? We should sweep them away." Shared battle mattered. It created the feeling that they stood on the same side, among the same people. Zongwang's use of "let us" was no small thing. It was a request for Youngwoo to speak differently the next time a similar situation arose. He wanted Youngwoo to argue for a swift strike, for smashing the enemy in a single blow rather than delaying the attack.

Zongwang knew he himself was a rough soldier, and he knew Youngwoo, as the head of the military advisory force, carried great influence.

"They say this battle was an important turning point. A necessary one as well. As battles grow larger and the enemy's numbers increase, our role will remain important, but strategic considerations will matter more and more. I think it is better to follow the judgment of those who see that larger picture."

"Loushi deserves the highest merit this time. I have no intention of belittling that. I am only saying we should not do it this way next time." He even named Loushi outright. Youngwoo could not agree with him there.

"I served in Goryeo as a soldier of the lowest rank. A change in operations like this can be fatal to men at the bottom. They are the first ones to meet the enemy's blades. There is something I felt in this battle, and I would like to say it." Youngwoo paused. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Zongwang leaned in and listened. Youngwoo looked into Zongwang's face before speaking again.

"We commanders are not free when it comes to the lives of soldiers. We must choose the path that reduces losses as much as possible. We do not have many men. Of course, battle always takes lives. Even so, we must treat those lives as precious." Zongwang turned his head away.

"Who says otherwise? This sounds strange coming from the man who stands at the very front and cuts down dozens of enemies himself." Youngwoo looked deep into Zongwang's eyes. Zongwang flinched, as though Youngwoo had seen something hidden inside him, and leaned back a little.

"I truly believe that doing so reduces the overall losses. If the enemy is overwhelmed, they resist less." Zongwang gave a faint laugh.

"Is that truly the reason?" Youngwoo answered as if making an excuse.

"There is also the matter of appearances. The Goryeo military advisory force must play an important role." Zongwang let out a rough laugh.

"Ha! So you are saying, General, that you do not want to smash the enemy apart? You feel no desire to break them?" Youngwoo answered honestly.

"I cannot say that. When I see the enemy, fighting spirit rises in me. Naturally. But afterward, I regret it. I think I have killed too many men. At times, it feels almost like murder, and it torments me." Zongwang looked unconvinced. Youngwoo's fighting strength had already gone beyond imagination. On the battlefield, he looked like a man born to kill enemies.

"Ah, surely not. Surely General Youngwoo does not truly feel that way."

"I am not a general. I am a jungnangjang. And it is true. The brutal violence that follows battle weighs heavily on my mind. I want to tell them to stop, but I have not been able to say it." Zongwang tilted his head. To his people, such things were natural. Prisoners of war became slaves. Their lives and deaths belonged to the victors. That was how it was. Jurchen treatment of prisoners in this period could be deeply harsh. Beheading was common. Stripping captives of everything they owned was no rare thing.

They had not acted that way in wars with Goryeo. Goryeo was kin. Goryeo people were people. They fought fiercely on the battlefield, but when a man lost and was captured through weakness, he was still understood as one of the same kind standing in a different place. With the Khitan of Liao, the old wounds ran much deeper. The Jurchens had suffered much at their hands, and their vengeance was correspondingly fierce. Cities and armies that refused to surrender often faced mass slaughter.

In the moment before or after battle, that could be explained by the logic of war. Nobles and commanders who resisted to the end were executed on the spot. Looting and seizure spread widely as well. It had happened at Ningjiangzhou. It had been worse at Buyeobu. Youngwoo pointed to this.

"No. This much is natural," Zongwang said. Youngwoo's eyes narrowed. The phrase "different culture" pressed heavily against the back of his head. Could brutal crimes be accepted simply because they were called culture? Were there not men who maintained their power through that very culture? Was there no universal reason rooted in the fact that all were human?

"It is hideous to look at. So I turn my eyes away. The next day, I find it frightening to look at the face of the man who did it."

"That is too much. They are enemies. Enemy commanders must be killed. If we leave them alive, they gather men around themselves again. And what do you think I am?"

"Imagine that you killed the man who lived next door. Would his face not haunt you? A person who has killed looks a little different. His eyes change."

"How?"

"He begins to make light of life. He ceases to value the existence of those around him. Jurchen and Goryeo have fought for a long time, but we have also lived near each other for a long time. With a small shift in thought, an enemy becomes a neighbor." Zongwang was rather tolerant when it came to Goryeo.

"A neighbor. Hm. Yes. A neighbor." Youngwoo pointed toward the other side of a tent where a group of prisoners was being held.

"They are human beings too. They are neighbors too." Zongwang shook his head.

"Perhaps long ago. Do you know how viciously they treated us?"

"I have heard the stories. But we must look at it from one step removed. I think they did it deliberately." Zongwang shot to his feet.

"Exactly! They did! They tormented us and only us!" Youngwoo asked him in return.

"Why did they do that?"

"They hated us."

"If two men are placed side by side, there is always one you dislike more. Does that mean you go out of your way to torment him?" Youngwoo wanted to change the way of the conversation. He wanted Zongwang to find the answer himself. But these were men of direct temperament, and such a path was never easy. Zongwang shouted.

"They tormented us and only us!" Youngwoo calmed him and spoke carefully.

"I think they feared the Jurchens most. They believed that if anyone would rise up against them, it would be the Jurchens. That is why they oppressed you, so you could not rise. When I heard that they took people away as well, I thought about it. The Liao had many places from which they could take slaves or people. Why torment the Jurchens in particular? I think it was because they feared the rise of the Jurchens more than anything. That is my conclusion after hearing many such stories."

"They feared us?"

"Yes. At banquets where many tribal chiefs gathered, they told Jurchens to dance. Was that not meant to crush your spirit? Tribute is one thing, but they also demanded people. Why demand people? They likely wanted to reduce the Jurchen population. They could not openly attack a submitted Jurchen group, so they demanded people instead." Zongwang shook his head. Complicated inference and speculation tired him.

"Jungnangjang, you seem too good-hearted. That is why you see only the good." This fellow was trying to smooth the matter over. He seemed to think Youngwoo was bringing up shameful things about them. It is easier to place the cause of a problem entirely on the other side, or to confine it to one person.

"No. I looked at it from a third person's position. Fairly objectively. Some of what happened was cruel."

"Ah, the grudges of these years have become blood-soaked hatred. For a while, this will continue." Just then, there was a commotion outside. No, it was not exactly a commotion. People were saluting, greeting one another, and exchanging words of welcome. Wanyan Zonghan had come to Youngwoo's tent with several companions. They had all been busy immediately after the battle. Why had they come now? Youngwoo kept his eyes on Zongwang and continued speaking.

"No. It is cruel. And in practical terms, it is harmful as well." At that moment, the officer on duty entered. For some reason, Dokyungtaek was standing duty that night.

"Wanyan Zonghan has arrived."

"Good. Tell him to come in. We are in the middle of an important conversation, so I cannot go out to greet him. Bring him in as soon as he arrives."