- Yi Hui’s Plan
After Gyeongpil led the First Unit out, Yi Hui gathered the returning Second, Third, and Fifth Units of the White Dragon Corps and followed behind.
“I will sweep them all away and return.”
That was how he delivered his departure report.
“Do not forget the positions where the heavy infantry lie in ambush. Do not overextend.”
“There is no need for concern.”
“Depart!”
At the Grand General’s signal, the White Dragon Corps moved out in four columns.
Fewer than five hundred riders, yet fully armored and equipped with cavalry spears, moon-blades, and mounted shields—arguably the finest force on the continent.
It was, in truth, the most expensive army one could maintain.
The equipment of ordinary troops was pitiful by comparison.
Spearmen carried little more than a spear.
Shield-bearers had a shield and perhaps a short blade.
Armor was rare.
Even elite heavy infantry often possessed nothing more than a breastplate.
Most soldiers were farmers pulled from across the land and handed a single shaft of wood with iron on the end.
The White Dragon Corps, however, possessed horses and compact composite bows designed for mounted combat.
The bows were the finest issued to the Northern Army.
Small, powerful, accurate at long range—expensive because of their materials.
Horn from wild oxen, bamboo, and mulberry wood layered together to create compact elasticity.
They were the best weapons available.
The Northern Army was not wealthy.
This was the Grand General’s investment.
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He concentrated superior weapons into the elite White Dragon Corps and specialized them as cavalry.
Only cavalry could defeat cavalry.
Without horses, one could not pursue riders across the steppe.
Without horses, battle itself was impossible.
No matter how strong infantry might be, cavalry could simply ride around them.
Without mounted troops, fighting the steppe raiders was futile.
General Jin Mugwang assigned every available horse to the White Dragon Corps, creating a cavalry army.
Their small numbers forced preservation above all else.
All superior equipment was concentrated in them.
As a result, other units suffered.
At best, rusted spearheads were ground sharp again and sent back into use.
The White Dragon Corps alone could face enemy cavalry.
Even so, their numbers could not grow indefinitely.
Horses were finite.
Yet against equal numbers of other cavalry, they would not lose.
Before contact, arrows shattered the enemy’s forward momentum.
At engagement, long weapons—spears and moon-blades—cut them down first.
If any survived those two layers, shields and armor preserved the riders in close melee.
The enemy’s gear, aside from their horses, was inferior.
Often they lacked even proper armor or sufficient spears.
Many carried only a single sword.
Strike first with arrows and long weapons, survive the clash—this was Jin Mugwang’s design for supremacy.
Yi Hui had the capacity to fully command such a force.
Beyond the Grand General’s support, he possessed rare martial skill and tactical experience gained during the southern campaigns.
The White Dragon Corps excelled.
Their objective was always the same:
destroy equal or greater numbers of enemies with minimal loss.
But this time, the enemy’s maneuver was unexpected.
They crossed the frozen river, divided into smaller forces, and advanced deep into the continent.
They swept through Taiyuan, Wolhwa, and nearby cities.
The Northern Army, waiting beyond the passes, could only watch helplessly.
The Imperial Court ordered not pursuit, but interception—cut off their retreat and annihilate them.
There was only one crossing back toward the frozen river.
They had to pass the Ordos River before the ice melted.
The raiders were returning north in scattered units.
The Northern Army waited there.
If they could break them here, the frontier would know peace for years.
The White Dragon Corps’ mission was to destroy the scattered units before they regrouped.
If tens of thousands gathered, nothing could be done.
But while they remained divided, victory was possible.
That intelligence stirred Yi Hui’s blood.
The strategy had already been prepared.
Fortified farms, long training, cavalry spear drills, mounted archery, and a specialized signaling system for rapid communication.
Yi Hui dispatched five-man units forward to scout enemy movements.
Behind each small unit rode Gyeongpil with fifty cavalry as reinforcement.
Small enemy groups would be eliminated directly by the five-man teams.
Larger groups would be pressured and destroyed by the fifty-man detachment.
Even larger forces would be struck by the main body of the White Dragon Corps in elite armored formation.
Greater concentrations would be handled in cooperation with heavy infantry lying in ambush.
The core of the strategy was precise and rapid reporting of enemy movements.
Accurate information.
Speed of maneuver.
Coordination with infantry.
The tactics were complex and demanding.
But the White Dragon Corps had trained for exactly this—and had been equipped accordingly.