The morale of the Liaodong army plummeted rapidly after witnessing their forces suffer near-massacres at Insan Garrison and the Yalu River.

“What should we do? What should we do?”

Though they held weapons and moved according to their commanders’ orders, the Liaodong soldiers’ eyes darted about anxiously.

Just then, someone shouted from behind the soldiers.

“The rear has collapsed! Let’s flee!”

“The rear has collapsed!”

When shouts of ‘The rear has collapsed!’ erupted everywhere, the Liaodong main force crumbled instantly.

“Let’s run!”

“I have to survive!”

Screaming what sounded like shrieks, the soldiers abandoned their positions and ran backwards.

Once it began to crumble, the Liaodong main force collapsed in an instant.

“Damn it all! Even retreat needs proper tactics!”

Watching this scene from the hill, Zhao Bingde burst out in frustration and ordered his staff officer.

“Take the reserve forces right now and control those idiots! Get them to retreat properly! Not this chaotic rout!”

“Yes, sir!”

At Zhao Bingde’s order, the staff officers quickly turned their horses around. They rushed down the hill with their guards at unprecedented speed.

However, their movements resembled desperate struggles to escape death rather than coordinating an orderly retreat as per Zhao Bingde’s orders.

“These people…”

Smiling bitterly at their obvious behavior, Zhao Bingde ordered his remaining guards.

“You all go down as well.”

“We must protect you, General.”

“I’ll be down soon too. I just want to confirm whether the Joseon forces will cross the Yalu River or not.”

“It’s dangerous.”

“Don’t worry. I value my life well enough.”

“But…”

“Get down now!”

At Zhao Bingde’s order, the guards descended the hill. However, some remained until the end – these were Zhao Bingde’s household troops.

“You should go down too.”

“We will remain until the end to protect our lord.”

At the household troops’ resolute answer, Zhao Bingde silently turned to look at the Yalu River.

Staring blankly at the river, he muttered quietly.

“I was intoxicated…”

He had become drunk on the sudden great responsibility thrust upon him when he came to Liaodong with the Crown Prince.

He became drunk on numbers when hundreds of thousands of troops came under his command.

Starting with the Fire Dragon Cannon, he became drunk on finally wielding the artillery he had only observed before.

Finally, he became drunk on ambition – the prospect of reaching the highest position in the nation after annexing Joseon.

“Time to wake up from this brief spring dream…”

As the Liaodong forces completely withdrew from the riverbank and Joseon forces began taking their place, Zhao Bingde drew his sword.

“Ha!”

Zhao Bingde raised his sword high and began charging toward the Joseon forces. His household troops followed, charging behind him.

“Enemy!”

“Fire! Fire!”

Ratatatang!

That was Zhao Bingde’s end.

***

The staff officers who had descended from the hill on Zhao Bingde’s orders began desperately trying to control the routing soldiers.

Their desperate efforts weren’t just to carry out Zhao Bingde’s orders.

It was because having those soldiers around increased their own chances of safely escaping death.

However, the staff officers’ attempts didn’t easily succeed.

First, controlling soldiers who had lost their reason and were fleeing in panic was no simple task.

Next was the relentless attacks from the Joseon navy and cavalry.

Being such a large force, many troops were still within range of the cannons fired by the Joseon navy.

Every time shells fired by the Joseon navy fell, soldiers scattered in all directions, and the command structure they had barely restored collapsed again.

The Joseon cavalry’s attacks had the same effect.

The Joseon navy persistently clung to the Liaodong army’s wounds like sharks.

Each time they bit and held on, the Liaodong army’s wounds grew larger and deeper, and the entire formation wavered.

And with each wave, the Liaodong forces continued their chaotic retreat, forcing the staff officers to struggle even more desperately.

***

While the main force continued its retreat, the area in front of Insan Garrison entered the cleanup phase. Having been the first to collapse, many Liaodong soldiers had either died in meaningless resistance or surrendered. Even more soldiers had lost their lives to Type-Eul War Wagon attacks while trying to cross back over the Yalu River.

“Begin battlefield cleanup, and send word to the rear. Tell them they can cross now.”

“Yes, sir!”

After confirming the Liaodong army’s retreat, Lee Jing-ok used signal flares to send messages to the rear.

Upon seeing the signal, Choi Yoon-deok’s main force, which had already advanced to 5 li (about 2km) behind Insan Garrison, immediately began moving forward.

Simultaneously, preparations began at the Yalu River for the Joseon army’s crossing.

First, the Joseon cavalry that had been harrying the Liaodong forces split into two.

One group continued to harry the retreating Liaodong forces, while the other began defending the expected river crossing points.

While the cavalry moved thus, the Joseon navy’s panokseon ships also moved.

“Start the engines!”

“Push! Push!”

“Pull! Pull!”

Naval troops who had disembarked from panokseon ships deliberately grounded on the riverbank pushed and pulled to get them back into the river, while steam engines reversed their propellers.

To put one ship back in, naval troops from surrounding panokseon all joined in pushing and pulling repeatedly. Once one ship was refloated, the soldiers immediately moved to the next ship. In this way, the panokseon were refloated one by one.

The refloated panokseon, loaded with naval troops, then sailed up the Yalu River.

The panokseon that joined with those crossing the Yalu River formed into a horizontal line.

“Furl the sails and drop anchor!”

Following the captains’ orders, the panokseon stowed their sails and masts to the side and dropped anchor.

Soon ropes flew between the anchored panokseon, binding them together firmly.

Watching this scene from Insan Garrison’s walls, Lee Jing-ok muttered quietly.

“Like the chained boats at Red Cliffs… One fire arrow would end it all.”

However, the current situation at the Yalu River was very different from Red Cliffs.

The Joseon army firmly controlled both riverbanks and maintained strict vigilance.

“Engineering corps has arrived!”

“Is that so?”

At his aide’s shout, Lee Jing-ok looked behind Insan Garrison.

Several columns of black smoke rose as the Joseon engineering corps arrived at Insan Garrison.

***

The engineering corps that arrived at Insan Garrison immediately began working.

Their first task was using excavators to dig huge pits quite far from the Insan Garrison.

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Following signals from soldiers with whistles waving flags, the excavators dug several large pits.

Once the pits were complete, captured Liaodong soldiers carried the bodies of their dead comrades to the pits.

The Liaodong soldiers, moving their comrades’ bodies under strict Joseon supervision, looked fearfully at the massive excavators.

The huge machines, large enough to house several thatched-roof houses, with shovel blades big enough to fit three or four strong men with room to spare, were intimidating just to look at.

***

While battlefield cleanup proceeded on one side, work for crossing the river was in full swing at the Yalu River.

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Following whistle signals, cranes mounted on the panokseon lifted wooden bridge sections.

Naval troops and engineering corps soldiers pushed and pulled the suspended bridge sections into position.

“Good! Lower! Lower!”

Following the signals, the wooden bridge sections slowly descended. Steel hooks at both ends of the bridge sections firmly gripped the panokseon’s battlements.

When properly placed, they would form solid bridges connecting two panokseon.

Two days later, the Joseon main force crossed the Yalu River.

This was what had happened while Heo Hu stayed in Beijing.

***

Heading to Seunghwadang while listening to Kim Jongseo’s explanation, Heo Hu counted on his fingers and muttered.

“The news must have reached Beijing by now. The Emperor’s expression must have been something to see. No, perhaps my neck is already on the line?”

Muttering thus, he entered Seunghwadang’s conference room where heated debate was ongoing among the ministers.

“We’ve gained justification, so while we’re across the Yalu, let’s cross the Liao River too!”

“The Liao River is off limits! That would turn this from a local conflict into all-out war!”

“Didn’t you see the Emperor’s edict earlier! He said he’d hold us accountable! All-out war is unavoidable anyway!”

As fierce debate continued between those for and against escalation, Hyang asked Jo Mal-saeng.

“I’d like to hear the Defense Minister’s opinion.”

At Hyang’s request, Jo Mal-saeng answered immediately.

“The military’s position remains the same as before. With our current capabilities, Liaodong is our limit. Crossing the Great Wall would create supply problems.”

“What about using the navy?”

To Hwang Hui’s question, Jo Mal-saeng shook his head.

“Even if we mobilize all our challenger-class warships and civilian merchant ships, it’s far from enough. As I’ve said repeatedly, neither Ming nor we have the capability to invade each other’s homeland. Everything must be settled in Liaodong.”

“If the military says so…”

“How disappointing…”

The pro-escalation faction couldn’t hide their disappointment. But they had no choice. The military, the main actor in the war, was saying it was impossible.

Seeming to understand their feelings, Jo Mal-saeng added.

“Though I’d love nothing more than to storm the Forbidden City and grab the Emperor by the collar and shake him, when I think about the resources we’ve consumed in this battle and what we’ll need going forward…”

Jo Mal-saeng glanced at Kim Jeom and the Finance Minister as his words trailed off.

The ammunition and supplies consumed by the Joseon forces in this battle equaled what the entire army and navy would use in two months of training.

And that was just what was consumed at Insan Garrison, excluding what the navy and cavalry used.

Conscription of reserves had already begun across all of Joseon. The supplies they would consume would certainly exceed anything experienced so far.

After letting his words trail off, Jo Mal-saeng continued.

“Therefore, completely securing Liaodong is currently our best option. We can leave venting our anger at the Emperor’s vicious scheme to the navy.”

“Hmm… That does sound good.”

“It seems reasonable. What does Your Highness think?”

At Hwang Hui’s words, Hyang also nodded.

“I think it’s appropriate.”

Though I’d like to ride straight to the Forbidden City… destroying all their ports would actually be more beneficial. We can severely cut into Ming’s market control ability…

With Hyang supporting Jo Mal-saeng’s position, the future direction was set. Then, Kim Jeom spoke up.

“Whatever anyone says, we must take Mukden! At least Mukden!”

At Kim Jeom’s exclamation, Hyang and the ministers all nodded.

According to information from prisoners, all the minerals used to make the Liaodong army’s weapons, starting with the Fire Dragon Cannon, came from Mukden.

“An open-pit mine? Iron, copper, and coal all come out just by digging a little?”

Upon receiving the report, Kim Jeom immediately ran to Hyang and exclaimed.

“We must absolutely take Mukden!”