137.Breaching the gate
Ga Gyeong-pil rode a slow circle, carefully inspecting his men one by one.
He checked whether their eyes beneath the helmets were still clear, whether the arrows lodged in their armor were shallow, whether their horses' breathing had grown too harsh.
So-un turned to Yang Jo-hwi beside him.
"Hyungnim!"
"Why, you little brat? I thought I was an uncle."
"If we break that, we can pass through, right?"
"Right."
So-un tilted his chin toward the gate.
"Then let's break it."
Yang Jo-hwi snorted.
"How…"
"Wait a moment. That's wood, isn't it?"
"There's iron plating in front. Thin, but iron."
"I can see wood between the plates. It's not all iron, is it?"
"Of course not. The iron sheets are fixed over timber beams. That's how gates are built."
So-un's eyes gleamed.
"Fire arrows… Let's burn those bastards on the tower too. I think we can do it."
"It's iron, I told you."
"Just a moment."
So-un drew a single arrow and stepped forward.
He took out his heavy bow, lit the fire arrow, and pulled the string to its full draw.
Piiing.
The sharp note split the air as the arrow flew and struck the gate.
Every gaze snapped toward it.
When one man acts, others think they can do the same.
That is how an army works.
"It stuck!"
Someone shouted.
Ga Gyeong-pil sensed the surge of eagerness spreading through the ranks.
Victory breeds morale, and morale demands momentum.
He felt their instinctive desire to smash the gate now that they had come this far.
The proper course would be to draw the enemy into open ground and sweep them away.
This was greed.
He thought he should restrain it.
He rode back and asked,
"What are you doing?"
Yang Jo-hwi answered for So-un.
"Fire attack. We were testing if it would stick."
"Fire attack… good. But will it burn?"
Ga Gyeong-pil fell into brief thought.
The formation stirred at his words.
They still had strength left to spend.
They wanted to pour it out now.
A commander must remain calm.
After a final consideration, he gave the order.
Trying it cost nothing.
"Forward. All units forward—into arrow range."
Over a hundred riders of the White Dragon Unit advanced at once.
They moved as one.
When they advanced together, it was like a great wave rolling forward.
"Load fire arrows!"
"Light them!"
Five men rode out ahead, lighting fuses as they moved.
They were assigned only to fire.
Flint sparked; tinder caught; oil-soaked cloth flared.
Then they scattered aside.
"Release!"
Over a hundred flaming arrows arced toward the gate.
Some glanced off; some bit deep into wood.
The arrows burned where they lodged.
Flames licked upward, but the gate still stood firm.
Ga Gyeong-pil ordered again.
"Load!"
"Light!"
"All fire on the gate tower!"
The flaming arrows struck the tower.
Fire blossomed at several points.
Wooden sections began to char.
So-un glanced at Ga Gyeong-pil.
His eyes said he wanted to charge.
If they smashed the gate once it weakened in flame, the way would open.
Others would think it fell simply because it burned.
Ga Gyeong-pil read the impatience.
He divided the White Dragon Unit into two groups.
One group would suppress the gate and tower with archery.
When the vanguard advanced, the rear ranks loosed arrows.
Advance and covering fire moved in tandem.