Lean

XIV

TAEHYUN

"My lord, we should discuss our battle strategy for when we get to King's Coast," one of his knights, Song Mingi told him.

Taehyun glances at the maps in front of him before flashing a look up at Mingi. With Junhui and Huening Kai's absence, he crowned more knights to the top of his command. Mingi had jet-black hair, a sharp nose, and small eyes. He was taller than many of his knights and his deep voice could catch someone by surprise, even though he was only older than Taehyun by a few years. His family had served the Kangs for as long as he could remember. Their castle was settled near Frostholm and his father frequently made hunting trips in the woods surrounding their home.

"He's right," Yeosang agrees, "We need to focus on the endgame."

Taehyun focuses back down on the maps. Soon, they would be in the royal lands surrounding King's Coast. He hadn't fully developed his strategy for taking the city, as the war changed every day. He was much more focused on taking each battle one at a time. Becoming too absorbed on the result and not paying attention to the small steps between was a mistake he didn't want to commit.

"The Chois have a fleet in the harbor of King's Coast," Yeosang says, moving a red-colored stone piece to the waters surrounding the city on the map. "I'm sure this war has only sped up the production of those ships. We're at a disadvantage, they can trap us on the beach surrounding the city when we're trying to breach the walls. We'd be done for."

Taehyun listens to his explanation before saying in a tired tone, "We don't have the time or the resources to create a fleet. The Chois know more about combat in water than we do."

The Kangs were never ones to purchase ships for military use. Taehyun could recall not learning how to swim until he was nearly a teenager, mainly due to the cold weather they had. Back in their kingdom in the north, they did have some ships, but they were mainly used to transport supplies back and forth between other kingdoms. Preparing a ship for battle was a lot different than merely transporting goods.

Taehyun knew that the fleet would be a problem when trying to take over King's Coast. The Chois had a large fleet, but Taehyun hoped that they could sack the city without the need for ships. Breaching the city walls would be a challenge in itself. The possibility of being cornered with the Choi's fleet and their troops inside the city was evident and something they needed to plan their way out of. Right now, he couldn't focus too much on their strategy once they reached King's Coast. He still had much to discuss with Huening Kai and Junhui, whom he planned on visiting early in the morning.

"Once I meet with Junhui and Huening Kai in the morning, we can begin to plan our strategy for taking the city," Taehyun explains, "I need to get an accurate count of our troops and the prisoners we have."

Yeosang flashes him a look of disappointment before saying, "We already have too many prisoners. They'll just hold us back when we get to King's Coast."

"We already discussed this," Taehyun raises his voice in warning, staring intensely at Yeosang. "I will not leave the prisoners out to starve or to be slaughtered."

Yeosang matches his look of intensity, a spark of defiance in his eyes. Oftentimes, they didn't see eye-to-eye and he could understand their differences, however, Taehyun wouldn't tolerate open defiance in front of his other advisors. Yeosang was older than him and a highborn just like him, but he was further from the lineage succession in the Kangs. That alone gave Taehyun more authority over him, not to mention he was now his lord due to his father's death.