Set in the early Goguryeo (AD30-35) during the era of the Three Kingdoms in Korea, this BinJin Sageuk tells the tale of love, trust and betrayal between a Goguryeo Crown Prince and a Nakrang Princess.
It is loosely based off the tragic Korean folkta...
Author's note: Sorry for the lack of an "At Long Last" update today! I went on a writing spree for this fic. It is harder to write, and more research-intensive compared to ALL, so I'm glad we got this out. I'll focus on ALL tomorrow.
So I learnt a lot on horses while researching for this chapter! Horseback skills/tricks featured in this chapter are genuine ones that were practiced by the horsemen of the Genghis Khan era. Makes for really exciting visuals.
Also, locations featured are all real in Goguryeo history (It's a sh*tload of reading, Googling and studying maps done in my free time) Goguryeo's invasion of the Khitan Baili clan was real as well. The only thing tweaked was the timeline.
To put things into perspective, here's a simple Google map image which I have labeled.
Goguryeo's first capital was on Mt Wunü in modern day Liaoning, China. Its second capital is Gungnae, in modern day Ji'an, which coincides with the timeline of this fic.
Gungnae was first mentioned in chapter 10 of this fic. Subsequently they would move the capital to Pyongyang.
Right now, this is where our prince and princess are respectively.
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33CE, early Fall Three Kingdoms Period Liao region (southern Manchuria)
Goguryeo had erected massive fortifications along the western banks of the Liao River, but as Hyun Bin and the military advisors had expected, the marshlands around the river would inevitably complicate warfare.
Dividing the regiment into three, the Goguryeo soldiers primarily attacked from both inland and directly from the Liao river's banks.
By the end of the sixth week into the military campaign, with three tribes and more than six hundred Khitan camps destroyed, a Goguryeo victory was clearly on the horizon.
In fact, Hyun Bin and another general had already made the decision to send a light cavalry battalion back to Gungnae. Looking at the progress of the battle, it would be reasonable for the First Battalion to set off in two days.
Most of the inland region had been conquered following the collapse of the tribes, but the dying embers of the battle was still burning along the Western river banks.
The Goguryeo horses were accustomed to harsh mountainous terrain, so swamps clearly put them at a disadvantage.
With many parts of it flowing through powdery loess, the Liao River had an exceedingly high sediment load which restricted the horses' mobility.
Suddenly, a piercing, frightened whinny told Hyun Bin that something had gone awry. From where he was, he could see that a Khitan foe had snagged the legs of one of the Goguryeo horses with a hooked spear.
