22 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
“Every time the battle became intense, an enemy general clad with iron
armor decorated with red ox-tails suddenly jumped out, brandishing a spear,
and our soldiers were too afraid to fight him.” T’aejo decided to deal with
the man alone, searching him out among the enemy, and pretended to run
away as the man fiercely rushed out to attack with his spear. T’aejo, on
horseback, quickly moved his body under the belly of the horse, and his
opponent, in his attack, lost balance and fell down to the ground with his
spear. Immediately springing back into the saddle, T’aejo shot the man with
an arrow. With their champion dead, the enemy troops were thrown into
disarray and ran away. T’aejo pursued them as far as their base camp but
stopped as the sun went down.
Nahachu’s wife said to her husband, “It has been a long time since you
traveled the world, but you have not met such a formidable foe yet, have
you? You had better avoid meeting him again and return home quickly.”
Nahachu, however, did not listen to her.
A few days later, T’aejo crossed over Hamgwallyŏng Mountain Pass^78
and arrived at Taldandong, and Nahachu also established a camp at a place
nearby, in a location that appeared impressive. Nachachu came out in front
of his camp with ten cavalry soldiers at his side, so T’aejo went out to meet
him, leading an equal number of cavalrymen, which appeared impres-
sive. Confronting T’aejo, Nahachu spoke first, “When I first started this
campaign, I only pursued men such as Sha Liu, Guan Xiansheng, and
Pan Cheng, with no intention of invading your country’s territory. Now, I
have already lost repeated battles, losing over ten thousand soldiers and a
number of officers. Consequently, I have become desperate and I want to
stop fighting with you if you agree. And I am willing to do whatever
you say.”
But the enemy forces, as T’aejo observed, still looked quite powerful, so
T’aejo suspected that his opponent was trying to deceive him. Seeing that a
general was standing right next to Nahachu, T’aejo shot him down. Then he
shot the horse that Nahachu was riding. When Nahachu changed his horse,
T’aejo shot it down again. Then the battle broke out and continued for a long
time without a clear victor. T’aejo finally had a chance to capture Nahachu,
and the latter, still running away, said to T’aejo, “General Yi, please stop!
Why do we have to fight like this?” Then he turned around to escape, and
T’aejo shot his horse down once again. At that moment, an officer nearby- Located 70 li east of Hamhŭng.