General Introduction (Ch’ongsŏ) 23
dismounted from his horse and gave it to Nahachu so that the latter could
escape. Thus Nahachu managed to stay alive. As it became dark again,
T’aejo withdrew to his camp, but he remained with the rear guard, pro-
tecting his troops from the pursuit of the enemy.
The roads of the mountain pass were tortuously winding and crisscrossed
in many places. A eunuch named Yi P’arasil, who was walking behind at
the back of the column, cried out desperately to those ahead of him,
“General, save me! General, please help me.” As T’aejo looked down, two
enemy generals clad in silver armor were about to run Yi through with their
spears. Turning around on his horse, T’aejo shot both generals and killed
twenty more enemy soldiers in short order. Then he ordered his troops to
turn back around and attack their pursuers. One of the enemy tried to attack
T’aejo with a spear. Twisting his back quickly and letting his upper body
fall down, he struck the soldier under the armpit with an arrow and
remounted. Another shot an arrow at T’aejo, who instantly stood up on his
horse and let the arrow pass between his legs. Then T’aejo shot the enemy
solider in the knee.
On another day, T’aejo ran into an enemy general in the middle of a
stream. His opponent was completely covered with armor and wore a helmet
secured by a chinstrap, making it difficult for T’aejo to shoot him down with
his arrow. So his shot his horse to make it jump in the air. His adversary
tried to rein in the horse with all his strength, and at that moment T’aejo
found the enemy’s mouth opened momentarily. T’aejo did not miss the
opportunity, and his arrow hit the man’s mouth exactly. Because T’aejo had
already killed three people in a row, the enemy forces were thrown into
disarray and began to flee. T’aejo had his cavalry pursue them. In their
panic, the enemy soldiers trampled one another, and many died or were
captured. T’aejo returned to Chŏngju and rested his troops there for sev-
eral days.
T’aejo first set up ambushes at strategic points. Next, he divided his troops
into three units. He assigned the Left Army to Sŏnggot, the Right Army to
Toryŏnp’o, and the Middle Army to Songdu. Leading the Middle Army in
person, T’aejo encountered Nahachu on the plain of Hamhŭng. T’aejo
charged the enemy single-handed on horseback, in order to test them. Seeing
three enemy warriors galloping towards him simultaneously, he pretended
to run away in a hurry, pulling on the reins while whipping his horse. As
T’aejo suddenly appeared to confront them, the horses of his pursuers, being
excited, passed by him and couldn’t stop. T’aejo shot arrows at them from