Chapter 136 — Training the Iron Pagoda Cavalry: Structure
This training was not something that emerged by chance on the battlefield.
It was designed from the beginning in divided parts, and those divisions were structured to be bound together again as one.
Yeongu divided the flow into five branches:
breakthrough, pushing forward, acceleration and impact, after dismount, and maintaining formation.
Each was trained separately, then unified at the end.
Breakthrough — Passing Through What Blocks the Way
The Jurchens were a people of the forest.
They were accustomed to reading the woods and avoiding obstacles.
They were deliberately sent into places without paths.
Dense thickets of trees and branches were chosen.
At first, everyone searched for gaps.
They twisted their bodies, lowered their heads, and chose routes that avoided collision.
Yeongu made them cut, break, and force their way through.
The vanguard cut branches with spears.
Those behind struck down what remained.
After several days, change appeared.
They no longer avoided the dense forest.
Their bodies pushed forward first.
They advanced by breaking through with blade and spear.
They repeated it until the forest was no longer an obstacle.
Pushing Forward — Force That Does Not Stop
A wooden barrier was erected on open ground.
It was a point where a man would naturally stop.
Yeongu made them charge without stopping, crashing into it with body and horse.
The first impacts were rough.
The line broke, the front halted, the rear pressed forward.
He forced them to reconnect.
They narrowed the gaps and pushed from behind.
They repeated it again and again.
At some point, even when collision occurred, the flow continued.
Acceleration and Impact
A cavalry thrust delivered at speed is the most powerful strike, combining the strength of the arm with the velocity of the horse.
They repeated short bursts of speed followed by strikes.
They struck directly at the moment of impact.
Bodies shook, and at times they were thrown off.
But with repetition, they did not stop.
They passed through and continued forward.
Impact was no longer the end.
It became part of the flow.
They struck while advancing, passed through, and those behind struck again, and again.
After Dismount — Continuity Without Break
The moment a cavalryman falls from his horse, all motion stops.
So that moment was trained separately.
In battle, dismount is inevitable.
They were made to fall deliberately.
Pushed from the side, cut off from the front,
thrown down at full speed.
At first, they collapsed.
Breath broke, bodies froze.
But with repetition, they rose again.
They twisted their bodies at the moment of falling.
They changed direction before their backs hit the ground.
They rolled to absorb impact.
It was breakfall technique.
The force was far beyond anything in martial practice.
Yet even in heavy armor, they rolled and rose.
They rose in clouds of dust.
Spears were thrown at them.
A moment's delay meant being struck.
They lowered their posture, raised small cavalry shields, drew their sabers, and counterattacked.
They trained until the body reacted before thought.
Even after falling, the flow continued.
Maintaining Formation — Moving Without Sight
The final training cut off vision.
Smoke was raised.
Dry grass and damp wood were burned together, laying a low haze.
Vision blurred.
Even a few steps ahead could not be distinguished.
In that state, they moved while maintaining formation.
They trained to ride without seeing.
At first, they broke apart immediately.
Spacing widened, some slowed, others turned.
The line collapsed.
They reformed it.
This time, they learned to feel the sides.
The breath of the horse, the presence at their flanks, the rhythm of hooves.
They could not see ahead.
Yet they moved.
They followed the sides and rear.
Spacing aligned again.
The line held.
They repeated it many times.
At some point, change appeared.
The body reacted before the eyes.
Even without sight, position was maintained through the flow.
Even within smoke, the line did not break.
These five were trained separately, then bound together again.
They broke through forests while pushing forward,
maintained speed through impact,
fell and rose again,
and held formation even without sight.
What was learned separately became one.
It was not that the people had changed.
The method had settled into the body.
Thus, the Iron Pagoda cavalry was formed.
Alongside this, martial training continued.
Breathing methods were integrated into sword forms, and they practiced more than fifty repetitions each afternoon.
What use is armor alone.
The warrior within must be strong.
Thus began the training of execution befitting a true warrior.