BES: Chapter 3

Uriyangkadai was a stern man of a similar age to my Uncle Mongke. He met me for lessons in one of the courtyards. The son of my Great-Grandfather's most famed and renowned general, the Strategist Subodai, I had known Uriyangkadai since I was little. He was a perennial fixture at court and was something of a favored Uncle to me. He and Dorji didn't get on so well, given Dorji's insistence on assimilating into the Han at every opportunity, but he always had time for both of us. I liked to think I was his favorite of the two of us, though, simply because he and I had similar interests when it came to things like strategy. Maybe that was just wishful thinking, though, and he would prove to be as harsh a taskmaster as Leung Shun. I could only hope that wasn't true. I could only take so much conditioning every week. After all, even if the spirit was willing, my eleven-year-old body would be too weak.

Thankfully, that didn't seem to be the case, as we met in the Chess Courtyard. This courtyard was more of a garden than a training ground, filled with differing plants, from common bamboo to chrysanthemums, and was situated around a wooden pavilion painted in red and green. Under the tiled roof of the pavilion, a series of benches were arranged around tables. On the tables sat a series of stone Xiangqi-style chess sets, with various pieces of red and black. Uriyangkadai was seated at one of the tables, whose board was set up for a game. I was familiar with the game and fairly good for my age, but I doubted that would be enough to beat Uriyangkadai if this was what today's lesson was going to be. It was strange, though. Chess was a major abstraction from conditions of the battlefield, even if Xiangqi was less of one than the Western-style chess I had played the most of in my Old Life. Were we not going to learn about something more concrete today?

"Good, you're punctual, at least. Have a seat." Nodded Uriyangkadai, cutting through my thoughts. I took a seat opposite him and gazed at the board that was set up. Cocking an eyebrow at the son of the Famous Strategist of the Great Chinggis, I asked about the choice of a game instead of something more serious.

"Chess?" I questioned, confused.

"It's good mental exercise. True, strategems useful in chess are difficult to apply to real-world battlefields, but it helps to practice a strategic mindset. I need to see what I'm working with first of all. We can work on other things after." Explained Uriyangkadai.

"Ok, I call red." I grinned.

"Want to go first, eh? We'll see if you can keep the initiative." Chuckled Uriyangkadai.

I nodded and began playing by moving up one of my chariots, the rightmost, up next to my right cannon. Uriyangkadai used his turn to move one of his soldiers to the riverbank in the center of the board. In response, I did the same. Uriyangkadai followed that up by moving his horse up next to his right cannon, and it seemed the first clash was going to be on the right. I began the combat by moving my soldier across the river and capturing Uriyangkadai's soldier.

"First blood goes to me." I grinned.

"It's only the last blood that counts, Young Dalai." Cautioned Uriyangkadai.

Indeed, the next few moves saw a flurry of action as we both moved our pieces to capture others. The exchange initially went in my favor, capturing his right cannon and a second soldier, only for his right horse to launch a counterattack with aid from his right elephant and chariot that saw me lose my cannon and a soldier before I was able to block his elephant and horse from moving further. My position was untenable on that side of the riverbank, though, and I was forced to withdraw my chariot and horse back to my side of the board, ceding the initiative.

Uriyangkadai pushed his initiative ruthlessly, capturing the soldiers I had used to block his horse and elephant with his chariot and beginning to move onto my side of the board. I wasn't going to be able to stop the onslaught, so my strategy shifted toward turtling up and forcing a draw. It's unfortunate that stalemates are considered a loss by the defender in Xiangqi-style chess, but I wasn't exactly expected to win against Subotai's son and protege, now was I?

Eventually, I managed to fortify the palace with elephants and a horse, enough so that when Uriyangkadai had finally finished dismantling my other forces, he no longer had sufficient forces to penetrate my defense and capture my general. Unfortunately, because elephants could not cross the river to invade enemy territory, I didn't have the capability to win either. I had stalemated him.

"Stalemate. Guess that means I lose." I sighed.

"That may be so if we were using the rules of chess. On the battlefield, though, sometimes the best you can do is stymie your opponent, so you can come back for round 2 with more troops and better opportunities. Trust me, you did better than you think." Intoned Uriyangkadai.

"You think so?" I queried.

"I know so. Many others would have killed to be able to say they stalemated me. It seems your father was right about you having a strategic mind. Now it is up to me to nurture it into a mind worthy of the great-grandson of Chinggis. We will start, I think, with this." Smiled Uriyangkadai, pulling a scroll out of a satchel. The title was familiar from my old life.

"I'm already familiar with the Art of War." I pointed out.

"Oh? I was unaware you had taken an interest in Chinese Strategic Treatises. Your tutors never mentioned assigning it to you when I asked?" Asked Uriyangkadai.

"Father has a library he barely uses, filled with books from various subjects. I figured reading it in my off time would help me out in the future." I lied, not wanting to go into how I knew.

"Then we will start instead with a hypothetical. You have no doubt heard of the refusal of King Gojong of Goryeo to present himself to the Great Khan in Karakorum for tributary duties?" Began Uriyangkadai.

"I have. Something about being too elderly." I affirmed.

"Indeed. However, there are ways that such an old man can reaffirm his loyalties. We are not monsters to force an elder out of his sickbed, after all. He could send a proxy, some son of his, to show his loyalty. Yet he refuses to even do that much. War is in the offing with Goryeo sooner or later. I would like you to think about how you would best wage that war for our next meeting. I will listen and then I will critique your proposed strategies. It will be a valuable learning exercise." Responded Uriyangkadai.

I groaned at that. It was only my second class in the new tutoring rotation, and already tutors were giving me homework. Uriyangkadai seemed to be amused by my reaction. He reset the chessboard, and it became clear that we were going to play again.

"Now, now, none of that. It is an investment for your future." He grinned as he reset the chessboard.

All told, we played ten games that day and he soundly thrashed me in all but three of them, where I managed a stalemate. It wasn't exactly an auspicious start, but then, Uriyangkadai was a tactical mastermind. I was reasonably sure there was no way I'd be able to beat him in a game of strategy at this stage of my training. While we played, Uriyangkadai asked me questions about certain scenarios from the past, such as the recent campaigns in Anatolia or the attacks on Central Europe in the twelve-forties. He changed certain details from the historical scenarios and asked how I would handle them. For example, he asked what I would have done had the Poles managed not to charge into the feigned retreat at Legnica. I replied that I probably would have retired from the field and begun a war of maneuver, using our superior mobility to force the Poles into a second battle under unfavorable circumstances.

"An interesting idea, but can you be sure it would work?" Grilled Uriyangkadai as he continued to dismantle my side of the chessboard.

"I would ensure it by raiding less defended villages and towns. He would be under pressure from his own vassals to do something soon, or else they would take matters into their own hands. With division in their command ranks and pressure mounting to stop the raids, their King would have needed to fight before he was ready, or risk losing contingents to desertion or defection. It wouldn't just be our superior mobility forcing his hand, but politics." I replied as I tried to stop Uriyangkadai's chariot from putting my general in check.

"Hmm, not a bad strategy." Grunted Uriyangkadai as he finally captured the horse that I'd been using to forestall his chariot.

"I thought so." I shrugged, trying to reposition my remaining advisor to stop the inevitable.

"Checkmate." Grinned Uriyangkadai as he finally captured my general.

"Damn, you'd think I'd be able to win once? But no, ten games played and no victories." I groaned.

"You're young yet and inexperienced to boot. As you grow, I have every confidence in your capabilities catching up to mine." Chuckled Uriyangkadai.

By now, though, it was well after noon, and my stomach interrupted the lesson by growling loudly. I grinned sheepishly as my stomach let out the loudest growl it could in protest of being empty for so long. It sounded honestly more like some sort of beast than a part of my body. The cave bear inside me was perturbed that I hadn't fed it or some other such thing. I wasn't the one to write poetry, after all. That was more of Dorji's area of expertise. Still, it was an apt enough metaphor.

"Apologies, but it seems like my stomach will not last an eleventh game." I bowed.

"Nonsense, go eat. We're done for the day anyway. I will see you next week." Waved off Uriyangkadai.

With that, I left the Chess Pavilion and headed for the dining hall. It wasn't quite dinner yet, but there was always rice and soup available from the kitchens. I grabbed a bowl of Sülen and some beef fried rice and sat down to eat a late lunch. Tomorrow would be riding class with Dorgon Donggo, then after would be another day filled with conditioning and Kung Fu forms. After that would be a joint class with Dorji working under Liau Yong Cho. I already had tentative plans to try and introduce the concept of a Hwacha to them on that day and see if something couldn't be worked out to make the idea viable. If it were, it would help with fighting Goryeo once war there inevitably broke out.

If nothing else, using a Korean weapon against the Army of Goryeo was poetically ironic. The thought brought me some amusement, as I shoveled rice into my mouth like a man possessed. It even brought me a chuckle. Of course, that caused me to swallow some rice down the wrong pipe and precipitated a coughing fit. It took me a few moments to stop coughing, and I looked around to see if anyone had caught my self-inflicted coughing fit. No one had, or at least if they had, they were being tactful enough not to mention it. Shaking my head, I went back to my food as if nothing had happened.

The next day, I would find myself out on the plains outside the city sitting atop a horse for my next class. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we see how Dalai's relationship with Uriyangkadai is. It's sort of an inverse of his relationship with Leung Shun in a few ways. For one thing, Uriyangkadai is far less strict, though it would be hard for him to be more strict than the Monk of the Shaolin Temple. For one thing, as the son of Subodai, Uriyangkadai is practically an uncle to Dalai already.

The chess used in this is Xiangqi, AKA Chinese Chess. It's more closely linked to Shogi than Western Chess. Notably, it has terrain features that affect play, like the board being split in half by a river that certain pieces can't cross or have movement affected by the terrain. It also has pieces like Chariots and Cannons, which are features that tend to be in the various Far Eastern variations of the Game, but which never made the trip west.

At any rate, the next chapter will show Dalai's next tutor, Dorgon Donggo, the Manchu Cavalry Captain, who will be Dalai's Tutor for Horseback Archery, Riding, and fighting while mounted with Lance and Sword. It will also contain the seeds for a rivalry with the Gongsun Clan, a Native Han Chinese Noble Family who sided with the Mongols and were allowed to retain their lands and titles.

Stay tuned. . .