Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 46

Jjanggeura

Hello, Bomb!

46. Laughing and Crying at My Obsession (11)

It took ten days for the Ministry of War to prepare the demonstration of cannons and firearms.

The reason it took ten days was that the initially planned small-scale demonstration of cannons and firearms transformed into a formal firepower demonstration involving cavalry and infantry.

“Since I ascended the throne, I haven’t properly seen the 모습 [state or appearance] of our Joseon army since the last conquest of Tsushima Island. I will watch the demonstration of cavalry and infantry along with the upcoming cannon demonstration.”

“I obey your command!”

According to Sejong’s order, soldiers and officers were selected from the 10 divisions—which had increased from 10 to 12 divisions immediately after his enthronement but were later reduced back to 10—and artillerymen and firearm soldiers were chosen.

While preparing the soldiers, the venue for the demonstration was also decided.

“Wouldn’t the riverside in front of Yongsan be the best?”

“That would be the best place.”

Following the decision of the officials, a venue for the demonstration was prepared in Yongsan. The solid ground facing the riverside was designated for the infantry and cavalry demonstrations, and the sandy beach of the riverside was designated for the cannon and firearm demonstrations.

It didn’t end with just deciding on the venue. Making scarecrows to be the soldiers’ targets and painting wooden boards to be the targets for arrows, cannons, and firearms kept the workers up all night.

And ten days later, the long-awaited demonstration was held. Although it was a time when farming was getting busy, farmers and nobles flocked to the road leading from Namdaemun [Great South Gate] to the palace and from Namdaemun to Yongsan upon hearing that the King was coming.

“Chwiee~. Make way! The King is coming!”

As the magnificent music of the wind and string ensemble and the calls of the eunuchs were heard, the people gathered on the streets knelt on the ground.

“It is the glory of a lifetime to see the face of His Majesty!”

“Long live His Majesty!”

“Long live!”

“May you live ten thousand years!”

Since the implementation of cowpox vaccination, the people’s support for Sejong was almost absolute.

Life was still tough, but the fact that he had prevented the deadly epidemic of smallpox alone was enough for the people to pretend to die if Sejong told them to.

As Sejong ascended the temporary platform built at the demonstration site, the general commanding the soldiers shouted loudly to the soldiers.

“Military salute!”

“Joong!”

Sejong, responding to the soldiers’ military salute, sat on the chair and ordered.

“Begin.”

“Yes!”

Following Sejong’s order, the Joseon army’s demonstration began.

The demonstration began with the cavalry.

Cavalrymen wearing iron armor and leather armor, starting with chain mail, mirror armor, and studded armor, began to move slowly in formation.

“Is it a combination of lancer cavalry and archer cavalry?”

As the demonstration began, Hyang shone his eyes and unfolded the writing board. On the paper inserted in the writing board in advance, items such as spear, sword, bow, cannon, and firearm were written in Chinese characters, and the items to be checked were listed.

These tables were prepared in advance by Hyang in case of any unforeseen accidents. The unlikely accident was a meteorite-level accident in which he unknowingly wrote in Hangeul [Korean alphabet] because he was so engrossed in the demonstration.

“Hmm….”

Hyang first carefully examined the 모습 [appearance] of the lancer cavalry preparing to charge. The spears used by the cavalrymen looked almost the same as the spears of the soldiers guarding the palace.

“Looking at the spears I saw in the palace…”

The specifications of the spear Hyang saw were a shaft length of 10 cheok (尺) [approximately 210cm or 6.9 feet] and a blade of 1 cheok 5 chon (寸) [approximately 31.5cm or 1 foot].

Recalling his memories, Hyang looked at the lancer cavalry and muttered softly.

“It’s much shorter?”

Hyang tilted his head and marked the pre-made items with check marks.

While Hyang was giving a negative evaluation, the cavalry’s full-scale demonstration began.

“Fire!”

At the command of the cavalry commander, the archer cavalry, who were in formation in the rear, simultaneously released their bowstrings.

Shoosh! Shoosh! Shoosh!

With a chilling sound of flight, the arrows drew parabolas and flew towards the scarecrows far away.

“Charge!”

“Hyah!”

“Waaaah!”

As soon as the commander’s charge command was issued, the lancer cavalry kicked the horses’ flanks.

Doo-doo-doo-doo!

Amidst the sound of the horses’ hooves shaking the ground, the lancer cavalrymen, who had charged to the front of the scarecrows, skillfully controlled the speed and direction of the horses and stabbed the scarecrows with their spears.

“Stab and retrieve? Reduce speed?”

Hyang kept tilting his head. It was a little hard to understand with the common sense Hyang knew from the 21st century.

According to the knowledge acquired from movies or the Internet in the 21st century, the cavalry was the role of a tank that broke through the enemy’s lines.

The role of the cavalry was to collapse the enemy’s front line with spears and then penetrate the enemy lines by wielding cavalry swords. The moment the cavalry stopped, the cavalry became food for the infantry.

“Why reduce the speed you worked so hard to gain?”

Hyang kept tilting his head.

However, this was Hyang’s misjudgment. In order for the lancer cavalry to be fully active, the flanks had to be protected. In addition, the lancer cavalry’s attack route was limited to a straight line in front. If the opponent was an experienced rider in a cavalry-to-cavalry battle, they could avoid the attack by slightly twisting or tilting their body. And the basic move was to penetrate inside the spear and attack in reverse.

And the Jurchens were sufficiently experienced riders.

Therefore, the method of the equestrian martial arts (馬上植術) [masang siksul, horsemanship] test in the Joseon military examination was as follows.

The applicant had to stab the five scarecrows set up at regular intervals twice. At this time, the applicant had to take five poses each time he stabbed the scarecrow. If the applicant stabbed the face of the scarecrow, he received 7 points, and an additional 7 points were given for each additional hit.

Later, Hyang sighed when he learned this fact.

“Hoo~. Nothing is easy.”

After the cavalry demonstration ended, the infantry demonstration followed. While the archers provided cover, the spearmen and paengbaesu (shield bearers) built a defensive formation.

“The enemy is retreating! Charge!”

“Waaaah!”

At the commander’s command, some of the soldiers who had been forming the defensive formation jumped forward with shouts.

However, the unit that had been forming the defensive formation at the very front maintained its formation and guarded the main camp. After the charging unit cut down the virtual scarecrows, the cavalry and general infantry demonstrations ended with shouts of victory.

“Next, there will be a demonstration of cannons and firearms.”

At the words that there would be a cannon demonstration, Hyang’s eyes began to shine even more.

After a while, large and small cannons were placed on carts and brought to the demonstration site.

“The largest one is the Cheonja cannon [Heaven cannon], followed by the Jija cannon [Earth cannon]… and finally, the General Hwatong [General Fire Tube], which is an improved version of the Cheonja cannon.”

“Begin.”

At Sejong’s command, the commander ordered the artillerymen in a loud voice.

“Fire the cannons!”

Bang! Bang!

At the commander’s command, the artillerymen fired the cannons. Each time the cannons spewed fire, large arrows (大請) [daechong, large arrows used as cannon projectiles] flew into the sky and created pillars of water in the Han River.

“Woo-oh!”

Each time pillars of water appeared in the Han River, the officials exclaimed. The officials’ exclamations reached their peak when the General Hwatong was fired last.

This was because the arrow that flew diagonally across the Han River from the demonstration site towards Dongjakjin (동작진, Dongjak-dong) [Dongjak Ferry] flew to the vicinity of the opposite riverbank.

“Amazing! How far is that?”

At Sejong’s admiring question, the commander replied with a proud expression.

“It is 1300 paces [bo (步)] [approximately 1.6km or 1 mile].”

“Truly amazing! What do you think, Crown Prince?”

At Sejong’s question, Hyang was lost in thought and could not answer immediately.

“Crown Prince?”

Only after Sejong called him again did Hyang come to his senses and answer urgently.

“Yes? Yes?”

“What do you think of the power of the General Hwatong?”

“It would be very good to put it on warships. The custom of the Japanese pirates is to board our ships and engage in close combat, so wouldn’t it be best if we could destroy them before they get close?”

“I see.”

While Sejong nodded, the commander looked at Hyang with an admirable expression.

‘He knows 병법 [byeongbeop, military strategy] so well at such a young age, it is the blessing of this Joseon!’

“Now, begin the demonstration of the firearms.”

“I obey your command!”

At the commander’s command, the soldiers who would operate the firearms came forward with the firearms.

“That one on the cart is the Ilchongtong [Single Barrel Gun].”

“I see. Proceed.”

“Fire the cannons!”

Kwang! Pyung! Pyung!

At the commander’s command, various firearms, starting with the Ilchongtong, spewed fire. Only the Ilchongtong, which had the longest range, was fired towards the Han River, and the rest were fired at targets about 100 paces [approximately 120m or 394 feet] away.

When the demonstration was over, Sejong praised the commander.

“It was truly spectacular. You have worked hard.”

“I am deeply grateful!”

“Crown Prince, what do you think?”

“The commander and soldiers are so elite, it is truly reassuring.”

“I am deeply grateful!”

When even the Crown Prince praised him, the commander bowed his head with a smile on his face. After finishing his words, Hyang turned to Sejong.

“Father, may I take a moment to examine the targets and talk to the soldiers?”

“Why is that?”

“There is something I need to confirm.”

At Hyang’s answer, Sejong’s eyes narrowed.

‘This guy? Does he have another scheme?’

After thinking for a moment, Sejong nodded.

“I permit it.”

“Thank you! General, let’s go together!”

* * *

Accompanied by the general who commanded the demonstration, Hyang headed to where the soldiers and weapons were. The soldiers who saw Hyang all paid their respects.

“We greet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!”

“You have worked hard. I sleep comfortably because there are soldiers like you, so I am truly grateful!”

“I am deeply grateful!”

The soldiers’ morale was charged by Hyang’s praise. Watching those soldiers, Hyang carefully checked the situation.

“Those armors they are wearing, did you prepare them yourselves?”

“Yes, we did!”

“I see….”

‘No wonder? They said they had all kinds of armor.’

In Joseon, when recruiting soldiers, the conscripted soldiers had to prepare their own weapons and defenses. Especially in the case of Gapsa [elite soldiers], they had to prepare their own horses, so most of them were children of wealthy families.

‘That’s why, later, as the size of the Gapsa increased, all kinds of riffraff came in, so the real Gapsa focused on studying for the civil service examination. As a result, a vicious cycle occurred in which national defense became a mess… Damn it! I’m off track again!’

After a brief self-criticism, Hyang diligently examined the equipment.

Hyang was most interested in the cannons and firearms. After examining the inside of the cannons, Hyang nodded.

“As expected…”

The main cannons of the current Joseon army were of the non-separated wood type (無隔木形) [mu gyeokmok hyeong, cannons without internal separation]. The internal structure, which was like a combination of a long funnel and a can, could not use earth separation (土隔) [to gyeok, a method of separating gunpowder charges]. This was because the inner diameter of the medicine container (약실) [yakshil, powder chamber] was wider than the narrowest part of the 취부리 [chwiburi, the muzzle]. In this case, only large arrows (大請) [daechong] could be used.

Nodding his head, Hyang examined the cannons of the Cheonjihyunhwangga (天地玄黃架) [cheonji hyeonhwang ga, Heaven, Earth, Black, Yellow series] grade and then examined the General Hwatong.

“It’s a separated wood type… is that correct?”

“Yes, Your Royal Highness.”

“Hmm…”

Hyang looked at the cannons with a troubled face.

‘How should I fix that? Should I upgrade the firearms first after all?’

After much deliberation, Hyang turned to the general.

“I would like to see the firearms.”

“Yes, Your Royal Highness.”

Hyang, who headed to where the firearm soldiers were, carefully examined the firearms. After examining the inside of the firearms and examining the arrows and joranwhan (small lead bullets) [joranwhan, small lead bullets] they used, Hyang headed to where the target board was.

“As expected.”

Hyang, who arrived at the target board, nodded his head. The arrows stuck in the target were significantly fewer than the number fired.

‘It’s a directional firing and one-shot multi-projectile (一發多請) [ilbal dacheong, one shot multiple projectiles] method, so only area suppression is possible.’

Hyang, who was examining the target board, asked the commander who followed him.

“How much is the penetration power?”

“If you are talking about penetration power?”

“The Jurchens also wear armor, right?”

“Yes, they do.”

“How does it compare to our Joseon?”

“It can be said to be similar. If it is a small tribe, they mainly wear leather armor, and tribes with some power wear chain mail or studded armor.”

“What happens if you shoot studded armor with these firearms?”

At Hyang’s question, the commander had a difficult expression.

“I have never experimented… but according to the reports from the north, there have been reports of killing Jurchens who came within 40 paces [approximately 50m or 164 feet].”

At the commander’s answer, Hyang stroked his chin.

‘In the video I saw on the Internet, even arrows shot right in front of them were deflected, right? I have to start here after all.’

“I have seen enough. Let’s go back now.”

“Yes, Your Royal Highness.”

Moving towards where Sejong was, Hyang muttered softly.