Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 583

583. Broken Dreams (6)

Kwakwakwang!

As the cannons from the Joseon army’s artillery battery, southwest of Liaodong Fortress, fired in unison, clouds of smoke billowed from the southern walls.

After the initial barrage, the Joseon soldiers inspected the damage, and murmurs of observation rippled through the ranks.

“Well? It held up?”

“Wow! It’s so big it actually withstood that?”

The exclamations, however, held more mockery than genuine admiration.

The southern walls, the target of the concentrated fire, had crumbled, with at least a third destroyed and some sections nearly halved.

The issue wasn’t the fortress’s resilience; it was its sheer size. The Liaodong Fortress walls were incredibly tall and thick.

Reaching a height of 10 ‘jang’ (approximately 30 meters) and a width of about 1 ‘jang’ (approximately 3 meters) at the ramparts, these massive walls had been a source of pride since the Goguryeo era. Built on flat ground and reinforced with bricks during the Ming Dynasty, they were a formidable defense.

Adding to this, the moat, connected to the Taizi River flowing northeast of the fortress, created an seemingly impregnable stronghold.

However, the Joseon army remained unfazed.

Firstly, their attack direction was key. Advancing from the southeast, they exploited a structural weakness. Liaodong Fortress, with its outer and inner walls, had a partial overlap on the southeastern and southwestern sides.

Historically, attacks came from the north and west. The Joseon army’s southeastern approach allowed them to directly target the inner fortress, striking where it was most vulnerable.

Secondly, and most importantly, they possessed cannons.

The tall, thick walls were effective against traditional weaponry. Catapults could hurl heavy stones, but they couldn’t breach brick-reinforced walls.

Cannons, however, were a different story. Firing heavy iron balls at high speed from a greater distance, they easily penetrated even brick-reinforced walls.

“Hmm… somewhat disappointing. Tsk….”

Choe Yun-deok, observing through a telescope, clicked his tongue, feigning disappointment.

“If we had used the incendiary shells used by the navy, we could have destroyed it more spectacularly….”

* * *

Currently, the Joseon land and naval forces primarily used muzzle-loading cannons, which weren’t compatible with the navy’s contact-fused incendiary shells.

The deployment of breech-loading cannons was delayed because the development of cannons with both adequate power and mobility was still in progress, and a large number of ‘bigyeokjincheonleis’ [a type of Korean bomb] had already been produced.

Against the Jurchen cavalry and infantry on the Liaodong plains or during sieges, the ‘bigyeokjincheonlei’ was the ultimate weapon.

Satisfied with their effectiveness, the command had produced and stockpiled them in large quantities.

Consequently, the only breech-loading cannons in use were shrapnel cannons.

* * *

“It’s a shame, but we’ll have to address that after the war. Otherwise, Minister Kim Jeom (pen name, Euichon) will try to devour me whole.”

Whenever a messenger arrived from Hanseong [the capital of Joseon], Kim Jeom and the Minister of Finance would send separate letters along with the official orders. Their message was always the same:

‘Winning is good, but save everything you can! And secure whatever you can!’

“How did they become so obsessed with money….”

Choe Yun-deok, muttering about Kim Jeom and the Minister of Finance, composed himself and issued an order.

“Continue the bombardment! Keep firing until those walls are gone!”

“Yes, sir!”

Choe Yun-deok’s order was relayed, and the artillery battery resumed its relentless assault.

* * *

The bombardment continued for nearly three days.

There were pauses to cool the overheated gun barrels, but as soon as they were ready, the firing resumed.

It wasn’t just the fortress walls that crumbled under this relentless assault.

The morale of the Liaodong soldiers defending the fortress also collapsed.

“Namuamitabul, Namuamitabul… [Buddhist chant]”

“Hee! Heehee! Heeheehee!”

Many soldiers huddled together, chanting Buddhist mantras, while others succumbed to madness.

“Get a grip! I said, get a grip!”

“This guy’s gone mad! Get him out of here!”

Commanders and veteran soldiers tried to rally the troops, disarming those who had lost their minds and pulling them back from the brink.

“Even if they are Joseon bastards, they can’t cross this moat easily!”

“Trust the moat! Trust the moat!”

“When the Joseon bastards come in, this damn cannon fire will stop!”

“Get a grip! The battle isn’t over yet!”

At the shouts of the commanders, the Liaodong soldiers gripped their weapons, including their matchlock rifles, once more.

“The bombardment has stopped!”

“The bombardment has stopped! The Joseon bastards are coming!”

“The walls have collapsed, but they haven’t fallen! These piles of rubble are good shields!”

The Joseon army’s bombardment had ceased. The surviving soldiers, especially the musketeers, hid among the rubble and aimed forward.

“Hoo! Hoo~.”

The musketeers carefully controlled their breathing and aimed their rifles.

Above, the Joseon soldiers in the ‘bigu’ [airships] observed and signaled to the rear.

* * *

“They’re still holding out, huh? Hmm….”

Choe Yun-deok stroked his beard and issued an order.

“It would be troublesome if they held out like that. Order the firing of ‘bigyeokjincheonleis’.”

“Yes, sir!”

Shortly after, the ‘bigu’ sent light signals to the artillery batteries.

The commanders of the artillery batteries nodded in confirmation.

“That’s right! The ‘bigyeokjincheonleis’ must continue!”

“Considering the trouble we went through to bring them all the way here, we have to use them! Men!”

“Yes, sir!”

Following the orders, the toy cannon batteries operating the ‘bigyeokjincheonleis’ began to move.

“I was wondering if our turn wouldn’t come!”

The artillerymen were excited to assemble the ‘bigyeokjincheonleis’ and load gunpowder into the toy cannons.

“Fire!”

“Fire!”

Puhpuhpung!

As soon as the orders were issued, the ‘bigyeokjincheonleis’ soared into the sky with low, heavy explosions.

* * *

The attack of the ‘bigyeokjincheonleis’ inflicted heavy casualties on the Liaodong army.

Kwakwang!

“Aaaagh!”

“Kugh!”

The shrapnel from each explosion was devastating, and the additional shrapnel created when the explosions impacted the rubble of the fortress walls only compounded the problem.

Eventually, even commanders began to crack under the relentless bombardment.

“Hey! You cowardly bastards!”

A commander, bleeding from his head, perhaps from injuries, removed his helmet and upper garment and climbed onto the rubble, shouting at the top of his lungs.

“You cowardly bastards! Don’t just cowardly fire cannons, come at me like men! If you’re men, let’s fight face to face with swords! Let’s fight!”

Kwakwang!

At that moment, a ‘bigyeokjincheonlei’ exploded directly in front of him, and the commander disappeared without a trace.

* * *

“Hmm… they’ve become much more docile now.”

Choe Yun-deok, watching the signals from the ‘bigu’ and observing the walls through a telescope, nodded slightly and issued an order.

“Tell the engineering corps to build a bridge.”

“Yes, sir!”

Shortly after, huge excavators began to advance from the Joseon army’s camp.

Cheeek! Cheek! Kureureung!

“Wh-what is that!”

“Monsters! They’re monsters!”

The Liaodong soldiers huddled in the rubble were terrified as the huge excavators, spewing black smoke and puffing white steam, lumbered forward.

“Iron horses! They’re iron horses! The Joseon army’s iron horses!”

“Don’t be afraid! They’re the Joseon army’s iron horses! They’re not monsters!”

A few soldiers familiar with such technology identified them as ‘iron horses,’ and the others regained their composure.

However, they were soon filled with questions.

“Why are the iron horses here?”

The question was answered when they saw the bridge dangling from the crane attached to the excavator.

“Fire! Fire! We can’t let that bridge be built!”

“If the bridge is built, the Joseon soldiers will rush in immediately! We have to stop them!”

“Fire! Fire!”

Tang! Tatatang!

The soldiers began firing at the approaching excavators.

However, their gunfire was ineffective, blocked by the iron plates surrounding the excavators.

Just then, the Eulshik Hwachas [rocket launchers] on the turrets on the sides of the excavator’s upper body unleashed a barrage of rockets.

Tatatatang!

* * *

As iron horses using steam engines were created, traction vehicles and excavators were soon developed.

Sejong [a Joseon king] and the military, recognizing their potential, decided to use them for military purposes.

“The problem is that, due to the nature of steam engines, they have to be quite bulky to produce proper output….”

After a moment of contemplation, Hyang [likely a character involved in the development] came to a conclusion.

“It’s a reverse idea! Let’s just make them bigger! Steampunk is great!”

The military multi-purpose excavator created in this way was enormous.

It wasn’t just big.

Separate steam engines were installed on the chassis and upper body, requiring several soldiers to operate them: soldiers to operate the chassis, soldiers to adjust the equipment attached to the upper body, and soldiers to control the rotation of the upper body.

And, assuming it would be used in battle, it was covered with thick armor plates and equipped with two turrets with Eulshik Hwachas for self-defense.

Sejong looked back at Hyang after seeing the result.

“It looks like a whole tiled-roof house of the minister’s family is walking around.”

“Shall we abolish it?”

“…Let’s just use it.”

“Thank you!”

* * *

The excavators, enduring the Liaodong army’s gunfire, reached the moat and began to lower the pontoon bridge.

The Liaodong soldiers who had tried to stop them had already been suppressed by the Eulshik Hwachas.

“As it is! Slowly! Slowly!”

Following the orders of the commander, the pontoon bridge was slowly lowered, and the engineers adjusted its position using ropes.

Kuoong!

Finally, with a heavy thud, the pontoon bridge spanned the moat. An engineer quickly ran across and released the fixture connecting the bridge to the excavator.

The engineer, finished, ran back and hid behind the excavator.

“Good job!”

The soldier, hearing the praise from the ‘daejeong’ [platoon leader] and his colleagues, cursed inwardly.

‘Damn it! I lost the lottery! I’m never doing a lottery again!’

Kureureung!

“Retreat!”

“Retreat!”

“Clear the way!”

The excavators retreated, and the Joseon army’s musketeers began to cross the pontoon bridge.

Tang! Tatang!

As the Joseon army began to enter Liaodong Fortress in earnest, full-scale urban warfare erupted.