Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 820

820. The Battle of Tenochtitlan (6)

When a portion of the allied forces separated to intercept the Mexica army coming from the north, it wasn’t just the native leaders who eagerly volunteered.

The high-ranking commanders leading the expeditionary force headquarters and units also eagerly stepped forward.

-General Yi Jing-ok must command the main camp here and maintain communication with Shinji!

-In that case, someone other than General Yi Jing-ok should lead the unit moving north!

-The battle against those Mexica bastards is practically a guaranteed victory! As long as we don’t do anything stupid.

-Then this is the perfect opportunity for a promotion afterward!

Whether they were in combat or in the rear providing supplies and administration, victory was the surest path to promotion.

Therefore, to seize the best opportunity to earn the title of ‘General,’ the commanders insisted to Yi Jing-ok that he should appoint them as commanders.

“I can see right through what you’re thinking…”

Yi Jing-ok, who had been observing his subordinate commanders with an amused expression, immediately turned stern and glared at them.

“Haven’t you forgotten what is most important in our Imperial Army’s combat doctrine? Let’s hear it repeated.”

At Yi Jing-ok’s command, the commanders shouted in unison.

“Victory with minimal casualties!”

* * *

Since before the Empire, the biggest problem for Joseon [historical Korean kingdom], and its army, was the ‘lack of population.’

Especially as Ming [Chinese dynasty] turned into the most powerful hostile force, this problem had to be resolved.

The solution chosen by Sejong [Korean king] and the Joseon army was cannons and Hwachas [Korean rocket artillery].

-Actively use cannons and Hwachas to reliably intercept hostile forces from a distance.

-Avoid close combat and melee as much as possible.

Based on these basic premises, the Joseon army changed its constitution.

It wasn’t just about increasing the size of the combat branches, but also increasing the size of the supply, fortification, communication, and medical branches.

The criteria for evaluating a commander’s qualifications were the same.

Even if a commander achieved victory, they would be criticized if there were many casualties.

-A commander who prepares properly is a great commander.

-Expend bullets and shells instead of soldiers.

This was the basic operational doctrine of the Imperial Army.

* * *

After the detached force left, Yi Jing-ok steadily proceeded with the work to capture Tenochtitlan.

He cut off all the causeways connecting to Tenochtitlan and severed the aqueducts supplying drinking water.

At the same time, he gradually created and piled up wooden pontoon bridges, materials, ships, and rafts to reconnect the severed causeways.

That wasn’t all.

The expeditionary force’s artillery unit regularly bombarded Tenochtitlan every day.

The cannons fired by the expeditionary force turned various parts of Tenochtitlan into ruins.

“If we gathered the magic created by those powerful magical tools in one place, wouldn’t we be able to achieve the same result without waiting or cutting off roads like this?”

Chicotencatl – a tribal title – of the Nahuatl tribe, the largest force among the Tlaxcaltec tribes, asked Yi Jing-ok after seeing the expeditionary force’s shelling.

Yi Jing-ok replied to Chicotencatl’s question with an indifferent expression.

“The enemy’s spirit is still alive. If we push in recklessly, there will be great losses. It is better to attack after breaking their spirit.”

“Ah, indeed….”

Chicotencatl nodded at Yi Jing-ok’s answer and stepped back.

Yi Jing-ok, watching the chiefs of other tribes gather around the retreating Chicotencatl and talk, asked the young officers nearby.

“What do you think causes the most soldier deaths on the battlefield? One is combat, what is the other?”

At Yi Jing-ok’s question, the young officers pondered for a moment and began to speak one by one.

“Isn’t it a lack of food?”

“Isn’t it disease?”

The young officers cited those two first. Yi Jing-ok smiled at the young officers’ answers and opened his mouth.

“It’s similar, but not quite the right answer. It’s water.”

“Water, you say?”

“That’s right. When treating injured soldiers, if there is no clean water, the wound will fester and they will die. If you make food with dirty water, it becomes poison instead of food. If you drink any water when you are thirsty, an epidemic will break out and people will die. Therefore, water, or rather, clean water is important. One of the biggest factors in the Ming army’s losses in the last Battle of Liaodong was the dirty water of Liaodong.”

“Ah….”

The young officers nodded at Yi Jing-ok’s explanation. Yi Jing-ok looked at the young officers as if he were looking at a young grandson and continued.

“The reason why we always pack water purifiers when preparing for an expedition, and why we always filter and boil even seemingly clear water, is precisely because of this. And the same goes for the artillery unit firing incendiary bombs all over the enemy’s capital. Look at that enemy’s capital. It’s in the middle of a lake, so why do they go to the trouble of creating separate waterways to get drinking water?”

“Because the lake water is dirty!”

“That’s right! Now that we’ve cut off the waterways, they’ll soon run out of drinking water. And there will be more and more casualties from the continued artillery attacks. If they drink dirty water and treat the injured, an epidemic will soon break out. That’s when we’ll have a chance to attack.”

“Ah….”

“As Sun Tzu [Chinese general] said, the best victory is winning without fighting. And the same goes for our Imperial Army’s doctrine. Always keep this in mind.”

“Yes!”

“Then get back to work.”

“Yes, General!”

Yi Jing-ok, watching the young officers return to their posts, soon muttered with a serious face.

“This is a problem. The time is approaching when those who experienced the Battle of Liaodong will gradually retire, but there are too few young officers with actual combat experience. Experience is not something that can be gained simply by listening and reading, but we can’t wage unnecessary battles or wars every time….”

After pondering for a moment, Yi Jing-ok moved to his tent.

“I must write a letter to His Majesty….”

* * *

Almost half a month had passed when the detached force that had gone out to intercept returned.

“We have won!”

“Good work. What are our casualties?”

“In the case of the expeditionary force, 35 wounded and 8 dead. In the case of the natives, they suffered about 2,000 losses.”

“What is the size and damage of the enemy?”

“It was an army of about 5,000, and they were annihilated. The prisoners captured by the expeditionary force number 600.”

“Did you bring the prisoners?”

“I left them in a nearby native city. I strongly requested that they be kept alive, just in case.”

“You handled it properly, good work.”

Yi Jing-ok, patting the commander of the detached force lightly on the shoulder, continued.

“Then write a report and submit it. I want to receive it quickly.”

“…Yes.”

Yi Jing-ok, who had sent out the commander of the detached force, stared at Tenochtitlan across the lake and muttered.

“Will their morale drop a little when they hear that the reinforcements they were waiting for have been annihilated?”

A considerable amount of time had passed since he cut off the waterways and initiated the starvation operation, but the Mexica people of Tenochtitlan were still stubbornly holding out.

“Hmm….”

Yi Jing-ok, pondering while looking at Tenochtitlan, soon came to a conclusion.

“Now we have to go in and strike. If we delay any longer, we will be the first to get tired.”

Already, a considerable number of the expeditionary force’s soldiers were showing clear signs of fatigue. Most of the volunteers were those who had volunteered in anticipation of the end of the war.

The longer the war lasted, the faster they would tire.

The same was true of the natives who had joined after the last battle.

Those who had not properly witnessed the true firepower of the expeditionary force would either look at the expeditionary force with suspicion as time passed, or they would shrink back and watch as they do now. And it was certain that they would make their own political calculations.

Yi Jing-ok, having made up his mind, called his adjutant.

“Three days from now, we will strike the enemy’s capital. Gather the commanders and chiefs.”

“Yes, General!”

* * *

Three days later, as soon as day dawned, the expeditionary force’s cannons began to fire all at once.

Bang! Kwakwang! Bang!

Unlike before, the expeditionary force’s incendiary bombs were concentrated around the planned landing point.

While the expeditionary force’s cannons were turning the landing point and its surroundings into scorched earth, ships and rafts full of natives began to cross the lake.

“Reconnect the road!”

“Yes!”

As soon as the expeditionary force commanders’ orders were given, the natives who had been waiting began to reconnect the severed causeway using the materials and wooden pontoon bridges they had brought in advance.

“It will be difficult for heavy cannons to pass, but Hwachas will be able to go through sufficiently.”

“That is definitely possible.”

Yi Jing-ok, who was on the cart and surveying the situation, raised his head and looked at the sky.

After confirming the signal sent by the flying monk, Yi Jing-ok muttered softly.

“It’s going smoothly!”

“The road is connected!”

“Send in the natives!”

“Yes, General!”

As soon as the causeway was connected, heavily armed native warriors rushed along the causeway and began to flock to Tenochtitlan.

After the native warriors were deployed, the expeditionary forces, mainly Byeongshik Hwachas [improved Hwacha] and light Hwachas, began to push into Tenochtitlan.

* * *

The street battle in Tenochtitlan was fierce.

Although weakened by starvation and disease, the Mexica people were still showing considerable combat power with faces full of poison [hatred].

The same was true of the attacking native allied forces.

The native warriors, who had suffered greatly from the human sacrifice and cannibalism perpetrated by the Mexica people for a long time, also rushed at the Mexica warriors with faces full of poison [hatred].

There was no humanity on the battlefield where these poison-filled [hateful] people clashed.

Neither side left the wounded alone, nor did they accept surrender.

* * *

As time passed, the war situation was heading for the defeat of the Mexica people.

This was because they were outnumbered, in addition to being weakened by Yi Jing-ok’s starvation tactics.

And from this point on, the expeditionary force intervened in the battle.

If there were still points where the Mexica warriors were stubbornly holding out, the expeditionary force was deployed.

Tutatang! Tatang!

When the Mexica warriors’ camp collapsed under the fire of the Byeongshik Hwachas and light Hwachas, the native warriors rushed in to finish it off and ran towards the center of Tenochtitlan.

* * *

As the battlefield gradually moved to the center of Tenochtitlan, the expeditionary forces following behind the native warriors began to frown.

“This is a bit much….”

“It’s all the same….”

The native warriors fighting the street battle did not just pass by the houses of the Mexica people around them.

There were many natives who immediately broke down the door, went inside, killed all the Mexica people in front of them, regardless of gender or age, and headed to the next house.

“Should we stop this….”

“It’s too much….”

While the expeditionary force soldiers were hesitating, another soldier who was inspecting the house shook his head.

“Just leave it.”

“Why? It’s too severe, isn’t it?”

“Come in and take a look at this.”

The expeditionary force soldiers who came into the house at the words of their comrades were speechless after seeing what was hanging on one side of the wall.

There, a well-smoked human arm was hanging.

“These crazy bastards….”

“I forgot about this….”

This happened so often that most of the expeditionary force became bystanders.

“Let’s just leave it alone for now. If they get tired of killing like that, they’ll come to their senses on their own.”

While ordinary soldiers became bystanders while saying that, the commanders were remembering Yi Jing-ok’s orders and waiting for the time.

-If you see any of the enemy’s rulers or nobles, 무조건 개입해 생포할 것 [unconditionally intervene and capture them].