Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 937

937. The Imperial March (2) – Assaulting the Walls, Running on the Ground. (25)

“Then let’s move immediately.”

“That would be better. What good is that trench line now but a burial ground?”

“I agree.”

As the generals made their decision, the action followed swiftly.

Boo-ooo~ Pa-ah-ah~! Flutter! Flutter!

From the castle tower above the gate, a loud trumpet sounded, and signal flags fluttered. The soldiers and officers in the trenches turned their heads back at the commotion.

“It’s the retreat signal!”

“Retreat!”

“Retreat!”

“We’re saved!”

Upon hearing the word ‘retreat,’ the faces of the soldiers in the trenches lit up.

They had been expecting death as they watched the enemy approach, ignoring the attacks of cannons and fire wagons.

The soldiers slung their rifles over their shoulders and hurriedly climbed up the trench walls.

“Stop!”

“Maintain order!”

“We are retreating, not fleeing!”

“Uphold the pride of the French Army!”

The officers commanding the soldiers in the trenches desperately tried to calm them down and attempt an orderly retreat.

‘If we rout like this, it will be impossible to control the soldiers!’

‘If we don’t rally our morale here, it will be difficult to raise it again!’

‘Even when retreating, we must maintain discipline and morale!’

With that in mind, the officers even punched the soldiers in the face to try to maintain an orderly retreat. And, whether that worked or not, the soldiers regained their senses and began to retreat in an orderly manner.

* * *

“Hoo~. Unexpected.”

Yi Si-ae, who was observing the situation from the watchtower at the front line, was genuinely impressed.

“To maintain order even in a retreating situation. Quite something, isn’t it?”

The staff officers, nodding at Yi Si-ae’s favorable assessment, added.

“It may be possible because there was no combat other than the artillery battle.”

“That’s right. They themselves may be thinking, ‘We are retreating because the situation is unfavorable, not because we have been defeated.'”

Yi Si-ae nodded at the staff officers’ words. Military textbooks clearly distinguished between retreat and rout.

-Retreat: withdrawing after quickly and accurately assessing the advantages and disadvantages of the terrain and combat situation. Rout: being pushed back after misjudging and suffering significant losses.

-Retreat allows for the chance to try again, but rout makes it difficult to seize the next opportunity.

Some military textbooks even went further, dividing and distinguishing between ‘retreat (後退)’ and ‘moving backward (後進).’

In any case, soldiers who retreated in such an orderly manner were sure to be formidable opponents in the next battle as well.

Yi Si-ae put the telescope to his eyes and continued to exclaim as he observed the situation.

“Hoo! This battle is certainly a series of anomalies. Men who were only busy chasing after women’s skirts suddenly volunteer to be at the forefront. And the European commanders, who still become commanders by borrowing the power of noble families, are surprisingly quick to assess the situation and make appropriate decisions. Ha!”

The staff officers nodded at Yi Si-ae’s words, which were unclear whether they were genuine admiration or sarcasm.

* * *

The actions of the Florentine army in the Battle of Milan before this Battle of Pavia were truly pathetic.

The Imperial Army’s artillery took charge from the beginning to the end of the battle, leaving the infantry with almost nothing to do.

Nevertheless, when the Imperial Allied Forces entered the surrendered city of Milan, the actions of the Florentine army were a sight to behold.

They strutted through the city with their shoulders full of strength, and flirted with every woman they saw, regardless of age.

The Imperial Army and the Swiss Army couldn’t hide their contempt for the Florentine army’s behavior.

“Anyone would think they were veterans of war….”

What was funny was that they boasted so much, but the results were not good at all. The citizens of Milan—mainly women—knew very well who the real protagonists of this war were. As a result, even the barmaids treated the Imperial Army and the Swiss Army better than the Florentine army.

Because of these experiences, the Florentine army volunteered to be at the forefront in this battle.

Yi Si-ae shook his head after accepting the request and learning the inside story.

“As I feel again, Italians are….”

Meanwhile, the anomaly shown by the French army was one of the butterfly effects caused by Hyang’s intervention.

At the end of the Hundred Years’ War.

Charles VII, having acquired the Imperial Army’s weapons through Cosimo de Medici, further strengthened the Royal Army, the Ordonnance Companies [military companies established by royal decree], based on these weapons.

Louis XI, who succeeded Charles VII, was also the same. Louis XI was the one who increased the size of the Ordonnance Companies and refined the system into a perfect standing army based on the capital acquired through Suez.

The Ordonnance Companies were refined as the ‘King’s Sword’ to check and overwhelm the power of the nobles, so most of the commanders were not from traditional noble families, but those who had risen from the bottom through actual combat.

As time passed, the commanders from the Hundred Years’ War and the Suez War retired, and as the Ordonnance Companies changed to the ‘French Army,’ the commanders gradually began to adopt noble ways. However, thanks to the different starting point, commanders with ‘realistic and flexible’ thinking were leading the army instead of ‘aristocratic and rigid’ thinking.

Above all, the biggest reason was that although the name was ‘French Army,’ it was ‘the French King’s army,’ not ‘the army of France.’ No matter how much aristocratic influence was entering, it could not become aristocratic, or rather, the property of the nobles.

* * *

“Hmm… Let’s stop admiring here and send a message to the following Florentine army. ‘Surpass the assault troops and enter Pavia Castle.'”

“Are you going to give them the honor of being the first to enter Pavia Castle?”

Yi Si-ae smiled and replied to the staff officer’s question about his intentions.

“That’s what I’m thinking. They volunteered to be at the forefront, so we should concede that much.”

“You already conceded in Milan, though?”

“This is the realm of politics. You can just give away small change like Milan and Pavia. It would be different if it were Rome….”

“Still….”

Seeing the staff officers’ expressions, who were partly understanding but also unable to hide their disappointment, Yi Si-ae added.

“I’ll say it again, this is the realm of politics. And it’s an order from the Supreme Emperor.”

“I’ll call the messenger.”

As soon as Hyang was mentioned, the staff officers began to convey Yi Si-ae’s orders without saying a word.

Yi Si-ae muttered softly at the sight.

“Lightning speed….”

* * *

“It’s the Commander-in-Chief’s order!”

“Give it to me!”

The Florentine army commander, who read the order brought by the messenger, looked back at the staff officers with a bright face.

“It’s an assault order! ‘The Florentine army will surpass the assault troops and break into Pavia Castle!'”

“Woo-ah!”

“We did it!”

The staff officers clenched their fists and cheered at the commander’s words.

“Send a messenger to the front immediately! Tell them to charge!”

“Yes!”

The commander, who gave the order to the staff officer, re-buckled his loosened belt and called the adjutant.

“Bring me my sword! And prepare my horse!”

“Yes!”

A moment later, the Florentine army commander, wearing a splendidly decorated military sword around his waist, shouted as he mounted the awaiting white horse.

“We’re going to the front too!”

“Yes!”

Following the commander, the officers of the command, including the staff officers, mounted their horses and began to run to the front.

“The nickname ‘marching army’ is over now!”

As someone in the group shouted this, everyone around nodded.

* * *

“‘Stop’?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

The assault troop commander, who was commanding the unit in the second assault vehicle formation, frowned slightly. However, he soon relaxed his expression and nodded.

“It’s an earlier order than expected, but I understand. Adjutant, relay the order! Occupy the trench line and then stop!”

“Yes!”

A moment later, flags fluttered and flashing signal lights flickered from the signal towers erected on all sides of the command assault vehicle’s cargo hold.

The officers, who were checking next to the signalmen to see if the order was properly received, ordered the signalmen.

“The acknowledgment signal hasn’t come back yet. Send it again.”

“Yes.”

Watching the soldiers waving the flags and operating the flashing signal lights again, the officers shook their heads and grumbled.

“It’s more convenient than messengers, couriers, or carrier pigeons, but it’s still inconvenient. Isn’t there a more reliable means?”

These were officers who casually said things that soldiers from other countries would curse as ‘too full to burst,’ and soldiers who nodded as if it were natural.

* * *

The assault troops, who occupied the French trench line, stopped there and began to defend.

The Type A assault vehicles, which stopped on the Imperial side of the French trench line, all raised their gun barrels and aimed at the walls of Pavia Castle, and the Type B assault vehicles, carrying the assault troops, stopped after crossing the trench line.

While the vehicle-mounted fire wagons attached to the Type B cargo holds aimed at the walls of Pavia Castle, both rear doors of the cargo hold opened.

“Enter the trenches!”

“Disembark!”

“Disembark!”

The assault troops, who came down the stairs connected to the rear doors, ran like they were flying and jumped into the trenches.

“Ouch! Medic!”

Of course, there were also soldiers who twisted their ankles in the process and called for medics. And such soldiers were scolded by their surrounding comrades.

“You’re doing a great job~.”

Amid such minor farces, the assault troops who entered the trenches aimed their guns at the collapsed walls of Pavia Castle.

The assault troops, seeing that only the gates and the towers above the gates were intact even though all the walls except the one facing the Ticino River had collapsed into piles of rubble, muttered to themselves.

“They say the most fearsome guys in the Imperial Army are the artillery….”

“Wow, look at them leaving only the gates.”

“But why did they leave the gates?”

“It’s easier to enter through the gates than to climb over the walls.”

“How do you open the gates?”

“Are the cannons on the assault vehicles just for decoration?”

“Ah….”

While they were having such trivial conversations, loud trumpet sounds and drumbeats were heard from behind.

Pa-ba-ppa-ppam! Dum-dum-dum-dum!

Watching the Florentine army band running while blowing trumpets and beating large and small drums, the assault troops all muttered the same words.

“Don’t those guys run out of breath?”

A moment later, the Florentine army, led by the band, surpassed the assault troops and charged into Pavia Castle.

While the band, which stopped in front of the walls, played the military music even more enthusiastically, the Florentine army soldiers began to climb over the collapsed walls.

Not long after the Florentine army soldiers crossed the walls, faint gunshots began to erupt from inside the castle.

The assault troops, who had been relaxed until just now, began to tense up again as the gunshots began to be heard.

Among the soldiers looking at the castle with tense faces, a middle-aged Jinmu (鎭撫) [military rank] muttered softly.

“Those womanizers… why did they have to choose urban warfare of all things?”

“Yes? Is urban warfare that difficult?”

“It’s difficult.”

The Jinmu answered firmly to the question of the new recruit, who was still full of youthful innocence.

“Why is that?”

The Jinmu, seeing not only the new recruit continuing the question but also the soldiers around him perking up their ears, continued.

“A long time ago, when I was just a newly appointed Ojang [military rank], I participated in the conquest of Shinji. At that time, I experienced the battle to capture the capital of the Meshika guys [Mexica, the people of the Aztec Empire], and it was like hell.”

The Jinmu shuddered slightly as he recalled that time.

“I suffered so much against those guys armed with only stone knives and stone spears… The most fearsome thing in urban warfare is not the enemy’s weapons. It’s the buildings and streets that make up the city.”

“Ah….”