Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 943

943. Divide and Conquer – Regionalism (3)

Of course, not all of the Spanish command agreed.

“This is clearly a trap! They already ambushed us in the mountain pass! If they knew we were coming, why would they evacuate and disappear? It’s definitely a trap!”

Seeing the commanders shouting about a trap, the other commanders responded with bitter smiles.

“Do you think we don’t know that? Do we have any other option besides entering that fortress?”

The commanders who insisted it was a trap fell silent. Considering the troops and equipment lost in the mountain pass, they had to avoid a pitched battle.

However, it was too late to retreat immediately. They lacked the supplies, including food, to detour.

As those who claimed it was a trap fell silent, other commanders pointed out the reality.

“In our current situation, a pitched battle is impossible. Our best option is to hole up in that fortress. The reason they cleared it out like that must be their confidence in their cannons. But for us, having a fortress to rely on is better than nothing, isn’t it? If we do our best, we can hold out until reinforcements arrive. That way, we’ll have something to say when we return to Toledo. Are you saying we shouldn’t go in because it’s a trap?”

“…Let’s go in.”

In the end, the Spanish command chose to hold up in Alexandria Fortress.

* * *

Arriving at Alexandria Fortress and examining the surrounding villages and the interior of the fortress, the Spanish command couldn’t help but smile bitterly once more.

“They cleaned up nicely.”

The interior of the fortress, as well as all the surrounding villages, had been thoroughly emptied. On the other hand, the moat surrounding the fortress had been meticulously filled. It wasn’t just filled with dirt, stones, and gravel, but covered with a layer of lime ash.

Aside from that, it seemed they had left in a hurry. Inside and outside the fortress and the houses in the surrounding villages, large and small pieces of furniture and clothes they hadn’t managed to take were scattered haphazardly.

However, important items like food and gunpowder were nowhere to be seen.

“Was the ambush in the mountain pass also for the purpose of buying time? I don’t know who the enemy commander is, but they are truly cunning.”

Thanks to this, they were short on everything, but the morale of the soldiers, which had plummeted, recovered quickly.

“Still, we have the walls….”

Even though their value had decreased as cannons became the core of military power, the fortress walls were a reassuring presence for the soldiers.

They were surviving on thin soup, a few pieces of dried bread, and some salted meat, but the soldiers climbed the walls and dug trenches outside the moat even more diligently.

“Come if you dare! It’s our turn to show you what we’re made of!”

However, the Imperial Allied Forces, who seemed like they would appear any day, did not show themselves.

After confirming the information brought by the scouts, Yoo Eung-boo looked at his subordinate commanders and staff and shared his thoughts.

“The enemy will have regained their morale. Attacking at a time like this could result in greater losses than expected. We’ll wait a little longer. Time is our greatest ally.”

At Yoo Eung-boo’s words, the commanders and staff all nodded.

As Yoo Eung-boo said, as time passed, the morale of the Spanish forces began to plummet again.

The biggest reason was the lack of food. They tried to conserve as much as possible, but the food disappeared quickly. Exhausted by hunger, the soldiers once again searched the houses in the surrounding villages.

However, they had no luck, and at some point, the number of Spanish soldiers venturing outside began to decrease.

Upon receiving the report, Yoo Eung-boo smiled with satisfaction and ordered his subordinate commanders.

“Let’s start slowly. Check the condition one more time.”

“Yes, sir!”

And about ten days after the Spanish forces began their siege, the Imperial Allied Forces appeared in front of Alexandria Fortress.

“They’re here!”

Seeing the leisurely movements of the Imperial Allied Forces, the Spanish cavalry charged out of Alexandria Fortress.

“Let’s hit them hard before they finish their preparations!”

“Let’s take their food!”

“Supplies! Supplies!”

Driven by survival instincts rather than their assigned mission, the Spanish cavalry rushed towards the Imperial Allied Forces like a storm.

Seeing the charge of the Spanish cavalry, the Imperial Allied Forces responded calmly.

The Byungsik Hwachas [Korean rocket artillery], which had been waiting in the outermost part of the formation—closest to the fortress—immediately finished preparing to fire, and the Gapsik light Hwacha gunners and assistant gunners also took their places around the Byungsik Hwachas.

“Fire!”

Tatatatatang!

At the commander’s order, the Hwachas fired in unison, and the Spanish cavalry fell helplessly.

Having opened the prelude by annihilating the Spanish cavalry, the Imperial Allied Forces immediately got down to business.

“Fire!”

Bang! Kwakwang! Bang!

The heavy cannons of the Imperial Army’s artillery, having finished their deployment, began to pound the walls of Alexandria, and the fortress walls began to crumble helplessly.

Even though the walls began to collapse, the Spanish suffered surprisingly few casualties.

The Spanish command, anticipating that the Imperial Army would destroy the walls with artillery fire, had hidden the troops as much as possible in the basements and makeshift shelters.

-The end of a siege is the deployment of infantry anyway. We’ll hold out until then!

-Even if the walls collapse, the debris will make a great defense! We’ll use it!

The predictions and responses of these Spanish commanders were reasonable. The only problem was that the Imperial Army’s heavy cannons had more firepower than they had anticipated.

The Imperial Army’s heavy cannons destroyed Alexandria’s walls faster and more fatally than expected.

After destroying the walls, the Imperial Army’s heavy cannons bombarded the buildings and makeshift shelters inside the fortress.

The makeshift shelters, built based on the firepower of their own artillery, were defenseless against the heavy cannons’ shells.

As the makeshift shelters, made from materials brought from dismantling houses in nearby villages, were destroyed by the shelling, the Spanish soldiers who had taken refuge inside began to suffer heavy casualties.

Bang!

Each time a makeshift shelter collapsed from the shelling, countless splinters of wood, pieces of stone, and fragments of human bodies flew in all directions.

The Imperial Army’s heavy cannons, having thoroughly pounded the fortress walls and the interior, then turned their gun barrels towards the trenches built outside the moat.

“Fire!”

Bang! Kwakong! Bang!

“Kong?”

“Misfire!”

“Damn it!”

Unexpected things occasionally happened, but the Imperial Army’s heavy cannons steadily pounded the fortress and the trenches.

“That should be enough of a warm-up. Send in the soldiers.”

“Yes, sir!”

Following Yoo Eung-boo’s order, the Imperial Allied Forces, led by the Swiss and Florentine troops, began to advance towards the fortress.

The ensuing battle was closer to a mopping-up operation. The Spanish forces had suffered severe mental and physical damage from the Imperial Army’s heavy cannon fire that had continued until just before.

When the Swiss and Florentine troops rushed in, a small number of Spanish soldiers began to resist, but they were soon subdued.

In the end, the fortress was captured before long. The Spanish commanders and soldiers who barely escaped began to retreat along the road they had come, engaging in street fighting in the surrounding villages.

The ensuing pursuit and the ambush they suffered again in the mountain pass once again caused the Spanish to shed blood.

And the report delivered to Toledo by the follow-up unit that was moving behind was concise but devastating.

-Annihilated.

* * *

The French and Spanish forces, having suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Imperial Allied Forces, could not move easily.

The French entrenched themselves in Turin, and the Spanish in Nice, sending cavalry out in all directions to find and rejoin the straggling soldiers.

As they found and rejoined the straggling soldiers and caught and punished the deserters, the French and Spanish forces began to reorganize in earnest.

As time passed, the reorganization of France and Spain was completed, but both countries remained cautious and hesitant to move easily.

They could not even dream of a solo attack against the Imperial Allied Forces, who had firmly held the area near the Po River.

Therefore, France and Spain sent envoys to each other to discuss the formation and operation of a proper allied force, and at the same time, they began to mobilize additional troops.

At the same time, they sent envoys to the Habsburgs, the Roman Papacy, and the Kingdom of Naples, urging them to join the war.

As a side note, due to this war-related special demand, the value of mercenaries began to rise again.

Since Switzerland had already fallen to the Empire, most of the mercenaries were from Germany and Northern Europe, who had launched a new brand called Landsknecht [German for “servant of the land,” a type of mercenary soldier].

Due to the overwhelmingly high demand compared to the supply, the value of these mercenaries soared.

“If I just survive, I’ll have enough money to live and eat for the rest of my life!”

“Instead of living as an apprentice or a day laborer here, let’s aim for one big score!”

Many young men from Northern Europe sought out the mercenary camps, hoping for a quick fortune.

It wasn’t just young men from Northern Europe. Black slaves who had escaped from rural manors and farms and were hiding in the cities also volunteered for the mercenary corps.

-If you just survive, we guarantee you the status of a free man and a salary!

It was too sweet of an offer for the slaves.

* * *

While the enemy countries were preparing once again in this way, the Empire was not idle either.

Soon, posters began to be plastered on every city and town in the Florentine territory, as well as in the Milanese and Genoese territories.

The posters plastered on fences, walls, and bulletin boards of government offices and cathedrals all had large pictures and phrases printed on them.

There were two main types of posters.

One was a portrait of a man dressed in ordinary Italian clothing. The middle-aged man, who looked to be in his 50s, was pointing a firm finger at those looking at the poster.

And above the man’s head, the words he wanted to say were printed in large letters.

-Voglio te! [Italian for “I want you!”]

And below that, a more detailed sentence was written.

-Come for the unification of Italy!

Another picture showed a man in old Roman armor standing with his back to women and children gripped by fear.

The man, with his back turned as if to protect the woman in torn clothes exposing her chest and the child staring with terrified eyes, was firmly gripping the sword in his hand and staring resolutely in one direction.

At the bottom of the picture, a phrase was printed in large letters.

-Descendant of Roman warriors! Stand up for Mother Italy and the children of Italy!

In addition, posters with the same picture but slightly different phrases began to be plastered everywhere.

As time passed, these posters began to show some effect.

The young men of Genoa and Milan, who had been looking at the posters with indifferent or hostile expressions, began to move.

“Unification, unification, you say….”

What fueled this small ripple was the news of the great defeat of the French and Spanish forces.

Among the young men of Genoa and Milan who heard the news, more and more began to visit the recruiting stations.

This was also Hyang’s trick.

* * *

“This war is more likely to be a long-term war than a short-term one.”

Hyang analyzed the situation calmly while reviewing the report.

“And the Empire shouldn’t 投入 [Chinese: invest/commit] more manpower than necessary. Switzerland also has its limits. In the end….”

Hyang paused for a moment, looked at the map of Italy, and continued.

“Since it’s an Italian problem, Italians should take the lead. Hmm… Should ‘Uncle Sam’ be replaced with ‘Uncle Giuseppe,’ and ‘Mother Russia’ with ‘Mother Italy’?”

In this way, they began to produce propaganda posters that borrowed the images of ‘Uncle Sam’ and ‘Mother Russia.’

“Fortunately, we have the best artists in our hands.”

The people Hyang was referring to were Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.

Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who received Hyang’s orders, soon began production.

The result, which had been revised several times with Hyang’s guidance, came out very nicely and was soon printed in large quantities and began to plaster the streets.

Hyang, who was examining the samples, soon burst into a chuckle and muttered.

“Propaganda posters drawn by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo? Hundreds of years from now, there will be a frenzy at the auction house. Should I keep a few more?”