Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 1076

1076. The Price of Loyalty (6)

That day became a ‘day of nightmares’ for the Kizilbash. The Kizilbash, charging towards the main entrance defended by the Imperial Army, were decimated by the crossfire from the Imperial Army’s Hwachas [Korean rocket artillery], collapsing in droves.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

At the Kizilbash leader’s urgent order, they halted their charge and began to pull back.

“Circle around and fire! Exploit any opening you find! Don’t focus solely on the entrance!”

Obeying their leader, the Kizilbash began circling the encampment, firing as they moved. This tactic was familiar to them and had often worked well against hastily built fortresses lacking proper walls.

However, their opponents—the Allied Three Kingdoms, especially the Ming [Chinese dynasty] and the Imperial Army—were seasoned veterans in dealing with nomadic tactics. Furthermore, they possessed nearly sixty Hwachas, a number that even the wealthiest Persian tribes could scarcely afford two or three of. In this situation, the Kizilbash circling the encampment were simply easy, moving targets.

“It’s a disgrace if we perform worse than the Imperial and Ming armies!”

“The Imperial and Japanese armies are watching! Failure here would shame His Majesty! Do your best!”

“You can’t even operate Hwachas as well as the Ming or Japan! I’ll make you haul Hwachas all the way to the port!”

The rivalry among the soldiers of the three nations intensified, leading to even more Kizilbash warriors and their horses falling.

“Chief!”

“We must retreat!”

“Retreat where?”

“We must go to the palace! Inform the Shah [Persian king] and get reinforcements!”

“Do you think the Shah will actually give us troops?”

At the chief’s shout, the warrior who had been urging retreat responded immediately.

“Since we attacked them, war is now inevitable!”

“Th-that’s right!”

The chief snapped back to reality at the warrior’s words. He had anticipated war before the battle, but he had lost sight of it as the battle unfolded differently than he expected.

“Good! I will go to the Shah. Brothers, hold those infidels at bay, and when the time is right…”

Bang! Kaboom! Bang!

Just then, the Imperial Army’s newly deployed weapons—what history would later call mortars, thanks to Hyang’s intervention—began firing in unison. The Ming and Japanese artillery, developed independently by incorporating the principles of the Imperial Army’s new Wagu [likely refers to a type of cannon or artillery piece], also joined the barrage. As the artillery fire intensified, the Kizilbash warriors suffered even greater losses.

Finally, the Kizilbash leader urgently changed his orders.

“Retreat immediately! Everyone to the palace!”

“Everyone?”

“Yes! We must persuade the Shah by any means necessary! And if all else fails…”

*We’ll seize the palace and take the Shah hostage!*

The Kizilbash leader, forcibly suppressing those final words, raised his voice.

“Retreat! Retreat to the palace!”

* * *

“The red heads are retreating!”

‘Red heads’ was a nickname given to the Kizilbash because of their distinctive red turbans. The soldiers’ report quickly made its way up the chain of command. The commander-in-chief, upon receiving the report, turned to the envoys who had rushed to him.

“I would like to send out the cavalry to pursue them. Would that cause a political problem?”

“Which direction are they retreating towards?”

“Hmm… towards the palace.”

At the commander-in-chief’s answer, the Imperial envoy immediately gave the order.

“Then pursue them immediately! No need to wipe them out entirely! Just prevent them from entering the palace!”

“Understood. Send out the cavalry!”

Following the commander-in-chief’s order, the cavalry, who had been resting, immediately mounted their horses and rode out of the encampment. They began to closely follow the retreating Kizilbash warriors. Seeing the cavalry’s movement, the Imperial envoy nodded slightly to the Ming and Japanese envoys.

“I apologize. The situation is urgent, so I made a decision on my own.”

The Ming and Japanese envoys reassured him that it was not a problem.

“Wasn’t this unavoidable? It’s alright.”

“I understand.”

In times of crisis, it was common for those in desperate situations to try to escape by taking the ruler hostage or turning the crisis into an opportunity. In such cases, there were two solutions: one was to deny them the time to attempt such a thing, and the other was to disregard the ruler’s safety and forcefully suppress them. In the current situation, with the added complication of dealing with a foreign ruler, the standard approach was to prevent the enemies from entering the palace as much as possible.

“If they succeed in entering the palace and the Shah sides with them, what should we do?”

At the Ming envoy’s question, the Imperial envoy immediately answered.

“We’ll have to execute Plan B.”

“Plan B, huh…”

“I hope we don’t have to go that far. I’m worried.”

The Ming and Japanese envoys looked concerned at the Imperial envoy’s answer.

-The Empire, Ming, and Japan will do their best to overthrow the current Persian regime and establish a new monarchy that is cooperative with the three nations.

This was the content of Plan B. It was a plan that exploited the deep resentment of the Persians due to the Kizilbash’s brutal oppression. However, it was still a foreign power overthrowing the government that controlled Persia. Even if the Persians greatly disliked the Kizilbash, foreign powers were a different matter. There was a high risk that the three nations would get bogged down if they made a mistake.

That’s why this plan was the second option.

“We must avoid being defeated as much as possible!”

* * *

The events at the encampment were quickly reported to Ismail.

“So, the Kizilbash are coming this way?”

“Yes, Shah.”

At the report of the captain of the guard, Ismail turned to the vizier [high-ranking political advisor]. Receiving a silent question, the vizier answered immediately.

“We must prevent them from entering the palace.”

“I agree. Immediately close the palace gates and block their entry! That is my command!”

“Yes!”

“If they attempt to enter despite hearing my command, attack them immediately!”

“Yes!”

As the captain of the guard, who received the order, hurriedly left the main hall, the vizier bowed his head to Ismail and said.

“Shah, just in case, we should select trustworthy troops to defend the main hall.”

“Hmm… do so.”

After pondering for a moment at the vizier’s suggestion, Ismail soon nodded and accepted it. It was a well-known secret that the Kizilbash had eyes and ears everywhere in the palace. If so, it was certain that the Kizilbash’s influence had reached the guard. In the worst case, they might disobey his orders, open the palace gates, and try to capture him with the Kizilbash.

Shortly after, the soldiers selected by the vizier began to build a barricade around the main hall. Listening to the commotion created by the soldiers, Ismail put on the sword he had been keeping put away and inserted two short guns into the gun holster. Stroking the two 6-shot short guns he had obtained with difficulty, Ismail muttered softly.

“Inshallah [God willing]…”

* * *

“Chief! The infidels’ pursuit is relentless!”

“Increase the speed!”

Under the pressure of the Imperial cavalry pursuing them, the Kizilbash had no choice but to accelerate further.

“It’s the palace!”

The Kizilbash, who had been looking at the approaching Shah’s palace with bright expressions, soon became dismayed. The palace gates, which should have been open, were closed. The leader of the Kizilbash, who arrived at the gate, raised his voice towards the gate tower.

“Open the gates! I must see the Shah!”

“It is the Shah’s order not to allow anyone to enter the palace!”

“Do you not know me? It is I! Open the gates quickly!”

“It is the Shah’s order!”

The leader of the Kizilbash, dismayed by the continued refusal, turned around.

Bang! Tatang! Bang!

As the gunshots of the Imperial cavalry, who had been pursuing them, grew closer, the leader of the Kizilbash once again cried out earnestly towards the gate tower.

“Oh, brother! Please open the gates! Brother!”

The gatekeeper, who heard the leader’s cry from above the gate tower, began to agonize. He was a member of the guard, but he was also a collaborator of the Kizilbash. However, he soon bit his lip tightly and shouted as if spitting out blood.

“It is the Shah’s order! I cannot open it!”

“Brother!”

“It is the Shah’s order!”

The gatekeeper, who mentioned ‘the Shah’s order,’ turned away completely. There were collaborators of the Kizilbash among the gatekeepers, but no one protested against the gatekeeper’s decision.

Because, in their eyes, the outcome was already decided.

* * *

When the firmly closed palace gates remained shut, the leader of the Kizilbash turned his horse.

“Brothers! We have been betrayed! The Shah and his ministers have betrayed us!”

The Kizilbash warriors’ faces were filled with despair at the leader’s cry.

“Escape! Gather the brothers in other places! Let’s take revenge on the traitors! Let’s take revenge!”

“Let’s take revenge!”

The warriors shouted ‘revenge’ at the leader’s cry.

“From now on, do your best to escape! Let even one survive to tell this tragedy to the other brothers! And ask for revenge! Let’s go!”

“Uwooo!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the surviving Kizilbash warriors began to charge, following the leader who had launched a charge towards the approaching Imperial cavalry. As the Kizilbash warriors charged, the Imperial cavalry split to the left and right and entered a flanking maneuver.

Bang! Tatang! Tatatang!

Even during the fierce flanking maneuver, the Imperial cavalry’s cavalry short guns and light Hwachas fired furiously. In response, the Kizilbash also fired at the Imperial cavalry. However, the casualty rate on both sides showed a clear difference.

The Kizilbash had to stand up and reload after pulling the trigger. The flintlock long guns, with their unique long barrels, could not be reloaded on horseback. Therefore, they used flintlock single-shot pistols imported from Europe or the Ottoman Empire. A few used Imperial-made 6-shot cavalry short guns—even muzzle-loading ones that used percussion caps—but their numbers were extremely small.

It was also a problem that their opponent happened to be the Imperial cavalry. Since the Joseon Dynasty [Korean kingdom], horsemanship was a must for cavalrymen. Many of the martial arts had disappeared or been transformed, but the one that survived to the end was Masangjae (馬上才) [horsemanship skills]. The Kizilbash often missed the Imperial cavalry’s maneuvers, in which their bodies momentarily disappeared from sight on horseback. On the other hand, the new cavalry short guns and light Hwachas carried by the Imperial cavalry fired at the enemies even while performing those maneuvers.

* * *

The bloody battle between those trying to prevent escape and those trying to escape ended with only a small number of Kizilbash succeeding. In front of the main gate of the palace where Ismail was staying, there were corpses of people and horses. Among them was the body of the Kizilbash leader.

After the battle, the Imperial cavalry were recovering the wounded and the dead. Soon after, the envoys and soldiers of the Allied Three Kingdoms arrived at the palace. While the soldiers who came with them were helping to recover the remains of their fallen soldiers, the envoys arrived at the gate and shouted towards the gate tower.

“Inform the Shah of our visit!”

“Wait a moment!”