There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 379

380. God of War (2)

“The Supreme Military Council is advocating for a preemptive strike.”

Kim Jong-seo nodded as I spoke, his eyes still scanning the Imjeonrok [a military strategy manual].

Choi Man-ri, nominally of the Jiphyeonjeon [Hall of Worthies, a royal research institute] but seemingly a permanent fixture at the Supreme Military Council, oversaw the Imjeonrok’s implementation and reporting.

His primary task was to establish diverse conditions for each scenario, simulate them repeatedly, and report the outcomes.

In almost every scenario, Joseon was projected to win.

‘Are they skewing the results because they’re eager for war?’

I couldn’t shake the suspicion of ulterior motives.

Even in the ‘Complete Collapse of the Confederation’ scenario, fraught with every conceivable disadvantage, Joseon managed to withstand Ming attacks for over a year, albeit with substantial losses.

The scenario where Jinzhou fell without resistance occurred only once.

Conversely, from Ming’s perspective, they needed to exploit any vulnerabilities within the Confederation to find even a sliver of hope.

In truth, Ming had no desire to fight a two-front war.

Emperor Xuande was diligently working to stabilize the surrounding regions.

The pirates infesting the coasts were Zhu Ying’s problem, while Tokhto Bukha, whom Ming had appointed as the Prince of Beining, was encouraged to launch large-scale attacks on weaker tribes.

“Soon, the Confederation will be flooded with requests for aid.”

If Joseon remained idle, its allies would grow suspicious.

Therefore, the military argued that a preemptive strike to open the gates was the best course of action.

“However, if Joseon moves its troops first……”

“The Emperor will undoubtedly portray the war as Joseon’s rebellion.”

The relationship of subservience was practically nonexistent, but the moment Joseon initiated military action, Emperor Xuande would brand it as an act of aggression.

‘The problem is that there are factions within Ming who oppose the Emperor’s policies.’

Emperor Xuande would also gain justification to suppress all the appeasement factions within his court.

From our perspective, as instigators of unrest within Ming, this was unfortunate.

“Moreover, our war preparations are not yet complete.”

We needed to provoke Ming into starting the war.

It didn’t matter if Ming attacked first.

Entrenching ourselves within the already fortified Jinzhou defense line offered a significant advantage.

However, inaction would completely erode the Confederation’s credibility.

Given our need for the Confederation to remain tethered to Ming, resolving this situation was crucial.

“In my opinion, we should dispatch even a small force to deter Ming’s attempt to subjugate the Tatar.”

“I concur. However, we mustn’t give them a pretext.”

Kim Jong-seo spoke.

“Send the Taining Guard.”

“The Taining Guard, you say?”

“Since losing Daining and being driven out, they’ve been constantly seeking revenge.”

Ming might believe they crippled us by attacking the Uriyangkhai, but they also earned the Uriyangkhai’s lasting animosity.

“If it’s the Taining Guard, they’ll eagerly take the lead as if it were their own fight.”

They were the kind of people who would cause trouble for Ming without any prompting.

The question was whether they were strong enough.

“After their defeat by the Ming army, aren’t they just a shadow of their former selves?”

“They’ve regained considerable strength since joining the Bokyeo Guard.”

“Assuming we resupply them, what about manpower?”

“Select brave and glory-seeking individuals from among the Jurchens and have them join. I’m sure there will be plenty of volunteers.”

He was suggesting that I select and dispatch friendly Jurchen volunteers.

Well, from Ming’s perspective, they were all just barbarians anyway.

Would they bother distinguishing between Jurchens and Mongols when those warriors charged in on horseback?

‘Support the Confederation, but Joseon’s involvement remains indirect.’

That was my conclusion.

Since the Taining Guard had already been branded as rebels by Ming, they would make excellent adversaries for the Ming army.

“If the Prince of Beining fails, Ming won’t be able to wait much longer.”

“That’s correct.”

The Emperor was patiently stabilizing the periphery, but what if his efforts failed?

Would the swarms of Wokou [Japanese pirates] persist, and the Mongol and Oirat invasions continue to batter the Great Wall? Would he continue to ignore them?

Would the Emperor abandon the confrontation with Joseon and focus all his efforts on suppressing the Northern Barbarians and Southern Wokou?

Unlikely.

‘Ultimately, he’ll choose to solve all the problems by striking directly at the source, which is us.’

“And if that happens……”

“Ming will pile up mountains of corpses in front of Jinzhou Fortress.”

This wasn’t an empty boast.

Because a promising invention had emerged.

* * *

Salgoji Field.

It was near the capital and, more importantly, quite spacious, making it ideal for military parades and, like today, demonstrating new cannons.

I brought several reporters, intending to stage a spectacular firepower demonstration and have it prominently featured in the newspapers.

Amidst soldiers forming a perimeter, the cannons, lined up in a long row, unleashed shells towards Bamseom Island.

– Boom! Boom!

The thunderous cannon fire forced everyone to cover their ears.

Explosions erupted repeatedly in the Bamseom Island area, with flames and smoke billowing skyward.

“Heo!”

The sight of dozens of shells raining down in succession and the explosions blooming like flowers was truly magnificent.

Those who witnessed the scene exclaimed in admiration without prompting.

Unlike me and the other military leaders, who observed the explosions through telescopes, the soldiers watched with their naked eyes, clearly witnessing the power of the explosions.

“Is that the Byukgyeokjincheonleoi [Thunder-Splitting Sky-Shaking Bomb] I’ve only heard about?”

“No, they said they’re testing new shells this time.”

“I fought in the last war, and I know the explosions weren’t that big. Besides, they don’t explode immediately after landing.

His Majesty must have created something amazing again.”

They tried to keep their voices down, but the sound carried to my ears on the breeze, naturally making me feel proud.

The shells of this era were typically just lumps of iron, not explosives.

I had introduced the Byukgyeokjincheonleoi, but it was a primitive form of time-delay fuse that could only create a fuse.

However, it suffered from frequent misfires and was so rudimentary that I wasn’t satisfied.

“Now, something usable is finally emerging.”

As I muttered, telescope to my eye, Grand Prince Chungnyeong shook his head in disbelief.

“Is that all you consider it, just usable?”

“Who knows how much gunpowder will develop in the future? We’ve only just begun.”

Do sighed at my cold, realistic assessment.

“To me, even shells that explode on impact seem more than enough. I never imagined such a thing would be possible when I first made gunpowder with the Munitions Command.”

Was that how it appeared to the people of this era?

Well, even shells using time-delay fuses like the Byukgyeokjincheonleoi were innovative enough in this era, let alone impact fuses.

‘The technical challenges are even greater.’

The current smokeless gunpowder was extremely unstable, prone to exploding with the slightest impact.

When used as construction explosives, it could be stabilized by absorbing it into diatomaceous earth and then detonating it with a fuse, but I had ordered the development of an impact fuse.

The paradox of it never exploding from the impact of firing the shell, but exploding from the impact of landing.

However, only by overcoming such contradictions could we become a true firepower powerhouse……!

‘See, it can be done if you try.’

I said, looking at Bamseom Island, where smoke was billowing.

“Have the duds removed once the fire subsides. Do not allow any civilians to enter until all the shells have been collected.”

Like the Byukgyeokjincheonleoi, misfires were inevitable, no matter how hard Choi Hae-san tried.

This was because the impact on the fuse was insufficient due to the soft ground at the point of impact, or conversely, the fuse was damaged before the explosion could occur because the shell landed on a place that was too hard.

This was even more pronounced now, given the limitations of our technical capabilities.

Former bandits, conscripted into the military in exchange for leniency and now tasked with the glorious mission of explosive ordnance disposal, boarded ships and headed to Bamseom Island.

“Hey, don’t roll it around like that, pick it up properly!”

“Do you want to die with all of us here?”

The seniors kicked one of the guys who was poking at a dud with a branch from a distance, using fear as an excuse, sending him sprawling.

It seemed that the explosive ordnance disposal team was accumulating know-how year by year, as it was a life-threatening job.

“How is it so far?”

I asked Kim Jong-seo.

“Right now, not only the Ming army, but also the Uriyangkhai and others who received our cannons are only firing lumps of iron and bird eggs.”

“In such a situation, even if one or two of those things fall into the enemy camp, they won’t be able to recover.”

Kim Jong-seo said, shaking his head.

“In future battlefields, hundreds or thousands of those cannons will pour shells all at once, ravaging the enemy army.”

“I can hardly imagine it.”

In the upcoming battles, countless lives would be lost with a single shell.

When you think about it, I was creating weapons that could thoroughly kill the enemy with my own hands, so it tasted bitter.

However, since humans were animals anyway, it was the same whether they died by a sword, a spear, or a bullet or shell.

If we could reduce the sacrifice of our troops by killing many enemies, we should naturally choose that path.

If that weren’t the case, I wouldn’t have shown the arquebus to Yi Seong-gye and Yi Bang-won in the old days.

This was probably the same mindset as our enemies.

‘If I had my way, I’d just have a one-on-one fight with the Emperor and settle it.’

How great would it be if I could use a stunner like I did at the Nadam [Mongolian festival] and correct the Emperor’s bad habits?

Kim Jong-seo was still looking through the telescope as he spoke.

“The impact is also accurate.”

Almost none of them fell into the river.

It might seem that way because dozens of cannons formed a barrage all at once, but there were almost no shells that completely missed the target, that is, fell into the river.

‘The Joseon army is originally good at this kind of thing.’

They were originally a nation of ranged fighters, but it was also thanks to the fact that I threw Jiphyeonjeon scholars at it and made them provide some mathematical abilities.

Shouldn’t artillerymen be able to calculate coordinates with their eyes closed?

“If it’s this accurate, wouldn’t it be possible to capture an enemy commander as a prisoner?”

“You’re suggesting we snipe the enemy?”

I was speechless at the idea of using cannons for sniping.

Well, if it’s possible, there’s no reason not to…….

“The enemy will not know that our cannons can strike so far and so precisely.”

Well, they wouldn’t even dream that shells would fall on their heads.

If an explosion of this magnitude occurs in the center of the enemy, I feel confident that we can capture the commander as well.

Emperor Xuande prefers bold personal expeditions.

It’s uncertain whether he will go on a personal expedition this time, but the probability of him coming to the battlefield himself is not 0%.

‘Maybe we can just capture the Emperor and end it?’