Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 1166

1166. The Calamity Came from the Sea (2)

Whether the Spanish soldiers were frustrated or not, the *Salsoo*, having turned its three main gun turrets towards the Cadiz coastal battery, immediately commenced its first coordinated barrage.

*Kukwakwang!*

The six shells, launched with a deafening roar, completely obliterated one section of the Cadiz coastal battery. Knowing in advance about the thick stone walls, the captain of the *Salsoo* used armor-piercing shells, which easily penetrated the fortifications.

The problem was that the shells penetrated into the armory.

The gunpowder within the armor-piercing shells, along with the gunpowder already stored in the armory, exploded simultaneously, utterly destroying that section of the coastal battery. The captain, observing this through binoculars from the bridge, smiled wryly and turned to his first officer.

“It’s fortunate that we can reduce shell consumption. This way, we can inflict more damage with the remaining shells.”

“Indeed.”

While the captain and first officer exchanged grim words, the main gun turrets, having received new coordinates, moved to find other targets.

Five times.

In just five coordinated barrages, the coastal batteries guarding the entrance to the Bay of Cadiz were reduced to ruins.

It wasn’t just the coastal batteries.

The village behind the coastal batteries also suffered tremendous damage, with more than two-thirds of it disappearing.

This was an outcome uncharacteristic of the Imperial Army, known for its precise artillery, but it was done intentionally.

-Instill fear in the people of France and Spain.

This was the order the Imperial soldiers had received before the battle.

And the Imperial soldiers currently engaged in battle were faithfully carrying it out.

The punitive fleet, having annihilated the coastal batteries of Cadiz Island, slowly entered the bay. With the *Salsoo* leading the way, followed by Assault Turtle Ships and Challenger-class battleships in two rows, they passed through the entrance.

The moment the Imperial fleet passed through the narrow strait at the entrance to the bay, the surviving French and Spanish ships, which had been lying in ambush, opened fire simultaneously.

However, their attacks were ineffective, blocked by the armor of the *Salsoo* and Assault Turtle Ships.

“Fire! Fire!”

“Keep firing without stopping!”

“Even if we can’t sink them, we must inflict damage!”

The French and Spanish battleships fired their cannons like madmen.

Due to this frantic shelling, water columns erupted continuously near the *Salsoo* and Assault Turtle Ships, and explosions rocked their hulls.

Despite enduring such intense shelling, the *Salsoo* and Assault Turtle Ships calmly aimed at the enemy ships and returned fire.

*Kukwakwang!*

The operation to ‘ambush and intercept the incoming Imperial Navy at the entrance to the bay’ seemed plausible on paper.

However, once the actual battle began, it had a fatal flaw.

Thanks to the ambush that surrounded the narrow entrance to the bay, they were able to concentrate their firepower, but the French and Spanish cannons couldn’t penetrate the armor of the *Salsoo* and Assault Turtle Ships. And because they had adopted a dense formation to concentrate their firepower, the individual ships had lost their maneuverability.

As a result, the *Salsoo* and Assault Turtle Ships of the Imperial Navy were methodically sinking the enemy ships, which had become fixed targets. As the French and Spanish battleships blocking the entrance to the bay disappeared, the destroyers waiting behind them overtook the *Salsoo* and Assault Turtle Ships and stormed into the bay.

The destroyers were targeting the French assault ships.

“Some of the people we know are occasionally insane, but the French are no less so.”

These impudent remarks were made because of the assault ships, but the Imperial Navy couldn’t simply ignore them.

It was because of the ‘pole charge bombs’ equipped by the assault ships [explosive charges attached to long poles, designed to be used against enemy ships].

Moreover, because the assault ships were small and fast, the destroyers took the initiative to eliminate them.

And, before long, a life-or-death game of hide-and-seek unfolded inside Cadiz Bay between the Imperial Navy’s destroyers and the French assault ships.

1 PM. Finally, the combat ships belonging to the French and Spanish navies inside Cadiz Bay were cleared.

* * *

With all enemy ships inside the bay eliminated, the Imperial fleet entered the bay.

“The Imperial bastards are coming!”

“Prepare for battle!”

At the alarm announcing the approach of the Imperial fleet, the soldiers defending Puerto Real threw themselves into their assigned positions.

After checking their weapons, the soldiers swallowed hard and glared at the approaching Imperial fleet.

“Huh?”

“What is that again?”

About ten medium-sized ships came forward in front of the *Salsoo* and Assault Turtle Ships, which had stopped with their sides facing the shore, as if to fire their cannons.

“Are they carrying troops for landing?”

Admiral Tourville, who was observing the situation with binoculars from the roof of the headquarters, judged the medium-sized ships in question to be troop transports.

It was because of the shape of the hull and the armament.

The ships in question had a hull shape suitable for transport ships, and there were hardly any cannons visible.

“There are no side gunports either, they look like ships for landing no matter how you look at it.”

“The subordinates also think so.”

Admiral Tourville judged the ships in question to be for landing, and the staff agreed.

“Tell them to prepare for landing.”

“Yes, sir.”

The admiral, having given the order to the staff, once again observed the ships in question with binoculars.

“Huh? Why are they turning?”

The ships, which he thought were transport ships, were all turning their bows, exposing their sides.

“What is that on the deck?”

On the decks of the ships in question, there were wide and long lattice-shaped steel structures.

“What on earth… What do you think that is for?”

As Admiral Tourville asked the staff, countless divine machine arrows [a type of rocket-propelled arrow] soared from the ships in question, which had finished positioning themselves.

Screeching, screeching, screeching.

An uncountable number of divine machine arrows, making a sharp, scream-like noise, poured towards Puerto Real in a parabola.

* * *

As various high-performance cannons and *hwachas* [multiple rocket launchers] were created, the *Shinkijeon* [a type of rocket arrow] gradually faded into the background, except for the small *Shinkijeon* used for signaling.

This was because the cost-effectiveness was too poor compared to cannons.

However, there were always rebels, and there were rebels in Areas 51 and 52 [secret research and development facilities] who couldn’t let go of their attachment to the *Shinkijeon*.

“Even if the budget doesn’t come out, I’ll empty my own pockets!”

After showing an obsession closer to madness than will, these artisans developed a new *Daeshinkijeon* [large Shinkijeon] and *hwachas* to operate them.

“Hooh~ Look at this?”

The high-ranking officials of the Imperial Army showed great interest in the new *Daeshinkijeon* and *hwachas* created by the artisans of Areas 51 and 52.

“It takes a long time to reload, but I really like the fact that you can fire an overwhelming amount of fire bullets at once.”

“If we modify the assault vehicle or the towing vehicle, it seems easy to operate…”

The *Daeshinkijeon* and *hwachas* from Area 51 attracted the attention of the Imperial Army, but the problem was the items from Area 52.

“The performance is good, but the size…”

“The size is a bit too big.”

“I guess…”

Hyang was the one who brought light to the artisans of Area 52, who were seeing an increasingly bleak future.

‘This… that’s it!’

Hyang, who was reminded of a weapon he had often seen in 21st-century World War II documentaries, especially in the Pacific War, immediately called Hyun.

“…So, how about building a ship like this?”

“I’ll start designing it right away!”

That’s how the firepower support ship, the Imperial version of the LSM(R) [Landing Ship Medium (Rocket)] operated by the US Navy in World War II, was born.

* * *

Each firepower support ship’s *Daeshinkijeon hwacha* could load 12 *Daeshinkijeons*, and the firepower support ship had 70 of these *hwachas*.

In the initial design, 70 people in charge of firing would light the wicks, but as knowledge and technology about electricity accumulated, it was changed to an electric ignition method.

Now, two firing officers would turn the handle on the igniter to generate electricity, and when the firing commander lowered the lever, a total of 840 *Daeshinkijeons* mounted on 70 *hwachas* would be fired almost simultaneously.

The problem was reloading.

The *Daeshinkijeons* for the second firing were in the warehouse under the deck.

Since they were stored already housed in the *Shinkijeon* frame to be placed on the *hwacha*, quick reloading was achieved using a crane, but the real hardship began after that.

For safety, the warhead and propulsion unit of the *Daeshinkijeons*, which were stored separately, had to be manually combined one by one. Not only the combination but also fitting them into empty *Shinkijeon* frames was all manual.

Thanks to this, the first firing and the second firing took about 2 *gak* (about 30 minutes) [unit of time], but the third firing took at least 1 *shijin* (about 2 hours) [unit of time].

However, the high-ranking officials of the Imperial Army, having confirmed the firepower, immediately decided to adopt it.

* * *

Exactly 12 firepower support ships proved why the high-ranking officials of the Imperial Army had adopted them.

The number of *Daeshinkijeons* fired in the first and second firings totaled 20,160.

Puerto Real, which was hit by about 20,000 *Daeshinkijeons*, each with the explosive power of the Imperial Army’s standard light cannon – the famous French 76mm field gun from World War I – had already lost its urban form.

It wasn’t just the city.

Admiral Tourville and his staff, who were commanding the battlefield from the roof of the Spanish Navy headquarters in Puerto Real, could not be found either.

The firepower support ships, having fired coolly, immediately retreated to the rear for ‘man-killing’ reloading.

The captain and first officer of the *Salsoo*, who stepped forward to fill the void of the firepower support ships, looked at each other with troubled faces.

“If we hit it more here, I don’t think we’ll be able to go to a good place after we die, right?” [referring to the afterlife]

“That’s definitely right.”

In response to the first officer’s answer, the captain looked back at the others on the bridge.

After confirming that everyone else had a similar expression to him, the captain immediately revised the order.

“Cancel the city bombardment and destroy the shipyard!”

“Yes, sir!”

As a result, Puerto Real and Cadiz were annihilated before sunset that day.

* * *

The punitive fleet, having turned its ships and left Cadiz Bay, maintained cruising speed and headed north.

“Let’s stop at Lisbon for maintenance and rest before heading north.”

At Count Lee Gong’s words, the captain of the *Salsoo* cautiously asked.

“Will Portugal welcome us?”

“Why would we be going so slowly at cruising speed right now? By the time we arrive in Lisbon, they will have heard what happened to Puerto Real. And they’re going to try to be territorial? In front of those crazy bastards? And we’re allies, aren’t we?”

“That’s true, but.”

‘That’s why I’m worried! How can they not be afraid when the guys who casually blew away one of Spain’s strategic strongholds in less than a day are coming! Even if we are allies!’

The captain forcibly swallowed the words that were about to come out.

Regardless, Count Lee Gong, looking at the map and watch, crossed his arms and muttered.

“The ground operation will also begin in three days. But Cham Bonji is also a problem. If they were going to send it, they should have sent it sooner. How can they not get the timing right like this? Is it a communication problem after all?”

* * *

According to the original plan, the naval and ground operations were to be carried out simultaneously.

However, the plan was changed when supplies sent from Bonji arrived the day before the operation.

The ground operation command strongly insisted on postponing the date after confirming the list of new weapons.

“It is best to move after all the equipment that has arrived now is ready! Three days! Just give us three days!”

This is how the ground attack date was postponed by three days.

And after the promised three days, the ground operation command initiated the operation.

Duke Lee Che, looking at the army’s equipment that had finished preparing for departure, looked at the new weapons sent from Bonji.

“An assault vehicle equipped with a *Daeshinkijeon hwacha*… The firepower will be very good.”

Duke Lee Che, nodding and giving his own review, expressed doubt after seeing another new weapon.

“*Eulshik hwacha* [another type of multiple rocket launcher]? Is this antique still left? Could it be that the situation in the home country has gotten so bad that they even have to send *Eulshik hwachas*? Huh? Why is the *Eulshik hwacha* mounted on an assault vehicle?”

Duke Lee Che was questioning, looking at the assault vehicles with the *Eulshik hwacha*, characterized by six roundly rolled barrels, mounted on them.