Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 266

266. Battle of Songhua River (5)

Not long after, the Jurchen cavalry appeared in the distance.

“Prepare for battle!”

Following the commanders’ orders, the soldiers calmed their trembling breaths and prepared for battle.

* * *

“Ah, damn it…”

Sun-dol, clad in full body armor as an infantryman, cursed while swinging his right arm around.

“What are you doing?”

At the question from a veteran soldier beside him, Sun-dol replied with an awkward expression.

“The spot where I got the tattoo is itchy.”

“That’s why I told you to get it done properly at a decent place, even if it costs a bit more. You try to save a few coins and end up with trouble, trouble…”

“Tch…”

Sun-dol clicked his tongue, looking troubled by the veteran’s nagging.

At the time, Joseon soldiers would tattoo their personal information, such as their name, date of birth, and hometown, on their bodies before going to war. It was a kind of identification tag.

This tradition, known as ‘Military Tattoo (赴兵刺字) [a practice of tattooing soldiers with identifying information],’ was banned when Hyang created the identification牌 [ID tags], but many soldiers still followed the tradition and tattooed their bodies.

“Who’s chattering in this situation!”

At the roar of a military officer nearby, Sun-dol and the veteran quickly shut their mouths and looked ahead.

The sound of horses neighing began to be heard in the distance.

“Kneel! Wooden Spears!”

At the commander’s order, the infantrymen knelt on one knee and leaned their spears against their right shoulders.

* * *

While the soldiers on the front lines were steeling their resolve, the command post, located on a slightly elevated hill at the very rear of the Joseon army’s formation, observed the situation with monoculars.

“The enemy has entered within 170 paces (approximately 510m)! Shall we fire the Flying Thunderclap Bombs [early type of explosive artillery]?”

“Fire them.”

At Yi Sun-mong’s command, the adjutant issued the order, and the flagman waved the signal flag furiously.

The artillery commanders, who had been watching only the command post from the very rear of the formation, shouted in unison.

“Fire! Fire!”

“Fire!”

At the commanders’ orders, the artillerymen pulled the firing cords in unison.

쾅쾅쾅!

With a tremendous roar, the cannons that had been waiting spewed fire all at once. As the gun carriages staggered backward due to the recoil that occurred simultaneously with the firing, the waiting artillerymen pushed the carriages forward again and began reloading.

“Wrap one less turn of the fuse around the neck of the grenade!”

“Yes!”

At the artillery commander’s order, the artillerymen wrapped the fuse around the neck of the grenade.

‘Reduce it by one turn already?’

Some had such questions, but an order was an order, and the artillerymen silently followed the command.

쾅!

“Aaaagh!”

Neigh!

The Flying Thunderclap Bombs that flew out in that manner created wounds in the front ranks of the approaching Jurchens. Although they were very shallow wounds, Agutai and the warriors took the situation seriously.

‘Is that the rumored Joseon army’s fire bomb?’

쾅!

Another simultaneous explosion occurred, this time leaving a slightly deeper wound.

Seeing the situation, Agutai sent hand signals and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Charge at full speed!”

Neigh!

Dudududu!

“Waaaaa!”

As soon as Agutai’s order fell, all the warriors kicked the flanks of their horses in unison. With a loud cry, the horses began to run wildly forward.

As thousands of horses galloped at full speed all at once, the ground began to rumble.

Already running out to the very front of the vanguard, Agutai diligently calculated the possibilities.

‘That cannon thing can’t easily adjust its range! We had to start sprinting at full speed from a farther distance than expected, but this distance is fine!’

* * *

As the Jurchens sprinted at full speed, Yi Sun-mong wore a satisfied smile.

“They’ve taken the bait.”

Sprinting at full speed required tremendous stamina. Even those who were known as the strongest warriors would be panting and unable to run properly after wearing armor, carrying spears and swords, and sprinting for even 30 paces (approximately 90m).

The same was true for horses. Putting a load of nearly 140 근 (approximately 80kg) to 150 근 (90kg) on their backs and sprinting at full speed put a serious strain on them. In order for the cavalry to deliver a proper impact, it was common to start sprinting at full speed between 100 장 (approximately 300m) and 150 장 (450m). If it was shorter than that, they couldn’t reach their full speed, and if it was farther than that, the horses would tire and their speed would decrease.

Therefore, Yi Sun-mong had used the Flying Thunderclap Bombs to force the Jurchens to expend their stamina.

Of course, a distance of 10 to 20 여 장 (30~60m) might seem short, but that short distance was the battlefield where victory and death could be determined.

“Tell the cavalry to prepare! Tell them to fire when they enter within 100 장 (approximately 300m)!”

“Yes!”

The adjutant who received the order rode his horse at full speed to the front.

* * *

쾅!!!!

“Aaaagh!”

“Damn it!!!”

Hearing the screams of the warriors, Agutai gritted his teeth and spurred his horse.

Those damn fire bombs of the Joseon army were exploding in the air.

Every time the fire bombs exploded in the air, the warriors and horses rolled on the ground together with terrible screams. In that case, instant death was a blessing. If they survived in that situation, it was certain that even if they lived, they would not be truly alive.

“Run!”

“Run with all your might!”

The warriors, their eyes bloodshot as they watched the deaths of their comrades who had been like brothers, gritted their teeth and kicked the flanks of their horses.

The sight of the Joseon army cavalry lined up in a row came into the eyes of the Jurchen warriors, who were running while breathing roughly as if they were about to die.

Agutai and the warriors smiled bitterly as they saw the Joseon army cavalry standing still and waiting.

“Foolish bastards! For cavalry to just stand there! Do they only believe in those paltry cannons? Anyway! The match is decided! We will win!”

Agutai pulled out the bow that had been hanging on the saddle, raised it up, and nocked an arrow while relying on the stirrups.

Shooting arrows from a running horse was a basic skill for Jurchen warriors. The Joseon bastards also performed similar feats, but they could not keep up with them.

Thinking similarly, the Jurchen warriors in the 2nd and 3rd ranks simultaneously nocked arrows. If the 2nd and 3rd ranks provided cover with arrows, the warriors in the vanguard would drive the enemies away. It was a tactic that had been honed from the time of King Seonjo and had always worked well.

“A little further and the arrows will reach! We will repay you several times over!”

Just as he was pulling the bowstring with force and looking at the Joseon army, the Joseon army cavalry formation was engulfed in smoke all at once. And a tremendous explosion followed.

Tatatang!

Swooong! Swooong!

“Kuaaagh!”

With a sound several times sharper than the sound of arrows flying, the warriors running in the vanguard fell to the ground in droves.

“Don’t stop! Run!”

“Waaaaa!”

However, the Jurchen warriors ran their horses, shouting like screams.

-Cavalry dies if it stops.

It was knowledge gained through experience from a long history of conflict.

The Joseon army formation came clearly into the eyes of Agutai and the Jurchen warriors, who had passed through another line of death.

The Joseon army cavalry, who had been blocking the very front, were splitting to the left and right and moving out of the way, and the infantrymen with long spears, who had formed a line in the center that had been emptied in that way, were waiting for them.

‘A head-on collision is not an option! The moment we are blocked by that wall and stop, we will be attacked from both sides! We have to latch onto the cavalry!’

Agutai, who had already stepped forward as the vanguard, waved both arms to send hand signals. At Agutai’s hand signals, the Jurchen warriors split into two groups and began chasing the Joseon army cavalry who were moving to the side.

Seeing that sight, Yi Sun-mong gripped his command stick and shouted.

“They’re caught!”

* * *

The moment the Jurchen warriors split to the left and right and exposed their flanks, the commanders of the musket infantry units, who had formed a horizontal line 5 장 (15m) away from the spear infantry formation and were waiting, shouted in unison.

“Fire!”

At the commanders’ orders, the musket infantrymen in the 1st rank pulled the triggers in unison.

Tatatang!

With a tremendous gunshot, the muskets spewed fire, and the soldiers in the 1st rank passed their empty muskets to the rear and began preparing to fire after receiving new muskets from behind.

“Fire!”

Tatatang!

After firing once again, the soldiers in the 1st rank passed their empty muskets again and received muskets that had been reloaded.

It was the place where the tactics that Hyang had devised and the field commanders had refined were finally being unveiled.

“The limitation of muzzle-loading rifles is that it takes too long to reload…”

Hyang, who knew the problem of muzzle-loading rifles, found the answer in his memories of the 21st century.

It was a tactic that had originated in the European armies of the linear infantry period.

In order to overcome the limitations of muzzle-loading rifles, the first thing that European commanders thought of was rotating the soldiers like a waterwheel.

When the 1st rank of soldiers lined up in 3 or 4 ranks fired, they would immediately retreat to the rear, and the next rank would come forward and fire.

However, this method required a high degree of training, and the short engagement distance of the smoothbore musket era meant that there was no answer if they took advantage of the gap in that moment and charged.

As time passed, a change in tactics occurred once again with the advent of rifled muskets, and it was the same as what the Joseon army was doing now.

The people stayed in place, and the muskets rotated like a conveyor belt. The soldiers in the 2nd to 3rd or 4th ranks loaded gunpowder, reloaded, poured priming powder, and passed the muskets like machines, and the soldiers in the 1st rank continued to fire.

However, the problem with this method was that it only shined when there were facilities to defend the soldiers in the 1st rank.

The representative example of this was the ‘Slaughter Machine Battle of Fredericksburg’ during the American Civil War.

When the Union army, which had plundered Fredericksburg, attacked the Confederate army located behind the city, the Confederate army entered a defensive battle relying on a stone wall. Unfortunately, the Union artillery was unable to provide supporting fire due to the fog that occurred at the time of the battle, and only the Union infantry had to charge.

And, in the battle that unfolded in this way, the Confederate army, relying on the defensive structure of the stone wall, maximized efficiency through musket rotation, and the Union army suffered enormous damage and had to retreat.

Confederate casualties were about 5,000. It was a defeat that caused enormous casualties of about 12,000 for the Union army.

* * *

However, the Joseon army had human ramparts called spear infantrymen armed with full body armor.

As long as the Jurchens were not armed with firearms, it was certain that these spear infantrymen would become sturdy ramparts.

In addition, the spear infantrymen provided another advantage to the musket infantry. It was to prevent the musket infantry’s fire from being concentrated on one target.

As long as the spear infantrymen were in front, the musket infantry’s aiming was simple.

‘Just aim and shoot between the left spear and the right spear in front of you.’

Thanks to hearing it until it was stuck in their ears, the musket infantrymen aimed almost mechanically only between the spears.

* * *

Damage continued to occur due to the musket infantry’s firing, but Agutai and the Jurchen warriors were persistent.

“If we just catch the cavalry! If we just catch the cavalry, victory is ours! Even if the infantrymen are armed with cannons, they are slow as snails! If we just catch the cavalry, we can reverse the situation as much as we want!”

The Jurchen warriors were gritting their teeth and chasing the Joseon army cavalry as tenaciously as possible.

In front of the Jurchen warriors, who were bleeding and chasing the Joseon army cavalry, the Joseon army cavalry reversed direction.

“Finally!”

As the reversed Joseon army cavalry charged with their spears, Agutai and the warriors drew their curved swords and charged head-on.

* * *

The head-on collision between Agutai’s warriors and the Joseon army cavalry ended in a complete victory for the Joseon army cavalry.

The Jurchens’ horses, tired and slow, caused the Jurchen warriors’ reactions to be delayed.

And, the Joseon army cavalry’s sturdy full body armor and Six-Hole Horseback Musket (六穴馬上銃) [a type of multi-shot firearm] shined once again.

And, the Jurchen tribe led by Agutai ceased to exist.

After finishing the operation, Yi Sun-mong called the commander.

“You have worked hard. Take a rest here today and start the pursuit again from tomorrow. Keep in mind that there are still many Jurchen tribes to clean up.”

“Yes, General.”

The nightmare of the Huligai tribe was not over.