Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 271

271. Battle of Songhua River (10)

Before joining the military, most Joseon soldiers were farmers, intimately familiar with tools like axes and especially sickles.

Joseon farmers handled sickles as extensions of their own hands. These wooden sickles were incredibly versatile.

Beyond harvesting rice and barley, they were used for weeding, pruning, and even felling trees, as well as catching venomous or large snakes that emerged from the bushes.

‘Nobles use bows when encountering a snake, commoners use sickles.’

This was common knowledge in Joseon at the time.

Interestingly, those wielding sickles and axes were often new recruits, not yet fully trained swordsmen.

Veterans, having mastered longsword techniques and experienced real combat, typically engaged in close combat with just a longsword for at least 3 years, and on average about 5 years.

Looking at the longswords of these veterans, only the blade length remained consistent.

The specifications for the longswords issued to swordsmen were initially identical.

With the reform, the standard was set at 4 *cheok* [approximately 1.2 meters, an old Korean unit of measurement] based on the Yeongjo *cheok* (營造尺) [a specific standard of measurement used in Joseon]. Of that, the blade length was 3 *cheok* [approximately 90cm], and the handle length was 1 *cheok* [approximately 30cm].

The form was a straight sword (*jikgeom*, 直劍) with a double edge (*ssangnal*, 雙刃, 양날).

All swordsmen were trained and deployed in actual combat with longswords made to these exact specifications.

After experiencing various battles and gaining experience through sparring, veterans began to modify their cherished swords (愛劍).

The primary area of modification was the handle.

The first part they altered was the guard.

Some attached heavy iron weights (鐵鎚) to both ends of the guard, while others lengthened the guard and made it pointed. Some even shaped both ends into small axe heads and sharpened them.

The reason for changing the shape of the guard was to gain an advantage in close-quarters combat (*geunjeop bakdu*, 近接搏鬪, 가까이 달라붙어 치고받음) [melee combat].

When striking the enemy with the sword held in reverse, this modified guard negated the enemy’s advantage.

Veterans who wanted further improvements also worked on the pommel (劍把頭飾) [the knob at the end of the sword’s handle].

The longswords issued to new swordsmen had a large, round piece of iron at the end of the handle.

This was meant to balance the sword and be used as a blunt weapon in melee combat.

However, veterans who had experienced actual combat made this pommel even heavier.

By intentionally shifting the center of gravity backward, they were able to control the direction of the blade more quickly and freely with just wrist movements. It was an improvement born from experience, ingrained in their bodies, without even understanding the principle of leverage.

Those with even more experience changed the shape of the pommel to resemble a nail (釘).

The purpose was to stab the back of the neck or back of an enemy who tried to grab and knock them down in melee combat, inflicting a fatal wound.

With various decorations added, the swords of veteran swordsmen all had different shapes except for the blade.

* * *

These swordsmen, wielding such longswords, axes, and sickles, engaged in melee combat with the Huligai infantry.

“Die!”

To block the sickle swung down by a swordsman, a Huligai infantryman instinctively raised his arm to cover his face.

“Kkeuaak!”

The Huligai infantryman screamed as the sickle connected with his arm.

The sickle swung by the Joseon soldier had cut through more than half of his forearm, including the well-crafted leather gauntlet.

The Huligai infantryman’s strength drained from his body due to the terrible pain shooting up his arm.

At that moment, the Joseon soldier’s sickle pierced the unfortunate Jurchen’s neck from the side.

Next to him, another swordsman slammed the sharpened pommel of his sword into the back of a Huligai infantryman who was trying to grab his waist and knock him down.

The Jurchen, whose chest was pierced by the awl-like pommel, suddenly suffocated and couldn’t even make a sound.

Due to the sudden shortness of breath, the Jurchen began to flail, and the swordsman, freed from the restraint, swung his longsword at the Jurchen’s neck.

The Jurchen’s head fell to the ground as if an apple falling from an apple tree, severed by the swordsman’s blade.

* * *

Although the swordsmen were holding the line against the Huligai tribe’s infantry and engaging in fierce fighting, some Huligai infantrymen began to break through their defensive line.

The Huligai infantrymen who crossed or bypassed the swordsmen’s wall began to run towards the Joseon gunners who were encamped about 20 *jang* [approximately 60 meters, an old Korean unit of measurement] away.

As the Huligai infantrymen ran towards them, the commander of the gunners shouted.

“Prepare for cross-firing! Advance! First rank, aim! Fire!”

Tatatang!

As soon as the commander’s order was given, the first rank of gunners simultaneously pulled their triggers. Piercing through the smoke that rose in an instant, the gunners in the back row stepped forward to the front.

“Aim! Fire!”

Tatatang!

Following the commander’s orders, the gunners moved and continued to advance and fire, like a rotating cartwheel.

The Huligai infantrymen, who were under concentrated fire from the gunners, faltered on the spot. They were collapsing as soon as they came forward, shot down by the gunfire.

As the gunners rotated twice, the distance between the Huligai infantrymen and the gunners closed to about 10 *jang* [approximately 30 meters].

The commander of the gunners, gauging the distance, gave another order.

“Retreat! First rank, aim! Fire!”

Tatatang!

Following the commander’s order, the first rank of gunners, who had pulled their triggers, quickly moved to the very back of the formation. And the second rank of gunners, who became the vanguard, raised their long guns and aimed at the Huligai infantrymen.

“Fire!”

As the gunners repeated advancing and retreating three times, there were no more Huligai infantrymen crossing the swordsmen’s line.

To be precise, the Huligai infantrymen were annihilated.

Coinciding with the annihilation of the Huligai infantrymen, the Joseon cavalry also began to clean up the Huligai cavalry.

The Huligai cavalry desperately resisted the Joseon cavalry, but they could not withstand the six-barreled horse-mounted guns wielded by the Joseon cavalry.

Seeing the Huligai warriors’ attempts to break through the Joseon army’s formation being thwarted, Yi Sun-mong ordered his staff officer.

“Send a signal to the 2nd and 3rd Mobile Strike Forces and the Udige tribe. Tell them to mop up what’s left behind.”

“Yes, General.”

Shortly after, the signalman waved the signal flag.

As the Mobile Strike Force, having confirmed Yi Sun-mong’s order, moved towards the remaining tribal members of Imanju and Meon Teo-mu, the Udige tribe’s cavalry also began to move.

* * *

As the Udige tribe’s cavalry moved in coordination with the Joseon army’s Mobile Strike Force, the Huligai tribe’s cavalry, which had been watching the Udige tribe, had to block the Udige tribe’s path.

However, their morale was at rock bottom. This was because they had clearly witnessed the annihilation of their main force with their own eyes.

“Fight! If we collapse here, all our families will become slaves!”

Forcibly gathering their strength at the tribe leader’s desperate cry, they blocked the path of the Udige tribe, but the situation, where they were outnumbered by about 1:3, was hopeless.

In the end, the last warriors of the Huligai tribe fought desperately to stop the Udige tribe but were literally swept away.

Watching the tribe’s warriors all die, the remaining members of the Huligai and Odori tribes desperately tried to turn their carts around and escape.

However, their pursuers were relentless.

As a significant number of the remaining men turned into corpses, the tribesmen of the Huligai and Odori tribes gave up everything and accepted their fate.

Thus, the survivors of the Odori and Huligai tribes who fell into the hands of the Joseon army and the Udige tribe numbered about 20,000, mostly women and children.

With the survivors of the Huligai and Odori tribes in the middle, the Joseon army’s cavalry and the Udige tribe’s cavalry surrounded them in layers.

While the survivors of the Huligai and Odori tribes were shedding tears of blood, thinking about their bleak future, Yi Sun-mong was discussing the distribution of spoils with the Udige tribe’s Buyira [chieftain] and chieftains.

“Our Joseon will take 80% of the spoils.”

“That’s a bit….”

The Udige tribe’s Buyira wore a troubled expression at Yi Sun-mong’s words.

Even though they played a supporting role, the sacrifices made in the small-scale battles that took place while heading to Gilim were not small.

Therefore, he wanted to overturn the deal right away, but the problem was that he couldn’t.

‘If we overturn the deal here, we’ll end up like those Huligai and Odori!’

Considering the overwhelming firepower that the Joseon army had shown against the Huligai and Odori warriors just a moment ago, he absolutely could not overturn the deal.

In addition, according to the reports of the scouts who had gone out to scout the outskirts and returned, nearly 20,000 Joseon soldiers had come to a place 20 *li* [approximately 8 kilometers, an old Chinese unit of measurement] away.

If he made even a small mistake, the Udige would follow in the footsteps of the Huligai and Odori.

However, taking only 20% of those many spoils was a huge loss.

As if knowing the Udige Buyira’s mind, Yi Sun-mong continued.

“Ah! Our Joseon’s spoils do not include people.”

“Does that mean… you’re handing over all those people to us?”

“That is correct.”

The Udige Buyira’s face brightened at Yi Sun-mong’s answer.

‘This changes things!’

Most of the survivors were women and children, the most valuable captives.

With that many people, they could not only fill their need for slaves but also sell them to the Ming Dynasty or other tribes and make a decent profit.

In the end, after some more back-and-forth, the negotiations concluded:

-Joseon takes 70% of the spoils, including military horses, various weapons, and agricultural tools.

-The Udige tribe takes the survivors of the Huligai and Odori tribes and 30% of the spoils.

As the negotiations between the two sides ended, the warriors of the Joseon army and the Udige tribe began the distribution work.

Yi Sun-mong and the command staff stepped aside and directed the distribution and battlefield cleanup.

“Separate our soldiers’ corpses from the enemy’s corpses!”

“Wrap our soldiers’ corpses in blankets and load them onto carts!”

“Don’t forget to show respect!”

The Joseon soldiers paid silent tribute to the corpses of their dead comrades and recovered the corpses as carefully as possible.

However, the corpses of the Huligai and Odori tribe warriors who had killed them did not receive such treatment.

The Joseon soldiers roughly removed the armor from the corpses and collected the weapons separately to load them onto carts.

On one side, a large pit began to be dug to dispose of the corpses of the Huligai and Odori tribe warriors after the recovery work was completed. When that pit was finished, the corpses would be thrown in and cremated (火葬) [incinerated].

One of the staff officers, watching the soldiers moving busily in all directions, said to Yi Sun-mong.

“Isn’t it too generous to hand over the prisoners to those Udige bastards?”

“It’s an order from His Majesty. The Joint Chiefs of Staff also agreed.”

“I know that, but seeing that number of people, I feel it’s a waste. Joseon is lacking in everything, but isn’t the most lacking thing people?”

Yi Sun-mong clicked his tongue at the staff officer’s words.

“Tsk! Did you see the eyes of those prisoners? They’re overflowing with venom. Do you think it would be beneficial to bring such venomous people to Joseon? Do you want more *Hwacheok* (禾尺) [outcasts/lower class] types to appear and suffer trying to catch them?”

“If we tame them properly….”

“It’s best to entrust the task of removing the poison to those who know how to remove it properly.”

Yi Sun-mong pointed his chin at the Udige tribe and concluded.

“By the time the eastern expedition is over and we head west again, those bastards will have removed all the poison on their own. That’s the best way.”