Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 299

299. Departure (5)

“It appears the pirate ships are gathering,” the chief reported.

Kang Nam-gil responded with a cold smile. “Trying to weave a ‘Net of Heaven and Earth’ [a military tactic involving multiple defensive layers]? Foolish bastards.”

* * *

Deploying multiple layers of troops to defend against a concentrated enemy attack was a common defensive tactic.

Among Joseon military commanders, this tactic was known as ‘Net of Heaven and Earth’.

The idea was that no matter how strong the attacking enemy was, their strength would rapidly diminish after breaking through two or three defensive lines, eventually causing them to falter and become vulnerable to a counterattack.

The ‘Battle of Kursk’ [a major World War II battle on the Eastern Front] is a famous example of this tactic on a large scale.

That’s why Kang Nam-gil scoffed at the pirates’ movements.

If this were land, the ‘Net of Heaven and Earth’ would be a reasonable strategy.

On land, even makeshift defensive structures could be firmly secured, effectively immobilizing the enemy.

However, they were at sea.

Unless they rammed their ships directly into the bow of the Maengjin, they couldn’t stop its advance.

Given the Maengjin’s size and sturdiness, pirate ships—the largest of which were only the size of transport vessels—would be bounced away unless they collided head-on.

And even if they managed to immobilize it as they intended, they would be the ones in trouble. The Maengjin was much larger than their ships and heavily armed with cannons and rifles.

* * *

“The most important thing is…”

Watching the approaching pirate fleet, Kang Nam-gil turned to look at the sister ships following behind.

“The enemy we have to fight isn’t just the Maengjin, and I have no intention of becoming a sacrifice.”

The pirate fleet’s movement resembled a pack of wolves hunting a herd of deer.

They would pick a suitable target and attack it as a group.

They might miss some, but they would surely catch their target and fill their bellies.

* * *

Kang Nam-gil raised his voice to address the sailors.

“Hear me, soldiers!”

Gathering the attention of the soldiers on the first deck, Kang Nam-gil continued. “We are the first Joseon fleet to set foot on this sea! When moving to a new neighborhood, it’s customary to offer even a piece of barley cake! Therefore, treat them with utmost sincerity! Send those bastards to the Dragon Palace [a mythical underwater palace in Korean folklore] with all your heart! That is the best hospitality!”

The sailors on the first deck, and those on the second deck who heard his words through the speaking tube, all raised their fists in the air and shouted.

“Uwooo!”

At that moment, a sailor observing the pirates from the crow’s nest sent a signal.

“Enemy ships are within firing range!”

Upon the chief’s report, Kang Nam-gil stretched the baton he was holding upwards.

“Hoo-eup! Hoo! Hoo-eup!” [deep breathing sound]

Taking a deep breath, Kang Nam-gil swung the baton down.

“Fire!”

“Fire!”

Kwakwakwang!

Instantly, with a thunderous roar, both sides of the Maengjin-ho’s massive hull were obscured by smoke.

* * *

The pirate ships approaching the Maengjin-ho were thrown into complete chaos by the bombardment.

“What kind of cannonball flies 200 paces (approximately 600m)!” Wang Yi, the captain of the pirate ship, who had been targeting a ship of a shape he had never seen before and was suddenly drenched in a shower of water, shouted with a half-crazed face.

“Damage?”

“None!”

“Captain! There! There!”

At his subordinate’s cry, Wang Yi looked where the subordinate was pointing and gritted his teeth.

“Damn it!”

Where the subordinate pointed, the ships of his fellow pirates, who had been racing alongside his, were tilting to one side. It was clear at a glance that they had suffered serious damage and were on the verge of sinking.

The problem was that there were more than one or two such ships.

“Captain! Should we pull back?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Do you think the others will leave us alone if we retreat now?”

“But…”

“Keep rowing! We need to get within 50 paces (approximately 160m) to fire the crossbows! Move! We can only survive if we move!”

“Yes! Captain! Row!”

At Wang Yi’s command, the pirates gripping the oars began to row with gritted teeth.

* * *

“Hurry and plug the holes!”

“Plug the holes quickly if you don’t want to become fish food!”

Jang Hak-soo, who was leading one of the pirate ships approaching to attack the Maengjin, grabbed the railing and shouted desperately.

The pirate ship he was steering was slowly sinking from the stern.

The pirate ship Jang Hak-soo was steering was approaching, aiming for the left flank of the Maengjin.

However, unfortunately, the direction his pirate ship was approaching coincided exactly with the firing line of one of the cannons installed on the second deck of the Maengjin.

And the Joseon navy was not about to miss this opportunity.

The cannonball fired by the Joseon navy grazed the pirate ship’s second mast, pierced through the deck, and made a hole in the bottom of the stern.

Water began to enter through that hole, and Jang Hak-soo’s ship began to sink from the stern.

Although a significant number of pirate ships suffered fatal damage from the first bombardment, the pirates persistently approached the Maengjin-ho. And as if waiting for this, the Maengjin-ho’s second bombardment followed.

Kwakwakwang!

Once again, the Joseon army’s cannonballs rained down on the pirate ships.

The second bombardment inflicted even more serious losses on the pirates. While the cannonballs used in the first bombardment were single-body cannonballs, simple iron balls, the second cannonballs were ‘Byeong-sik (丙式) General Cannons’ made specifically for the Challenger and Haeung [types of Joseon warships].

* * *

They tried to configure separate cannons and gunpowder for the Byeokjincheonle [a type of Korean cannon], like the operation method of the Yuksu army [Korean marine corps] and Panokseon [a type of Korean warship], but efficiency problems arose, and Hyang developed the Byeong-sik General Cannon.

To be precise, Hyang’s obsession disguised as efficiency was a stronger aspect.

Whatever the beginning, the Byeong-sik General Cannon created in this way boasted even better performance than the Eul-sik General Cannon [another type of Korean cannon], and it increased efficiency by using only two types of cannonballs: Byeong-sik Cheonjacheoltanja [a type of cannonball] and Byeong-sik Bigyeokjincheonle [a type of cannonball].

* * *

The Bigyeokjincheonle that poured down in this way exploded in the sky above the pirate ships, on the decks, or after piercing through the decks and entering the places where the rowers were.

This was a method devised while dealing with the Wokou [Japanese pirates] and the fake Wokou in the West Sea.

The aim was to inflict more serious damage on the hulls and the Wokou and fake Wokou on board by exploding in several places.

And the pirates who received that bombardment were experiencing a living hell.

“Ugh…”

The pirate Oh Ah-sam grabbed his bloodied left arm and surveyed the surrounding deck.

Around him, the deck was soaked with blood from his fellow pirates.

Limbs of unknown origin were scattered everywhere, and comrades who had survived immediate death but suffered serious injuries were writhing in that sea of blood, groaning and screaming.

Oh Ah-sam looked at the mast he was leaning against.

Thanks to the thick mast, as thick as an adult man’s waist, shielding his body, Oh Ah-sam only lost his left arm.

Barely managing to raise himself, Oh Ah-sam approached a hole in the deck.

“Ugh!”

Oh Ah-sam vomited as he looked down through the hole.

The sunlight that streamed in through the hole Oh Ah-sam was looking down, as well as several other holes, clearly showed the carnage below.

None of the surviving comrades and slaves rowing below the deck were alive.

This tragedy was not only happening on Oh Ah-sam’s ship.

Crack!

As a black iron ring was embedded in the mast with a loud noise, Gong Sam-nam and his comrades’ gazes all turned to the mast.

And at that very moment, the iron ring embedded in the mast exploded.

Bang!

At the same time as the explosion, the iron balls inside the cannonball, the fragmented shell of the cannonball, and the shattered pieces of wood from the mast mercilessly tore apart the bodies of the pirates around them.

Bigyeokjincheonle boasted even more terrible power at sea than on land.

Most of the pirates were not wearing armor in case they fell into the sea.

Even those who wore armor only wore small metal plates covering important vital points such as the heart.

In addition, they were packed tightly on the narrow decks of ships that were at best the size of transport vessels.

Therefore, when a Bigyeokjincheonle exploded in the center of these gathered pirates, it was not uncommon for one fragment to kill two or three pirates at the same time.

* * *

The pirate fleet that had been hit by the Bigyeokjincheonle was facing destruction.

Kang Nam-gil, watching the chaotic pirate fleet, pointed to a large ship in the distance and turned to the chief.

“Doesn’t that seem like the flagship no matter how you look at it?”

“That’s right!”

“Then, we should go say hello! Turn the helm to port!”

“Turn the helm to port!”

At Kang Nam-gil’s command, the helmsman vigorously turned the helm.

“There are still quite a few left?”

At the chief’s question, Kang Nam-gil pointed behind him with his chin and replied.

“We’re not the only ones here, are we?”

The chief, who immediately understood Kang Nam-gil’s words, smiled and replied.

“Understood!”

The Maengjin-ho, which had torn apart the pirate fleet, turned its bow towards the large ship that appeared to be the flagship to finish things off.

* * *

“Damn it!” Jao, the leader, who was facing a completely different situation than expected, cursed.

The ships of his subordinates, who had rushed in like a pack of sharks targeting a whale, numbered 27 in all. However, more than half of the ships had disappeared in just two bombardments.

The ship they had targeted was not a whale but a great white shark.

The great white shark, which had bitten the smaller sharks, was now rushing towards him.

“Leader, should we run away?”

“With this slow ship?”

“…”

At Jao’s retort, the subordinate’s mouth closed tightly.

In order to mount the cannons purchased from a Ming merchant [referring to the Ming Dynasty of China], Jao’s ship had to undergo a massive reinforcement construction. As a result, the weight of the ship increased, and the speed was greatly reduced.

“We can’t escape with this slow ship. Even if we could escape, the other fleet leaders wouldn’t stand still. So, there’s only one answer. We have to trust the cannons. I should trust the cannons used by the Ming army!”

Having made up his mind, Jao shouted to his subordinates.

“Prepare the cannons! We’ll catch that damn bastard!”

“Yes!”

“At maximum speed! Tell the rowers! Tell them to row until their arms burst!”

“Yes! Woo-ah!”

At Jao’s command, the subordinates answered with shouts.

Jao and his subordinates were all pirates to the core.

As people for whom death was a common occurrence, they were instead filled with fighting spirit.

And so, the ship Jao was on began to pick up speed, facing the Maengjin-ho head-on.

* * *

As the Maengjin-ho approached, Jao shouted.

“80 paces! 80 paces! Light the fuses when you get within 80 paces (approximately 100m)!”

Listening to his subordinates’ replies, Jao gripped the railing and muttered.

“Damn cannons…”

As the Ming merchant had said, the cannon Jao had obtained could fire an iron ball of 30 geun (approximately 18kg) up to 200 paces (approximately 240m).

However, this was limited to land. This distance was possible when the gun carriage was firmly fixed on solid ground.

However, the gun carriage would be placed on a ship. In particular, pirate ships that emphasized speed were not very sturdy, so Jao had to carry out a massive reinforcement construction on his ship.

Even so, problems remained.

If they put the maximum amount of gunpowder in the cannon and fired it, the ship would not be able to withstand it.

Therefore, Jao had to repair the ship again and reduce the amount of gunpowder put into the cannon.

Due to the reduced gunpowder, they had to get within 100 paces (approximately 120m) of the target in order for the fired cannonballs to be effective.

* * *

The two ships, rushing towards each other, finally crossed paths.

The distance between the two ships was about 40 jang (approximately 120m). With each other’s flanks clearly visible, Kang Nam-gil and Jao shouted simultaneously.

“Fire the cannons!”

“Fire!”

Kwakwakwang!

‘Only a blind man could miss at this distance!’

‘More than 100 paces! This is enough!’

As Kang Nam-gil and Jao’s thoughts crossed, the iron balls from both sides crossed in the sky.

And joy and sorrow were divided.

Crack! Bang!

The ship Jao was on was hit by the iron balls and Bigyeokjincheonle fired from the Maengjin-ho and began to sink, riddled with holes.

Jao, whose chest was pierced by a piece of wood that had been ejected by the explosion of the Bigyeokjincheonle, looked at the Maengjin-ho with an unbelievable expression.

The cannonballs fired from Jao’s ship accurately hit the hull of the Maengjin-ho. However, the hull of the Maengjin-ho lightly deflected the 30 geun iron balls.

“I can’t believe it…”

These were Jao’s last words.

* * *

“What is the damage status?”

“None!”

As soon as the cannonballs fired from the pirate ship hit the hull, Kang Nam-gil immediately checked the damage.

Upon receiving the report that there was no damage, Kang Nam-gil unknowingly raised both arms in the air and shouted.

“His Highness the Crown Prince, Cheonse [Korean for genius]!”

It was because he remembered what Hyang had said when he first received the ship.

-A hole in the hull of a Challenger-class battleship? Unless it hits a reef, there’s no way it will get a hole from ordinary shelling.

* * *

The reason why the Maengjin-ho was able to withstand the 30 geun iron balls was that the panels that made up the sides of the hull were double-layered, and not just simple double-layered.

The method Hyang introduced was the method the United States had introduced to frigates like the Constitution [a famous US Navy ship].

It was a form of plywood in which two sheets of board were orthogonal to each other, simply put, without adhesive.

It was thanks to this trick that the Challenger-class battleships became infamous.