Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 467

467. Liaodong (3)

As the Eulshik Hwachas [Korean rocket artillery] and cannons joined the battle, Oh Bang-seop looked relieved.

“Hoo~. I finally feel like my chest is clearing up.”

With a refreshed expression, as if a weight had been lifted, Oh Bang-seop raised his telescope again to survey the battlefield.

Oh Bang-seop, who had been looking beyond the battlefield devastated by the Eulshik Hwachas and cannons, wore a grim smile.

“Oho~.”

Having spotted Ayuta and his party through the telescope, Oh Bang-seop immediately ordered a messenger.

“Go and get Shin Chong!”

“Shin Chong?”

“Man-bok!”

“Ah! Yes, sir!”

Shortly after, a soldier ran after the messenger to where Oh Bang-seop was.

“Reporting as ordered!”

“Oh, good! Man-bok! You’re here! Take this and watch 100 Jang (approximately 330 meters) behind!”

“Yes!”

Man-bok took the telescope Bang-seop handed him and scanned the battlefield. Oh Bang-seop pointed out the target from beside him.

“Do you see those guys gathered 100 Jang behind? The one in the middle is Han! Can you get him?”

“You mean the one riding the white-spotted brown horse?”

“That’s right!”

Man-bok put down the telescope, briefly estimated the distance, and turned to Bang-seop.

“I can get him!”

“Then get him!”

“Yes!”

Man-bok answered firmly, quickly loaded his gun, and raised it, aiming at Ayuta far away.

“The wind is….”

Watching the smoke and dust rising from the battlefield, Man-bok gauged the wind direction and strength, aimed at Ayuta, and slowly controlled his breathing.

Bang!

Oh Bang-seop, who had been observing Ayuta from beside Man-bok with a telescope, clenched his fist tightly.

“Got him!”

* * *

“Gack!”

“Han!”

“Haaan!”

Ayuta, who had been sitting perfectly on his horse, fell off with a short scream. The warriors around him hurriedly dismounted and rushed to Ayuta.

The old warrior, holding Ayuta who had fallen to the ground, looked at the other warriors after seeing the blood on his hands.

“He’s dead.”

“What?”

“How… Gack!”

Thwack!

Suddenly, one of the warriors around him fell to the ground with another short scream.

“What is this!”

“Everyone, get on your horses!”

“Retreat!”

“Signal flare… Gack!”

As his comrades around him fell one by one, spraying blood, Taksi, the oldest warrior, quickly leaned close to his horse and shouted.

“Everyone, retreat!”

At the same time as his shout, Taksi turned his body while lying down and shot a signal flare into the air. In other circumstances, it would have been a skill that onlookers would have admired.

Bweeek!!!!

As the signal flare soared into the sky with a loud noise, those who were still alive grabbed their reins and began to flee the battlefield.

However, the Joseon army did not simply let them go.

“Don’t miss with the Hwachas until the end!”

“Don’t let a single one escape!”

At the shouts of Oh Bang-seop and the officers, the soldiers fired the Hwachas and pulled the triggers of their long guns at the fleeing Jurchens.

“If those guys go back alive, they’ll come back even more cunning! Kill them all!”

Commanders who had gained combat experience in the north called the older Jurchen chieftains or warriors ‘Nohos (老虎, old tigers).’ It was a pun using ‘tiger (老虎)’ instead of ‘barbarian (胡),’ but the meaning was not a joke at all.

-A tiger that can no longer hunt animals because of old age attacks people. The problem is that these old tigers are not easy to hunt. Tigers who have survived to that age and accumulated all kinds of experience are extremely cunning. In addition, once they are threatened, they will cling to the opponent until they die or the opponent dies.

-The Jurchens are the same. If you don’t finish them off properly the first time, they will become more cunning and attack to take revenge. Once they decide to draw blood, you have to wipe them out.

This was the attitude of the Joseon army towards the Jurchens who were hostile to Joseon.

No, it was also the ‘law of the plains’ that encompassed not only the Jurchens but also the Mongols.

* * *

In the end, only a handful of Jurchens who attacked Gamoksabo managed to escape safely.

“If only we had the cavalry, we could have wiped them all out.”

Regretting the mobile patrol that had passed the fort just four days earlier, Oh Bang-seop gave orders to his subordinate officers.

“Clean up the battlefield. In particular, take good care of the chief’s body that Man-bok captured. We have to send it to Hanseong [old name for Seoul, the capital of Korea]. Ah! Make sure to collect any emblems or amulets that can identify which tribe he’s from!”

“Yes!”

At Oh Bang-seop’s command, the officers began to move, leading their subordinates.

However, Oh Bang-seop’s work did not end there.

“Find out how many residents were killed or injured, and get their names. We have to report to His Majesty the King.”

“Yes!”

“And properly investigate and bring the number of bullets and explosive grenades used by the Eulshik Hwachas and cannons.”

“Yes!”

“Investigate the soldiers who were killed or injured in the battle, as well as those who made meritorious achievements, and create a list!”

“Yes!”

After giving those orders, Oh Bang-seop grumbled quietly.

“Writing reports is more difficult than commanding a battle….”

Befitting the nickname ‘Land of Records,’ Joseon left definite records of everything. Later historians would call them ‘record fetishists’ as they looked at the mountain of records left almost pathologically. However, there were also good points to leaving records of everything.

Whenever the question of ‘Who started it first?’ came up, Korea had something definite to say.

“We have records, do you? Show me the original?”

* * *

While the cleanup was in full swing at Gamoksabo, there were those who were watching the Joseon army.

On the top of a hill about 200 Jang (approximately 660 meters) west of Gamoksabo.

Several Ming soldiers were lying on the ground, watching Gamoksabo.

Cheonho (Thousand-Household Commander) Jo Tae-nam, who had been quietly observing the situation at Gamoksabo, turned to Bucheonho (Vice Thousand-Household Commander) Ak Sang-ho, who was lying next to him.

“We saw something good while chasing those damn Jurchens.”

Ak Sang-ho nodded silently at Jo Tae-nam’s words.

“Let’s go down.”

“Yes.”

The two men quietly turned and came down the hill.

In the shadow of the hill, the Ming cavalry they commanded was hiding.

* * *

The cavalry commanded by Jo Tae-nam and Ak Sang-ho was part of a unit that had been ordered to subjugate the Ayuta tribe.

Through continued subjugation battles, they had inflicted serious damage on the Ayuta tribe, but chasing the Ayuta tribe, who had abandoned most of their possessions and fled on horseback, was not an easy task.

In the end, an order was issued to Jo Tae-nam’s unit.

-Pursue and annihilate them to the end.

In accordance with this order, Jo Tae-nam’s cavalry had been tracking the Ayuta tribe.

After a long and tedious chase, Jo Tae-nam found himself in a difficult situation when the Ayuta tribe fled to the Joseon border.

“Of all places….”

* * *

Ming and Joseon were vying for control of the Liaodong region, and various things were still happening covertly. Because of this, the relationship between the Ming and Joseon armies was ‘neither close nor distant (不可近不可遠) [a diplomatic term describing a cautious relationship].’

In other words, it was a relationship that was neither close nor distant. In case they got entangled, it would immediately become an international problem, so the soldiers of Ming and Joseon maintained a distant relationship as much as possible.

Because of this, the situation became difficult as the Ayuta tribe approached the Joseon border.

* * *

“Eish! The imperial order comes first! Pursue them!”

“Yes!”

Thus, Jo Tae-nam’s unit continued the pursuit. In doing so, they were able to catch the Ayuta tribe near the Songhua River, passing north of Gamoksabo.

“Cheonho! There are no warriors!”

Jo Tae-nam frowned at his subordinates’ report as he looked at the tent village that had become a mess due to the Ming army’s attack.

“Huh? Is this a trap? Or did they abandon them? Find out properly!”

Shortly after, the subordinates reported the whereabouts of the warriors.

“Those crazy bastards went to attack a Joseon village!”

Jo Tae-nam was horrified by his subordinates’ report.

“Those damn bastards! Move out immediately!”

“What should we do with those Jurchens?”

“Kill them!”

“Yes!”

Thus, Jo Tae-nam’s cavalry, having killed all the captured Ayuta tribesmen, immediately rode their horses.

“Which is the closest Joseon village?”

At Jo Tae-nam’s question, the guide pointed east.

“Gamoksabo is across the river!”

“Damn it!”

Jo Tae-nam cursed at the guide’s words.

“Of all the places to touch!”

The tenacity of the Joseon army was notorious even within the Ming army. If the foolish Jurchens just touched them, the Joseon army, especially the Joseon mobile patrol, would chase the problematic Jurchens to the end. They chased them so often that they crossed the border, and the diplomats of Ming and Joseon argued several times over this issue.

* * *

Ak Sang-ho, who was riding his horse next to Jo Tae-nam, joked.

“But this time, aren’t we the ones crossing over? Let Joseon get a little angry this time!”

“Is that how it works?”

As they talked, Jo Tae-nam’s cavalry, having crossed the shallowest part of the Songhua River, approached the west of Gamoksabo.

“I see that hill. Let’s take a look at the situation from there.”

“Yes.”

Hiding his subordinates in the shadow of the hill, Jo Tae-nam carefully climbed the hill.

He could have headed straight to Gamoksabo, but the situation could become an international problem if he made a mistake. Therefore, he had to move with caution.

Reaching the top of the low hill, the two men took out Joseon-made telescopes and put them to their eyes.

“It’s funny to look at Joseon with Joseon-made products.”

Jo Tae-nam nodded at Ak Sang-ho’s joke.

“It’s the same thing, but the ones made by our merchants are not very good….”

* * *

As Joseon-made telescopes became popular, Ming also created similar products. Of course, they could not make the same thing due to intellectual property rights issues, and there were also problems with glass manufacturing, so they were made by cutting and modifying crystals.

However, the material itself, crystal, was expensive, and the products were made by eye, so they boasted the worst cost-effectiveness.

Thanks to this, it was common for Ming army officers to obtain and possess Joseon-made telescopes.

* * *

As they joked and put the telescopes to their eyes, what was reflected was the warriors of the Ayuta tribe being smashed by the firepower of the Joseon army.

“Hmm….”

“Hoo….”

Jo Tae-nam and Ak Sang-ho watched the battle with great interest. In particular, Ak Sang-ho rummaged through his pockets, took out jerky, and chewed on it while watching the battle.

What caught the eyes of the two men watching the battlefield was the sight of the Eulshik Hwachas firing bullets from the turret of the fort and the scene of Ayuta being sniped and falling.

* * *

Finally, after watching the battle end with the annihilation of the Ayuta tribe’s warriors, the two men came down the hill and got back on their horses.

Jo Tae-nam, looking at the faces of his subordinates who were looking at them with tense faces, opened his mouth.

“The Joseon army finished it.”

At Jo Tae-nam’s words, relief and regret were mixed on the faces of his subordinates.

“We’re going back. Don’t forget that we have to take as much as we can when we go back. There will be rewards if we present it to His Majesty.”

“Yes!”

As he led his subordinates back, Jo Tae-nam turned to Ak Sang-ho.

“There will be a lot to write in the report.”

“That’s right.”

* * *

Meanwhile, in the northeastern part of Gamoksabo, on the northern hills of the Songhua River, a group of people were also observing the battle.

The people who had been quietly observing the battle got on their horses when the battle ended.

“Let’s go back to Taishi (Grand Preceptor) [a high-ranking official]. We have a lot to report.”

“Yes.”