Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 559

559. River of Blood (5)

Even though Jo Byeong-deok’s orders hadn’t arrived yet, the Liaodong Army soldiers were moving exactly as Yi Jing-ok had hoped.

The Liaodong Army’s movements were the result of two traps set by Hyang and the Joseon army.

The first trap was the iron wire entanglement.

The Joseon army had laid a total of five layers of iron wire entanglements. The first three layers were positioned along the Yalu Riverbank in front of Insan Fortress, while the remaining two layers were placed to the left and right, centered on the Insan Fortress.

After breaking through the initial three layers of iron wire, the Liaodong army instinctively moved towards the areas without them, concentrating their forces in front of Insan Fortress.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately for them, there were structures in front of Insan Fortress that appeared to offer cover. Consequently, the Liaodong soldiers began to converge on the fortress.

And this was the second trap Hyang had prepared.

* * *

The second trap was the moat constructed in front of Insan Fortress.

“Is that what you call a moat?”

“Usually, a moat involves digging into the ground…”

When they first saw Hyang’s design, the officials were puzzled. Traditionally, a moat was a wide, deep ditch dug around a fortress wall, often filled with water.

However, Hyang’s moat was different. It was to be built along the fortress wall, but instead of digging into the ground, it involved constructing stone structures above ground.

“It will serve the purpose of a moat effectively enough,” Hyang explained to the officials.

– Stone structures will be built along the fortress wall, but with passages in between instead of completely enclosing it. Also, it will be made with at least two layers.

This forces the enemy to pass through these passages, preventing them from swarming the fortress all at once. In other words, the defending forces can control the number of enemies they face at any given time.

– The stone structures won’t simply be built high. Viewed from the side, they’ll have a triangular cross-section that’s nearly vertical on the side facing the fortress wall.

This prevents attackers from using the moat as cover.

– Even if the attackers try to position artillery within the moat to attack the fortress wall, the slope of the moat will cause the shells to overshoot the wall. Even if they try to lower the angle, the artillery’s recoil could overturn the gun carriage.

– If gunports are aligned with these moats and passages, it will create an incredibly deadly killing zone.

“Hmm…”

The officials who listened to Hyang’s explanation imagined the scene.

Before the eyes of the enemies rushing in like a flood, maze-like structures would appear. The bewildered enemies would eventually spread out along the maze.

A group of enemies would climb the slope of the stone structure blocking their path, only to be showered with *joran* [small iron pellets] bullets and collapse, covered in blood.

The moment they passed through the confusingly curved passages and stepped in front of the fortress wall, cannons and long rifles would unleash their fire.

All the officials who imagined this shuddered.

“It will be hell on earth…”

However, that was from the attacker’s perspective; for the defender, it was the best possible defense.

In the end, plain fortresses, rather than mountain fortresses, were either newly built or renovated according to Hyang’s design.

And as the officials had predicted, hell on earth was unfolding in front of Insan Fortress.

* * *

“Charge!”

“Waaaaa!”

Following their commander’s orders, the Liaodong soldiers shouted and charged towards the main gate of Insan Fortress.

From above, Insan Fortress looked like two overlapping squares, slightly offset from each other.

The main gate was located on the front left side of the octagonal star-shaped fortress wall, where the 2-*jang* [approximately 6 meters] high outer wall and the 3-*jang* [approximately 9 meters] high inner wall overlapped, creating eight sharp corners.

The main gate of the camp and the entrance to the fortress were separated by the moat area of Insan Fortress.

Normally, a drawbridge would be lowered between the fortress entrance and the main gate of the camp to serve as a passage. However, now that war had broken out, the drawbridge was raised and secured in place.

Consequently, the Liaodong soldiers rushed into the moat area with traditional siege tools like ladders and ropes.

And here, as Hyang had predicted, the Liaodong soldiers became bogged down.

“Move! Move!”

“Don’t push! Don’t push!”

“You! What unit are you with?!”

“Where am I?!”

As the Liaodong soldiers who had rushed in from all directions became concentrated, the moat area quickly descended into chaos. It was a melting pot of confusion, filled with soldiers who had lost their units and were wandering aimlessly, soldiers desperately trying to get inside, and soldiers hesitating, fearing hidden traps.

The Joseon army seized this opportunity and launched their attack.

The first attack came from the *Bigyeokjincheonleis* [a type of Korean bomb].

Bang! Kwabang!

The *Bigyeokjincheonleis*, fired into areas where soldiers were densely packed, once again lived up to their infamous reputation. Each explosion resulted in dozens of Liaodong soldiers being killed or wounded, writhing on the ground.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

“We can’t retreat!”

“Don’t push!”

The Liaodong soldiers, witnessing their comrades dying around them, desperately tried to retreat, but were blocked by the soldiers pushing in from behind.

In a situation where those trying to retreat and those trying to advance were entangled and unable to move forward or backward, the *Bigyeokjincheonlei* bombardment continued.

Bang! Kwabang!

In the end, the junior officers and soldiers on the scene had no choice but to charge towards the fortress wall.

“Damn it! There’s only one way! Charge!”

“Charge!”

At the officers’ command, the soldiers unknowingly spat out Joseon swear words.

“*Shibal!* [Korean profanity, similar to ‘fuck’]”

“Yeah! Let’s die!”

Half resigned, the soldiers threw themselves into the maze created by the moat.

They couldn’t afford luxuries like carefully checking for traps or cautiously advancing; it was an all-out sprint.

* * *

As the soldiers began to sprint, the bottleneck seemed to ease.

However, at the entrance of the passage facing the fortress wall, an iron wire entanglement was firmly in place.

“Cut it! Cut it!”

The soldiers, wielding axes they had somehow acquired, began to strike at the connection between the iron wire entanglement and its supports.

While the soldiers clung to the iron wire entanglement, desperately hacking away, the buckshot cannon aimed at the passage entrance unleashed its fire.

Bang!

The soldiers showered with the buckshot cannon’s *joran* bullets didn’t even have time to scream before falling in pieces. Only a hand, belonging to someone unknown, remained clutching the iron wire entanglement they had struggled so hard to cut.

As the front row fell victim to the buckshot cannon’s fire, the soldiers behind them surged forward towards the iron wire entanglement. Clutching the blood-soaked axe handles that had fallen to the ground, they hacked away like madmen, just as the dead soldiers had done.

“Uwaaaaaaa!”

Another buckshot cannon unleashed its fire at the soldiers screaming their last words with tears of blood as they swung their axes.

Kwabang!

* * *

With the passage blocked, a group of soldiers began to climb the moat’s wall.

The height of the moat wall was roughly 1.5 *jang* (approximately 4.5 meters).

It was a height that would definitely cause injury if they jumped down recklessly, but a height they could safely jump from if they prepared properly.

Seeing the few soldiers who had run up the slope and successfully broken through the moat, the other soldiers all started running up the stone structure.

As the soldiers flocked to it, the buckshot cannon, which had been watching them from above, fired *joran* bullets.

Bang! Kwabang!

The soldiers who had climbed to the top of the moat’s stone structure without any cover were covered in blood and rolled backward.

* * *

As time passed, the iron wire entanglements, stained with the soldiers’ blood, were cut one by one, and the Liaodong soldiers began to break through the moat area.

The same was true for the soldiers who had climbed the stone structure.

After hammering ropes with hooks into the stone structure and descending, the other soldiers lay flat on the slope of the stone structure and crawled forward.

As the Liaodong army adapted, the Joseon army began to change its response.

The firing distance of the *Bigyeokjincheonleis* was shortened, and the amount of fuse wrapped around the wooden core was greatly reduced.

Bang! Peopeong! Kwabang!

The fired *Bigyeokjincheonleis* exploded over the heads of the Liaodong soldiers who were lying down. The Liaodong soldiers, who had exposed their backs, suffered fatal injuries.

* * *

The Liaodong soldiers, who had broken through the moat after such a desperate struggle, began to run towards the fortress wall of Insan Fortress.

As many Liaodong soldiers began to enter the killing zone between the fortress wall and the moat, the *Eulsikhwachas* [Korean multiple rocket launcher], which had been silent until then, began to fire all at once.

Tatatatatatang!

Blood splattered from the soldiers’ bodies, and dust rose from the surrounding ground as the Liaodong soldiers running towards the fortress wall collapsed in droves.

“Find the blind spot!”

The surviving commanders desperately ordered them to find a blind spot, and the soldiers also looked around in all directions.

However, there was no blind spot on the fortress wall of Insan Fortress.

The fortress wall, which rose sharply upward, was smooth without a single protrusion. The gun emplacements and gunports located in all directions were also positioned to penetrate inward. This meant there was no cover for the attacking enemies to rely on.

The best feature of this fortress wall was the turrets at the corners extending in eight directions. They weren’t simply pointed shapes, but had a rhombus-like corner added.

The advantage of this shape was the elimination of blind spots. If it were simply a pointed or rounded corner, it would be difficult to properly respond if the enemy clung to the fortress wall, but by making it a rhombus shape, it became possible to deal with enemies clinging to the wall.

At least two turrets and fortress walls adjacent to the left and right could crossfire, greatly increasing the defensive power.

And the increased defensive power meant the attacking side would suffer tremendous losses.

As an aside, Hyang had said this when drawing the blueprint:

“It’s a bit much to say this, but… Westerners certainly know how to kill people on the battlefield.”

* * *

While the bloody battle raged in front of the fortress wall of Insan Fortress, the fighting didn’t stop in other areas.

The reckless charges had ceased, replaced by a fierce firefight.

“*Maknae* [youngest member]! Ammo box!”

“Here it is!”

Simultaneously with the response, Han Il-nam tore open the lid of the ammo box and handed bundles of ammunition to Ojang and the other soldiers. Ojang, with a bundle of 20 bullets stuck in a sturdy cotton belt around his neck, loaded a new bullet into his long rifle and aimed forward.

Tang!

“*Maknae*, what are you doing! Hurry up and get a new ammo box!”

“Yes, yes!”

At the same time as his reply, Han Il-nam ran quickly along the traffic route. Thanks to the Liaodong army’s general who had crossed the river and joined the battle, bullets occasionally flew in, and Han Il-nam had to duck low and run through the trench.

Ojang, glancing at Han Il-nam running safely, immediately reloaded and pulled the trigger while cursing at the enemy camp.

Tang! Ping!

“Ike! [Japanese exclamation, similar to ‘ouch!’]”

Ojang, flinching for a moment at the enemy bullet that grazed right next to him as he pulled the trigger, immediately reloaded and aimed at the enemy camp, spitting out curses.

“*Ssang!* [Korean profanity, similar to ‘damn’] Fucking pit!”