Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 561

561. River of Blood (7)

Jo Byeong-deok circled the map with his command stick, focusing on the Inshan encampment, and continued speaking.

“If we cut off this damned castle’s connection to the rear, the enemies will have no choice but to come out to avoid isolation. We must aim for that.”

At Jo Byeong-deok’s words, the commanders stared intently at the map, making various calculations.

One of the subordinate generals, who had been calculating the odds, pointed out a problem.

“We could be caught in a pincer movement, sir.”

“Of course, that’s highly likely.”

Jo Byeong-deok, readily acknowledging his subordinate’s point, grinned and continued.

“However, the Joseon army we’ve identified numbers 200,000. Half of them are naval forces. And the number of Joseon soldiers currently stationed in that damned castle is roughly 50,000. This means the remaining 50,000 are scattered throughout Joseon. How many of those troops can make it here in time? If you were the Joseon commander, would you gather the remaining forces here in this situation, or would you gather them in Hanseong [present-day Seoul]?”

The general who had pointed out the possibility of a pincer movement thought for a moment before answering Jo Byeong-deok’s question.

“They would gather in Hanseong, sir.”

“Right?”

Having received the answer, Jo Byeong-deok looked at the other generals and continued.

“If we succeed in the flanking maneuver, they will have no choice but to abandon the castle and come out. If the battle takes place in a wide-open field, we will have an overwhelming advantage. Pincer movement? Of course, there is always a possibility of being caught in a pincer. But how many of the Joseon soldiers who rush in will be well-trained elites? Most of them will be a disorganized rabble composed of farmers conscripted from nearby.”

Bang!

Jo Byeong-deok slammed the map with his command stick, concluding his remarks.

“In this battle, the enemies forced a choice upon us, and we had to be chosen. And we suffered considerable damage. But now it’s our turn to force a choice upon them. Therefore! First, we focus on firmly establishing the bridgehead we’ve secured! In the meantime, we repair the damaged cannons!”

At Jo Byeong-deok’s words, the faces of the subordinate generals brightened. The size of the Yodong army still overwhelmed Joseon’s forces. If they could avoid battles that resulted in such massive losses as today, they could continue to pressure the Joseon army. And in the rear, they continued to train soldiers. And that number was steadily increasing from 50,000.

Among them, the commander of the Hwaryong cannon battery suggested to Jo Byeong-deok.

“While the restoration of the Hwaryong cannons is important, the relocation of the battery is also necessary. When will you decide to execute it?”

“Three days from now.”

“That’s not enough. You need to give us at least two more days.”

“Two days?”

“At the very least.”

At the Hwaryong cannon battery commander’s response, Jo Byeong-deok looked troubled.

The firepower of the Hwaryong cannons, which he had been confident in, had failed to breach the Joseon army’s walls.

However, he couldn’t abandon the Hwaryong cannons because of that damned Joseon’s iron net. The firepower of the Hwaryong cannons was considered the most suitable for destroying that iron net.

The problem was that the Hwaryong cannon battery’s position was within the range of the Joseon bastards’ cannons in today’s battle. So, naturally, they had to move it back, but moving and constructing a new position required considerable time and manpower.

In other words, in a situation where time was of the essence, it had become a burden that was holding them back, yet it was too good to abandon.

After much deliberation, Jo Byeong-deok finally came to an ambiguous conclusion.

“I’ll give you one more day. And I’ll provide additional support from nearby units. Finish all preparations within four days.”

“We will do our best.”

After hearing the Hwaryong cannon battery commander’s response, Jo Byeong-deok issued orders to his subordinate generals again.

“I will prepare and issue orders soon, so do your best to restore the Hwaryong cannon battery and other batteries. In the meantime, refrain from unnecessary offensives and only carry out minimal checks.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Battles are always difficult, but siege warfare is the most difficult of all. You must do your best to maintain the morale of the soldiers.”

“Yes, sir!”

As the meeting ended, only Jo Byeong-deok and his staff remained in the military tent.

“Hoo~. Siege warfare is said to be the epitome of difficult battles, and it’s really tough.”

As Jo Byeong-deok grumbled with a sigh, the staff officer next to him comforted him.

“Originally, siege warfare is not a battle that can be concluded in a day or two, sir.”

“That’s true. That’s true. It’s just surprising that there are walls that can withstand those terrifying Hwaryong cannons, and it’s a bit unsettling that the Joseon bastards made those walls. Let’s refine the plan a bit more until the day of the final assault.”

“Yes.”

“The biggest problem is that strange object the Joseon bastards launched into the sky. It seems certain that it’s the flying sphere that was only rumored, and it’s really troublesome. It’s watching all our movements from the sky….”

When one of the staff officers mentioned the flying sphere and expressed his difficulty, the staff officers’ reactions were divided into two. One side had a troubled expression, while the other side had an indifferent expression.

“Is that such a big problem? It’s annoying that it’s floating in the sky and looking down on us, but isn’t the problem the communication from the sky to the ground? Of course, they’ve prepared appropriate means, but it’s useless without a messenger, isn’t it?”

“Of course, you can see it that way. But since it’s watching all our movements from the sky, won’t their response be faster?”

As the words continued to assert the danger of the flying sphere, the opposing staff officer scoffed.

“Hmph! That’s what you call paranoia!”

“What!”

“If the front line is spread over dozens or hundreds of miles, its usefulness would be great, but what is the current front line like? It’s just a small space! How much difference do you think it will make whether you know it sooner or later in such a place? If you’re too conscious of that object floating in the sky and can’t move properly, that’s a bigger loss!”

In the end, Jo Byeong-deok stepped in to put an end to it.

“I’ve seen that object myself, and I think it’s threatening enough. But, as you said just now, considering that the battlefield we’re staying in is not wide, there’s no need to pay too much attention to that object.”

“Yes.”

Having settled the situation, Jo Byeong-deok and his staff began to refine the next operation more meticulously.

* * *

It was truly a day that deserved the expression ‘bloody battle.’ However, the morale of Jo Byeong-deok and his staff, and even the entire Yodong army, did not decline much.

-Although they say Joseon has grown recently, it is a small country. They probably don’t have enough troops to stand against us.

-The fact that siege warfare is difficult means that they have deployed a lot of troops in the castle. If you think about it the other way around, it means that once we get over this hurdle, it’s smooth sailing.

-In other words, once we get over this hurdle, the overflowing wealth of Joseon will be ours.

The Jurchen soldiers, who were accustomed to plunder, raised their voices.

“We’re going to die anyway! Let’s give it a proper shot!”

“Ooh!”

“The gold and silver treasures of Joseon are mine!”

At these words of the Jurchen soldiers, the soldiers from the Ming army also gradually changed in a similar way.

* * *

However, this was based on a fundamentally flawed premise.

-Joseon’s standing army was larger than they expected. Of course, they were scattered here and there due to the need to defend a wider territory than expected, but the number was by no means small.

-The people of Joseon, who would be conscripted and sent to the front lines in the event of war, were not a disorganized rabble.

According to Hyang’s reserve army system [a military system emphasizing local defense], they received training every off-season, and during that training, they experienced live-fire shooting of at least 10 rounds or more. In addition, they had experienced basic formation operations through stone battles that were always done at the end.

-Jo Byeong-deok was confident that Joseon would not be able to make it in time, but this was ignoring Joseon’s railway network.

It wasn’t that Jo Byeong-deok didn’t know about the railway. However, the railway operated in Ming was inferior to Joseon’s in every way. It was a fatal mistake to apply his experience in Ming to Joseon.

-The flying sphere was the same.

If limited to the Inshan encampment, Jo Byeong-deok and his staff were right. However, through the optical communication device mounted on the flying sphere, the rear could also grasp the information on the front lines, and preparations could be made in advance accordingly.

-Finally, Jo Byeong-deok’s misjudgment was the size of the Joseon army he was facing and would face in the future.

He estimated the size of the Joseon army blocking him to be 50,000, which was somewhat accurate.

According to Hyang’s claim, the size of the troops deployed in and around the Inshan encampment was 3 ‘Bu’ [military unit] that filled the quota, about 50,000 men.

However, the troops deployed in the Inshan encampment and the trench lines lined up on the left and right totaled 2 ‘Bu’. The remaining 1 ‘Bu’, 17,000 troops, were firmly preparing behind as reserves.

And behind that, the Joseon army waiting in the area named the offensive preparation line was currently 1 ‘Young’ [another military unit], about 88,000 men, and soldiers were continuing to gather through the railway even now.

The final number of Joseon troops to gather on the offensive waiting line was 3 ‘Young’, 260,000. And that was the beginning.

* * *

While a bloody battle was taking place in the Inshan encampment on the Amnok River, a bloody battle was also taking place in Hanseong.

“It’s an urgent report from Inshan!”

“Copy it and send it upstairs! You have to copy at least 20 copies!”

“We don’t have enough people!”

“What are you going to do with the typewriters!”

“Here’s the list of supplies!”

“The numbers are wrong here! What are you going to do if the numbers are wrong from the first page! Are you using your toes to calculate on the abacus! Or have all the counting rods broken? Rewrite it and bring it back right now!”

All sorts of shouts and curses were echoing loudly in the Ministry of National Defense, and the same was true in the Ministry of Finance.

“I told you to put a withdrawal limit on the battlefield, what is this!”

“I did, but somehow they knew…”

“Find out who leaked it right now! Find them and throw them into the record office right away! If you can’t catch them, I’ll throw you into the record office first!”

“Hick! I will definitely find them, Minister!”

The Vice Minister, frightened by the Finance Minister’s ferocity, quickly ran out.

One wall of the Finance Minister’s office was filled with all sorts of charts and graphs.

It was a war that had already been anticipated, but as it actually broke out, the Ministry of Finance was waging a war with numbers due to unexpected expenditures and larger-than-expected expenditures.

This situation was the same for Seungwhadang [the Prime Minister’s office], the Prime Minister’s office, and all other government offices.

“It is certain that there will be more crimes taking advantage of the chaos. We must pay attention to strengthening public safety.”

“Yes. I will issue orders to the police.”

“Is the reserve army conscription going smoothly?”

“Yes. Fortunately, all the people are following us well. I think we will be able to meet the scheduled timetable.”

“That’s a relief.”

Hyang, who had a relieved expression, immediately gave a warning.

“Do not forget to properly check the quality of the supplies to be provided to them. You must keep in mind that there must be no humans who do foolish things to satisfy their personal desires.”

‘The National Defense Corps incident must not happen!’

As Hyang continued to emphasize, Hwang Hee stepped forward and answered.

“I will engrave it in my heart.”

Having dealt with the agenda, Hyang moved on to the next.

“Has the selection of the envoy to be sent to Ming been completed?”

At Hyang’s question, Heo Hoo stepped forward and answered.

“I am thinking of going myself. I will go and properly demand an explanation.”

“Your life may be in danger if you make a mistake.”

At Hyang’s warning, Heo Hoo smiled slightly and answered.

“If that happens, wouldn’t it be a good thing? If we burn all the ports of Ming under that pretext, it would be a much better deal. Isn’t it a much better deal to trade my one life for all the ports of Ming?”

At Heo Hoo’s words, Hyang shook his head slightly.

“We will burn all the ports of Ming anyway if things go wrong. So, take care of your life and come back.”

“I can’t be sure, but I will do my best.”