Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 739

739. Dagger (9)

After getting the answer he wanted from Han Taek-gil, Lee Gil-son returned to his office to assess the situation.

“What’s the damage?”

At Lee Gil-son’s question, a subordinate shuffled through papers and answered.

“Five dead, twenty injured. Eight of them are serious.”

“The slaves?”

“Approximately 320 slaves were injured and brought in. The number of deaths is still being determined. I will check the remaining number of slaves immediately. I apologize.”

Lee Gil-son waved his hand dismissively at his subordinate’s bowed head.

“It’s too late to check now. More than half must have run off. Besides, the alliance is responsible for the slaves, so there’s no need to worry about it. What about the casualties among the hired locals?”

“About 20 deaths, and around 70 injured.”

“The damage is less than expected?”

“They ran as soon as they saw the bandits. Still, they returned and cleaned up the scene as soon as the attack was over.”

“Provide sufficient compensation to the families of the deceased and the injured, and give bonuses to those who participated in the cleanup.”

“Yes, sir.”

“What’s the situation at the scene now?”

“The Allied forces that were urgently dispatched are guarding the area. But the problem is what happens next.”

Lee Gil-son nodded at his subordinate’s point.

“We don’t have enough troops. To be exact, the number of bandits is increasing, but we aren’t receiving reinforcements.”

* * *

After the Suez scramble ended, the Allied countries drastically reduced the number of troops stationed in Suez.

It wasn’t because they trusted the agreement, but because of war expenses and internal political struggles.

During this period, mercenaries were the main players in the conflict.

Most of those familiar with both traditional melee weapons and the latest weaponry, like guns and cannons, were mercenaries.

Therefore, stationing a large army in Suez was not an easy task, even for the powerful Medici family.

The best solution would have been to station a standing army, but there was another reason holding them back.

In France and Portugal, the power struggle between nobles and kings was still ongoing.

* * *

After purging Count Afonso of Barcelos and his faction, the Duke of Braganza stepped down from the regency as soon as Afonso V came of age and served as the kingdom’s chancellor.

What was interesting was the Duke of Braganza’s behavior after seizing military and political power.

He focused on strengthening the royal authority rather than consolidating his own power.

The problem was that the beneficiary of this strengthened royal authority would not be Afonso V, but his son, John II.

This was the result of Afonso V’s choices.

When Count Barcelos was alive, Afonso V tried to push out the Duke of Braganza by joining forces with him.

However, Count Barcelos and the aristocratic factions were purged by the Duke of Braganza’s counterattack.

Afonso V, witnessing the deaths of Count Barcelos and the nobles, didn’t step forward even after the Duke of Braganza resigned as chancellor.

Afonso V continued to leave the power to the Duke of Braganza and spent his days indulging in alcohol and women.

“He’s hopeless.”

The Duke of Braganza, after assessing Afonso V’s condition, focused on strengthening the royal authority for John II, the son of Afonso V’s queen, Isabella, who was also his daughter.

France was in a similar situation.

The only difference was that Charles VII’s biggest rival was his own son, Louis XI.

* * *

Because of this situation, the Allied countries couldn’t deploy many troops to Suez.

Therefore, the Allied countries mainly operated cavalry.

The cavalry operated by the Allied countries was very different from the existing cavalry in Europe and the Middle East. It wasn’t a knight order formed by wealthy commoners or nobles at their own expense, but a cavalry managed by the state, similar to the Empire. The armament was also similar to the Empire, with long rifles as their main weapon.

Before they knew it, the Allied forces stationed in Suez began to call this cavalry ‘Dragoon’.

It was the appearance of dragoons far ahead of their time.

It was a cavalry with strong firepower, but its size was small compared to the area they had to defend.

Therefore, those who were unsure whether they were bandits or Mamluk cavalry began to run rampant, and this time, they were hit hard.

* * *

Lee Gil-son, grumbling about the Allied forces’ fatal weakness, ordered his subordinate.

“The Imperial Army has begun to move. Prepare the iron horses [trains] immediately so that the Imperial Army can use them.”

At Lee Gil-son’s order, his subordinate’s face brightened.

“They’re finally moving!”

“Yes.”

“I’ll prepare them right away!”

The subordinate, answering loudly, ran out immediately.

“Wow!”

Soon after, a loud shout was heard from outside. Lee Gil-son smiled wryly at the Imperials’ shouts.

“They’re the kind of people who can’t just take it and do nothing….”

Lee Gil-son, who said that, was also an Imperial. He stared at the map hanging on the wall and smiled bitterly.

“They had their fun, so they’ll be excited and come again. That day will be your memorial day.”

* * *

‘The Imperials are preparing for revenge!’

Upon hearing the rumor, the Allied commanders and envoys immediately went outside and headed to the railway construction headquarters.

“Hmm….”

“Oh?”

The Allied commanders, seeing the Imperials’ movements, began to watch intently.

Unlike before, two iron horses were coupled together, and large flatcars were additionally connected to the front of the iron horses, in the middle of the freight cars, and at the very end.

After confirming that they were properly connected, the Imperials began to pile sandbags on the flatcars, mobilizing locals and slaves.

As defensive fortifications were prepared with sandbags, the Imperial army began to load the troop freight cars and the ‘Big Gourd Grenades’ [large, gourd-shaped grenades] for launching.

The expressions of the Allied commanders who saw this changed from serious to grave.

“It can be called a moving fortress. I see why they mobilized two iron horses.”

The Allied commanders nodded at the words of the Portuguese army commander. The Ottoman army commander, nodding in agreement, stroked his beard and added.

“Come to think of it… we’ve never seen how the Empire fights on land, have we?”

“That’s right….”

“We should provide troop support.”

* * *

To the Allied forces’ offer to provide troop support, the Imperial army simply replied.

‘We don’t need it. We will repay what we received.’

“They are arrogant.”

The Florence army commander responded to the French army commander’s words.

“They say they don’t need it because the bandits won’t attack if there are too many troops.”

“They seem to have only 200 to 300 at best, will that be enough?”

In the end, the Allied commanders decided to infiltrate a few trusted subordinates disguised as locals.

* * *

Construction resumed, supplying materials to the site using heavily armed iron horses.

However, contrary to expectations, the attack didn’t follow immediately, and the Imperial army began to get bored little by little.

“It’s so hot, if you’re coming, come quickly!”

The heat was still intense, even though the tent set up on the flatcar blocked the sun. Therefore, the Imperial army, exhausted from the heat, waited even more desperately for the bandits.

After waiting for three weeks (21 days), the Imperial army and the Mamluk cavalry finally met.

* * *

A sand dune a little away from the construction site.

Mahdi, hiding on the ridge and observing the scene with a telescope, clicked his tongue lightly.

“Tsk! The defense has been strengthened after all.”

“What should we do? Should we retreat?”

At the question of his subordinate, who was watching with him, Mahdi turned and looked down the hill.

Below the hill, his subordinates were waiting for his orders.

Mahdi, looking at his subordinates with confident expressions, turned his head again and looked at the scene.

“Right now we have 2,000… those guys don’t seem to be more than 300 no matter how I look at them, but the problem is the freight cars….”

Mahdi muttered, looking at the freight cars attached to the iron horse with a telescope.

Because of the bitter memories of being attacked by freight cars in the last war, Mahdi was most concerned about the existence of freight cars.

“It’s not there….”

Mahdi, unable to find the freight car with six barrels on its large body, made up his mind.

“There are no freight cars! Then, attack!”

* * *

“It’s hot, it’s hot….”

When the Imperial soldiers, exhausted from the heat, were grumbling, suddenly a bell rang and screams erupted.

Ding ding ding!

“It’s the enemy! It’s the enemy!”

The Imperial army, who had been lying down, hurriedly got up at the people’s shouts.

“Where are they!”

“There! There!”

Boredom disappeared from the eyes of the Imperial soldiers who looked in the direction the people running to the iron horse were pointing.

At the top of the sand dune far away, thousands of cavalrymen wrapped in black from head to toe were staring at the Imperial army.

“Evacuate the workers and slaves!”

“Prepare for battle! Prepare for battle!”

While the railway construction workers were evacuating the workers and slaves, the Imperial soldiers removed the packaging covering the cannons of the freight cars and began to prepare for battle.

As the assistant gunner took out the cartridge belt from the ammunition box and put it into the ammunition inlet of the freight car, the gunner vigorously turned the rotating shaft attached to the body.

Click! Click!

“Ready!”

The Imperial soldiers, from the freight cars to the riflemen, finished their preparations and announced their readiness in a loud voice.

At that time, the enemies on the hill began to charge.

“They’re coming!”

* * *

Doo-doo-doo-doo!

Amid the sound of horses’ hooves shaking the ground, the commanders commanding the Imperial army shouted to the soldiers with horse-mounted rifles in their hands.

“Wait! Wait! Wait a little more!”

“Wait a little more!”

The soldiers who were waiting at the commanders’ orders swallowed dry saliva as they watched the enemies approaching closer and closer.

‘Wait? They’re already right in front of us?’

‘If they get any closer, we’ll have to punch them instead of shooting them, right?’

Just as they could see the murderous intent in the eyes of the approaching enemies, the commanders pulled the trigger.

Bang!

“Fire!”

Ta-ta-ta-ta-tang!

As soon as the commanders’ orders were given, the gunners of the troop freight cars pulled the triggers all at once.

As the troop freight cars began to spew fire all at once, hell was unleashed.

The Mamluk cavalry and the horses they were riding, who had been charging with great momentum, simultaneously became covered in blood and began to fall to the ground.

50 yards (about 45 meters) in front of the iron horse.

This was the line where the lives and deaths of the Mamluk cavalry who attacked the construction site were decided.

Only a very small number of Mamluk cavalry crossed that line. However, they also lost their lives or were seriously injured and fell to the ground after being targeted by the waiting riflemen.

“Damn it! There was a new freight car!”

Mahdi, seeing the scene of the massacre, gnashed his teeth and lamented his mistake.

The only thing that showed such firepower was the freight car. However, I swear to Allah, the freight car I knew didn’t exist.

That meant that the infidels, who deserved to be cursed by Allah, had created a new freight car.

“Retreat! Retreat….”

Peo-peo-peong!

Just as Mahdi was about to order a retreat, the artillery fired the ‘Big Gourd Grenades’ all at once.

With a trick of deliberately shortening the ignition time, the ‘Big Gourd Grenades’ exploded above the heads of the Mamluk cavalry.

The Mamluk cavalry, hit by the unexpected rain of steel fragments, fell to the ground with their horses without even screaming.

Mahdi was among them.

* * *

After about two hours, the battle was over.

The Mamluk cavalry who escaped from the scene of the brutal slaughter numbered less than 30.

“Allah….”

The locals who returned after the battle invoked God as soon as they saw the hellish scene unfolding before their eyes.