Black Corporation: Joseon [EN]: Chapter 772

772. A Self-Inflicted Disaster… (7)

“The enemies are retreating!”

The Aztec warriors, caught in an unintentional ‘hammer and anvil’ tactic between Admiral Ahn Sang-soo’s forces and the troops defending the bridgehead, couldn’t withstand the accumulated damage and retreated.

Imperial artillery shells rained down on the Aztec warriors as they fled into the jungle.

The Imperial soldiers at the bridgehead, witnessing the Aztec warriors desperately fleeing under the intense Imperial bombardment, took off their helmets and waved them high, cheering.

“Waaah!”

“Victory! Victory!”

Some soldiers, unable to contain their excitement, even climbed onto the sandbag barricades, raising their rifles high and chanting ‘Victory!’

Meanwhile, Admiral Ahn Sang-soo’s unit arrived at the bridgehead.

“Should we pursue the retreating enemies?”

Subordinate officers, caught up in the victory, requested pursuit, but Admiral Ahn Sang-soo shook his head.

“Denied. It is true that the enemies have suffered heavy losses. However, we must not forget that the jungle is familiar to them and unfamiliar to us. And our soldiers are exhausted.”

As Admiral Ahn Sang-soo pointed out, the faces of the soldiers who had finished fighting were filled with fatigue.

Tiredness had accumulated from maintaining constant vigilance while navigating the dangerous jungle.

They hadn’t noticed it during the battle with the Aztec warriors, but as they watched the Aztec warriors attacking the bridgehead flee, the accumulated fatigue washed over them all at once.

Admiral Ahn Sang-soo, having prevented the pursuit, ordered his subordinate officers.

“The most urgent task is to quickly treat the wounded and assess the damage. Send signals to the front lines to request medics.”

“Yes, sir!”

* * *

Following Admiral Ahn Sang-soo’s orders, the medics busily treated the wounded, and the commanders tallied the damage.

“Hmm…. It’s fortunate that there were relatively few casualties.”

Admiral Ahn Sang-soo felt relieved after confirming the number of wounded and dead tallied by his subordinate officers.

According to the tally, there were 7 deaths in total from the battles in Tenochtitlan [the Aztec capital] and at the bridgehead.

Considering the bloody battles that took place in Tenochtitlan and at the bridgehead, this was a remarkably low number of deaths.

“Is it the difference in weaponry after all…? The Byeongshik rifle was indeed excellent.”

Stroking his beard, Admiral Ahn Sang-soo attributed the biggest reason to the difference in weaponry.

As he thought, the rifles held by the Imperial soldiers demonstrated definite power. They were capable of firing 5 shots in quick succession, and even the frenzied native warriors could be subdued with a single shot.

* * *

The reason why the Byeongshik rifle’s bullets had such power was due to Hyang.

“For the time being, small-caliber high-velocity rounds would only be a burden.”

Although small-caliber high-velocity rounds had become the ‘trend of the times’ since the end of World War II, Hyang judged that they had more disadvantages.

Hyang had several reasons for making this judgment.

-Most countries still engage in combat wearing armor. Of course, even small-caliber high-velocity rounds can penetrate armor without difficulty, but considering the armor and the padded vests worn underneath, it’s unsettling.

-Considering the jungle areas of Shinji and the natives who live there, reliable stopping power is more important than reliable penetration.

-In addition to the above reasons, there is a theory that the power of a gun is diminished for those who do not know of its existence.

Hyang made the above judgment based on memories he had seen on the internet.

According to the analysis of the American police – whether it was the LAPD [Los Angeles Police Department] or NYPD [New York Police Department], he forgot – a significant number of those who died from gunshot wounds died from shock.

In other words, they didn’t actually die from being hit in a critical spot, but from the psychological shock of ‘Ah! I’ve been shot! I’m going to die now!’

“Too much is as bad as too little. Knowing too much is also poison. If so, thinking the opposite is also a problem.”

If they didn’t know about guns, or more precisely, bullets, they would keep attacking unless they were hit in a truly critical spot.

“That’s why the Colt .45 came out….”

The American military chose the .45 ACP [Automatic Colt Pistol] round based on their experiences in battles with Filipino natives. Its penetration was inferior to the 9mm Parabellum, but its stopping power was certain.

“And lastly….”

-The jungle areas of Shinji are teeming with all sorts of wild beasts besides humans. Reliable stopping power is needed to subdue them in one shot.

“We can’t carry separate weapons for killing people and killing animals. The supply officers would throw a fit.”

This is how the caliber and power of the Byeongshik rifle were determined.

* * *

Admiral Ahn Sang-soo, who first cited the Byeongshik rifle, soon denied his own judgment.

“No, it’s unreasonable to limit it to just the Byeongshik rifle. No matter how excellent the Byeongshik rifle is, it’s only one person per shot. Then again…. It’s the Hwacha [Korean rocket arrow launcher], the Bigyeokjincheonleis [Korean bomb-throwing mortars], and the cannons.”

As Admiral Ahn Sang-soo judged, the Hwacha, Bigyeokjincheonleis, and cannons once again made their names known in these battles.

Every time the Hwacha spewed fire, every time the cannonballs of the Bigyeokjincheonleis and cannons exploded, many native warriors died.

If the Byeongshik rifle offered ‘certain death,’ the Hwacha, Bigyeokjincheonleis, and cannons inflicted ‘irreparable damage.’

“Even if the Hwacha is unavoidable, carrying the Bigyeokjincheonleis and cannons separately is inefficient. Again, what the Imperial Army needs in the future is cannons, very powerful cannons. However, only cannons that can sweep away everything that blocks the Imperial Army, from people to fortresses, are the answer.”

Ahn Sang-soo was falling into an ‘extremely Imperial’ conclusion: ‘cannons, and very powerful cannons.’

* * *

Admiral Ahn Sang-soo, who analyzed the reason for the low number of casualties, moved on to the next point.

“The vast majority of the injured have fractures… also in the shoulder area?”

Admiral Ahn Sang-soo opened the medics’ reports on the unusual injuries, with most of the injured having shoulder fractures.

“Slingstones are the cause?”

Looking at the tactics of the Aztec warriors, the warriors with macuahuitls [wooden sword with obsidian blades] and spears were positioned in the front, and the warriors with slings, bows, and javelins were providing cover from behind.

In these tactics, it was the slingstones that inflicted damage on the Imperial soldiers. Arrows and javelins caused surprisingly little damage.

The bows used by the Aztec warriors were inferior in many ways to the Empire’s famous Gakgung [Korean horn bow]. The biggest difference was the flight speed of the arrows fired. The same was true of javelins.

However, slingstones were different. The stones thrown by the slings were so small that they were difficult to see with the naked eye, and their speed was very fast.

The Aztec warriors aimed the slingstones at the heads and upper bodies of the Imperial soldiers.

Thanks to their helmets, the Imperial soldiers prevented head injuries, but they suffered many injuries to their shoulders.

Having identified the cause, Admiral Ahn Sang-soo added a sentence to the report.

-Units moving to punish the immoral people who commit human sacrifice and cannibalism need to be equipped with protective gear to protect the shoulder and neck areas.

* * *

Admiral Ahn Sang-soo, who returned safely to the bridgehead, immediately prepared to return.

Of course, completely destroying the bridgehead before leaving was a must.

“How did we even make this!”

“Ssang!”

“Why are you calling for Ssang?”

The soldiers grumbled as they destroyed the watchtowers that were stained with their blood, sweat, and tears.

Admiral Ahn Sang-soo, having destroyed all the facilities and equipment that the natives might use, led the fleet on its way back.

As the ships led by the admiral slowly moved out to the open sea, the Aztec warriors hiding in the jungle moved.

“The foreigners have left. Inform the Tlatoani [Aztec ruler].”

The jaguar warrior, having delivered the order to the messenger, looked at the sun in the sky and prayed earnestly.

“Please, don’t let them come back….”

* * *

Admiral Ahn Sang-soo, who returned to his home port, immediately transmitted the report to Hyang using the waiting Haeung emergency communication line.

Hyang, who received the report, put his hand on his forehead and muttered softly.

“Damn it, it’s just as I expected.”

Admiral Ahn Sang-soo’s report contained detailed records of Aztec human sacrifice and cannibalism.

-The accompanying natives, especially the native called ‘Ssang,’ actively learned the Imperial language. According to this ‘Ssang,’ the native nation in question calls itself Mexica (Mēxihcah) [the ethnic group of the Aztec Empire]. They offer people as sacrifices in rituals to the gods, and then use the corpses as food.

-All the surrounding tribes, including the tribe to which ‘Ssang’ belongs, have a custom of cannibalism. However, there is no case like the Mexica, who sacrifice so many people as offerings every time that it is difficult to count.

-To elaborate, ‘Ssang’ does not know how to count beyond 20. According to ‘Ssang’s’ expression of ‘exceeding 20 by 20 by 20,’ it can be seen that at least hundreds to a maximum of tens of thousands are sacrificed.

-Therefore, it is judged that proper conquest and extermination of this Mexica are necessary.

-Exterminating the Mexica will also cut off this evil practice in the surrounding tribes.

“‘Extermination’… that doesn’t sound good.”

Hyang, having confirmed the contents of the report, felt uncomfortable seeing the word ‘extermination.’

Anyway, Hyang was someone who had received ‘democratic education’ in the 21st century, and the word ‘extermination’ was a difficult word to accept.

Even though he was born in Joseon [historical Korean kingdom] and mingled with the Jurchens [East Asian ethnic group], and fought battles with the Ming [Chinese dynasty], and had been diluted a lot.

“But this is the only answer right now. The people in the mainland will naturally have the same reaction. And….”

Hyang paused for a moment, took a long sigh, and continued.

“Hoo~. Still, it would be easier to smash them to some extent. Human sacrifice and cannibalism are problems that are hard to ignore. And this will be a punishment, not a conquest.”

Hyang, who acknowledged that the ‘Aztec Punishment’ was unavoidable, checked the battle report.

Hyang nodded slightly as he checked the battle report jointly submitted by Admiral Ahn Sang-soo and his subordinate commanders.

“So, thanks to the Hwacha and Bigyeokjincheonleis, we were able to avoid the ‘Night of Sorrows’….”

* * *

The ‘Night of Sorrows’ was a battle between Cortes’ [Spanish conquistador] Spanish forces and Aztec warriors.

In the battle that began with a surprise attack by Aztec warriors, the Spanish suffered fatal damage.

At the time, the Spanish were armed with arquebuses [early type of gun], crossbows, and cannons, but they could not overcome the numerical superiority of the Aztec warriors.

This was a natural occurrence.

The most powerful weapon the Spanish had at the time, the cannon, simply fired cannonballs made of stone or iron.

Of course, they could also fire grapeshot [cluster of smaller projectiles], but it was nothing compared to the power or rate of fire of the Bigyeokjincheonleis.

And the Hwacha, which the Imperial Army had dragged to the front of the palace in Tenochtitlan, was the greatest contributor.

The existence of the 5-shot Byeongshik rifle, the Hwacha, and finally the Bigyeokjincheonleis made it possible to avoid the ‘Night of Sorrows’ that the Spanish had experienced.