There Is No Sejong In My Joseon [EN]: Chapter 390

391. The Face of War (2)

There’s a somewhat special perk for the Joseon soldiers.

Whether it’s modern times or this era, complaints about the mess hall food are common, but there’s one thing that receives great praise.

It’s the carbonated water provided to the soldiers.

Sugar is added sparingly due to supply issues and cost, but the refreshing sensation of carbonation itself seems to be a healing experience for our soldiers after battle.

Well, that’s why I established the carbonated water production facility.

A large-scale production facility to meet the demand.

What I focused on was this point.

Boiling limestone in a carbonated water generator produces carbon dioxide.

The carbon dioxide produced here travels through pipes to another container and is concentrated.

Dissolving this in water creates carbonated water, but with a few modifications, gases can be filtered out using a similar principle.

‘In this case, it’s saline solution.’

Electrolyzing saline solution releases chlorine gas along with caustic soda [sodium hydroxide].

Even a small amount of chlorine can cause skin inflammation, and when inhaled, it reacts with water in the lungs to become hydrochloric acid.

The lungs literally melt away due to the hydrochloric acid.

I heard that chlorine gas was often used as a poison gas because of its toxicity.

The purpose I intend to use it for isn’t much different.

Concentrated chlorine gas is released into the Ming army’s camp.

Then, the army advances through the breached front lines.

It’s a very simple operation, but I don’t have any doubts that it will fail.

That was the problem, though.

“Your Majesty, it is prepared.”

“Alright.”

‘Ugh, why the sudden moral qualms?’

I shook off the uneasy feeling.

It’s not like this is the first weapon I’ve created.

It might be frowned upon by modern ethical standards, but I’m Joseon people.

Thinking about our soldiers who will die pushing back that barricade… no, let’s be honest.

This is the most efficient method.

Indeed, none of the Joseon military leaders here opposed my idea.

Even if some were skeptical about whether the gas could effectively kill the enemy.

‘Still, I shouldn’t have brought my child here…’

I never thought it would be used for this purpose when I was making carbonated water.

* * *

“Those bastards are here again.”

“Damn it, they don’t have the guts to charge, but they show their faces every day.”

The Joseon army frequently loitered in front of the Ming army’s camp, trying to provoke them into firing.

The intention was to charge in once the Ming army had used up all their arrows and firearms.

Having realized this fact after several small skirmishes, the Ming army strictly controlled their firing, so no one fired, but it was still annoying.

However, the Joseon soldiers, who seemed like they would provoke them from just outside the firing range, this time left only some containers behind and immediately ran away.

“What are those bastards doing now?”

The Joseon army wasn’t just doing strange things at this one camp.

Similar things were happening along the entire front line by the Joseon army, or things were being thrown through trebuchets [a type of catapult] that seemed to have been mobilized out of nowhere.

The Ming army, not knowing the situation, couldn’t figure out the Joseon army’s intentions at all.

Not even until the moment the ominous gas began to rise.

* * *

Chlorine is a heavy gas.

The blowing wind and the wide-open terrain without any obstructions didn’t blow the gas away; instead, it slowly and widely spread the poison along the ground.

According to the wind direction carefully measured by the Joseon army, the yellowish-green gas flowed towards the Ming army’s camp.

At first, the Ming soldiers watched the scene with curiosity, but soon they began to show abnormal reactions.

“Gurgle… !”

“S, save me… cough!”

To the Ming soldiers, it looked like death was slowly approaching.

Even if the ominous yellow fog dissipated, it wasn’t possible to visually confirm what kind of substance it was.

However, the reactions of those who inhaled it could be clearly seen by even the most nearsighted Ming soldier.

Clearly, not a single arrow had been fired, but those who were building the fortress in front suddenly screamed and scratched their skin.

They frantically pounded their chests with pain that felt like stabbing their lungs, or rolled around, vomiting, with sounds close to the cries of animals.

The jaws of the Ming soldiers watching the scene from behind trembled.

They could have adapted if it were a visible cannonball.

However, the death spread by the Joseon army was secretly and steadily encroaching upon the battlefield.

“Ugh… g, get away!”

Seeing the approaching gas, the Ming soldiers frantically swung the weapons in their hands, but of course, it didn’t work.

Those who hadn’t grasped the situation or were slow to act couldn’t escape from the death that spread like a plague.

Only those who abandoned their responsibilities, duties, and everything else and ran away could barely escape.

No matter how brave a warrior, no matter how elite a soldier, they cannot resist the concept of death itself.

The thought wasn’t long in coming.

Fear consumed the place where reason had left.

“Run away, run away!”

“What’s going on?”

“I, I don’t know, a strange smoke came and everyone scratched their necks and died! We have to run away quickly!”

The military instructor screamed and stopped the fleeing soldiers who began to pour in from the front.

“Why are you retreating without orders?”

“The Joseon army used sorcery!”

“Everyone in front is dead!”

“What nonsense… !”

“Get out of the way! There’s no time to argue!”

The soldiers, who had nothing more to see, pushed the military instructor away.

The military instructor swung his sword and screamed, but he couldn’t stop the crowd fleeing, ignoring the sword in front of them and the strict orders.

Seeing the military instructor who had fallen into a mess and his colleagues fleeing in disorder, the Ming soldiers muttered.

“The guys who just passed by, weren’t they guarding the front camp?”

“I think so.”

They didn’t know what was going on, but it was certain that they shouldn’t stay here.

The speed at which the deserters increased was faster than the speed at which the gas spread.

Now, the Ming soldiers, regardless of whether they were officers or soldiers, turned around and ran away.

There were hardly any who tried to stop them.

Even they were caught up in the chaos of the front lines and were running away.

They couldn’t even stop their feet at the eerie feeling that the slow hand of the Grim Reaper was caressing the back of their necks.

Even if they tripped and rolled into the pits dug for the foundation work, even if they trampled on allies who were kicked and fell without knowing why, even if spears and swords were swung to stop the escape, their rush did not stop.

If someone had been observing this from the sky, they would have clearly witnessed the Ming army’s line, which had been stretched out for a long time, collapsing helplessly.

The Joseon army’s leadership, including King Yi Je of Joseon, also clearly predicted this situation, although they did not conduct aerial reconnaissance.

The Joseon army rushed in behind the Ming army, which had collapsed haphazardly.

* * *

The man calmly waited and tied a thoroughly wet yellow cloth around his face.

‘Ugh.’

He frowned at the instinctive disgust that rose up.

This cloth must have been white like ordinary cotton at first.

However, the color of this cloth, which was clearly dyed suddenly, was related to the pungent smell of urine that was now stinging his nose.

It was because it was a cloth soaked in urine.

In this era, there were no proper gas masks, and even if they could be made, it would be impossible to provide them to each soldier in a desperate battlefield like this.

So, they provided cloths soaked in urine as a substitute.

However, even if it was a hastily made measure, it wasn’t ineffective.

Using urine to block poison gas was a historically significant measure that was also used in World War I.

The wind had already pushed the gas far enough to the rear, and the residual gas could be sufficiently neutralized by the ammonia mixed in the urine alone.

But that was just the calculations of the higher-ups.

It was fortunate that those who could use their own urine had less aversion, but those who had to put someone else’s urine all over their faces were full of complaints.

The man, who was suddenly faced with a golden shower despite his noble status, was no different.

‘Did we have to go this far?’

Even when he heard the news that the Ming Dynasty had invaded, taking advantage of the state funeral of the late King, who was now given the posthumous title of Taejong (太宗) [King Taejong of Joseon], he was swept up in anger like other young men.

That was also the reason why he defied his parents’ dissuasion and volunteered for the Punitive Ming Army (征明軍) [Army to Punish the Ming Dynasty].

He had ambitiously enlisted, but he hadn’t had a chance to make any significant contributions, so the man was overjoyed at the news of this expedition, but he had to fight wearing this urine cloth.

‘No. In the past, Ye Yang painted his body with lacquer and swallowed charcoal to avenge his lord (漆身呑炭) [a historical reference to a loyal subject’s extreme sacrifice], so what’s so humiliating about wearing this urine cloth?’

As the shame subsided, fear suddenly arose.

‘But if I die, wouldn’t it all be for nothing?’

‘I heard that being hit by a bullet is so painful that it’s better to die.’

The man shook his head.

‘Su-seong, Su-seong. You vowed to gladly die for the country. Are you already afraid?’

It’s impossible to back out now.

The man tried to imagine his bright future to forget his fear.

Avenging the enemy of the military, making a name for himself as a heroic man, and receiving a medal to rise in the world.

Only then did he feel a little more at ease.

He steeled himself and ordered his subordinates to charge.

It was fortunate that he had learned something, so he became a temporary military officer with the minor rank of Jong 9-品 [lowest rank in the Joseon military], so he didn’t have to act as a common soldier.

However, when he arrived at the Ming army’s camp, he could only let out a hollow groan, his resolve rendered useless.

“Uh…”

The current battlefield had nothing dangerous except for the chlorine that His Majesty had released.

The Ming army’s camp in front, which had been swept away by the yellowish-green gas, was completely annihilated.

There were only corpses with bloodshot eyes, foaming at the mouth, or scratching their skin until it peeled off.

There were no survivors.

It was only natural since the Ming army had no countermeasures, unlike themselves, who were wearing urine cloths.

The soldiers around him seemed to have the same thought, and they hurriedly tied their urine cloths even tighter.

Those who had complained about how to put urine on their noses shut their mouths when they saw the Ming soldiers who had died en masse.

Without anyone explaining in detail, they were convinced by the superiors’ instructions just by the sight they saw.

However, the man didn’t hurriedly block his respiratory system with a cloth like the others.

He didn’t gloat at the sight of those he thought were sacrifices for his achievements becoming mere corpses.

He just hung his arms down and stared blankly at the tragedy.

‘Is this what war is?’

The war that the man had imagined was like the novels and comics that were popular these days, where heroes wielded three-foot swords or strategists used brilliant schemes to defeat the enemy in a satisfying way.

Although the Joseon army mainly used firearms, he believed that the fighting wouldn’t deviate much from that.

However, the battlefield he witnessed for the first time was a slaughterhouse where people died like pigs and dogs, without even putting up a proper resistance.

The man muttered without realizing it.

“Namu-Kwanseum Bosal [Homage to Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva].”

The compassionate Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva who saves sentient beings.

It was truly ironic to seek him out in front of the Ming army, whom he had hated so much, but the man, Kim Su-seong (金守省), had no choice but to offer that prayer.

* * *

“We might be able to push all the way to Shanhaiguan!”

The Ming army’s front lines were completely collapsed.

I didn’t know it would be this effective.

What broke the Ming army was not the poison gas, but themselves.

The poison gas would have only affected a portion of the front lines, but the psychological impact of that would have been beyond imagination.

Some smoke comes and your skin melts and you can’t breathe?

I would have run away without looking back.

“Do not penetrate too deeply while chasing the enemy. Carefully observe the wind direction and determine whether to advance or retreat.”

If the wind direction changes or we enter an area where chlorine gas is lingering, there is a high possibility that we will not be able to block the chlorine even with ‘temporary measures’.

Should I develop a gas mask?

‘Oh, geez.’

I was dumbfounded.

I was assuming that we would continue to use poison gas in the future.

Without me even realizing it.

‘As long as there’s electricity in salt water, anyone can make a gas that can kill, so there’s no reason not to use it.’

Just look at our generals here.

‘Did I open Pandora’s Box?’

The generals, who had been watching my expression, calmed down their joy and began to cautiously read my face.