Joseon Military Officer, Establishing Balhae - Chapter 309



Only Noblemtl
Read Novel Noblemtl

Episode 309

Southern Front (1)

Balhae, which had to fight against three countries, Later Jin, Ming, and Joseon, divided the front lines into northern, central, and southern for convenience. So, the front line related to the Later Jin army north of Baekdu Mountain was classified as the northern, the Ming army in Liaodong was classified as the central, and the Joseon area was classified as the southern.

Lieutenant General Kang Dae-gu, commander of the 3rd Corps in charge of the southern front, was looking toward Cheorwon from a watchtower erected on Sang-hyeon Pass, southwest of Pyeonggang-hyeon, Yeominbu.

“I guess it’ll be a little noisy today.”

He took his eyes off the Thousand-Li Mirror and sighed softly.

“That’s true. It seems like he’s finally decided to see blood.”

The complexion of the 4th Division Commander, Major General Lee Wi, was also very dark.

The 3rd Corps consisted of four divisions, with the Corps Command and the 4th Division in charge of the central area, Pyeonggang and its surrounding towns. The 7th Division was located on the front line at the mouth of the Yesong River in the Yellow Sea, the 8th Division was located near Tosan County, where the Anpyeong Line railroad was being laid, and the 24th Division was located on the eastern coast of Gwandong.

The Joseon army camp also placed 10,000 to 30,000 central and local troops on each front according to the deployment of the Balhae army. Of these, the unit with the highest proportion of central troops and the largest number of troops, and therefore the main force, was naturally the Cheorwon area army.

The North Korean army set up the Soi Mountain ridge located just north of the Cheorwon government office as a border defense line, and built fences and stone walls along the ridge and stationed themselves there. The North Korean army, which had been sitting there motionless, finally came out of the border positions today and began to surge into the Cheorwon Plains that had been left empty.

“The Joseon generals must have been confident in their numerical superiority and encouraged their soldiers.”

“You probably wanted to believe that.”

“Haha! That might really be true.”

At present, the total number of North Korean troops on the Cheorwon-Pyeonggang front was about 30,000. The Balhae Army also had about 17,000 troops deployed, including the 4th Division and 5,000 troops from the Corps Command.

The size of the Gaeseong Army guarding the mouth of the Yesong River in the west and the Saknyong Garrison south of Tosan were not that large. It was judged that it would be relatively easy to block the advance of the Balhae Army, as there was the natural border of the Yesong River and the large waterways of the Imjin River and Hantan River in the rear. Therefore, it was an inevitable choice to deploy the main force here in Cheorwon. If Cheorwon was breached, Hanyang would be in great danger.

“You have to think in the Joseon way, which values ​​justification, not the Balhae way, which values ​​substance. What they want right now is not to win this war. It’s to save face. In any case, the fact that Joseon tried to keep its loyalty to a great power is important.”

Kang Dae-gu was also a former military officer of Joseon, so he had a clear understanding of Joseon’s way of thinking. On the other hand, Division Commander Lee Wi, who had trained in Balhae, tilted his head as he could not fully understand Joseon.

“I’ve heard that a lot, but I still don’t understand why so many people would sacrifice their precious lives to protect such a trivial cause. Even if they serve the Ming as the highest state, how could they do that?”

“Haha! So that’s why it’s going to fail. Commander of the Peach Blossom Expedition!”

Kang Dae-gu turned his head and called Lieutenant Do Won-jeong, the person in charge of information for the corps.

“Yes, Commander.”

“You said that all the Joseon military generals have changed this time?”

“Yes. A new commander has recently taken office, and the movements of the Joseon army seem to have changed accordingly.”

Today’s incident was also the result of the weakening of the power of the Northerners, the ruling party. Since Cheorwon was a strategic point, the Joseon court appointed General Do as the supreme commander of the military, but this time, they dismissed the entire command, including him.

“I know that. The previous commander was from the Northern faction, but this time he was replaced by someone from the Southern faction named Han Ik?”

“Yes, both the former and current commanders are tattooed, not armed.”

“Who is the new commander-in-chief?”

“It is said that he provided food and horse feed to Admiral Ma Gwi during the Imjin War…….”

When the commander of the Dowonjeong army trailed off, Kang Daegu smiled.

“Haha! Is that all?”

“That much of his career in the military was known.”

“What about the other new generals?”

“I have taken note of everything. I have also collected the content of the words they habitually spew out to their subordinates, and they are all venomous and very belligerent.”

Balhae spies came and went from the Joseon army camp as if it were their own home, and they had a clear grasp of not only the list of generals but also their dispositions.

“Commander, it looks like the North Korean army will soon reach our first line.”

The adjutant of the corps headquarters, who had been observing the movements of the North Korean army, reported with a tense expression.

The Joseon army was moving in groups of ten thousand on each side, and ten thousand in the center, maintaining the formation of an inverted triangle. The cavalry stationed at the rear of each camp also formed ranks and set their direction, intending to target the relatively flat areas of the Balhae army’s camp.

“Then fire warning shots right away.”

“Yes, Commander.”

This tactic was agreed upon in advance. The killing power of Balhae’s cannons was so great that it was impossible to directly fire at the Joseon army’s camp. So, in order to induce a retreat, they decided to show only the power of the cannons.

Pupupupu!

The loud roar of gunfire echoed through the Balhae camp. Almost simultaneously, shells struck the front and sides of the Joseon army’s path, exploding with a loud noise and scattering shrapnel.

The advancing North Korean troops froze in place for a moment, and those who were quick-witted fell flat on the ground. However, some unlucky soldiers were wounded by shrapnel. The shells clearly hit the outside of the camp, but the wide killing radius caused injuries.

When the Balhae army’s artillery fire stopped, the Joseon army’s camp was thrown into great confusion. Some military officers were seen shouting for them not to stop, and many soldiers broke away from their ranks out of fear.

The commander of the expedition approached Kang Dae-gu, who was carefully observing the battlefield.

“Commander.”

“What?”

“An urgent report has arrived from the 8th Division in Tosan County.”

Kang Dae-gu quickly looked over the report that Do Won-jeong had handed him. The content was very short.

“Half of the Joseon army in Saknyong withdrew from the front line? What on earth is going on?”

I couldn’t even guess what the Peach Blossom Spring was like, so I just tilted my head.

* * *

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * Baca Novel Korean * *
* * * Noblemtl dot com * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Jungbongsan mountain range located north of Eoeun-dong, Cheorwon.

Sergeant Choi Hoon Jeong (Sergeant), a sniper from the 4th Division of the Balhae Army, was lying face down on the ridge, perfectly camouflaged with grass stuck all over his uniform.

He was scanning the North Korean camp intently through his rifle scope.

“after!”

After exhaling softly and then taking a deep breath, he spoke to his assistant, Cheon Cham-gyo, without even turning his head.

“There’s still a long way to go. But is that the person wearing the red double-breasted armor and the helmet with the red top hat?”

“Yes, that’s true. He’s the newly appointed Cheorwon magistrate. He also serves as the commander of the friendly forces, but he’s a civil servant who doesn’t know much about military affairs.”

The two thousandth sergeant was well-informed of the intelligence data coming from the corps headquarters. The assistant was to familiarize himself with the relevant data so that the sniper could focus on sniping.

Pufufufu!

As they continued to aim for their target, the Balhae army suddenly began shelling. Choi Hoon also became busy following the movements of the Joseon army camp, which had become disorganized.

“The soldiers are at a loss.”

“Haha! Just the warning shot alone will make your stomach churn.”

As the 100-mimi howitzer joined in the barrage, each time the shell fell, the ground was dug up with a loud explosion.

Those who were gripped by fear and sat down, those who lay flat on their stomachs, those who turned around and tried to run away, those who had no choice but to advance forward under the urging of their officers, all tangled together, and the ranks of the Joseon army were in disarray. The cavalry was no different. The horses were startled and ran wild by the deafening explosion and the shaking of the air and ground, and the ranks of the cavalry were completely broken.

As the entire Joseon army camp was thrown into chaos, the leaders who had been in the rear finally stepped forward.

“Oh my! Yes, that’s right.”

Choi Hoon let out this one word, then held his breath again and focused on his aim. The person he was aiming for was, of course, the leader of the friendly forces.

Eventually, the commander of the North Korean army entered the range set by Choi Hoon. The man who was his target was furious and moved busily to clean up the messy camp. Then, at one point, he stopped moving to listen to the report of his subordinate.

It was an opportunity. Choi Hoon aimed only at the space between his eyes. The distance was quite far, so the bullet might not penetrate his armor. He slowly pulled the trigger.

bang!

The scope caught the sight of a bullet hitting the forehead of a North Korean army captain along with the sound of a gunshot.

“success!”

Choi Hoon spoke softly and then fired another shot.

When the head of the Cheorwon deputy commander and the commander of the right army collapsed with an explosion, the surprised commanders began to panic. Some looked into the commander’s details, while others searched around for the culprit. Some even shouted and called out to the shield guards nearby.

bang!

Choi Hoon fired another shot. This time, it hit the mark without fail. He was acting as an aide, and he was also hit in the face and died.

bang!

“Tch! Missed it.”

The third shot, aimed at another adjutant, hit his shoulder, but it was over his armor, so it didn’t do much damage. The target was moving too much.

“I have to go now.”

Assistant Lee Cheon urged.

It was like poking a hornet’s nest. The Joseon army camp was also aware that the Balhae army was hiding and sniping, so they released their troops in all directions. In addition, the area around the commanding officers, as well as above their heads, was completely filled with the large square shields of the shieldmen, so there was no reason to hesitate any longer.

“Okay, let’s go.”

The two slowly crawled backwards away from the ridge. Then they quickly got up and ran along the mountain range that stretched to the northeast.

As they got closer to the Balhae army camp, Choi Hoon became curious about the situation of the other members.

“I don’t know if the other ones were successful?”

Soo was a unit that only existed in Balhae’s sniper squad or special task force. Usually, ‘Oh’ meant a five-person unit, but since it was a smaller unit, when two or three people like them went out in pairs, they were called Soo. Choi Hoon and Lee Cheon were Soo 4.

“Aren’t they all skilled at hitting the target 100% of the time? They would have been successful like us.”

“It doesn’t matter if we fail the fifth attempt, but we absolutely must complete the other three attempts. That way, won’t this damn war end sooner?”

The 4th and 5th squads of the sniper squad were targeting the left and right corps commanders of the North Korean army, but the other three squads had already infiltrated deep into the rear of the North Korean army camp. They were after Marshal Han Ik, who could be called the commander-in-chief. He was the most important target, so they had three squads.

As the two men returned to their positions in Sang-hyeon, a noticeable change occurred in the Joseon army camp. The entire Joseon army that had come out onto the plains began to quickly retreat to the Cheorwon camp in the rear.

While Choi Hoon was taking a short break after reporting the results, a commotion was heard outside the barracks, and his colleagues came dancing and entering the barracks.

“Wow! Did you catch it?”

When Choi Hoon asked, Special Agent Kim I-Heum, a sniper from the First Division, smiled brightly and answered.

“Did you ever doubt my abilities? Your expression is full of doubt.”

“Oh, no?”

“Can’t you see it? The North Korean soldiers are retreating?”

“Ah! So that’s what it was.”

“Of course! Hahahaha!”

Kim I-Heum laughed heartily. He had captured the enemy commander, so promotion and reward were a given.

“You did a great job. Haha! You were able to force the enemy army back with just one bullet. What the instructors taught was true.”

“That’s true. It’s a bit shocking to actually see it happen.”

Kim I-Heum also had an expression of disbelief.

Read Novel Noblemtl
Read Novel Noblemtl