Joseon Military Officer, Establishing Balhae - Chapter 341



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Episode 341

Northern Exploration (1)

The Balhae army’s Imjingol fortress (future Hailar) built in the Dalai region, western part of the Greater Khingan Range.

This fortress was located on the banks of the Immigang River, a tributary of the Argun River, which is the uppermost stream of the Heilongjiang River, and so the name Immigongol was also used. Here, ‘gol’ is a Mongolian word meaning a river, stream, or valley. The 25th Division of the 6th Corps of the Balhae Army was stationed here.

Division Commander Major General Koh Ryun climbed up the fortress wall and sighed softly as he looked out at the endless grasslands on the west side of the Immigration River.

“Oh my! We have to come to an agreement today.”

“It’s really not easy. Everyone has different thoughts.”

Chief Wang Pil-seong also showed signs of exhaustion.

Since being appointed as the 25th Division Commander two years ago, Major General Ko Ryeon, who has been living in Immigol, has been trying to establish a focal point by interacting with representatives of various tribes. However, this was not an easy task. The Later Jin, who first occupied this land, took some of the local residents, creating a power vacuum, and more tribes came down from the north, making the composition of the residents somewhat complicated.

In this Dalia region, there were several Tungus tribes living, including the Barga, a Buryat-Mongol tribe that had their homeland around Lake Baikal, as well as the Awenki, Daur, and Orochon.

As soon as the Goryeo commander arrived in Dalia, he had to meet with the Khalkha Mongols before these indigenous tribes and agree on the border demarcation. Since this was the territory of the Later Jin, this agreement was concluded without much difficulty. The Khalkha Mongols also did not want to have conflict with Balhae, so the process was very friendly.

However, it was not easy to reach an agreement with the indigenous tribes living in the territory and establish a common leadership system. This was because they had different languages ​​and bloodlines, and often did not get along well with their neighbors.

“Formosa said the same thing?”

The commander of the Goryeo division had heard information about the situation in the United Kingdom of Darida in Formosa from the 6th Army Corps headquarters two years ago.

“I heard that the progress is exactly the same, except for the initial conditions. There is an existing kingdom, and there is a common enemy called England, so it is difficult to reach an agreement, and the negotiations have been at a standstill for several years. It seems that this is because the tribes have been at odds with each other a lot in the past.”

“Well, it’s not that I don’t understand. It’s just that neighbors don’t get along well. Since they’re of different races, it would be even stranger if there were no conflicts. But is there any new information about that place?”

“No, there isn’t. You’re in the middle of nowhere, so you don’t hear much news. Newspapers are only delivered once every few months.”

Wang Pil-seong answered with a hollow laugh.

“That’s right. I came here and saw that it’s not that bad of a place for people to live, but because of those damned Greater Khingan Mountains…….”

When he first came, the commander of the Goryeo division said that he was somewhat surprised by the environment of the Dalai region, which was better than he had expected. Although it was somewhat smaller than Lake Mita, the Dalai Lake (Hulun Lake) was as wide as 90 meters at its longest part, and there were many streams flowing into or out of the lake, as well as the Argun River and the Imjin River, so the water resources were very abundant. In addition, the western part bordering the Imjin Fortress was a plain, a vast grassland area, so it was a land where nomads could live and also farm.

However, the problem was that the Greater Khingan Mountains were too wide and rugged. However, since there were mountain paths, only ammunition and mail were delivered through those paths. In this way, the amount of supplies was inevitably insufficient, so the 25th Division troops had to procure food and clothing from the locals. As a result, a huge market unexpectedly developed around the Imjingo Fortress, and it naturally became the center of the Dalai region.

“Anyway, if they settle down quickly, won’t we be able to get out of here too?”

“I don’t know when that will be possible. In my opinion, this place will not be able to escape the status of a Balhae protectorate for several decades.”

“I see. Then shall we go in and resume the meeting?”

“Yes, Commander.”

The meeting resumed.

Ogorda Boss, a native of Barga, the wealthiest man in the Dalai region with a fleet of about 10,000 horses, once again lost his temper and began to harass the other tribal leaders.

He strongly argued that since the Barga people were the most numerous, an autonomous government should be formed with Barga at its center. However, other tribal representatives distrusted him because of this aspect. They argued that the Barga people could commit tyranny, and that the autonomous government should be formed with equal shares for each tribe.

As the meeting continued as before, the commander of the Goryeon division finally stepped forward. He presented a new plan that he had come up with after a long discussion with his subordinates.

“Come on! If we all just make claims that are favorable to us, there will be no end to it, right? So let’s present the plan that our Balhae Army has prepared. Let’s acknowledge that the Barga are the majority and should have a larger share. However, the minority tribes are also full members of this Dalai autonomous government, so they should definitely have a share. So how about first forming a supreme representative committee consisting of nine people? Out of the total nine seats, give four seats to the Barga tribe, two seats to the Awongki, and one seat each to the remaining tribes. Then, all important agenda items, such as the composition of the administrative body, laws, diplomacy, and military issues, will be decided by agreement in the representative committee, and if opinions differ, they must vote and obtain a majority to pass, wouldn’t that be reasonable? Even if all the Barga votes are combined, they won’t be a majority, so the Barga can’t do whatever they want.”

The tribal leaders responded quite positively to Goryeon’s proposal. They eventually agreed to accept the plan on the condition that the Balhae military governor would act as an observer.

At the end of the meeting, Ogorda from Barga presented a new agenda to Goryan.

“The Buryat tribes living north of the Argun River have come to our tribal territory, hoping to trade with Balhae. What should we do?”

“If you are a Buryat tribe, then you are a people who pay tribute to the Khalkha Mongols, right?”

Golyeon asked.

“Yes, some people know them as part of the Halkha Mongols, but they are a little different.”

“What would you want if you were to trade?”

“Weapons. Specifically, matchlock guns. They will trade furs for them.”

“A matchlock gun? So you are gathering weapons to escape the interference of the Mongols?”

“Wouldn’t that be so?”

“Is it because of the Mongolians?”

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The commander of the Goryeon division tilted his head. However, he was secretly delighted because what he had expected had happened. He had also heard this from Taegeon. He had predicted that if our army entered Dalai and began to form an autonomous government, other northern tribes would certainly be stimulated and contact them. That was why he remembered urging them to treat them kindly.

* * *

Yangsanjin is located in the middle of the Solon Mountains that form the northern border.

The 4th Battalion of the 49th Regiment of the 11th Division was sweating bullets as they built a base. Some were laying the foundation for the dormitories, others were hauling in logs that had been cut down and trimming them to size, and others were going into the forest to hunt for meat.

Since the supply route had not yet been established, they had to be self-sufficient for the time being, so everyone, both officers and soldiers, worked hard. Establishing proper accommodations and obtaining food were matters of survival.

“Oh! Isn’t that a herd of reindeer?”

Battalion Commander Seol Geon-ho, who was supervising the work, shouted in surprise when he saw a herd of reindeer passing by from the north.

“That’s right. They look like Awongki nomads.”

The operations manager, Lieutenant Lee Gi-gon, answered.

“Do you see me often when you come here?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Anyway, we’ve got a good position. We’ve avoided the nomads’ path.”

Seol Geon-ho recalled the regimental commander’s instructions. When choosing a place to build a garrison or fortress, he was ordered to avoid the villages of indigenous people or the paths of nomads. Even if Balhae had drawn a border on the map, the border could not be used as a means of blocking the movement of indigenous people. Therefore, he planned to occupy only a few strongholds and open the border by guaranteeing the free movement of northern peoples.

Of course, in the future, when Balhae residents began to move into the area south of the border or an indigenous autonomous territory was established, the border would be closed, but that would happen much later.

Yangsanjin was a stronghold located at the eastern end of the 11th Division’s area of ​​responsibility. The 11th Division headquarters was currently located in Surin (the future Russian city of Zeya) where the Chinggis River and the Solon River meet, and a post station road connecting to Aeju in the south had already been opened.

The name Yangsanjin was given because two mountain ranges stretched east and west from this area, that is, the only flatland in the Solon Mountains. The reason Solon Mountains was not a mountain range was because of the topography of Yangsanjin. As a passage-like area between two mountain ranges, Yangsanjin was to function as the most important strategic point among the 11th Division’s areas of responsibility.

“But have you heard that reindeer hate mosquitoes?”

“Of course I’ve heard of it. That’s why they go up to high mountains in the summer when mosquitoes are rampant.”

Siberian mosquitoes tormented all humans and animals living in the land. Because the climate was cold, they attacked more fiercely during the short summer. So Balhae Army was also looking for a way to avoid the mosquito attacks.

“So it looks like they’re moving towards the western foot of the mountain. Huh? What is it?”

When the king saw three nomads separated from the herd and approaching them on reindeer, he was puzzled.

However, the experienced Seol Geon-ho soon realized their intentions and gave instructions to Lee Gi-gon.

“Don’t you have anything you can give to those people?”

“Isn’t there only combat rations?”

“Do you have any extra clothes?”

“Yes, I have some sabers and overalls.”

Saeboseon refers to socks, and it was a product developed and distributed quite a long time ago. Hong Eun developed it early and released it to the world because the military, which had to wear combat boots, could not wear sandals. Cheong work clothes refer to jeans, and this was also Hong Eun’s work. The Balhae government supplied these products to the military first for the military, which had to work a lot, and thanks to that, each military unit had quite a lot of these products in stock.

The Awongki reindeer herders certainly had a mystical feel to them, with their magnificent horned reindeer they had domesticated and ridden.

As the Awongkin approached, the soldiers also stopped their work and rushed toward them.

“Oh my! The interpreter is the problem. There’s an interpreter at the division headquarters.”

In fact, there were only two interpreters at the division headquarters. One who spoke Donghae and Goryeo, and the other who spoke Donghae and Awonki. These two people had to work together to communicate.

As the nomads descended from their reindeer, Captain Seol Geon-ho greeted them with a big smile. The nomads also smiled and said something they couldn’t understand.

From then on, Seol Geon-ho and Yoo Mo-min exchanged gestures with each other for a long time, unable to understand each other.

“Oh! Is this meat?”

As expected, the nomads offered their gift first. It was dried meat.

Seol Geon-ho smiled brightly and accepted their gifts. Then, Seol Geon-ho handed out combat rations and clothing. When the natives looked puzzled, a soldier quickly came out and demonstrated how to eat and wear them.

The native smiled and nodded repeatedly, then took his gift and returned to the group.

“Haha! Anyway, our first meeting was a success.”

“That’s interesting.”

“It’s good here. The land is vast and there are few people, so there’s no reason to fight over land.”

Seol Geon-ho smiled as he watched the backs of the nomads walking away.

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