Joseon Military Officer, Establishing Balhae - Chapter 351



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Episode 351

Qing’s entrance (3)

The Qing army’s artillery fire continued for several days. The silence of the Qing army was the same. Normally, it would be normal to approach the castle walls and swear at them, but the Qing army was unmoved.

However, the Ming army was different. Casualties continued to rise, and parts of the wall collapsed. Then, soldiers would immediately rush in and fill in the gaps with rocks and bags of dirt.

Even Ung Jeong-pil, who was famous for his defensive tactics, showed great impatience because he could not understand the Qing army’s tactics. Wang Hwa-jeong, who had a strong offensive tendency, was even more impatient.

“Something is strange. What on earth are those barbarians up to? Why are they acting like that?”

“Ugh! I don’t know. I just feel very uneasy.”

Woong Jeong-pil’s gaze turned again towards the Yongdu of Sanhae Pass.

“Well, there’s nothing wrong?”

He tilted his head.

“warlord!”

The liaison officer quickly climbed up the wall and lay down flat next to him, as the Qing army’s artillery fire was still ongoing.

“What is it?”

“I have come to deliver an urgent report from the court. About 40,000 enemy soldiers have appeared in front of Hwangae-gwan.”

“What!”

Woong Jeong-pil shouted in surprise.

Hwangae Pass was a fairly close gate, located 110 miles from the Ming capital, Suncheonbu (Beijing).

“So, Your Majesty, could you not divert some of your troops there……”

“What? His Majesty himself?”

Ungjeongpil realized that the situation was not easy. If Hwangae-gwan collapsed, the capital city of Suncheon-bu would be in danger. It was so close that it was almost like being right in front of his nose. That was why the emperor was anxious even though a guard post was set up and a considerable number of troops were guarding it.

“40,000 is not a small number, but the Hwangae-gwan garrison is also quite large, so I think we can hold them off…….”

“The enemy there also has firearms. That’s the problem.”

“You brought the guns through that rough mountain path? Hmm, so that’s why they were wasting their time here?”

Woong Jeong-pil felt a chill run down his spine.

“How is the atmosphere at the meeting?”

“It’s hopeless. Didn’t the enemy invade when the recruitment wasn’t even going well? Moreover, there are 120,000 enemy soldiers here at Shanhaiguan. And there are quite a few who are targeting Hwangaeguan. That’s why there’s already talk of fleeing.”

“this…….”

“Besides, it seems that such claims are being made because most of the recruited troops are still distributed mostly in the Namjikye area.”

In terms of administrative districts, Nanzhili corresponds to the future Anhui Province, Jiangsu Province, and Shanghai City in China.

“So you’re saying you’re going to Eungcheonbu?”

Yingtianfu, soon to be Nanjing, was a city located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, and together with Shuncheonfu, formed one of the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty.

“Yes. Then how would you answer?”

“Well. Just a moment…….”

Woong Jeong-pil shook his head wildly. His mind was so complicated.

“Whew! What about the garrisons stationed at the various offices and posts of the castle? Are you telling me to abandon them?”

He asked with a sigh. The liaison officer simply lowered his head.

“If we just gather them together, there will easily be over 100,000.”

Wang Hwa-jeong also felt that his troops were too wasteful.

“Why on earth are there reinforcements!”

Woong Jeong-pil suddenly became irritated. He thought that if reinforcements had arrived in time, he would have been able to hold out.

That was when.

“Huh?”

Wang Hwa-jeong looked to the east in surprise. A messenger was running madly toward him. Ung Jeong-pil also looked at the messenger’s expression and jumped up in surprise.

“Above, it’s dangerous!”

Woong Jeong-pil stared blankly toward the east without any thought of danger.

“Oh, my… I knew this would happen.”

“oh my god…….”

Wang Hwa-jeong muttered with a bewildered expression. What they had witnessed were the ships of the Qing navy that had appeared on the southern shore of Sanhae Pass.

“Oh, Balhae! That damn Balhae is finally harassing us.”

Woong Jeong-pil burst out in anger.

The Ming army was also responding quickly. The Ming army troops in the rear were moving quickly to block the Qing army’s landing. The rear army commander responded quickly and well.

“Oh my goodness, barbarians are operating a navy?”

The liaison officer was also surprised.

“It’s because of Balhae. They must have prepared thoroughly after seeing Balhae operating its navy. There must have been a shipbuilder among our people living in Liaodong. There must have been someone who had served in the navy. Furthermore, our Ming navy, which was supposed to deal with them, had already been annihilated by the Balhae navy. So they took advantage of that gap and came aboard even such a flimsy ship. That’s why they were always concerned about the absence of a navy, and that’s what happened.”

“So that’s why you kept checking the east.”

Wang Hwa-jeong now realized what was causing his anxiety.

“That’s right. The reason the enemy troops stood firm was probably to hide this kind of diversionary strategy. It’s the same with Hwang Ae-gwan and the navy.”

“General. Then how…….”

“If you are going to flee, we must follow you. Send a message to all the posts near Suncheonbu and tell them to abandon Jangseong and move south to escort the march. I will command the Shanhaiguan and Hwangaeguan armies to slow down the enemy’s advance. Also, tell them to increase the speed of the reinforcements coming from Namjigye.”

Woong Jeong-pil told the liaison officer the plan he had come up with as if he were their general.

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In the end, as even Ung Jeong-pil decided to retreat, the Qing army was able to pass through Shanhai Pass without shedding blood. However, Ung Jeong-pil’s Shanhai Pass army and the Jangseong garrison joined forces to form a defensive line and slowly retreated, so the Qing army was unable to catch the fleeing Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Thanks to Xiong Zhengpi’s response, the Ming army was able to establish a defensive line on the southern bank of the Yellow River. The Yellow River of the future would flow into the sea through the northern part of the Shandong Peninsula, but the lower reaches of the Yellow River during the Ming Dynasty were the southern part of the Shandong Peninsula, that is, the lower reaches of the Huai River. Since the area north of the Huai River had been abandoned, the entire North China region fell into the Qing’s hands.

* * *

Henry Middleton and Saris entered the venue located in Gwanhyeon-dong, north of Choryang Port, where an exhibition of Balhae daily necessities was being held.

“Wow! It smells amazing!”

Sarris screamed in surprise.

“As expected from Balhae. The people of Balhae really seem to be people who risk their lives for hygiene.”

The exhibition at this event was mainly focused on health-related products. So detergent products were the most numerous, and health foods and some new drugs also took up space.

The quality of Balhae’s detergent products improved every year. So they had a good fragrance and were very effective. These products, namely soap, hair soap (shampoo), and laundry soap, were among the items that European merchants often purchased.

“Ah! The governor is here too.”

When Henry Middleton discovered Heo Gyun, he immediately ran to greet him.

“Oh! Long time no see, Governor Middleton. Were you planning to take a look around here first and then visit the Governor’s Office?”

Thanks to the English lessons he learned whenever he had time from a professor at Namhae University’s English department, Heo Gyun is now able to converse comfortably with Middleton.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Well done. I happen to be curious and am here. By the way, do you know what that is?”

Heo Gyun pointed to a stall with a sign that said, “Hadagunjesa.” There, merchants were crowding around like clouds.

“Hmm, I see the words ‘new toothbrush and toothpaste’.”

Middleton also studied Hangul and was able to read it to some extent. Of course, Balhae language was still a nightmare.

“This is a new product that was recently developed by the Balhae National Research Institute, and it’s causing quite a stir. Buy one and give it a try.”

“Is this a product for brushing teeth?”

“exactly.”

The history of toothbrushes is quite old regardless of East or West, but the toothbrush that Balhae produced was a plastic toothbrush that would appear in the 20th century. In addition, the toothpaste was also a product that added fluoride, and it was a product that Taegeon developed himself. The fluoride component can be obtained from the mineral fluorite, and there were large mines in places such as Pyeongsan in Hwanghae-bu and Pyeonggang in Gwandong-bu, so it was easy to obtain the material. Of course, the work that followed was not easy.

“Okay, I understand.”

Middleton instructed Sarris to buy toothpaste and toothbrush products.

Heo Gyun and Middleton went to the new medicine section while catching up on the stories that had piled up. There, anti-parasitic medicines were on display. Surprised, Middleton asked Heo Gyun.

“What is this?”

“It’s literally a dewormer.”

“Can eating this really kill parasites in my body?”

“I heard that it works pretty well.”

“Who developed this?”

“Haha! You won’t believe it, but our King.”

“Huh? Again, the King himself?”

“He lamented that the potency was still weak. He said that he would research more and develop a much better medicine. So he told me to use this for the time being to maintain my health.”

The deworming medicine developed by Taegeon was made by processing the toxic substances produced by artificially rotting sweet potatoes, and it had much better efficacy than the santonin deworming medicine that was once widely used around the world. Taegeon had no choice but to give up developing the santonin deworming medicine because the santonin mugwort, the raw material for santonin, did not grow indigenously in Balhae territory. Instead, he remembered reading a record of a deworming medicine made from danma, and after a long period of experimentation, he developed this medicine.

Middleton motioned to Sarris without saying a word. He was thinking of buying this too and trying it out.

After leaving the venue, Heo Gyun and Middleton did not enter the Governor-General’s Office but instead walked around the docks of Choryang Port and had a serious talk.

“What is the situation in the South?”

Heo Gyun asked.

“I am doing well and peacefully.”

“Formosa?”

“yes?”

It was a question and answer. The south that Heo Gyun spoke of was Southeast Asia. However, Middleton understood it as a question about South Formosa.

“Oh, yes. To be honest, the situation is dire. The Dutch have taken over Batavia and Malacca, and our shipping routes are threatened. So we plan to join forces with Spain and Portugal to deal with them. Of course, we have also established strongholds in Sukadana and Singapore Island in western Borneo, so we are in a situation where we can fight.”

Batavia was the future Jakarta of Indonesia, and Malacca was a province on the Malay Peninsula, on the coast of the Strait of Malacca, not far from Singapore.

“Anyway, there hasn’t been a collision yet.”

“Yes.”

“You guys get along well, why are you fighting?”

“That’s true.”

Middleton also let out a hollow laugh. Peace was a difficult word to conjure up for European sailors who prioritized profit. It was because of their habit of viewing the ships they encountered on the vast ocean as money rather than welcome companions.

“I, but I heard that you sell matchlock guns and gunpowder to the Darida Federation and the Tarrag Federation…….”

“Haha! If there is demand, we must supply it. Matchlock guns are old-fashioned weapons and are rarely used by the Balhae army, so we must sell them off.”

Heo Gyun was well aware that Middleton was protesting, however timidly, but he responded naturally.

Middleton had heard rumors about Balhae’s new rifle, but he had no idea how it worked or how effective it was.

“It’s not just the two indigenous nations of Formosa. They exported a lot of matchlock guns to the Qing, who are currently at war with the Ming. And the northern indigenous people who have difficulty protecting themselves from wild beasts also started using them.”

“Oh, I see.”

Middleton felt a chill down his spine. The fact that Balhae had begun to distribute gunpowder weapons to the indigenous groups of Asia would soon spell disaster for the European empires.

It was thanks to the matchlock gun that they could subdue the natives with just a small force. The sight of people dying with holes in their bodies along with the thunderous sound of gunfire aroused collective fear in the natives. That is why the matchlock gun had a great effect compared to its actual performance. However, when Balhae distributed the matchlock gun, all these advantages disappeared. The Europeans had to shed as much blood as the natives and bring more troops to conquer them.

The colony of Southern Formosa could also be in immediate danger.

“You don’t plan on reconsidering it?”

“You have to compete fairly.”

It was a foolish answer. Heo Gyun smiled as he looked at Middleton, who was sweating profusely.

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