Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 109
Only Noblemtl
#109. Glory and Terror Mixed (3)
“1st Platoon! Break through the fixed front line!”
“All hands on deck, all hands on deck!”
My brother, who realized the meaning of the signal I sent from afar, immediately put the rifle he was holding behind his back, took out a pistol in one hand and a stick of dynamite in the other.
These assault infantry were what I had prepared for this situation.
They looked at each other at my command and quickly pulled something long out of their magazines.
Then, as if he was used to it, he put the wick in and waited for the platoon leader’s orders.
Of course, in the current situation where the lethality of firepower has increased excessively, exposure to firepower is a problem that immediately leads to an increase in the casualty rate.
So the principle was to approach the enemy while minimizing exposure to firepower, but they were not that kind of target.
The Dongboksang Army began to be overwhelmed by us in the initial firepower battle, and the Boxer Rebels were armed with things that were embarrassing to even call firepower. Furthermore, from the moment we lost our numerical superiority in a stagnant situation and lost our charging power, the battlefield that was most advantageous to us unfolded.
“Brave comrades of the assault company! There is no more time to wait. Now let us smash the enemy’s defenses and plant our proud flag in this city! Do it for God, for our country, and for His Majesty the Emperor!”
“Into the fire and flames!”
The company responded to my cry. There happened to be a lot of volunteers from North Pyongan Province, and many of them were Christians.
This was the slogan that would appeal to them.
And true to their name, the Assault Unit will be the first to leap out of the fire and flames and mercilessly tear at the necks of their enemies.
At least among those I have commanded, they were the most courageous, daring, and never afraid of close combat with the enemy.
If not, they were either those who had become like that through intensive training or, in any case, most of them were selected from among the young people under the age of 24, and the officers who commanded them were those with the most aggressive spirit and a strong sense of guerrillaism.
Thus, they would transcend the front lines instead of engaging in repeated firefights amidst barrages and gunfire.
Even if there was only death at the end, they would charge at their enemies until they lost their penetrative power like a bullet fired from a rifle.
“Don’t think about death and fear! Just tear apart all the enemies before your eyes! The fatherland is waiting only for our victory! Charge, charge!”
“Today, we will face all advancing enemies, and we will not stop until their blood mixes with the mud under our boots! So kill everything that stands in your way! Let’s show those bastards who will win here!”
“Wow!!”
As if responding to the officers’ speech, the soldiers of the assault company all shouted.
He shouted like a lion roaring at his enemies, and immediately a whistle blew.
Beep!
Today, the sound of the whistle was even more creepy. It was like the sound of a death sentence being passed on the enemy.
And then, the instruments I had ‘specially’ prepared also made loud noises.
As the gongs and taepyeongso made a tumultuous noise, the enemies on the front lines began to panic.
In a psychologically crushed state, the ranks began to waver, as if they were mistaken in thinking that more enemies were coming.
If this is a small revenge for the morale-boosting actions taken against the Korean and UN forces during the Korean War, then it can be called revenge.
Only the Boxers, who were half-mad, managed to maintain their former momentum, having been forced to forget their fears, while the army did not live up to its reputation as an ‘army of ferocious Muslims’.
And without missing that moment, most of the 1st Platoon members took out dynamite and revolvers and stepped onto the firing line.
As if a demon had crawled out of hell, the sound of a whistle mixed with shouts tormented their ears.
And the enemies looked visibly flustered at such actions.
The assault infantrymen lit sticks of dynamite as if they were disdainful of their enemies and were not afraid of bullets flying from all directions without even aiming properly.
Meanwhile, those who approached them were struck by revolvers and fell to the ground, or stabbed with bayonets and slaughtered. The blood they shed soaked the parched ground of the city.
“Grenade!”
At the command, the dynamite fell from their hands and fell among the enemy with the fuse still lit.
Boom!
Then a huge flash of light and an explosion momentarily obscured everyone’s vision.
Between them, something that had once been human flew out, and we saw a truly apocalyptic sight.
The destructive force of the breakthrough and the corresponding shock force forced even the most fanatic and ignorant Boxer to face reality.
Moreover, the Boxers, who had been shouting that they would not enter the city, were not superstitious but rather an assault infantry unit calculated from human madness and reason, emerging lifelessly from the flames and dust of the explosion, making their stories colorless.
At this point, the battle initiative had already completely shifted to our side, and the Dongbok-sang guards were barely able to respond with their heads down. They were simply resisting in order to survive.
Even the enemies who were not caught in the explosion were dumbfounded and unable to understand the situation.
“1st Platoon! Cross the enemy lines!”
The younger brother, who was the first to appear in the middle of the battle line, jumped into the middle of the enemies, swinging his sword.
He fired the pistol in one hand repeatedly, killing a stunned Qing officer, then threw himself at another helpless Qing soldier with his whole body, knocking him down and shouting.
After that, soldiers with rifles and revolvers attempted close combat and engaged in a melee against the Qing army, and an unexpected close combat ensued.
The eyes of the enemies who had already received the shock of the attack with their whole bodies were filled with fear, and it was clear that if there was even one more breakthrough, they would definitely collapse.
And that single breakthrough was made by the Naval Landing Force under Captain Khmelev, who followed suit.
As the assault infantry company continued its charge, Captain Khmelev also asked me to charge further, and I gave my permission when the time was right.
Then, with their limits lifted, they moved like wolves hunting a defenseless flock of sheep in front of them with a bitter smile.
“Ura! Uraaaaaaa-!”
As the polite Russians’ slogan of charging filled the battlefield, the enemy’s front line was completely shaken.
Captain Khmelev stormed into the fray at the front, pistol in hand, his expression bordering on madness, while the rough naval infantry tore huge holes in the fractured front.
Once broken, the battle line could not be restored.
And this was the decisive blow in the battle.
The Qing officers tried to stop the fleeing soldiers, but they were too scared to stop them. The Qing officers who tried to block the way were either shot and killed by their own men, or they chose to escape with them.
The Boxers, who had been harassing us here and there, were also subdued one by one as the Qing army, which they had trusted, was crushed by the assault infantry company.
As the 2nd Platoon, followed by the 3rd and 4th Platoons, arrived at the front lines, the battle turned into a one-sided massacre.
But the battle is not over yet.
***
“Looks like you’re having a good time.”
“Commander, is there still no contact from the main unit?”
“It doesn’t seem like we need any support yet, so we’ll just wait.”
Harcourt looked out over the city, filled with noise and gunfire, as he munched on an apple from his horse.
It was a new feeling to come back as a full-fledged advisor after being chased by debt collectors in Shanghai.
Of course, no battles have been fought, and for now, it is just a barley sack of rice that has been put away.
“It looks like we’re winning.”
“Of course. The battlefield commanded by the regimental commander is all about victory, and more victory.”
The cavalry commander was almost a believer in the young regimental commander.
He seemed smart, but I don’t know if he was that devout.
Harcourt threw the remaining apple slices on the floor while thinking about such things. As he stared blankly at the apple slices rolling around, he wondered when he would enter the battlefield.
“hmm?”
“What is this···.”
But then the piece of apple thrown on the floor stopped and then suddenly began to tremble.
The ground couldn’t just shake. It seemed like the sound of horse hooves could be heard from afar.
I thought I was the only one who felt that way, but the other cavalrymen also looked puzzled.
And in the distance, scouts were riding back in a hurry. Perhaps they had encountered the enemy, and their flustered appearance was quite a sight.
“That’s enemy cavalry! They’re heading towards the rear of our main force!”
“This can’t be happening.”
“A cavalry force is heading towards our camp! We need to respond quickly!”
It seemed like they were the ones chasing them yesterday.
From what I’ve heard from the scouts, they seem to be regular cavalry, but I have a feeling that they might be the Qing cavalry that appeared during the meeting yesterday.
“You knew this would happen and left us behind.”
“Stop trying to fit it in and give me orders on what to do.”
“One company will intercept the enemy targeting the rear of the main force, and the other two companies will defend this place. Would it be okay if Advisor Harcourt would intercept?”
“That’s my specialty. I’ve been instilling manners in barbarians since I was a child.”
Harcourt burst into laughter and took his beloved repeater rifle from the saddle. He then skillfully loaded the cartridges and, in place of the cavalry commander, led a company himself toward the city of Langfang.
Only then did he assemble his ranks, like a loose colt, but driven by primal instinct.
Although he only had about 200 cavalrymen under his command, Harcourt was confident that he could crush them all.
Compared to the niggers who couldn’t even do what they were told and got whipped, or the coolies who were of a similar level, he thought the Indians he had fought all this time were closer to noble warriors.
In some ways, I felt like I had been scammed into coming this far, but it seemed okay because I could feel the adrenaline rushing for the first time in a long time.
The cavalry formed a wide line, with each gap as wide as possible.
It was his own method of making the number of allies appear as large as possible and deceiving the enemies.
In this way, they fearlessly fired at the federal troops and resisted, trampled them without mercy, and scalped them so that they would never rise up against civilized people again.
He thought that the Qing dynasty he was about to face might have more advanced weapons in their hands than his, but their riders on horseback would not be much different.
At least the Qing army he saw was so pathetic that the Indians looked much better.
“Keep the formation going!”
Instead of humming a Dixie tune, he tucked his repeater rifle under his side and spouted off the thick Northeastern dialect he’d learned since coming here.
If necessary, he was also prepared to swing the American-made saber he had purchased from Townsend Trading Company just before departure.
Following him, other cavalrymen took out their revolvers and Winchesters they had purchased earlier.
I heard that Russia had been providing full-scale military support to Korea since 1895, supplying about 1,000 rifles for cavalry use. I wondered if they were those guys.
They liked it, and since the military had experience using Winchester lever-action rifles before, they purchased additional rifles from the Russian side.
Anyway, the gun was shining brightly, indicating that it had been properly cleaned before the battle.
Harcourt was relieved, thinking that he could at least teach these damned bastards a lesson.
He saw that the world was largely divided into two groups.
One is a bunch of idiots that can be taught, and the other is a bunch of idiots that can’t be taught.
Harcourt himself had assessed the people he had seen so far as being closer to the latter, but these cavalrymen were generally of the former type.
Perhaps because they were children of lower-class nobles, they had an unnecessarily strong sense of pride, and they still preferred close combat with swords in modern cavalry combat, so they were not able to completely escape their old-fashioned ways. However, they were still strong-minded and physically, and above all, they were willing to make sacrifices to protect their sovereignty, which suited Harcourt’s heart.
These are the closest representations of the true patriots that Americans want.
He remembered that the army composed of such men had once sought to defend the liberties and rights of the states from federal tyranny.
Although their forces unfortunately collapsed before the might of the Federation.
“Enemy cavalry! Sir, what are you going to do now?”
“Just break through! You don’t plan on sticking your tail to those little, skinny idiots, do you?”
Harcourt somehow felt that if he led a cavalry charge now, he would be able to shock and awe the hundreds of enemy cavalrymen.
It was almost like an instinct, and I never had a bad experience following it faithfully.