Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 120
Only Noblemtl
#120. The earth collapses, the mountains are cut down (4)
The Russian artillerymen who were watching it from afar, as well as the 1st Infantry Battalion of the Demonstration Brigade and the 1st Infantry Battalion of the Guards Brigade, who were moving to the starting line of the attack to expand the breakthrough, were all able to see it clearly.
The commanders who had jumped to their feet assumed that none of those caught in the explosion had survived, and hoped that the assault infantry would not be caught in it.
And on the front lines, where an uncomfortable silence had settled, someone raised his head from the darkness.
“My eardrums almost fell off.”
“Explosions are… art.”
The members of the 1st Platoon, 1st Company, 1st Assault Infantry Battalion, who were standing precariously at a safe distance, raised their heads one by one and chanted as if expressing their feelings.
“Is everyone in good health?”
“Those who will die in this explosion will have already died in the mine.”
Kim Si-jin shook his head at their typical answer. I can’t stop him.
Looking around, I saw groans and wailing in the darkness that had descended behind the flash, and corpses were growing cold and parts of people were strewn about in a mess of rubble.
When such sounds were heard among the enemy positions, it was time for the assault infantry to advance.
As the art of war tells us to know when to advance and when to retreat, they knew when to advance.
And now it was time to move on.
“We have opened the gates! Now it is time to clear the way for our rearguard! Forward, forward!”
Despite the collapse of the earth and the erosion of mountains, these were the only units that would advance amid the smoke of cannons and gunpowder.
As the dust from the explosion had not yet settled, they pulled the scarves they were wearing around their necks up to the tip of their noses and approached the gate with their bayonets attached.
That wasn’t all. I had to move quickly to the collapsed wall, so I was out of breath, but it was better than having the dust get into my mouth and nose.
Along with him, the platoon’s messengers began to play a creepy tune on the taepyeongso and kkwaenggwari as promised.
The intention was to break morale right before the battle by singing a song that sounded like a ghost crying.
Of course, those who were listening from the side had to endure the dizzy feeling to the point where they had to pull themselves together, but they endured it with all their might, thinking that the enemy would suffer even more.
And the first thing they encountered was a bunch of terrified Qing infantry.
They began to back away as they saw the silhouettes of their infantry appearing among the dust and smoke, but Lieutenant Kim Si-jin and his unit did not just stand by and watch such enemies.
They each held their own weapon in their hands and dug mercilessly into their midst.
Soon, death began to walk among them.
***
“Don’t retreat! Hold on tight here!”
The voice of a certain military officer echoed mournfully, but even that sound had now died down.
They were like ghosts.
His face was covered in something pitch-black, and his eyes were shining brightly as he moved madly through the ranks of his allies.
Whether it was a bombing or something else, it seemed like a huge bomb had been thrown, as the gate disappeared with a loud explosion.
They approached silently, accompanied by a creepy tune, just as the gate collapsed in an explosion.
Even though I was half-deaf from the explosion, I couldn’t forget that tune.
A certain Cheonjong (a junior officer in the Qing army, equivalent to a lieutenant in modern times) of the Muwijeon Army, who was lucky enough to be saved by being under the castle wall, looked at the place where the castle wall should have been with a blank expression.
His immediate superior, a guerrilla (captain rank, company level unit commander), should have been there, but he had disappeared without a trace.
All that was left was something that had once been human, lying between the collapsed walls.
“Push the troops! We can’t let them break through the gates!”
Cheon-chong, who was breathing heavily, quickly searched for the sword that was strapped to his waist. He pulled it out and barely managed to keep his feet on the ground, and was barely able to rally the soldiers who had lost their commander and were running around in confusion.
The Dosa (equivalent to a modern-day battalion commander) in charge of defending the Dongmun Gate was also leading the reserve force and rushing to the Dongmun Gate.
“The enemies will come over the gate! Let’s rain down a barrage of fire on them!”
“We are the Wuwei Army of the Qing Empire! Never show your back to the enemy!”
The seemingly meaningless words of encouragement continued, but the soldiers’ fear began to take hold in their eyes.
Far from there, instead of continuing the assault, a creepy melody continued to be heard from all directions. It was a cunning enemy, just like the King of Seocho who had been surrounded on all sides.
“Don’t be swayed by such childish tunes!”
Among the trembling soldiers, the musketeers encouraged them, but at one point, the melody that had reached its climax suddenly stopped, startling everyone.
It felt like something was about to happen.
After a moment that felt like an eternity, the silhouette of a person finally began to appear among the acrid smoke and debris.
“I am the enemy···!”
And then the indiscriminate shooting continued, without anyone controlling it.
The military officers tried to stop those who were firing without permission by kicking them and striking them with the back of their swords, but it was no use.
They appeared as silhouettes and quickly hid themselves among the rubble, and then the bullets they fired flew.
Tata tata tang!
“Eww!”
“Ouch!”
It was unclear exactly how many enemies were firing, but judging by the way they were skillfully firing their rifles among the remains of the broken wall, it seemed like there were quite a few.
They began to cut down the ranks, firing back and forth like a cat playing with a dying mouse, until finally, as fear consumed everyone, they slowly emerged.
“Hey, what are those?!”
They looked like demons crawling out of hell.
Their faces were covered in something, and their eyes were shining brightly, and the things they were holding in their hands were extremely vicious.
The number of soldiers who had not yet run away but were completely consumed by fear increased as they chanted “Namu Amitabha Buddha” in trembling voices.
Beep!
And then came a piercing, ear-piercing whistle. And then something in their hands flew into the air.
Cheon-chong remembered that it was the dynamite that the Coxs had brought, saying that they would build a railroad someday, and immediately shouted for everyone to get out of the way, but it was already too late.
Those madmen had no fear and threw the dynamite from quite close range, and it soon exploded, blowing away the frozen soldiers.
Although the impact of the explosion was smaller than before, it hit each soldier more strongly.
Those who saw people bursting to death right next to them began to collapse on the ground or break away from the line, and shouts erupted every time they did so.
But soon another barrage of thunder rang out, drowning out even that shout.
They took turns advancing, throwing dynamite, and those whose defenses were disabled were busy running for their lives.
Finally, as their will to resist began to waver, they began to run at high speed again with their upper bodies exposed.
Some of those who were still holding out opened fire with rifles, but it didn’t seem to have much of a deterrent effect.
“Shoot them so they don’t come any closer, shoot them! Don’t let them come any closer!”
“Whoaaaa!”
They cut and stabbed themselves with swords and bayonets that had sharp blades.
A number of them drew their revolvers and opened fire on the approaching soldiers.
Already, a small unit rushed to block them and was instantly melted. No, it would be more appropriate to say that they were simply slaughtered.
First, a bullet hit the head of the leader who was leading the way, and then the soldiers disappeared one by one into the darkness with screams. And what emerged were not the familiar allies, but those with shining eyes.
Cheon-chong was terrified when he saw them like that. It seemed like they were raised to fight like this from the beginning, and to kill more effectively.
No, it seemed like they were born from the beginning to spread death on earth.
Even the fanatics of the Boxer Rebellion, known for their brutality, saw with their own eyes heads being crushed and heads being blown off by their hands.
No matter how great one’s martial arts skills were, they were useless in the face of their reckless charges.
Just like that, a group of Boxers advanced fearlessly and noisily from the side, and then slowly their limbs were torn apart.
“Heavenly gun! The enemies are too vicious. If we continue like this, we will all die. We must retreat!”
“Let’s withdraw to the Prime Minister’s Office! This is madness!”
The other subordinates clung to Cheon-chong as if pleading.
He too wanted to run away. Facing them head on was another way of saying suicide.
However, in a situation where those who had already died and the Seopsa Seong who had sworn to protect this place with his death remained, a mere sniper rifle could not escape.
“This is our Great Qing Empire territory! We can’t give them anything. Kill the sheep, kill the Japanese! There is only death for the invaders! If you behead them, I will give you a reward of 50 nyang!”
To boost the morale of his soldiers, Cheon-chong placed a reward on their heads.
Anyway, if we couldn’t stop them here, we would all die here.
He took out his sword and let the fleeing allies run through the ranks, then waited for the enemy to approach.
The Taoist also regrouped his troops in the alley on the opposite side and began to block them, and soon clashed with the charging enemies.
The barrage continued, and although some enemies fell, the charge could not be stopped.
They penetrated deep into the ranks as if thirsting for blood, and displayed tremendous shock power.
I thought I knew why the other units had collapsed so quickly.
The heads of soldiers hit by the buttstocks were shattered, and those stabbed by the sharp bayonets screamed.
I just couldn’t shake off the enemies that came close.
When those with great size and strength decided to swing their bayonets and swords among the soldiers, it was not the enemy but our own forces that were swept away unilaterally.
The enemies killed the soldiers as if they were insignificant insects.
Even when the opportunity to stab a few of them with a gun came, those vile bastards would pull out their revolvers at any moment and shoot holes in their bodies as soon as they approached.
The odds of winning in such an irrational fight were incalculable.
“These fucking kids!”
Cheon-chong tried to shake off the approaching enemies by swinging his long sword, but it wasn’t enough.
The enemies who had grabbed the arms of the Taoist warrior fighting on the other side stabbed him in the stomach and chest with their guns without mercy.
The brave Taoist monk met his end, vomiting blood, like a pig dying in a slaughterhouse.
It was not the case that the soldiers who barely escaped the scene of massacre could have met a different fate.
Enemies who had already scaled the walls began to hunt them from all sides like rabbits, and the screams of the dying and the already dead, as well as the smell of blood, began to permeate the entire East Gate.
Soon, the soldiers who had been fighting beside Cheonjong were subdued one by one, or fled and headed towards another path to death.
“You can’t pass here!”
Cheon-chong had no desire to run away from the place where his men were slaughtered.
No, in fact, I’ve half given up on life.
He approached his enemies, swinging his long sword madly in an attempt to commit suicide.
However, the enemies seemed not to care much and pulled the trigger of the revolver in their hands, and soon a tremendous shock hit their chest.
“uh···.”
“You’re being a nuisance.”
Is that the Joseon language? Did the Joseon people come here too?
He tried to recall his vague memories. It was similar to what he had heard from Koreans during the war in the year of Gap-o.
If that’s true, then what they have in front of them now is not the Koreans, but the Joseon bastards.
Cheon-chong laughed in vain and fell to the floor.
These damn guys are finally starting to smell blood.
He cursed them until the last moment.
They will never be forgiven, and in the end they too will bleed like them.