Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 128



Only Noblemtl

#128. Beijing Express and Blue Red Army (7)

Meanwhile, from July 18, the Allied forces began to advance northward toward Beijing, leaving behind some defensive forces in Tianjin.

It was an advance more than a month earlier than originally planned.

Although Germany opposed it, they could not just sit back and do nothing since Russia and Japan, which comprised the majority of the Allied forces, were in favor.

Eventually, the Germans also decided to participate in the invasion of Beijing, and instead deployed additional ground forces from German naval ships and Austro-Hungarian naval ships stationed in Jiaozhou Bay.

“The advance route is planned to go north along the railroad. What do you think?”

“The railroad is cut off at Langfang. First, we need to establish a base in Langfang. Then, we will mobilize the engineers and coolies to repair the railroad.”

Although it was only 120km away, we had to advance deep into enemy territory, so we had to secure an intermediate supply base before moving forward.

The most standard method was to gather supplies via the Tianjin-Langfang train, where the railroad was still connected, and to support the rear by mobilizing a large number of wagons and carriages when advancing to Beijing.

As each day passed, troops poured into Tianjin, so they would be reinforced in the same way. However, the Japanese army, which was in a state of agitation, took out its anger on me for no reason.

“Speed ​​is important, so why waste time in a place like that?”

“If you are going to advance while eating grass growing on the roadside, then go ahead.”

Well, like someone from 40 years ago, they’re trying to ruin the spread by saying, “Japanese people are herbivores.”

It seems that they forgot the difficulties the Japanese army faced in the Battle of Pyongyang Castle due to a mistake in the timing of the battle or the intensity of resistance, resulting in a failure to supply ammunition and food.

It would be better if Major General Fukushima, who is currently commanding the 5th Division, came.

I said, holding a colored pencil in my hand.

“An army should not be used like a flying arrow. An arrow shot from a strong bow may at first glance seem to pierce steel, but as time goes by, its strength gradually wears out and it fails to reach its target.”

I was personally designating the supply routes and intermediate supply points drawn on the map.

I continued talking, calculating the supplies and intermediate points that each country would need to use.

“An army should be handled like a spear, not like an arrow. We should hold it with our arms straight, swing it toward our target, and pierce the enemy’s lungs. That is the use of the army. A truly strong army is one that has a well-planned supply plan···.”

The most ideal scope of war would be one that gradually expanded the ‘surface’ that we could use, connecting strongholds and strongholds, and making lines from point to point.

However, since there was no room to expand the area here, we had to at least connect the points from point to point and head towards Beijing.

“This would be a rough draft of the Beijing Express.”

“Hoo.”

The American commander seemed to immediately understand what I was talking about. The idea was to continuously supply supplies and troops by rail, to repair as many of the railways connecting Beijing as possible, and to gradually extend the line.

And through this, the Beijing Express’s ending would be to cut off the Qing Dynasty’s last breath with incredible modern firepower and mobility.

“Admiral, what happened to the cooperation at the Tianjin Provincial Office?”

“They beheaded all the remnants of the Boxer Rebellion who would not listen, and conscripted a large number of coolies.”

I somehow thought there was some kind of show going on since this morning, but it seemed like they were executing the remnants of the Boxer Rebellion by beheading them.

In the distance I could see severed heads hanging here and there.

It seemed as though the rule of the fearsome Allied Forces would continue.

Of course, I have no interest in that kind of rule, so I didn’t care whether the Totongamun was established or not.

“A second humiliation awaits the Qing Dynasty in its history.”

And last time it ended with one Ihwa Garden burning down, but this time it will be worse.

The British and French troops looked like great gentlemen, as the fierce men directed their wrath against Beijing.

Everyone agreed to the troop movement that would begin this afternoon and began a full-scale attack on Beijing.

However, since each of them had their own ulterior motives and intentions, it seemed like things wouldn’t go as they wanted.

***

“You fucking cholera!”

Lieutenant General Lee Geun-taek, who had advanced with great momentum to Hunchun, swore at the soldiers suffering from infectious diseases here and there.

Crossing the river and cooperating with the Korean trainees who agreed to cooperate was achieved, but that was as far as it went.

As we went further north, the customs and climate became more and more different, and the terrain became more rugged, so we had to devote all our efforts to maintaining supply routes.

There, cholera broke out in the barracks, and many people fell ill.

When the Joseon cadets told me to postpone the attack on Hunchun for a while, I regretted not pretending not to win and just listening, but it was already too late.

“Brigadier General, I heard that the supply wagons were attacked by the Blue Guards again.”

“I guess I’ll go back.”

Moreover, even the bandits who had been bickering with the Qing army, as if nothing had happened, cooperated with each other and held out tenaciously when the Boxer Rebellion broke out and the Russian and Korean Empire armies invaded from the north and south respectively.

Since breaking through their defense line, they’ve been attacking our rear so viciously that it’s been quite a headache.

“Didn’t you tell me to boil the water to stop the spread of cholera? What the hell is going on?”

“To boil water, we need to gather wood, but we are attacked every time we go to gather wood, so it is limited. Commander, it seems like it would be better to seriously give up on capturing Hunchun and streamline the supply line.”

“Yes, I strongly recommend withdrawal.”

“You have just crossed the river and now you are withdrawing? Why are you doing this, you are so embarrassed in front of His Majesty?”

“Even as we stand here, soldiers are dying. Unlike the northwest, which can use the west coast route, the resources of the northeast are clearly limited in sustaining a large army.”

Unlike the Pyongan-do area army, which could advance by gradually receiving troops and supplies via the route from Jemulpo to Jinnampo to Uiju, the Hamgyeong-do area army was not in such a state. Even if it went through Busan, Wonsan, and Hamheung, the sea was extremely rough and in terms of logistics scale, it could not keep up with the west coast.

Although there was considerable support from the most developed regions, the Yukjin and Hamheung regions, that alone was not enough to feed an army of 20,000 men.

In the end, after occupying Hunchun and Yanji, we were left with no choice but to be tied down.

“No, we cannot retreat. We have a strict order to make this our territory no matter what happens. All those who resist against the law are to be defined as enemies, and the villages of the Qing bastards are to be burned down so that the bandits cannot receive support.”

“Please reconsider. If we are not careful, local resistance may become more intense.”

“If you can’t tell the difference between a bandit and a civilian, you just have to eliminate their place of operation. Destroy all the villages within a 30-ri radius where our troops are operating. They are also potential enemies.”

Despite the opposition of his staff, he decided to use the strongest method he could.

That damn military chief said, “If the military is a fish, the people are water.”

Then, if you think about it the other way around, if you were to eliminate water, even a huge fish would have a hard time surviving outside of water.

So, they thought that if they eliminated all the villages that seemed to support them and set an example, the morale of the Qing army and bandits would be completely broken.

However, Vice-Minister Jang Gi-ryeom, who entered as the Chief of Staff of the Hamgyeong Province Army, expressed his strongest opposition to this method.

“Commander, if we can’t suppress them, the 30-ri radius will increase to 50-ri, and then 50-ri will become 100-ri. A vicious cycle could continue, so why are you doing something so reckless?”

Even when suppressing bandits, scorching the earth like this was the worst of the worst.

“Do you dare to spit on the words of the claimant, Vice-Minister Jang Gi-ryeom?”

“Please reconsider. This is a path that will lead everyone to a dead end.”

“I don’t want to hear it. If you don’t follow my will, I will remove you from your position as Chief of Staff!”

“Brigadier General, this is a matter of human lives. It is not something that can be decided so easily.”

When Chief Jang Gi-ryeom continued to stop him, a furious Lee Geun-taek eventually dismissed him from his position as Chief of Staff and shouted at him to return to the headquarters in Hamheung and reflect on his actions.

Jang Gi-ryeom, who had finally given up on persuading others, quietly muttered as he came out of the barracks.

“That little punk is playing with fire in a dangerous way.”

“Chief of Staff, we will persuade the Brigade Commander, so please do not leave the headquarters. If you leave here, the situation will get out of control.”

“The French officers have already left, so if the Chief of Staff leaves too, it will be a big problem.”

“What can we do if the brigade commander wants to see blood? The main headquarters will return to Hamheung, so everyone should be careful. They will fight even harder.”

He said as he mounted his horse.

It was obvious that the defense of the Hunchun area would soon become difficult, but Jang Gi-ryeom shook his head at the sight of him choosing to take the difficult path.

This was something that shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

***

Meanwhile, the advance continued smoothly. The advance toward Beijing, which began on July 19, reached the outskirts of Beijing before the end of July.

Meanwhile, reinforcements and supplies from each country approached the advance route via the extended railway, and by August 1, the railway was successfully restored to an area 10 km away from Beijing.

Meanwhile, a mixed brigade under the Japanese 5th Division was advancing north from Tianjin, while Russian and British forces also began to arrive one after another, forming a large force of over 20,000 men.

The Qing dynasty hurriedly ordered the mobilization of militias from Zhili and Shandong, and also began to build a defensive line around Shanhaiguan, just like during the previous Sino-Japanese War.

But unlike then, there were few means to defend Beijing immediately after the fall of Tianjin.

The only obstacles to the allied forces were the hastily assembled motley militia of Liu Lu, the governor of Zhili Province, and Li Bing-hyeong, the governor of Shandong Province, a portion of the Qing regular army led by Song Jing, Dong Fu-sang, Ma Yu-kun, and the Beiyang minister Ying Lu, as well as the alleged 100,000-strong Boxer Rebellion.

Not long ago, in Tongju, Lee Byeong-hyeong, the Shandong governor, mobilized a motley crew he had gathered and came to fight.

They managed to gather 10,000 troops, saying they would reclaim Tianjin, but they did not pose a significant threat.

It is not known why the Shandong cavalry showed up in Hebei Province, but they were completely annihilated in the one-hour battle.

The indignant Lee Byeong-hyeong did not listen to the offer of Lieutenant Kim Seok-joong to surrender, and immediately drank the lethal poison he had with him and committed suicide.

“You can’t even fight, but you’re good at running away to the afterlife.”

Lieutenant Colonel Posch’s words upon seeing that sight were true. Still, since he had shown loyalty to his country, I ordered that the body be properly collected.

In addition, some Boxers and Qing troops outside Beijing launched attacks, but they were unable to influence the overall situation.

The next day, a similar procedure was followed, although an army of about 10,000 men led by Governor-General Yu Rok appeared.

The firepower of the infantry units followed by artillery and machine-gun fire and the cavalry’s flanking blocking crushed them in an instant.

From the Battle of Langfang to the capture of Tianjin and the battles outside Beijing, the use of cavalry was of considerable importance, and they soon acquired a number of nicknames and were regarded as a fearsome and reliable force among the Allied forces.

“Yes, yes, just as Attila the Hun made Rome and all of Europe tremble, won’t our cavalry be enough to make those foolish guys from the East tremble?”

And, as if he liked the nickname, Vice Minister Kim Seok-joong was talking nonsense like that next to him.

Advisor Harcourt, who would normally be cheering from the side, was either very upset or deep in thought, but he didn’t do anything special.

Anyway, after destroying the army of Zhiye, we were able to face the governor of Zhiye, Yu Rok, who had not fled and remained in the middle of the camp. He looked at us and raised his voice with a face full of anger.

“You say that your country, Joseon, is the land of courtesy in the East, but why do you aim guns at the Heavenly King and act like the Yang and Wa!” he said.

I did not answer his words, but only told him to surrender.

Then, like Private Lee Byeong-hyeong who had committed suicide earlier, he refused to accept the surrender request and this time he stabbed himself in the neck and died, glaring at the Allied forces until the moment of his death.

“I just did what I had to do. Don’t worry too much about it.”

Next to me, the commander of the assault infantry battalion, Lieutenant Park Seung-hwan, consoled me as I looked down at the body of the dead governor-general, Yu Rok.

“On the one hand, I understand. If I were you, I would have been so indignant that I would have committed suicide. It is said that a soldier’s life had merits and demerits, but the Governor-General’s end was that of a loyal man.”

“As a soldier, you should fight until the end.”

I said as I put the sword I was holding back into its sheath. I could feel the blood that had not yet cooled touching my boots. I had won, but I didn’t feel particularly good.

Because I thought that perhaps their end might be like ours right after the Russo-Japanese War.

In any case, the allied forces, which had annihilated both the Zhili and Shandong armies, were resting in a halted state as of August 1.

This was understandable, as heatstroke caused considerable non-combat casualties. The summers in northern China were so brutal that even the most hardy Russian Cossacks and Sikh soldiers drafted from British India collapsed with nosebleeds.

Eventually, with nearly 40% of the entire force exhausted from the heat, it was decided that most of the troops should rest for a while on the outskirts.

The French army almost completely withdrew from the battle line because about 400 of the 1,000 mobilized soldiers complained of heatstroke, and other countries also had a number of patients that, although less severe, could not be ignored.

In addition, exposure to unsanitary environments resulted in significant damage from waterborne diseases and pests.

“This is why integers are important.”

“In Tianjin, workers are dying while boiling water?”

“It’s better than drinking dirty water and letting soldiers die.”

The damage was somewhat reduced to this extent thanks to the implementation of the most reliable method of purifying water locally, which is to boil the water before transporting it.

If it weren’t for this, the troops would have been exposed to dysentery and cholera during the advance, and the army would have collapsed before a full-scale offensive against Beijing could be launched.

“Tomorrow, the full-scale offensive begins.”

“Now it will be a battle to see who can open the door to Beijing first.”

A fierce competition ensued as each side tried to secure the better position.

The Japanese army occupied Jeongyangmun Gate and secured a position to access the embassy area, while the American and Russian forces were growling at each other over Sungmun Gate.

This was because it was a strategic point where one could enter the international embassy area by advancing just 1.6km.

Meanwhile, the British were preparing to dig a ditch and advance straight into the embassy area, and everyone’s plan was the same.

The first thing I want to do is enjoy the honor of liberating the foreigners in Beijing.

On the other hand, there was also pessimism that it was too late to save the foreigners in the embassy.

Maybe they were already extinct.

But most people didn’t really care about that.

If they had all been annihilated, he believed that the bloody revenge they deserved would be settled by burning down the Imperial Palace in Beijing. If they had miraculously survived, he believed that the Qing Dynasty, which had dared to act like barbarians, would be held accountable by severely punishing them. It didn’t matter which way it was.

Looking at Beijing, which was on the brink of divine punishment from the ‘Crusade for Civilization’, he prepared for the final battle to come.

James Harcourt, who had been running from Shanghai to Jemulpo in one go, had been acting as guarantor for Herbert Hoover, who had been appointed mine superintendent since 1896.

In fact, he had no intention of coming all the way to a tiny kingdom in a remote corner of Asia.

However, there were various money-related issues in Shanghai, and he was being chased because of them.

When his business failed, he owed some money to some Chinese merchants, but those damn yellow bastards didn’t give him any leeway and sent out men to chase him away.

Shanghai, where all of Asia’s capital flows into, is also filled with the same coldness as the home country.

It was a city overflowing with people, but somehow the only heat that could be felt among them was the greed of those chasing money, and all other emotions had long since cooled down.

Perhaps the Chinese were just tired of so many wars, Harcourt thought, but he came to his own conclusion.

In the end, it’s all because of money, that damn money. In the end, it’s because money became the goal rather than the means to happiness that people became so cold.

Of course, it may have been because he issued too many empty checks, but at least Harcourt didn’t think about that part.

Rather, I tried hard to think that it was the Chinese guys who had a lot of money but were not great people that were strange.

I was just living a life of hiding day by day, but thanks to my son’s friend in Korea, a way out opened up for me.

He wondered what a surprise this was and immediately left for Joseon without any hesitation.

Well, when he arrived at Jemulpo, the Korean officials who had said they would only hire mine inspectors ordered him to return to Shanghai as soon as they saw him, saying that he was not part of the planned list. However, he immediately showed off his experience and convinced them that he would be helpful in managing the mines.

It wasn’t a great career, but he had once been a full-fledged sergeant in the cavalry and had fought in wars against Indians. After he got married and quit the military, he also worked as a cowboy for a while.

Then, things didn’t work out so I came all the way to Shanghai and wandered around, but I wondered what these guys knew.

After a brief meeting, the Korean officials gave him another contract to guard a mine that Herbert Hoover was developing, and he was treated relatively well as he headed to the cold, harsh north.

There wasn’t much to do there.

All that was needed was to ‘calm down’ the miners and protect the miners.

Well, the level of ‘moderate appeasement’ went too far, and the miners staged an armed rebellion, and there were several clashes with local residents, but they were somehow resolved, so they were able to maintain their position.

But at some point he became free.

Although my current life is quite satisfactory, at least the thrill I felt in Shanghai has disappeared.

“All Joseon people are boring.”

He used to say this habitually.

The repeater rifle he had brought back from his home country with great care had become a mere toy, used occasionally for warning shots, and the revolvers he had on his waist were rarely taken out, with only bullets in their mouths.

For someone who originally believed that ‘Dixie’ meant riding a horse and pulling the trigger at least once a day, if not three times a day, life here was bound to be boring.

But thanks to his hard work here, his family back home was able to rebuild their family.

An opportunity came to him as well. War broke out in China.

Are you talking about those weird boxers that Westerners are starting to hate?

Anyway, they started saying that the pseudo-religious fanatics were running wild.

Even he, who was working helplessly in the mine, was able to hear the news through the newspaper.

“Mr. Harcourt, today’s paper.”

“Oh, thank you.”

A boy servant brought me a newspaper published in this country once every three days in broken English.

It was also something I could enjoy thanks to the English newspapers published exclusively for foreigners, and I thought I was lucky that day.

It just so happened that this tiny country was also preparing to go to war, and that Russian military instructors and French military advisers were busy training their troops.

Meanwhile, they were widely advertising that if there were any foreign officers or non-commissioned officers with military experience, they were looking for contract positions as advisors to the Korean government’s military and general staff.

He somehow felt that this time, this was where he belonged.

For some reason, as soon as he finished work, he ran to the telegraph office in Unsan and sent a telegram.

Since they weren’t going to send their advisors to the battlefield anyway, there was no sign of them being thieves who thought they could use their careers to get a contract with the Korean government and suck up some honey.

I sent him straight to the American royal military advisor who I saw in the newspaper one day and was said to be the vice principal of the military academy.

Although the content was long and exaggerated, it was about how he had made great contributions to subduing Indians while serving in the cavalry, and that if he were hired by the new Korean army, he could produce good results.

Of course, even as he sent it, Harcourt was unable to answer the question he asked himself: Would this flimsy telegram ever get a reply?

Because there has always been a huge difference between ideals and reality.

Still, he spent several nights awake, perhaps because of an inexplicable sense of anticipation.

And then, after about three days, surprisingly, a reply came.

He seemed pretty confident, so he asked me to come to Hansung and have an interview.

“Hey, boss!”

He confidently sent a telegram to Hoover, who was now the first president of a government-owned mine rather than a mine supervisor, offering to take a vacation.

Although he was young, he seemed to be quite good at managing mines, and his influence grew. I heard that the gold production this month was enormous.

“Is it okay if I take a vacation and go to Hanseong?”

“No, haven’t you heard the rumors lately? A group of Chinese bandits are invading the border area, and what are you going to do if the mine guard captain goes on vacation right now?”

“Oh, that’s Mr. Houston instead of me-”

“You want me to trust that drunkard and guard this place? I’ll just bite my tongue and die.”

Hoover couldn’t help but feel displeased as he watched Harcourt. He had always done things without a plan and was always the one cleaning up afterward. But this time, even if he was that kind of person, he was leaving at a time when he needed someone who could do more than just fight. How could he not be angry?

“Uh··· but···.”

“Even if you make such a pitiful expression, I won’t let you go. No, I can’t let you go. This is a document from the Korean government’s police department. Please read it.”

“Then, how about asking someone trustworthy to guard it instead of me?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, don’t you need a more reliable fighter than drunk Houston or cross-eyed Billy?”

Although he wondered if the gentleman had done something wrong, Hoover put down the gold ledger he was working on and began to listen to his story.

“Please continue.”

“So, if I leave for a while, why don’t I just appoint someone trustworthy to guard this mine?”

“Well… in principle, yes?”

“Then just wait a minute.”

Then he went out for a while and came back with a group of miners who looked like they were going crazy. When Hoover was confused and wondered what was going on, Harcourt started talking in Korean, which he had learned while he was there, and then shook hands with the leader of the miners.

“These guys will guard the mine instead of me.”

“yes?”

“Didn’t you say you were going to hire more miners anyway?”

Hoover’s eyes trembled as if an earthquake had hit his pupils. No, he had intended to hire more miners, but the ones he wanted were obedient and gentle Korean miners, not some wandering vagrant who had come from somewhere.

“But those people are wandering around the country, begging for food-”

“In a situation like now, don’t we need more people who know how to protect themselves?”

It wasn’t that he didn’t think of Harcourt. He worked in a Korean mine for several years and established his own identity, which was similar to a prejudice against Koreans. In particular, the miners who wandered around the mines and lived in a communal life reminded him of the tough workers he had seen in his home country.

Of course, at first, he treated them like savages, and he even beat them up and shot at them to have a ‘cultural exchange’, but as time went by, he began to like them. They were much more hard-working than the lazy Chinese he had seen in Shanghai, and he felt a strange sense of kinship with them because they armed themselves to protect themselves and stood up to them.

Above all, he felt even more fond of them because they were typical of the men of this country who struggled to survive on their own and stuck together.

“But aren’t these the miners who destroyed our company building last year?”

“We had a nice talk.”

It’s not like they held any particular grudge against them. They were just people who wanted to hire them and make a living.

“They probably know the geography of this place better than we do, and it wouldn’t hurt to hire them.”

“Could you explain it logically?”

“Now, Mr. Hoover, think about this. These guys have been wandering around here for years, going from mine to mine. If you and I give them good jobs and settle them down here, they will feel grateful to the company and be loyal. Above all, they are a great armed group, both individually and as a group.”

“That’s the problem. They have weapons in their hands. That’s why I’m paying Mr. Harcourt and his friends so much.”

“That’s only possible when you’re trying to stop some thieves. According to the document sent by the Korean National Police Agency earlier, there were at least a few hundred people, not dozens.”

Hoover was uncharacteristically silent about his logical remarks. The vast company-owned mine was manned by a dozen or so American guards, a dozen or so police officers sent by the governor of Pyeongan Province, and an occasional patrol of a platoon of Korean soldiers. This would normally have been enough to keep out bandits, but recently the number of bandits invading the border has been in the hundreds.

The number of guards that were present was not enough to deal with such people. Harcourt’s words were a hundred times right. Nevertheless, it was impossible to avoid a somewhat skeptical view of the proposal to employ wandering miners, as they were a nuisance to the local governments of Korea and the local residents who had good relations with them.

This is because they had no hesitation in invading private homes and digging up the land under the pretext of mining, and even brazenly pointing guns at officials who tried to stop them, engaging in fights that were almost like civil wars.

“But we can’t bring in people of that caliber to stop thieves.”

“But you can hire them cheaply. If you give them a place to live and pay them on time, they’ll really be a help.”

“···Let’s have a brief chat with the Pyeongan Province officials.”

And he immediately picked up the landline and connected to the Pyeongan Province Observation Office. The world has really become a better place. In the past, you would have had to ride a horse all day to get there, but at some point, there was something that allowed you to talk to each other just by picking up the receiver.

“Mr. Harcourt, please speak to me.”

“me?”

“You are a police officer in Pyeongan Province, so please accept me.”

It seemed like a higher-ranking person had received the call. He cautiously picked up the receiver, and on the other end of the line he could hear some noise and some messed-up English pronunciation, but it wasn’t so bad that he couldn’t understand it at all.

“You said we should hire wandering miners?”

“Oh, yes. That’s right.”

He repeated to Hoover what he had said earlier. He explained it much more simply and step by step than before. After listening to him for a while, the superintendent fell silent for a moment. It seemed that he was talking to his subordinates about something.

“I also reported to the governor. Mr. Lee Do-jae was very positive about your company’s proposal, but there are some conditions.”

“What is it?”

“The two conditions are that they will be provided with a place to live on the vacant land in your company, and that you will build roads, schools, and other social facilities for them. If these are accepted, the governor said he is willing to reduce the tax imposed on your company from the current 6% to 5%. For the next five years.”

The already low taxes are getting even cheaper? Hoover, who had been listening to the conversation on the phone, slapped his knee and jumped up from his seat. Then, he snatched the receiver from Harcourt’s hand and asked if that was true. The answer he got was the same as before.

“You can believe it, since the governor told me directly.”

As soon as the story was over, he immediately said he would do so. I heard that taxes were really low when I first came to Joseon, but I didn’t know it was this low. It was so good that I thought it would be a great place for foreigners to come and live.

Hoover ran the calculator in his head.

If you look for an empty lot near a gold mine, you can acquire it cheaply, and the cost of building a residence and social facilities there is less than half the tax cost they cut. There was no need to be mean to them, who were acting rationally, so he had no choice but to accept the offer.

He immediately came with a contract to hire miners, and it was immediately signed.

The saying, “Eat the pheasant and the eggs, have your sister and brother-in-law happy” may be true. While Hoover was unable to hide his excitement, Harcourt was quietly preparing to leave for Seoul.

It was at a point when he was really excited that I pushed back on my vacation plans, and they were approved without a word.

And when he set foot on the ship heading from Jinnampo to Jemulpo and arrived in Hansung, he could not help but be surprised.

Because it wasn’t the old-fashioned city we saw five years ago, but a truly modern city was being built.

A huge city, with the acrid smoke rising between them, and the procession of workers going to and from work every morning and evening, and a downtown area that is full of energy in its own way.

It was the city in America he had imagined, except without the Yankees.

***

“Mr. James Harcourt?”

“Oh, yes yes.”

Before he could be surprised by the sight of Hansung, he encountered an oriental officer waiting for him outside the Sadamun Gate.

Unlike the Pyeongan Province police officer, he spoke English fluently and offered to shake hands. Harcourt, who took his hand in a daze, could see that they were wearing modern military uniforms, not the old baggy Zouave clothes.

“I heard that the vice principal of the military academy called you today. Please get on the carriage here.”

Although he was polite, his restrained behavior as a soldier was burdensome.

He got into the carriage without saying a word and rode on the carriage to the military academy.

“You served in the United States Cavalry?”

“Yes, but.”

“An officer? Or… a private?”

“As that non-commissioned officer···.”

“Aha, you’re an instructor.”

Then the officer took out a document and started writing and checking something as if he was being interviewed. As I stared at him blankly, the Asian officer shook his head with his usual smile.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s just a courtesy.”

Even though I said that, I couldn’t help but feel anxious as I continued to write down every single thing Harcourt did or said.

After the uncomfortable carriage ride, the officer guided him inside the military academy.

Although he had never been to West Point or Annapolis, he couldn’t help but think that the building itself looked a bit old.

I heard that they were remodeling an old barracks building.

“Vice-Principal, this is James Harcourt.”

“Nice to meet you. My name is William McIntyre Dye, Vice Principal of the Military Academy.”

A man with blue eyes and a bushy beard, who looked like a foul-tempered Yankee at first glance, extended his hand to Harcourt.

He was sitting there wearing an old US Army uniform, a federal uniform that was both familiar and unfamiliar to Harcourt.

“It’s nice to meet a fellow American. Americans who come to this country are usually of two types. One is the money-hungry thugs, and the other is the con artists who try to rip off innocent Koreans. I hope you’re not one of them.”

“Of course.”

He shrugged his shoulders, snickering, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that the dirty-looking Yankee was looking right through him.

Over a cup of coffee, I was able to hear in detail about how he came to be here and what he did when he was young.

He had been working here since 1888, and I could tell that he was a seasoned veteran of the Civil War and the Egyptian Expedition, and that he was a staunch Federalist. It was also a time when I could see that he was a very burdensome person to Harcourt, who was a perfect Dixie.

“Haha, that’s why I decided to settle down here.”

“Oh, I see. By the way, when will we get to the main point….”

“Oh, right. Back to the main point, back to the main point.”

He took out a piece of paper from his bosom, and the explanation was enough to blow away all the uncomfortable feelings he had felt up until now and to make him feel truly happy to serve.

“This is a letter of recommendation that I can send directly to the military and the General Staff of this country. With just this one page, I can definitely provide a guarantee.”

“I heard that the treatment of military advisors is good···.”

“Oh, of course it’s good. The monthly travel expenses are $300 and the annual salary is $3,000 to $5,000.”

My mouth watered. Monthly travel expenses of $300? That amount would seem like a pittance compared to the money I earned as a security guard at Unsan Gold Mine, but an annual salary of at least $3,000 would be a lot of money. And that wasn’t all.

“Because I’m a foreign advisor, I get an additional monthly bonus from the Korean government, and they even give me a pretty nice house, so I can bring my family and live with them if I want.”

“Is it groundbreaking?”

Then, he naturally took out the pen in his bosom and prepared to sign the contract. However, Dai, who was holding it, just looked at Harcourt with an incomprehensible smile.

When Harcourt was at a loss as to what to do, he spoke in a low voice.

“But there is a condition.”

“yes?”

“You said you served in the cavalry? Unfortunately, this country has an advisory corps of infantry and artillery officers from each country, but no cavalry yet.”

“no way···.”

“Yes, that rumor is true.”

This damn Yankee! As expected, the clever Yankee always hits the back of the head of the honest and faithful Dixie.

It was the moment when his plan to make a contract with the Korean government and suck out some honey was shattered.

“Oh, of course there is a cavalry unit trained by Russian and Korean officers, but they are difficult to control.”

Brigadier General Dai shrugged. He too had been trying since 1890 to reform the Korean cavalry from the traditional cold-armed cavalry of his own army, to a more mobile mounted rifleman, rather than a cavalryman who could shock enemy lines with his own cavalry.

However, there were many people who held onto tradition within the Joseon army, and even the Russian officers who had been expected to do so were mostly Cossacks, so they became even wilder. They had become even more immersed in traditional cavalry doctrine than before. As an American, he needed a suitable person to reorganize the cavalry, which was given poor conditions, and the one who caught his eye was Harcourt, who had sent a dazzling application.

“If your application is correct, I guess you must have achieved some brilliant feats, such as subduing Indians and eliminating bandits. Of course, I don’t know much about it because I’ve been busy with other things since the war ended, but this is something you can check with your home country.”

“I didn’t know that an official adviser under contract with the Korean government would have to go to the battlefield. I thought about it a little more and….”

Contrary to expectations, Dai grabbed Harcourt’s wrist.

“If things go on like this, I plan to send this resume to my home country to have it verified.”

He smiled broadly, as if he already knew everything.

“I have some information about you. That you fled here from Shanghai to escape debt, and that you caused various incidents while working as a security guard at the Unsan Gold Mine. However, since you are one of the few Americans employed by this country’s government, I just turned a blind eye to you.”

“······.”

“If you leave that door, I will investigate the whole matter and report it officially to the Korean government. Then you will not be able to return to the Unsan Gold Mine either.”

“Then, what should I do···.”

“Well, I guess I’ll have to sign here. Of course, this isn’t a formal advisor contract. If you join the expeditionary force and achieve anything, I’ll strongly demand a formal contract, so it’s no exaggeration to say that I’ve practically secured the advisor position.”

They were dirty, vile Yankees. If the faithful Southerners had been half as clever as these, they would never have given up their states’ rights to the tyranny of the Federalists.

“Even if you don’t get much of a job as an advisor despite my strong recommendation, you can still get the bonus the Korean government promised, right? Something like $8,000. That’s why Russian and French officers applied in large numbers.”

It was too much of a sum to refuse. Ironically, it was also a devil’s offer that he had no choice but to accept if he wanted to live a sweet life here.

“If I sign, when will I start working···.”

“As soon as the contract is signed, I plan to assign you as a temporary advisor to the Korean Army Cavalry Battalion and take charge of their training and command assistance.”

Although it seemed like something was wrong, I thought it was better than sitting around dying in a gold mine. And since I would have to live with my family someday, I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to lay the foundation before then.

In the end, with no choice, he had no choice but to sign the contract that Dai offered.

As he watched the ink dry on the contract, it crossed his mind that this might be the most successful decision of his life, but also the one he would regret.