Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 165



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#165. Rising Dark Clouds (3)

“The search party is not operating as well as expected. However, it will get better with time.”

“Sigh… I don’t have much time.”

“Just as the armies of the European powers did not become strong overnight, this also takes time. Still, they are much better than when I first saw them. And they are an aggressive infantry force, which is rare even in Europe.”

Lieutenant Colonel Posch spoke to me, comforting me as I showed my impatience.

“Also, the grenade launcher that the infantry use to make up for the lack of artillery power is quite impressive. A tool that can fire grenades from a distance.”

“It will provide tactical flexibility in that the infantry can immediately mobilize the firepower they need.”

“I agree. However, if we have enough artillery in the first place, such makeshift equipment would be useless.”

Just wait 30 years and you will hear something like that. No, you will feel it even in 1914.

How valuable is the use of arced firepower that infantry can immediately utilize?

However, given the times, the existence of grenadiers was probably perceived by European officers as nothing more than a ‘tearful attempt to make up for the insufficient firepower of artillery.’

“By the way, the machine guns assigned to the infantry are deploying very slowly.”

“···What are you trying to say?”

Major Vidal hit me where it hurts the most.

The process of assigning machine guns to the infantry through temporary assignment from the artillery to the infantry was quite twists and turns and is still ongoing.

Still, many artillery officers and infantry officers did not understand why machine guns should be assigned to the infantry and not the artillery.

Of course, this would be natural to those who had experienced the Tianjin and Beijing invasions, but they were only a very small number.

For people in the world who all know the law of ‘1+1=2’, this formula would be considered an unchangeable law and an eternal truth, but for people in the world who do not know this, it would be a story similar to something completely nonsensical.

In a world where machine guns were long regarded as something to support artillery or fortress artillery, the way I gave instructions could not help but seem strange.

“I wonder if that would really be effective.”

“You haven’t forgotten that it was thanks to the machine guns attached to the infantry in Beijing that we were able to rescue the Russians and Japanese troops, have you?”

“Of course. But that can also be explained by the difference between universality and particularity that you always talk about. I am a little skeptical that the Director is trying to fit a special situation into a universal situation…”

“No army assigns machine guns to infantry. It is very slow to operate now, so isn’t it natural to assign artillery equipment to infantry?”

Not only Major Vidal, but even Lieutenant Colonel Foch, who had been comforting me until just now, was saying the same thing.

From my perspective, the machine gun company assigned to the infantry battalion was moving very slowly. There were many cases where they couldn’t keep up with the infantry’s advance speed because they were leading the machine guns, and there were also concerns that they would lack firepower when they were really needed.

“Hmm···.”

“Machine guns are most effective when they are fixed in fortified positions, not sent out to accompany infantry on foot.”

“That’s certainly a valid point. Today’s machine guns are too heavy, too cumbersome, and too slow to deploy to support fast-moving infantry units.”

However, there were still some countermeasures. Instead of fixed tripods, they could have tried increasing mobility by attaching Maxims to wheeled gun carriages like those used by the Russian army. And if that didn’t work out, they could have used the 250 million franc loan from France to bring in Madsen machine guns from Denmark.

I heard that Russia is also preparing a contract to purchase Madsen machine guns from Denmark to make up for the shortage of Maxim machine guns in Manchuria.

“By the way, General Putacha, something interesting came out of Denmark this time.”

“Oh, I see you heard about that machine gun, Director. I heard from our friends back home that they were preparing to purchase it.”

“How about we buy it together?”

“Well, that’s good for us. We can import it a little cheaper, like Maxim. But that’s equipment for the Cossack cavalry in Manchuria, and it’s not really suitable for your army, which has weak cavalry.”

“Are you going to give machine guns to the irregular units?”

“Yes, that’s right. There are many reasons why we are introducing them, but the most decisive reason is to reinforce the insufficient firepower of the Far East Army. Maxims are deployed to a certain extent in the regular infantry regiments of the Far East, but this is not the case for the cavalry, which makes up the majority of the force. In particular, since the theater is large and the area to cover is considerable, there are a considerable number of irregular cavalry forces such as Cossacks.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

I had thought about this before, but for officers at the time, machine guns were considered ‘good, but lacked tactical flexibility’, so they were not widely introduced in countries other than Russia.

In that respect, the Madsen was a machine gun that had been reinforced in many ways, and its biggest advantage was that it was innovative in that cavalry could carry it like a rifle and deliver the same firepower as a machine gun, rather than having to lug around a cumbersome machine gun.

“Are you sure you’re not going to give that to the infantry?”

“A small change in thinking can change a lot.”

“Hey, think about it. The reason we’re giving it to the Cossacks is because their firepower and equipment are so outdated, so we’re trying to supplement them a little bit. The firepower of the Korean infantry is already on par with that of the armies of the great powers.”

“You can’t win a war with a similar level of skill. You have to overwhelm the enemy with solid firepower, and the introduction of machine guns like the Madsen will eventually become necessary for that. There will come a day when cavalry will no longer play a traditional role, but rather a mobile infantry.”

I threw in a vague idea of ​​a hazy future. I thought it would be okay to throw in a little bit of a hazy afterimage of a future war.

“Well, I still think that cavalry can only achieve good results if they play their traditional role…”

“Nothing has been decided yet, so let’s just say that there are differences of opinion. Anyway, as you can see, those infantry need a machine gun lighter than the Maxim. Although it is said to be for cavalry, it ultimately depends on how the user uses it.”

“Well, let’s report it to the home country first. However, we need to send the documents officially to our War Department. That way, we can inquire about the purchase quantity from the Danish government.”

“great.”

Lieutenant Colonel Posch shook his head with a skeptical expression, as if he had heard what Brigadier General Pouchata and I were saying. It seemed as if he was wondering if there was any reason to bother with infantry firepower like this.

Of course, Foch was someone who always emphasized the need for securing sufficient military supplies, especially an overwhelming superiority in artillery, and he often said that only a powerful artillery strike could determine the outcome of a ground war, so it made sense.

“With that money, you could have just bought more French-made artillery and military supplies…”

“What I’m saying is.”

I could also hear Major Vidal’s voice, which seemed to be humming.

I pretended not to notice, regaining my sense of taste, and went back to focusing on my training.

For a while, it seemed as if the regretful sounds of the French officers and embassy would flow into my ears.

***

After a full day of training, everyone returned to the temporary camp set up along the Han River with tired expressions on their faces.

On one hand, a banquet was being held for the foreign military attachés who had been in attendance, and thanks to the fact that the imperial family had sent chefs to accommodate the guests, they were able to enjoy various banquets.

“Oh, there’s electricity all the way here.”

“As the power plant installed in Dongdaemun, Hanseongbu expanded, it became possible to bring electricity to the outskirts.”

The German officers spoke with quite an interest. There was electricity even inside the wooden building where we were enjoying our dinner.

Since this temporary garrison site was to be used as a barracks and a communications unit after 1903, the Marshal’s Office was preparing to set up a military telegraph line.

Thanks to this, electricity was brought to this underdeveloped area, and even late at night, we were able to enjoy a charming dinner under the bright lights.

“The returned soldiers were on the same level as our elite Prussian soldiers. We also found many interesting things, especially in the doctrine of the infantry. It was not for nothing that they wiped out the Boxer rebels in Beijing and Tianjin.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“Huh, it was not Prussia, but our brave French spirit that brought us to that level…”

“Strictly speaking, isn’t it the spirit of our Prussia, rather than the spirit of France? Thirty years ago, in the war, our doctrine and military philosophy turned the whole world upside down.”

Here too, the war of nerves continued. In particular, the war of nerves between Lieutenant Colonel Foch and Major Falkenhayn, who had been dispatched from Kyojuman and entered the country, was the most intense. It was a very strange situation considering that Foch, who had become Joffre’s adjutant during the race to the sea during World War I, had blocked Falkenhayn’s offensive.

Anyway, Foch, who was furious at Falkenhayn’s words, tried to say something, but was barely able to continue talking after General Kadual and the interpreter officer of the Marshal’s Office who were standing next to him barely managed to silence him.

Falkenhayn didn’t really care what Posch said or did. His eyes were fixed on me, who was across from him.

“In that sense, I would like to give some ‘advice’ to my comrades who fought shoulder to shoulder with the Boxers.”

That’s the famous advice from Falkenhayn. I answered quietly, raising my glass of wine.

“Any advice?”

“If you are thinking of a war with Japan, perhaps modeled after us… you should prepare for a war of attrition and a mobile breakthrough.”

“I never said that I considered Japan to be an enemy.”

“But if you look at your current actions, it seems like that’s the only way. If you transplant the Russian-style military system and French-style military philosophy and tactics into your army, it can only be perceived as an attempt to deal with the Japanese army, which is modeled after us.”

“Is it too obvious?”

“Well, it’s not a bad choice. If the weight classes of the two countries were similar, your army, which has adopted French doctrine and military philosophy, might be able to conduct a ‘propaganda campaign’ against the Japanese army.”

Surprisingly, he seemed to be aware of the changed military philosophy and doctrine of France. Of course, he judged that France had not yet reached the level of understanding of the German military, and so it seemed like the nuance of his view that they were superior to France had not changed.

“Oh, of course, even if the Japanese army is the most advanced army in Asia, you should keep in mind that it is still inferior to the great powers, especially our German Empire. Perhaps four of our divisions could blow away the Japanese army in one blow.”

“······.”

Well then, that’s right. Those gentlemen were so arrogant that they told the French to go away.

I sighed and decided to finish listening to his story.