Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 190



Only Noblemtl

#190. No one step back (3)

The 23rd Brigade Commander, Major General Kikoshi, looked at the retreating units with an expression that said, “Well, then that’s how it is,” and Hasegawa looked back and forth between the lieutenant who was explaining the course of the battle in front of him and Juansan with a mixture of bewilderment and anger.

The Japanese army was defeated in the battle. Even though they were a reserve infantry battalion belonging to the Korean army, they were not the kind of army that could be defeated by those guys.

But the reality he faced was that one of the battalions of the 47th Reserve Infantry Regiment had suffered such severe damage that it was on the verge of being reorganized.

“Our imperial army was defeated by those rascals?!”

“They are not thugs, Your Majesty….”

“What are you talking about! The enemies here are just rookies who were just drafted this year. Do you think you can lose to them?!”

Hasegawa was furious that he had suffered such a defeat at the hands of such incompetent men, but his anger alone was not enough to wipe out the Joseon soldiers who had taken up residence in Juansan. Furthermore, the lieutenant’s subsequent words were enough to shake him.

“Those guys, they might not be ordinary North Korean soldiers. When I went to suppress the rioters, the elite units among the North Korean soldiers were throwing bombs directly with their hands. The guys I met today were also throwing bombs with their hands···.”

“······.”

All of the Korean garrison troops and the 23rd Brigade staff fell silent at that sound.

They had heard stories about Joseon’s elite soldiers. They carried dynamite between their pants and underwear, as if they were bomb horses, and they were happy to throw it when they encountered the enemy.

And there was a backstory that they were running towards each other, singing a creepy song, amidst the flashes of explosion, the roar of noise, and the debris.

Usually, in such cases, it would be difficult to find survivors, which is almost like a creepy ghost story.

“Perhaps if the sun had not set, they would have turned and charged us. With machine-gun fire, with heavy artillery fire, with bombs thrown directly at our entrenched troops…”

“It would have been a disaster.”

Major Kikoshi cut the lieutenant off with a distorted expression on his face.

“I guess we know that the guys in front of us are not easy.”

“Brigade Commander, let’s launch a night attack. Organize the available battalions and exterminate the North Korean soldiers on that mountain.”

“Your Majesty, that is impossible.”

Major General Kikoshi refused Hasegawa’s order. To be precise, it would be more correct to say that he refused to bring his own troops to the night offensive, even though he had more troops to mobilize. And this was a refusal that had its own justification.

“Do you know how difficult it is to control troops at night? If you push in battalion-level troops incorrectly, you may end up fighting each other before you can properly find the enemy. Last time, when we were suppressing the insurgents, there were considerable difficulties in night attacks.”

“Even so, we can’t give them time! Our plan has already been disrupted by those cunning Joseon military bastards, and we can’t afford to mess around with them any longer. And they must have used up a lot of ammunition to defend against this attack, so if we launch a counteroffensive, we should be able to turn over that yattmahan mountain.”

“That’s why it’s dangerous, Your Majesty. That might be what they’re after. Just as we know them, the Joseon soldiers know our intentions.”

Kikoshi could sense their malice right from the moment he set foot on Joseon soil. Seeing Jemulpo, which did not even show any resistance, he thought for a moment that they would give up on a direct confrontation and run away, but now that he looks at it, it seems that they were just waiting for him to enter the tiger’s mouth.

“A nighttime offensive is impossible, so let’s first reorganize the damaged troops and then launch an offensive at dawn tomorrow.”

“We need to make up for the time. The headquarters wants us to quickly take control of Hanseongbu and establish full-scale military rule. Shouldn’t we, the frontline workers, work hard?”

“I think it would be right to reorganize now. Even if we attack again at night, there is no guarantee that we will be able to break through that high ground.”

Hasegawa eventually gave in to Kikoshi’s earnest opposition.

“Ugh, this is exactly the time to go on the offensive···.”

“Your Majesty, reinforcements will continue to arrive from the mainland. The more complete the division formation is, the more advantageous it will be for our forces, so there is no reason to move too hastily. There is no reason to play along with the plan they have set.”

Now, over 20,000 reinforcements will arrive through Jemulpo, Busan, and Gunsan within this week, so even the strongest elite force will not be able to hold out for long and will collapse when that happens.

Only that’s not today.

***

“What? You won?!”

“What’s going on?”

“They say the 3rd Brigade repelled the Japanese at Juansan!”

The war room of the headquarters had a landline telephone with a direct line to Jemulpo.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry’s Telegraph Office and the Marshal’s Operations Office had been most eager to secure these telephones, and starting with the connection of the telegraph line between Hansung and Jemulpo, they had now greatly expanded the wired telephone networks connected to the northern regions.

This was a large-scale project that continued with the full support of the American advisor to the Imperial Household Ministry, Denny, and the support of the heads of each department of the Marshal’s Office and the military adviser Baek Seong-gi, who judged that telegraph technology would be of great help militarily. It utilized the existing West, North, and South telegraph lines to connect the wired telephone network, and there were even two public telephones in Hanseongbu that could be used by the civilians.

And now, a direct report was sent to the water supply department through the landline that the Bupyeong County Governor had to operate.

In any case, when the unexpected news of victory came over the phone, the war cabinet ministers and the Marshal’s staff, who had been deeply distressed by the pressure of the outbreak of war and the question of how they should fight now, all cheered.

Of course, except for three people.

“Huh, why are your faces so stiff, Commander-in-Chief and Commissioner-in-Chief?”

“Prime Minister, why do you make such a face on such a joyous day?”

Han Gyu-seol, Lee Gyu-tae, and I were looking at the tactical map with serious expressions.

“The real war is just beginning. I hope our small victories don’t blind us and deafen us.”

The excited atmosphere definitely calmed down with a single word from Prime Minister Han Kyu-seol.

He was right. The victory of the 3rd Brigade was only a small tactical victory, not a strategic event that could turn around our disadvantage. Of course, there is a lot of room for political exploitation.

“Is the exhibition plan being properly implemented?”

“Yes, Prime Minister. The central bank’s gold and silver bullion is currently being transported to Hamhung, and major materials are also being moved.”

“I have instructed that the grains from each region be transported to a safe area, or destroyed if unavoidable. We cannot easily hand over to them the grains tied up in the ports due to the grain ban.”

Minister of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry Cho Byeong-sik spoke as if he would not hand over even a single grain of rice or a single bean to the Japanese.

As the harvest season had already arrived, a large amount of rice that the Japanese were supposed to purchase was tied up in the port due to the grain embargo, and most of it would probably have to go through the process of being destroyed.

“This year’s rice harvest is about 40 million seok… We cannot transport all of this to the north in a short period of time. Does the Ministry of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry have any countermeasures?”

“If the preparations had been a little faster, we could have moved more rice, but at this point, there are limits, so we will have no choice but to mobilize the local garrison, the conscripted artillery, and the civilian security forces to distribute it. Even those in the southern ports will not be easy to retrieve.”

Jo Byeong-sik sighed. He must have felt sorry for the rice that was as valuable as blood, as he had to destroy it so that the enemy could not use it.

Seeing this, the Emperor’s indecisiveness felt even more frustrating. The precious time he had wasted was coming back to haunt him like this.

“When do you plan on going to your post, sir?”

“I have the Assault Infantry Regiment under my command, so I will go to Pyongyang only after I have completely completed the withdrawal from here and seen that you are all safe.”

It was soon time to head to Pyongyang, my hometown, where my mother and relatives were.

It would only take two or three days to evacuate everything that could be withdrawn from Hanseongbu.

The 3rd Brigade volunteered to make the sacrifice, so more could be withdrawn than expected during that precious time.

Of course, they started to extract information little by little right after the coup.

“When the Japanese army reorganizes its ranks, I recommend that everyone withdraw from Hansung. If the 3rd Brigade breaks through, it won’t even take half a day to get from Jemulpo to Hansung.”

“We’ll be leaving tomorrow morning. But I’m worried. We can’t evacuate all the residents of Hanseongbu.”

Han Gyu-seol expressed concern for the remaining residents of Hanseongbu. If the royal family, government, and military all withdrew, they would not have been able to evacuate this place in time, or they would be the only ones left with a place to live, and they would have to beg for mercy under the bayonets of the Japanese army.

It was expected that more than half of the 500,000 residents in and around Hanseongbu would remain there.

“That’s why I volunteered to stay.”

“···Are you sure it’s okay?”

Of course, not everyone in the government went. Kim Hong-ryuk, the mayor of Hanseongbu, volunteered to remain there.

“The Japanese army can’t occupy this place forever anyway. Someone has to stay here and protect those who remain. Once the defense line collapses and everyone withdraws, I will declare this a city of no resistance.”

“A city of no resistance···.”

“We can’t turn Hanseongbu into a sea of ​​fire. We have no choice but to maintain control of this place as much as possible and protect Hanseongbu and its people from them.”

“You might end up dying at their hands. Just come with us.”

Foreign Minister Lee Beom-jin advised him to withdraw with him, but he flatly refused.

“Most of the Hanseongbu officials have already chosen to remain. How could those who were born and raised here abandon their wives, children, and land? And the Hanseongbu magistrate who must lead them also cannot do so. I appreciate the offer, but I ask that you please serve His Majesty the Emperor and lead the war to victory.”

Wow, I never thought that the nobleman who tried to assassinate King Gojong and the Crown Prince by putting opium in his coffee would act so desperately.

In the end, everyone had no choice but to allow him to remain. The world, indeed, had long to live and see.