Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 191



Only Noblemtl

#191. No one step back (4)

Among the dried autumn forest, the sound of fallen leaves and yellowish grass being crunched could be heard, but no one paid any attention to it.

Rather than digging trenches, the Japanese army ‘commanded’ the surrounding houses and gave them to their officers or built makeshift barracks, where most of them rested, and some spent the nights posted as sentries.

“It looks like we’re on a picnic or something.”

Those who had completely hidden themselves in the darkness, except for their gleaming eyes, as if they had rubbed their faces with charcoal, were gritting their teeth and waiting for an opportunity to look at the Japanese barracks.

They removed all objects that could make a noise when hit, in order to minimize the noise.

“Thanks to you, we got a chance.”

“We need to ‘well’ explain to those guys what a search party is.”

“hmm.”

The search company, which was under the direct command of the 3rd Jinwi Brigade, was assigned under the command of Hong Beom-do, who had been active during the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion.

They lay face down on the ground, glancing at their men. Unlike the other regular soldiers who had been conscripted from Gyeonggi Province, they were made up entirely of gunners who had flown in from Hwanghae Province and the northwest.

“Hey, those kids don’t even have proper guard?”

“You underestimate us. You despicable children.”

Hong Beom-do cursed softly and took out the pocket watch from his bosom.

Soon the hour, minute, and second hands would align toward zero, which would signal the start of the attack that had been promised to the brigade commander.

As expected, the Japanese army had placed their barracks in the locations that the brigade commander had planned in advance, and they did not properly confirm that we had artillery capable of long-range bombardment.

As if every second, every minute was like an eon, time passed, and finally, from behind Juansan Mountain, the sound of gunfire and the sound of something flying could be heard.

For everyone, time stopped for a split second, and it ended when a large amount of shrapnel was flying from the shell.

A battalion-level field artillery fired shells without stopping.

I vaguely remembered what General Kim Si-hyeok, the ambitious military affairs director and now a police chief, had said.

If the artillery of one battery could change events, the artillery of one battalion could change defeat into victory. And now he thought he knew what that meant.

The artillery battalion behind Juansan was pouring out rapid fire, and the sound of bullets hitting the Japanese barracks facing the search company was so loud that it drowned out the screams and shouts.

After only about ten minutes, but the most intense firepower the Japanese had ever faced, the sound of shells flying overhead gradually grew distant from their target.

And this was like a signal for the search party to begin their attack.

Hong Beom-do slowly got up. There was no need to rush, but he needed to let them know deep down that they were here.

Before the charge, they began to play eerie melodies on the instruments they were carrying.

Before the attack began, it was a requiem that I could do for them.

Finally, when the performance ended, they each held a revolver in their hand and the shotguns they had requisitioned from each gun company in the 3rd Brigade just before the outbreak of war and issued to them, and began to slowly approach the Japanese barracks.

It was going to be an unforgettable nightmare for the Japanese military.

***

The Japanese barracks, now free from shelling, looked almost like something swept away by a storm.

All around them, those who had been torn to pieces by shrapnel shells lay breathless, or lay quietly dead in their sleep.

Those who were lucky enough to survive could not help but think that it would have been better to have died in the shelling earlier.

Ears previously tormented by the impact of shells, the flying shrapnel, and the screams of the dying now heard a chilling melody.

There was no time to collect the casualties or respond immediately. As soon as the unpleasant melody stopped, death began to approach from the other side.

“Kill him!”

With the final command, they began to raid the Japanese barracks.

Among the Japanese soldiers who were collecting casualties and trying to pull survivors out of the destroyed barracks, they brought death by any means necessary.

“What the hell is going on?! Tell the company commanders to control their troops immediately!”

“This is a total mess, Commander! The Joseon guys have raided the barracks. This place is also dangerous!”

Screams mixed with gunfire, and grenades exploded, sending the scantily clad soldiers of the reserve infantry battalion floundering.

Since this was not the sea, the enemy began to mercilessly drown the Japanese soldiers with firepower.

They made no distinction between officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers. Their sole purpose seemed to be to break the front line and kill as many people as possible.

“Send the reserve company here! If we pass this place, the enemy may infiltrate the gap between the 23rd Brigade and the reserve force!”

The battalion commander hastily shouted at the officer in front of him.

If the 1st Battalion of the 47th Regiment breaks through, a perfect gap will be created between the 23rd Brigade and the reserve forces.

And now he realized what a mistake he had made.

Even though the 2nd Battalion of the 47th Regiment suffered damage in the initial attack, they did not build proper defensive facilities because they did not think they would be attacked by night.

I regret it now, but it’s already too late.

The barracks failed to protect the soldiers from shrapnel, and the few sentries were unable to stop the determined advance of enemy infantry.

Still, he tried to suppress the enemy’s breakthrough as much as possible by concentrating his troops around the command post where he was located.

Like when we were dealing with the Satsuma samurai who were running towards the guns with swords in hand.

He remembered the many times that the Satsuma clan had presented the Pure Land Army with extremely dangerous situations by charging with their swords.

There was even a time when the assault on the footsteps reached as far as Yamagata’s command post, sending shivers down my spine.

However, even this type of infantry attack had a weak point. If they somehow managed to gather their troops and concentrate their firepower on one point, they could not only block the breakthrough but also counterattack and inflict even greater damage.

And, I thought that if we followed up this with close combat after accurate shooting and fire control, which were the strengths of the Japanese army, we could push them back even further.

So he recalled his past memories and ordered them to gather troops somehow.

“The enemy is nothing! If you come to your senses, you can push them back, so each company commander should gather their subordinate units as much as possible and form a front line centered around the command post! They are nothing!”

He pulled out his sword and shouted loudly.

The commander he thought of was someone who, when the unit began to disintegrate like this, should be at the forefront, boosting morale and forming a central figure.

The soldiers who had been disintegrating at the shouts of the battalion commander came to their senses and began to form a line around the battalion commander and prepare to endure.

“uh···?”

But something was strange. The enemies who had been mercilessly charging at the allies in the barracks suddenly stopped their charge.

While everyone was wondering, they started throwing something at their allies, and it didn’t take long for them to realize that it was a grenade.

“Blood, damage!”

The sound of explosions continued, and the troops that had barely gathered began to run away, struggling without even regaining their senses due to the shock of the explosions.

The final screams and gasps of the dead and dying echoed across the battlefield, and enemies began to invade among the friendly forces.

“You damn Joseon bastards! I’ll kill you all!”

“no!”

One of the company commanders ran forward, swinging his sword with both hands and screaming, but all he got in return was a series of shotgun blasts.

From that point on, those who remained were busy running away. Even the close combat they had trusted was overwhelmingly won by them.

Only then did the battalion commander realize that these men were on a different level from those he had seen in the Seinan War.

They didn’t just use shock power as their weapon.

The surprise attack and large-scale artillery battles, carried out while unprepared, were the most powerful weapons at their disposal.

The various weapons they held in their hands were merely secondary.

He sensed that his battalion was completely disintegrating, and he charged straight at the enemy who were still mopping up the remaining resistance. Then came the same continuous gunfire as before.

***

Hasegawa, who had been sleeping for a long time, woke up in bed startled by the sound of shelling and gunfire coming from outside.

At that moment, an adjutant came in, and after him, the 23rd Brigade Commander, Major General Kikoshi, also rushed in without even putting on his military uniform properly.

“Your Majesty! It’s an enemy attack. An unknown number of enemies have attacked the front lines of the 1st Battalion of the 47th Infantry Regiment, and the situation is dire!”

“What? What did that battalion commander do?!”

“That, that···.”

The words of Major General Kikoshi were shocking. An unprecedented large-scale artillery barracks had been concentrated on the 1st Battalion of the 47th Regiment, and those who had been pitching barracks without trenches or other protective facilities were caught in the shrapnel shelling, apparently suffering enormous casualties from the very beginning.

“The 1st Battalion’s battle line itself is currently in a state of collapse. It is nighttime, so troop control is impossible, and enemy artillery fire is now reaching the rear areas, making it difficult for reinforcements to enter.”

“What? Artillery? Their artillery can reach that far?!

Hasegawa felt as if the tendons in his head were going to pop out. The enemy artillery was firing with incredible accuracy at night.

They did not yet have proper artillery. Strictly speaking, they could have received support from the 4th Squadron in the sea off Jemulpo, but they had no means of communicating with them or the confidence to strike accurately by setting coordinates.

It would still be two or three days before the 12th Division artillery arrived, but I never imagined they would be able to use their proper artillery in this way.

The only thing I thought was that the short-ranged shells and the small explosion radius I saw in the battle this afternoon were the ones that caused the trouble. They had been hiding their regular artillery from the very beginning.

“I don’t know if they were redeploying or if they were hiding artillery from the beginning, but at least it’s a proper artillery attack. The artillery is pouring down, and some of our brigade’s men who tried to come to the rescue got caught in the fire and got pinned down.”

“Fuck.”

Hasegawa quickly got dressed and entered the two-story building that was being used as the command center.

As I entered there, I saw survivors from the 1st Battalion, 47th Regiment who had barely escaped.

The situation looked so dire that it would have been quicker to find an uninjured member among them.