Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 205



Only Noblemtl

#205. In the Curtain of Night (5)

“Four battalions?”

“Could it be that you reported the 4th company incorrectly···?”

The Japanese army, which had taken control of Hanseongbu and quickly began landing troops in Jemulpo, Gunsan, and Busan, appeared to be in disbelief as soon as they received reports of the Battle of Gyeongin Road.

In particular, Commander Kuroki, who landed at Jemulpo on October 21, showed this reaction as soon as he received the report from Commander of the Main Army Hasegawa and Major General Kikoshi.

“You suffered that much damage from the likes of Joseon soldiers?”

Even if that unbelievable Satsuma native Hasegawa were to be believed, Commander Kuroki had no choice but to believe it outright, since even Major General Kikoshi of the 12th Division, who belonged to the same Choshu faction, said the same thing.

“Two battalions of the 23rd Brigade and two battalions of the Parking Corps have suffered significant casualties. The enemy knows how to use machine guns, artillery, and equipment known as grenades and grenade launchers. This has caused our infantry losses to be much more severe than expected.”

After interrogating several wounded and fallen Korean prisoners of war, Major General Kikoshi was able to realize that the enemy had quite a high level of firepower. He was particularly shocked to see the hand grenades they had and the grenade launchers that could be used as ammunition to send them quite a distance.

First of all, the fact that the artillery fire from Juansan was so annoying that it was thought to be artillery support was not real artillery, but the role of grenade launchers carried by the infantry company, and that seeing these grenades thrown made people mistake them for ‘the elite Korean soldiers they had witnessed in Tianjin and Beijing’, which further overestimated the enemy.

“I am ashamed to say that the enemy we encountered at Jemulpo was a regular brigade that had just completed its full formation this year. Contrary to initial reports, they were not actually an elite unit, but they still mobilized powerful firearms and effectively fought our troops. They should never be taken lightly.”

“Um, what about Commander Hasegawa?”

“It’s frustrating, but I have to admit it. Our enemies are truly cunning.”

Commander Kuroki seemed quite troubled when even Hasegawa, along with Major General Kikoshi, intervened in acknowledging the Korean soldiers.

If things had gone as planned, we should have taken control of Gyeongseong long ago, forcibly formed a Japan-Korea airborne alliance, and entered the initial stage of turning the entire Korean peninsula into a supply base for the invasion of Manchuria.

However, the royal family and government in Gyeongseong had already fled, and they could only look at the empty Gyeongbokgung Palace.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was said to be mobilizing a large number of Korean exiles to establish something similar to a ‘provisional government’ in Gyeongseong, and a cabinet headed by Yi Wan-yong and Park Yeong-hyo was being prepared, but it was unclear how effective this would be. After all, it would be like covering one’s eyes and pretending not to know.

“If this happens, it will be a disaster···.”

It was as if I had bravely stuck my head into the jaws of a tiger released by the Joseon bastards.

“The initial plan has already been greatly disrupted, Your Excellency. We must gather our troops as quickly as possible in Gyeongseong and then advance toward Pyongyang and Uiju. In order to complete the crossing of the Amnok-Tuman within the 50 days set by the General Headquarters…”

Commander Kuroki looked puzzled, but soon began to think of a solution.

In any case, we had won the battle against the enemy, and had destroyed(?) all of the enemy’s regular troops and militia forces that had been trying to resist in the Gyeong-In region, so all we had to do was gather up our troops and supplies and attack them once, no more, no less.

However, Commander Kuroki also had many concerns. The Guards Division was sailing toward Jinnampo, but the fighting on the Gyeongin Island suddenly became fierce, and there were concerns that the northern waters would soon freeze over due to the unexpectedly low temperatures, so they suddenly landed separately at Jemulpo and Gunsanpo, causing the quartermasters to scream.

Jemulpo was not a place that could accommodate two divisions of troops and all the supplies they would need.

It took ample time to sort out the confusion and properly gather troops in Gyeongseong.

“Your Excellency, it will take more than three weeks for the entire First Army to assemble in Gyeongseong on time. If we include the accumulation of supplies, it will take a total of five weeks at the most.”

Lieutenant General Nobuoki Asada, who was promoted early to the position of commander of the Guards Division, opened his mouth to further oppose the opinion of the 12th Division commander, replacing Lieutenant General Hasegawa, who was promoted to commander of the Korean Garrison Forces.

“Five weeks? You don’t intend to waste that much time, do you, 12th Division Commander? Speed, speed is the only thing that will lead us to victory in this war. We absolutely cannot allow the Koreans to join the Roske in Manchuria.”

He, like Vice Admiral Hasegawa, was one of the commanders with a rather aggressive disposition. No, he might have been even more aggressive.

He too was thirsty for his specialty, and he needed a solid record for the benefit of the Satsuma faction to which he belonged. He also needed to have a voice in the army controlled by the Choshu faction.

“Since the initial plan has gone awry, we must once again destroy the Joseon bastards’ Pyongyang with the same bludgeoning we used to beat up the Qing bastards. We’ve already destroyed Pyongyang twice, so why can’t we do it a third time?”

He proposed the tactic of passing through the dust. This tactic, which was directly taught to the Japanese army by Germany’s Moltke and which they accepted dogmatically, literally focused on dispersing a large force and then moving it toward a single strategic/tactical objective.

It was a tactic used by Prussia during its war with Austria, and it was clearly effective.

“Coincidentally, the Joseon people are also repeating the same mistake as the Qing people. Instead of intercepting the main landing site, they are pouring all their forces into Pyongyang and just waiting for us to come.”

“Commander of the Guards, the enemy is on a different level from the Qing army. If you underestimate them….”

“That must be because the artillery provided by the 12th Division was too insufficient. If each unit can properly maneuver and follow up with the tactic of passing the enemy’s attack, they will be able to destroy the enemy’s defense line in one blow. They may even be able to occupy Pyongyang earlier than the target 50 days and prepare to cross the river in Uiju.”

Commander Kuroki was worried. There was still too little information. He had assigned the cavalry to a reconnaissance mission and had them identify the enemies along the expected route from Gyeongseong to Gaeseong to Pyongyang, but there was still no news.

“The enemy will most likely be very defensive, relying on Pyongyang’s geographical conditions. They will not actively intercept us. If the enemy’s combat behavior when facing the 12th Division was like that, it is very likely that their entire force will act in the same manner.”

“The opinion of the Guards Division Commander is flawed. Our division has only fought one battle. The enemy is composed of cunning and skilled fighters. We need to be a little more cautious. I believe that the offensive against Pyongyang should be postponed until after November.”

For a moment, sparks seemed to fly between the 12th Division commander and the Guards Division commander. The conflict between those who wanted to be cautious about the Pyongyang offensive and those who wanted to quickly settle things before they could join up with the Russian field army could only be mediated by Commander Kuroki’s decision.

A poor mediation would not only cause dissatisfaction on both sides, but could also touch the irritated feelings of the headquarters.

It’s like a pizza with pineapple on top.

“I will accept the opinion of the Guards Division Commander.”

In the end, Commander Kuroki chose to take a bold offensive that was closer to the intentions of the Imperial General Headquarters, rather than being cautious. There was no reason to overestimate the enemy and give them a chance.

“The Imperial General Headquarters also said that the direction of this war will depend on how quickly the Korean Peninsula is occupied. Soon, from Hiroshima in our country to Busan, the 2nd Division, 3rd Brigade, and 4,000 supplementary troops from the 23rd Brigade will arrive, and as soon as they are redeployed, we will advance to crush the enemy.”

“When will that be?”

“November 13th… It’s been five weeks since the Joseon people declared war. It’s not too late, nor too early. So each division commander, prepare for the offensive. Although we have to miss the anniversary of the founding of the emperor, we will present the most precious gift to His Majesty the Emperor.”

“All right.”

It was a period of time in which sufficient troops and supplies could be accumulated, three weeks at most, no more.

The 2nd Division was to be placed in the rearguard as the 3rd Brigade would soon land in Busan and advance, and the 12th Division also needed to reorganize the 23rd Brigade which had suffered damage, so the advance to Pyongyang had no choice but to be undertaken by the Guards Division.

Of course, despite these circumstances, the 12th Division Commander looked at the Guards Division Commander with a rather unpleasant expression. He thought that the Satsuma bastards would just stay at sea, and that Choshu had foolishly overlooked the land war that he could handle, and now he was making a complete mess of it.

“Underestimating the enemy is the most taboo thing in military strategy. I hope that the division commander does not make that mistake.”

“Thank you for your concern.”

The commander of the Guards Division laughed at the 12th Division commander, who was making a displeased expression, thinking to himself, ‘So that’s why they got beaten up on the Gyeongin Expressway by the thugs.’

‘That stupid Choshu guy is in control of the army, so this is what it looks like. Tsk tsk.’

He was proud that the Imperial Guard Division, which had been under the control of Satsuma since Saigo Takamori, would be different from other army divisions commanded by Choshu.

In particular, the elite unit he commands is different from the 12th Division and the like from the start.

Today, too, troops and supplies continued to flow in from Jemulpo and were heading to Gyeongseong.

With their own desires and plots, each faction began preparing to turn their guns against their common enemy.

***

“Compatriots! And patriotic young people of Korea! Now is the time for us to show our strength! The wicked Japanese have invaded once again to trample on our land! To those who seek to intimidate our Korea, all we can do is to respond to our army that has resolutely gone into battle! Let us all go to the recruiting office and willingly sacrifice our bodies and our lives for our country!”

“Waaaah! Hurray! Hurray!”

Just before the Battle of Gyeongin-ga, Roha, who had barely managed to escape to his hometown of Pyongyang, was looking at those who had once been his neighbors.

Young people, both men and women, were flocking to the recruitment office in Pyongyang-bu, encouraging people to join the army on the streets.

Numerous groups waved their flags, recalled the shame and insults they had suffered from Japan, and chanted slogans and songs calling for unity and victory this time.

It was generally combative, and just hearing it made me feel like my heart was going to burst.

And, as people started to gather in front of the recruiting office, the officer in charge of recruiting rushed out and complained.

Not only the Jinwi troops at the recruiting office, but also the National Military Police and even the police had to come out to block their intrusion.

I heard that 20,000 people volunteered for the 2,000 new recruits that were supposed to be recruited.

She passed the recruiting station with a sigh.

“We can’t accept any more volunteers! We don’t even have enough firearms to give to the young men who have volunteered!”

“If I don’t have a gun, I’ll fight with a sword, so please accept it!”

“I have a gun that I used at home! Just let me fight the Japanese!”

“In accordance with Imperial Decree No. 101 and Article 5 of the War Cabinet’s Instructions, all students currently enrolled are ordered to devote themselves to their studies until the official general mobilization order goes into effect! So please, everyone, go back!”

Well, the atmosphere was something like this.

It was also a neighborhood where anti-Japanese sentiment was at its worst.

If the anti-Japanese sentiment in Hansung was at the level of soft glutinous rice cake, the anti-Japanese sentiment here was at the level of hard-tack eaten by the Yeonggili Navy.

When the news of war broke out, most of the young people were almost half-awake.

The young men who left them behind had eyes that were completely different from those of the passionate young men in front of the recruiting office.

The horror, the fear, and perhaps hunger of war.