Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 207



Only Noblemtl

#207. In the Curtain of Night (7)

Of course, since the Japanese garrison and the residents’ group in Wonsan were completely subdued, they could not easily dare to land.

Moreover, winter came earlier than expected, which was a blessing for us. Jinnampo began to freeze over.

Unlike last year, when freezing began in November or December, this year freezing began in early October.

Naturally, it became virtually impossible for the Japanese army to use Jinnampo, and instead they poured ground troops and supplies through Jemulpo, Gunsanpo, and Busan.

“Our 3rd Brigade succeeded in delivering a devastating blow to the enemy in the Gyeongin-ga area, but it is unknown what effect this will have. In any case, the enemy will regroup and come here.”

“They won’t come right away. They have to concentrate their troops and supplies in Hanseong.”

I looked down at the map. In this war that had already strayed far from its original history, I had only one choice.

Taking full advantage of the enemy’s intentions to force them to shed even more blood.

“But… that will only last for a short while. If all the troops and supplies needed for the offensive are concentrated in Hansung, the enemy will immediately come out. There is a precedent that the Japanese army in the year of Gap-o annihilated the Qing army at Seonghwan in late July, and then replenished its supplies and troops for about five weeks until early September.”

“then···.”

“This time, it might be even faster. The enemy is not a weak Qing army, but a North Korean army that is at least stronger than us. If we and North Korean join forces and fight the war together, it would be fatal to them, so they will hurry even more.”

“So how do you plan to defeat your enemies?”

Min Yeong-hwan asked.

And this was a question that not only he, but everyone who had to defend Pyongyang, was wondering about.

He was merely asking the question on their behalf as their superior, and I had a duty to answer their curiosity.

“I will break the wings of my enemies.”

“wings···?”

“It is obvious that the enemy will stick to the same tactics as in the year of Gap-o. No, they cannot help it. They are the ones who have dogmatically accepted the tactics of Deokguk, known as the most effective in the world, and transplanted them to themselves.”

The Japanese military called it the “dust-passing tactic.”

It was a tactic that had already proven effective in the Austro-Prussian War, and the Japanese themselves used it against the Qing army, leading to their victory in Pyongyang.

For them, the dust-passing tactic was a key to victory if they could just use it.

But from now on, I was going to teach my enemies, one by one, that this was wrong.

I said, tapping the table with the baton I was holding.

“But I will destroy their tactics. Just as the dead Gongming defeated the living Sima Yi, I will use the dead French tactics to destroy the living Deokguk tactics.”

To be precise, it was closer to trying out the first doctrine Prussia learned in its war against Napoleon.

The staff members’ eyes lit up with astonishment at my words.

“You want to destroy the Japanese who are using the tactics of the French way?”

“Sir, I wonder how. How can we drive them out?”

“When enemies use the dust-and-pass tactic, rather than deploying their entire force in large numbers, they will literally disperse their forces and have them move individually toward their objective.”

During the Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese 9th Mixed Brigade, the 5th Division, and part of the 3rd Division moved toward Pyongyang in this manner.

The western part of Pyongyang, which crossed the Taedong River, and the front of Pyongyang, which advanced through Junghwa, the unit that advanced from Saknyong and targeted the right flank of Pyongyang, and one regiment of the 3rd Division from Wonsan, which was further away, moved entirely from the east and completely destroyed the Qing army.

As a result, although the overall forces of the Qing and Japanese armies were not much different, the Japanese army had the upper hand in terms of manpower and firepower on most of the front, and succeeded in pushing back the Qing army.

Of course, we should point out the specific logistics issues, the morale of the Qing army, and the lack of ammunition supply that led to the delay.

During this period, the Japanese military would have been more obsessed with the fact that their bold tactic of passing through the dust had a tremendous synergistic effect than with such points.

If the enemies were trying to surround us with a dust storm, the answer was simple.

All we had to do was prevent these guys from passing the dust test in the first place.

“We will defeat these enemies one by one. If the enemy spreads his wings for the purpose of encircling and destroying us, we will break one of the wings so that the bird cannot surround Pyongyang.”

“But the Qing army of Gap-o year was similar in number to the Japanese army, but we had fewer troops than them.”

“That’s why we have to do it even more. If the enemy completely surrounds us… we will inevitably be outnumbered and outgunned.”

“You, don’t you know that? The Qing army didn’t know that either. That’s why they sent in 7,000 troops to try to stop the Japanese army’s advance. But they ultimately failed. I’m afraid that we might make the same mistake…

“It was because the Qing army’s troop quality was so backward. They were not commanded by one commander, but rather a collection of units drawn from each unit, and they were not familiar with the terrain here. Above all, they were seriously short on ammunition and supplies. Our army may be weaker than the Japanese army, but it was incomparable to the Qing army. No, it would be rude to even compare them.”

Regarding Min Yeong-hwan’s concerns, I confidently expressed my belief in our military. No, it was truly a force incomparable to that of the Qing army.

“If we can break even one wing of the enemy, just one, we can hold out in Pyongyang for a long time. Just as Napoleon crushed the Prussian army, and as Cadual and Foch taught us, we will demonstrate here the great principle of ‘movement and breakthrough, division and destruction.’”

I was standing with the cavalry regiment commander Kim Seok-jung next to me, and the infantry regiment commander Na Jung-so, whom I had personally recommended to the commander of the assault infantry regiment just before the war, in quite serious postures.

I smiled at their appearance and spoke as if I was speaking to a lady or gentleman.

“And they will be the vanguard. The mobility of the cavalry and the shock power of the assault infantry will be enough to annihilate the enemy.”

“Where do you think the main battlefield is, Commander?”

“You shouldn’t confront the enemies coming up to Junghwa directly. Here, you should mainly fight a delaying war and a war of attrition. This is the enemy’s main offensive route, and at the same time, it’s the place where you can replenish your troops the fastest.”

I answered the words of Lieutenant General Min Yeong-chan and took the baton to Jinnampo, heading west of Pyongyang.

“The wings of the enemies will be broken here.”

“In Jinnampo?”

“This is a place where you have to cross the Taedong River. Do you think the enemies will come here?”

Everyone looked puzzled, but I answered confidently. They will definitely come here. No, they have no choice but to come.

“It will come. We will need to make our enemies misjudge our actions, and they will surely think that past successes will shine this time.”

Above all, they will not be able to give up the enormous merit of being able to control the western part of Pyongyang.

Although still frozen, after eliminating the Russian fleet at Port Arthur, Jinnanpo was sufficient to become a major logistics route and material depot that ensured the Japanese advance into Manchuria.

“We have already withdrawn all our troops to Gwanseo and Gwanbuk. The 3rd Jinwi Brigade unexpectedly encountered the enemy on the Gyeongin Road and was eventually defeated, but we may be able to benefit from this.”

The Japanese army, which had resisted so fiercely that it had inflicted indelible wounds on four battalions of the Japanese army on the Gyeongin Expressway, was forced to make a misjudgment when it saw that the Korean Empire Army had vacated all of Gyeonggi Province and Hwanghae Province.

“We will make the enemy think that we are in a defensive situation, relying on the terrain. So we have to make them feel at ease that we will not even think about fighting in the field, but will just stay in the camp and defend. If you have practiced martial arts when you were young, you will know that the bigger your actions, the more space you can stab.”

There is no need to be cautious when dealing with a defensive enemy.

If we can win the fight we want by having such enemies continually misjudge our tactical moves and ultimately force us to make maneuvers that seem extremely risky, we may be able to present a battle that will be remembered for a long time in modern history.

“We must force our enemies to make mistakes. This war is not about who can fight better. Everyone is using large armies to wage war, so who makes fewer mistakes will determine the direction of the war.”

“It causes the enemy to make mistakes and interferes with the war itself…”

“Our navy will soon be in action. The enemy will pay the price now.”

I also had hopes for the fleets at Hamhung and Vladivostok, who could threaten control of the East Sea and the Korea Strait while the Japanese fleet was away.

If the Japanese army was in a desperate situation, and if it was the Imperial Headquarters, they would have stopped maintaining their rationality even in the midst of madness and would have acted even more impatiently.

“It’s time to make a move. Time is on our side now, so we just need to wait patiently for the next move.”

We had already made the first move on the chessboard. Now all that was left was whether they would walk into the game we had planned, or whether they would slowly squeeze us out by paying for our time.

Either way, it was only a poison to the Japanese military.

And whichever glass they chose, I was willing to make them regret it.

I’ll have to think a little more about what form that regret will take, but overall, it could make counting the living and the dead meaningless.

***

“Our fleet has arrived as promised.”

“It is truly a thousand-strong army.”

At that time, shortly after the imperial family, government, and ground forces commanded by Lee Gyu-tae, the commander of the three provinces’ army, entered Hamheung, the cruiser fleet from Vladivostok also entered the port just in time.

The armored cruisers Gromovoi, Rurik, and Bogatyr, as well as the flagship Rosia, entered Hamhung.

In fact, it could be said that the most valuable ships belonging to the cruiser fleet were the ones that came in.

The Vladivostok Cruiser Fleet was officially formed from the Port Arthur Fleet on June 7, 1903, just before the war, and began its full-scale mission in September, when it moved its home port from Port Arthur to Vladivostok.

And their mission was very similar to the one for which the Korean Imperial Navy was created.