Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 235



Only Noblemtl

#235. Between Steel and Flame (5)

Since we were going to get caught anyway, we needed to advance as quickly as possible to minimize the enemy’s firepower while also making the enemy aware of the shock of being attacked at night.

So they shouted and quickly cleared the damaged barbed wire in front of the forward line and jumped into the well-dug trenches.

And then, right inside the camp, he pulled the trigger or stabbed the bayonet at the dumbfounded enemies and subdued them.

No, more accurately, that’s what I was trying to do.

Those who wanted to feel the fear in the eyes of their enemies for the first time in a long time while boldly thrusting their bayonets in, inevitably lost their spirit quickly.

“There is no enemy!”

“what?!”

The enemy’s forward line, which had just moments ago been fiercely resisting and repelling our battalion, was now left empty.

Of course, traces of the battle itself remained.

Anyway, there were no enemies left here, and among the bewildered people, a sound of something rising in the air was suddenly heard.

“Poem, is this a signal flare?”

Blue flares were embroidered into the air.

It wasn’t just here.

At every location that was presumed to be the enemy’s forward line, signal flares were rising, possibly fired by someone.

The ones who barely came to their senses in this dumbfounded situation were the senior non-commissioned officers.

The experienced ones intuitively knew that they were trapped.

The place I came to after getting lost was an open plain where all the enemy’s firepower was waiting.

I had to get out of here as quickly as possible.

“Uh, that’s not ours. It’s the Joseon bastards’!”

“Fuck!”

“We have to retreat immediately! Those bastards are setting a trap for us-”

Before I could even finish suggesting something to the company commander, a flash of flames appeared on the mountain to my left.

It seemed like everything was part of the enemies’ plan.

The flashing port flashed for a moment, and for a few short seconds they could only look up at the sky with expressions of shock or resignation.

And when they realized that they were soon caught in the enemy’s net, it was too late.

It seemed that the goddess of victory was still smiling on those uncivilized Joseon people, not on them.

***

“It’s a blue flare! The snowstorm has cleared!”

“Now! Release all to the reference point coordinates!”

If there were people who had the hardest time since the beginning of the week, it was these artillerymen.

Having virtually annihilated the enemy artillery battalion during the day, they had to rush straight into night battle without any proper rest.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I complained out loud.

Rather than actively avoiding battle and giving up Hanseong and letting the enemies run wild, they began to pour out artillery fire toward the given coordinates with a much higher fighting spirit and morale than before.

It was they who had been preparing for this very moment.

“Target! Enemy infantry company at the reference point ‘병’! 2nd battery, shrapnel! If you’ve got the aim, shoot!”

“Bomb!”

The artillery fire, which was a proper mix of red-colored shrapnel and yellow-colored high-explosive shells with their undersides marked, was approaching the enemy with a much more lethal force than the snow storm that had occurred earlier.

It didn’t matter to them whether the distance was close or far.

If only they had come within range, they could have given their enemies ample death and screaming.

“An enemy infantry company is advancing between our forward positions and the main fishing boats! The distance is a bit far, but the brigade has asked if we can provide fire support!”

“It doesn’t matter. Tell the 1st Battalion to show the guys who entered the killing zone a storm of shrapnel!”

“yes!”

If he was good at that difficult indirect fire, then direct fire while looking down at the mountain shouldn’t be difficult.

Without having to worry about return fire from enemy artillery, they cut off the waist of the enemy who was attempting a night attack without knowing it.

“Commander! It looks like some of the enemy infantry have already entered the village!”

However, it seemed that some enemy forces had taken advantage of the snow storm to infiltrate the village on the left wing of the front line.

Even though it was buried in the gunfire, the sound of fierce fighting could be heard from the village.

We couldn’t provide artillery support over there.

This was because the distance between the buildings was already short, and the firepower of high-explosive and shrapnel bombs was reduced by half.

In the end, we have no choice but to leave it to the brave infantry.

“Then what are the orders from the brigade?”

“He told me to block enemy reinforcements with barrages as much as possible. No additional enemy troops should enter the village···.”

“Okay, if that’s what the Inspiration wants, we have to follow it.”

Amid the ceaseless roar of artillery fire, the battalion commander called over a few of his staff members and ordered the two batteries to fire sequentially toward a pre-selected reference point.

Amidst the snowstorm and darkness, a loud battle noise began to fill the Black Market and its surroundings.

***

A fierce firefight was taking place between the Japanese troops who had entered the village and the Korean infantry supporting the main fishing boats there.

Although there were mainly thatched-roof houses, small-scale skirmishes continued between the complex alleys as the two sides attempted to bypass each other and ended up clashing, and at several major intersections, these small-scale skirmishes were gradually growing in scale.

“An enemy platoon is attempting to bypass our positions!”

“Don’t let anyone pass behind the kitchen boat!”

Unlike the right wing of the front line, which had some leeway in depth, the left wing was not like that.

The villages were densely packed together, making it a difficult area to defend, as enemies who passed the outpost line would have to immediately encounter them in the city.

The 3rd Battalion, which had been stationed here, was going through quite a difficult time.

Visibility was poor in the blizzard, and it was too late when they noticed the enemies moving through the complex village.

Thanks to the fact that all non-combatants were evacuated to Pyongyang just before the battle, the battle could be fought with peace of mind.

But it was not pleasant because he had to destroy the houses and rice fields of the people living there on his own land.

“It looks like we’re engaging in combat with the enemy on the right wing too!”

Judging from the fact that gunfire and the noise of battle were heard loudly from the right wing of the front, it seems that the sentries and search parties that had been pushed forward had warned of the approach in advance, but this side was unable to properly see it.

In any case, they had to face the enemies in a melee format without being able to control them from a distance, so they started to engage in offensive and defensive battles at night.

“That’s why I said we shouldn’t give up our forward positions!”

“Still, our troops are fighting the enemy properly! We are stopping all enemy attempts at bypassing!”

“The problem is that the enemies are stuck here! Don’t let those bastards establish a bridgehead in this town!”

The battalion commander was angry, but he quickly figured out the situation.

The confusion had not yet subsided as they faced the enemy.

He was starting to feel dizzy as fighting broke out here and there without even knowing the enemy’s location, size, or main attack direction.

However, he judged that if the enemy remained entrenched here and formed a bridgehead, it would be a long-term problem, so he ordered the 4th Company, which was the reserve force, to be deployed and destroy the southeastern part of the village where the enemy was believed to be hiding.

In addition, additional orders were given to mobilize the 1st and 3rd platoons of the kitchen fishing boats and advance to defend.

The problem is that the enemy has come in in addition to those who have just infiltrated.

The mistake was that, because it was night time, they mistakenly thought the infiltrating enemies were the main offensive force.

“A company-sized force, seemingly enemy reinforcements, is currently moving along the road! They appear to be advancing toward the old post station area centered around Heukgyo Station!”

“what?”

The thought, ‘This would be a disaster,’ crossed his mind.

Not only the 4th Platoon, but if the enemy were to break through the intersection along the well-paved road, the 3rd Battalion could end up trapped, controlling only a part of the village on the left wing of Heukgyo Station.

“Damn, did we send out the 4th Platoon too hastily?”

“If we continue like this, even the kitchen fishing boats will be in danger. The only ones who can stop the enemy approaching the road are our 2nd Platoon and the battalion headquarters, battalion commander, below!”

The battalion commander had no choice but to admit that he had acted hastily.

However, a mistake was a mistake, and how this was handled would clearly make a big difference in the future.

“Withdraw the troops to the kitchen fishing boats.”

“Yes? But then you’ll get in trouble.”

The battalion commander spoke while looking out over this open space, even from a corner of a complex city.

“Even if there is some damage, it will be difficult for the enemy to see much effect because there will be a lot of fighting between small units. If we retreat to the main fishing boat and draw the enemy here, we can beat up those heading to the road with the concentrated firepower of the Maxim cannon and grenade launchers.”

After all, the enemies cannot get to the center of the Black Market without passing through here.

The battalion commander reminded them of this and ordered the messenger next to him to fire a red flare to signal a retreat.

Then, with his mouth shut, he spoke, recalling his mistakes.

“Besides, we can inflict massive damage on the enemy in dense concentrations. Gather the entire battalion here. We intend to give them hell tonight.”

The gun crews handling the Maxim gun were dragging ammunition boxes and tripods up to the high places of the two-story red brick building that had been used as a church and the post office building before the war.

We were finally approaching the climax of the night battle.

***

Infantrymen on the front lines could clearly see the red flares burning in the sky even in the midst of crowded city streets.

It seemed as though the battalion commander had given the order to retreat to the kitchen fishing boat.

The infantrymen, who had been performing simple movements such as pulling the bolt, extracting the hot cartridge, and pulling the trigger again for a long time, were shaken by the sudden order to retreat.

The infantry, who could distinguish one another thanks to the fire from the battle, had half a look of regret on their faces, the rest of them looking as if they still had no idea what was going on.

After a short but fierce engagement, they had cornered the enemy and it seemed they did not understand why they were ordered to retreat.

It was also the moment when we were trying to subdue the enemy’s entrenched area after firing a barrage of grenade launchers.

“It appears that the battalion has been ordered to fall back toward the main defense line.”

“If we withdraw like this, we will be releasing all the enemies we have captured···.”

“It seems like enemy reinforcements have arrived. I think the battalion has decided that there is no reason to hold out here.”

The 4th Platoon Commander nodded at the senior sergeant’s words.

Although they succeeded in penetrating the enemy’s flank to wipe out their bridgehead, it would take some time to completely wipe it out, as the enemy resisted using the city as a shield.

“It would seem difficult to wipe out the resisting enemies, wouldn’t it?”

“Unfortunately, yes. The enemy who retreated due to our flanking attack is hiding in various parts of the village and forming a firing line, so it seems difficult to achieve any more results. It seems that it will be possible only with the support of the main battalion.”

If we had enough troops, we could have destroyed them before they could escape, but it was always a shame.

We are always short of troops when fighting on our own land…