Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 243



Only Noblemtl

#243. Beyond the Line (5)

As a result, these improvised grenades could be seen as symbols of the bravery that each individual assault infantryman could demonstrate.

Boom! Boom boom boom!

And just now one of them exploded, blowing enemies between the barracks and scattering flesh everywhere.

“Wow!!”

At that sound, the assault infantry cheered, and the platoon leader, not missing this moment, drew his sword and shouted.

“Charge! The only sound we will hear from our enemies today is screams!”

Then he blew the whistle loudly.

Beep!

With a stimulating sound that tormented his ears, he was the first to jump into the ranks of the Japanese infantry, who could not even tell what was what, holding a sword and a revolver, and then the assault infantry rushed in.

The revolvers and melee weapons each carried shone in this melee situation.

puck!

The enemy’s head was crushed by a hexagonal club with nails attached.

The enemies tried to bayonet their troops who were very close.

They were easily neutralized when the friendly forces that followed skillfully dodged them with shovels or swords or fired at them with revolvers.

Even in such a chaotic situation, Lieutenant General Kim Si-jin was checking the advance of his troops.

The enemy’s flank opened by the 1st and 3rd Platoons looked like a scene from hell.

The enemies who had been so confident until just a moment ago were unable to shake off their bewilderment at the appearance of those who were difficult for them to understand with their common sense, and began to fall one by one.

“2nd Platoon! Break through the enemy’s front line like this! Let’s completely destroy the enemy’s rear!”

“Long live the Korean Empire! Long live our homeland!”

“For our country and His Majesty the Emperor, let us all bravely advance into the enemy lines!”

With someone’s shout, Lieutenant Kim Si-jin led the troops under his command from the company and repeatedly pulled the trigger, firing bullets at the enemies he saw in front of him.

A bloody close combat ensued as they quickly tangled with the remaining enemy infantry.

When he saw the enemy bayoneting him from the right, he instinctively pulled the trigger again.

But instead of the expected sound of gunfire, there was only the clicking sound of empty bullets hitting the target. Seeing that they had run out of bullets, the enemies, who had previously cowered, threw away their momentum and charged again, swinging their bayonets and sabers.

“Where do you dare to barge in!?”

He immediately put the gun in his right hand back into its holster, took out an axe from behind his waist, and struck one of the enemies with his whole body, knocking him down.

And then he immediately kicked the head of the enemy who was lying on the ground with his combat boots, and then caught the bayonet thrust from the right with the axe blade and knocked it to the ground.

The enemy was so flustered that he couldn’t even pick up another weapon.

In an instant, he stabbed him in the chest with the sword he was holding in his left hand, knocking him down.

The enemy soldier who was stabbed by the sword thought it was only a minor wound and tried to stand up again, but soon stumbled and fell back to the floor with a ‘thud’. He was never able to stand up again.

“Kill all who resist! There will be no mercy here!”

He shouted to his men around him, then used the axe that was free again to cut off the neck of the enemy soldier who was trying to grab him. Then something lukewarm and unpleasant splashed onto his face.

“Eww!”

Along with that, a terrible scream echoed right next to him, but he didn’t pay much attention to it.

Rather, as he tried to charge at the enemies without losing momentum, the enemies, whose momentum had been dampened, turned their guns in the opposite direction and tried to flee, but other assault infantrymen who had followed immediately approached them and fiercely subdued them.

“thanks.”

“This isn’t the first or second time something like this has happened. By the way, it seems like the other battalions’ attacks are working pretty well.”

Looking at the place the senior instructor was pointing with his hand, I saw that the 2nd and 3rd Battalions had also encountered the enemy lines and were tearing themselves apart into small and medium-sized units, striking the enemy in all directions.

Meanwhile, several officers, holding swords, were driving the enemies back to the front lines with fear in their eyes.

“As expected, they’re not easy guys.”

Kim Si-jin said, spitting out the blood and saliva from his mouth onto the floor.

Actually, if the Boxers or the Qing hordes had been of a similar type, I might have been very disappointed.

If the enemy had well-trained officers and non-commissioned officers, they would continue to regroup and challenge the unit as much as possible.

When he had a moment to spare, he emptied the cartridges from the revolver he had just used, quickly loaded the cartridges with the moon clip, and pulled the trigger so he could pull it again at any time.

“The enemies are attempting to regroup!”

“Then I guess I can just beat them until they can’t be organized.”

As if in contempt for the enemy who were trying to block their advance by reorganizing their ranks and pouring rifle fire from the front, the assault infantrymen, split into platoons, began to shock the enemy again with their destructive penetration power and the shock power it brought.

And the enemy company that was somehow creating variables and waiting for an opportunity to counterattack was sentenced to death.

The machine gun team that had already advanced had already taken a good position and was literally ripping apart the ranks of the enemy infantry company that was trying to reorganize.

Tutatatatatatatata tang!

“Oh, the machine gun team is getting their money’s worth.”

Although it was a very simple comment, the senior pastor’s words were filled with respect and gratitude towards them.

Between the flashing flames of the gun barrel and the trajectories of the bullets, the question of life and death was being decided.

Captain Kim Si-jin watched the advance of his platoons and ordered the grenadier unit to pour artillery fire on the expected enemy resistance points and retreat routes.

Each company and platoon was moving along very smoothly.

It was a much smoother movement than the infiltration maneuver shown during training.

“Sir! This is the messenger from the 3rd Platoon.”

“What?”

“The defeated enemy infantry is attempting to regroup in a direction 50 up from the reference point! The platoon leader has requested grenade launching here!”

He nodded silently. If they wanted it, it would happen.

The grenade launcher, which had been firing at a different location for a while, fired shells again toward the given coordinates.

Perhaps the fighting would resume when the bombardment ended.

The tip of the sword prepared for the enemies was pointed at their hearts.

***

“Now it’s time to show the power of our cavalry regiment! Our stupid enemies are foolishly showing us their butts!”

Cavalry Regiment Commander Kim Seok-joong shouted to the cavalrymen behind him as he watched the coordinated simultaneous attacks of the assault infantry regiment unfolding right nearby.

“We must make sure that the enemy cannot leave here alive! Let’s completely destroy the bridge and the enemy’s rear!”

The objectives of the cavalry regiment were very simple compared to the complex maneuver plans of the assault infantry regiment.

The only order that Sunmuyoung gave to them was this.

The goal was to block the enemy’s retreat.

Thanks to transporting the warhorses by carriage and keeping them in the best possible condition, the cavalry regiments could boast of a greater mobility than ever before.

Without any time to delay, General Kim Seok-joong deployed the 1st and 2nd Battalions to block the enemy’s immediate rear.

And he himself rode the horse to play the most important role with the 3rd Battalion.

Among the cavalry squadrons that had already left their temporary assembly area, cavalrymen wearing silver-grey cuirass stood waiting.

“Today’s protagonist is not the 1st or 2nd Battalion, but your 3rd Battalion, which is comprised entirely of children from Gwanbuk!”

Sunmuyeong, or rather Sunmu-sa, had given another order to the 3rd Battalion of the Cavalry Regiment.

While the assault infantry regiments were moving and scattering the enemy, they could regroup the reserves and the recovered troops and launch some counterattacks against their clearly unknown enemy.

“You are the best cavalry the Korean Empire can produce, the thunder of the East that will dominate the battlefield! We have prepared too much to give up this place! So, let’s show those bastards who will win this war! Let’s dye the Taedong River with the blood of the Japanese!”

And for the purpose of thoroughly crushing them, he gave the 3rd Battalion the breastplates he had purchased in France and assigned them to a battlefield that might be a very classic but final cavalry charge.

In particular, unlike the 1st and 2nd Battalions, which were called up from the Gwanseo and Gyeonggi regions, the 3rd Battalion was composed entirely of sons of military officers, which was a very unique composition, which may have also played a role in its selection.

Counselor Harcourt was smoking a cigarette and trying to control his pounding heart.

He, who had to lead the most intense cavalry charge, felt both anticipation and fear of death.

And just then, the regimental commander who had just returned after giving the order to deploy the battalion approached him.

Harcourt smiled and said a word to the young regimental commander.

“Are you trying to do what you did in China again?”

“Haven’t you been teaching manners to barbarians since you were little?”

“I’m too old to do that…”

Still, he let out a hearty laugh and checked that the repeater rifle on his saddle was properly loaded with ammunition.

Looking at him with a cigarette in his mouth and the way he was cocking his gun, you could tell that he had been used to this kind of thing since he was a child.

“I think you are very well prepared for that.”

“If I die here, what will my family eat? I tell you again, I am here because of my loyalty to my employer and because of the salary your government will pay for me.”

“And it remained for the sake of the advisor’s own bravery and honor.”

“Yes, even that little Hoover is staying because of loyalty to his employer, so how can I leave here? Anyway, there’s going to be a really hot charge. I’ll be watching Napoleon come back from hell alive and crying.”

He put his rifle back in his pocket and looked at the advancing cavalry.

In just a few hours, some of them would never see the rising sun again.

A cavalry charge always meant the tragic death of the rider.

“You don’t have to charge in the lead, Advisor.”

“Huh, those three great lads are the ones I personally raised. Where is the teacher who sends his students to the front lines and retreats?”

He pulled the reins of his horse, adjusting the hat on his head, insisting on standing at the forefront of the charging line.

***

If we attacked just a little more, the fall of Jinnampo would be imminent.

After a series of attacks day and night, we were able to drive the persistent enemies back to the port.

Although their numbers were small, the enemy’s artillery was still powerful, and the enemy’s elite infantry, who launched surprise attacks and shocks throughout the city and drove back the friendly offensive units, as well as the enemy militia, who, although shabby, did not retreat and held their ground until the very end, were pushed back while suffering considerable casualties.

“Brigadier General! Large-scale enemy surprise attacks are occurring in various places!”

“what?!”

“A large number of troops have crossed the mountainous region on the right side of the front line! The entire friendly line is in chaos!”

“No, how did you get over there?! Isn’t that a place where it’s difficult to maneuver?!”

“I, I also don’t know the details well···.”

It seemed that it was difficult to even grasp the exact situation on the front lines.

However, it was certain that the enemies had emerged from completely unexpected places.

Faced with such a situation, Director Tadaburo Yamada was at a loss with his face turned pale.

If we had attacked just a little bit more, we could have dealt a huge blow to the enemies…