Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 244



Only Noblemtl

#244. Beyond the Line (6)

The 1st Guards Regiment Commander, Colonel Minato Watanabe, also managed to speak with a stammering voice.

“Shouldn’t we call in a cavalry regiment to stop the enemies?”

The 1st Guards Regiment had already suffered considerable damage while concentrating its attacks on Jinnampo.

Even if they were to withdraw and reorganize now, it was uncertain how many could be gathered. Furthermore, the units under the 1st Guards Regiment were the first to be caught in the enemy’s surprise attack, making it even more difficult.

As the noise outside grew closer, the commander of the 2nd Guards Regiment, Colonel Matasaburo Fukaya, hurriedly ran into the tent and said.

“How can we call them who have advanced more than 10km north, even if they can’t do it on the front lines! Brigade Commander, come to your senses! If we don’t come to our senses here, we’ll all die!”

Although his face became gloomy as he looked at the collapsing battlefield, he was still a commander with sound judgment.

He told everyone, including the survivors who had barely escaped, that the enemy was moving in a completely different way from the usual tactical actions they had seen so far.

Unlike the skirmish tactics that are common in Europe, which concentrate the firepower of battalion-level infantry units on the front, the enemy is said to have divided their troops into companies and even platoons and moved quickly.

Concentrating firepower on the front to repel them or attempt to intercept them was of no use.

He said that it was difficult to properly deal with them because they were enemies who moved quickly while hiding in the darkness and terrain, and once they got close, they would stick to them and shock them with grenades, revolvers, and various close combat equipment.

As an aside, it was said that most of the officers were the first to die.

“What kind of ridiculous strategy is this!”

“You may not believe this, but it’s all true!”

“The firepower should be reduced to the extent that it is dispersed, but you overcame that?!”

This was truly an unbelievable reality.

Naturally, securing the factor of firepower poured out by the infantry from the front was the point that was linked to victory on the front.

That is why the core of the minimum unit operation started from the battalion and continued to the regiment and brigade, and the ‘frontal firepower projection’ was known as the alpha and omega of the military philosophy of European armies, but the enemies broke it on their own.

And they were making up for the amount of firepower distributed in a whole new way with situational equipment and bold maneuvers.

To be honest, the Japanese military had no immediate countermeasures against enemies who employed such tactics.

The only way was to quickly regroup, block the enemy’s advance as much as possible, and secure a path of retreat.

“They are providing immediate fire support on the spot with a different type of machine gun than the Maxim they were previously familiar with. In addition, although weaker than field artillery, they are equipped with a large number of deadly grenade launchers that are deployed to our troops, providing their own fire support.”

“This, this is beyond common sense···.”

As the 1st Regiment Commander said, it was something beyond common sense.

It was a truly strange unit, with infantry combining the firepower of artillery with the mobility of cavalry.

And to that type of army, the Imperial Japanese Army’s Guards Division, which had been recognized even in Europe, was evaporating like the dew at dawn.

“We must pursue the remaining troops and re-establish the bridgehead. The enemy is likely trying to block our rear and surround and destroy us by pushing our troops deep into Jinnampo!”

“But where is our reserve-”

He shouted in an urgent voice to the brigade commander who was covering his face with his hands.

“There is the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment that was not mobilized for today’s offensive. First, we must withdraw all friendly forces, gather here where the brigade command is, secure the defense of this place, and then recapture the bridgehead for the future!”

The 1st Regiment Commander raised his voice in place of the brigade commander who was completely panicked and unable to answer.

“But if you look at the size of the enemy, the bridgehead may have already been destroyed!”

“There is still a Guards Engineer Battalion there, so it won’t be taken. However, if we don’t respond, they too will be swept away by the enemy. Brigade Commander! Come to your senses and give orders!”

“We won everything… why….”

The brigade commander just muttered with a dumbfounded look on his face.

It wasn’t his usual calm demeanor. He looked like someone who had lost almost everything and was out of his mind.

“Brigadier General!”

I called him several times, but I never got the answer I expected.

Meanwhile, the sound of battle that had been heard occasionally until just a moment ago was now getting closer.

Moreover, the spicy smell and fire that I had not felt before seemed to be getting closer.

Meanwhile, a soldier covered in blood came into the tent, gasping for breath and swallowing the words he had gathered.

“The enemies, the enemies are advancing all the way here! The 2nd Battalion’s last line of defense has been breached, and most of the officers below the battalion commander are dead or missing! You, you damned beasts… You must get out of here!”

“what?!”

“Call the 3rd Battalion and tell them to stop those bastards immediately!”

They didn’t even give us time to regroup.

Colonel Fukaya could guess that the enemy was attacking them with something irregular rather than a standard infantry attack, but he never thought that they would be able to trample them so quickly, and without any distinction between the front and the rear.

He called up the 3rd Battalion, which had been hastily put into reserve, and began to direct the redeployment of all remaining troops here to replace the brigade commander who was unable to command.

If he couldn’t stop his enemies in one go, he might have to be prepared to have his head cut off by his enemies, let alone commit honorable seppuku.

Now, the Japanese army was faced with a problem that was not victory but survival.

***

As if something was escaping from a cramped space, the grenade launchers in the shooters’ hands were firing with a ‘pop’ sound.

The shells that landed nearby hit the enemy’s makeshift bunker, and something that looked like a human silhouette floated in the air for a moment before falling back to the ground and disappearing.

“now.”

Unlike the first attack, the commanders did not make much noise.

With just a clear voice and hand gestures, he led platoons and companies of assault infantry, moving quickly toward the enemy’s flank.

Using relatively accurate grenade launchers as a shield, we moved towards the enemy’s temporary defensive positions.

And while the machine-gun team continued to fire incessantly to prevent the enemy from concentrating their firepower, the rest of the infantry rolled grenades into the enemy’s bunkers and emergency fortifications.

Terrified enemies tried to run away with their upper bodies exposed or tried to throw themselves back, but it wasn’t a good option.

Those who exposed their upper bodies were torn apart by the machine gun crew’s fire, and those who tried to throw back had to watch the grenades explode in their hands.

In the first place, the safety ring was pulled out dangerously to prevent it from being thrown back, and then the fuse was rolled back in after calculating when it had burned down to some extent.

“Squad, enter.”

“approach!”

Amidst the shrieks of new enemies, the flash of explosions, and billowing clouds of smoke, the platoon tasked with the breaching mission emerged.

And they silently rushed into the camp and began making various noises with the weapons in their hands.

There was the dull thud of the rifle shots, followed by the roasting sound of the Madsen machine gun squad, and finally the firing of a revolver that was smaller than the other two.

It didn’t take long to subdue a single enemy in this way, perhaps ten minutes at the shortest, or thirty minutes at the longest.

The assault infantry regiment’s offensive, which began at 11 p.m., continued relentlessly for about four hours until 2 a.m.

During this process, the Japanese army, estimated to be at least three battalions in size, completely collapsed and scattered in all directions after losing command and control.

As the situation became more serious, two battalions, presumed to be part of an enemy regiment that had advanced deep into Nampo, turned around and hastily turned their guns to rescue their comrades, but it was already too late.

The 3rd Battalion’s men mercilessly attacked the enemy, who had suffered extensive casualties in the city and had not yet been able to regroup, and there too, fierce but one-sided fighting was taking place.

“That’s a very good attack.”

The battalion commander gave a soft compliment as he watched the enemy’s hastily built fortifications being destroyed without causing any significant damage.

“Commander, most of the 1st Battalion’s troops have gathered at the intermediate assembly point!”

Most of the 1st Assault Infantry Battalion’s men were gathered near the area where the enemy command post was believed to be located.

Contrary to initial concerns, there were almost no cases of mistaken identity fighting between friendly forces.

Each company and platoon crushed the enemy along a planned route according to the tactical judgment of the commander or commander, and were able to assemble everyone at the appropriate time.

“Okay. Now let’s give the enemy one last blow.”

“The 2nd Platoon Commander has also joined.”

“You’re the latest.”

As the battalion commander spoke while looking at his pocket watch, Lieutenant Kim Si-jin shrugged his shoulders.

He had a long gash on his forehead while completely destroying the last enemy base that was resisting just now, but he responded as if he didn’t really care.

“And we’ve killed the most enemies. Now, we can say that the enemies on the flanks have been virtually annihilated. We haven’t found their positions yet… but other friendly forces are probably taking care of them.”

The battalion commander tapped Lieutenant Kim Si-jin on the shoulder and said.

“Are you stupid?”

Looking around, I saw soldiers taking a moment to catch their breath, redistributing their remaining grenades or re-chambering their revolvers, preparing to charge again.

The machine gunners, along with their assistant gunners, were quickly loading empty magazines with ammunition.

Overall, they all looked more tired than when we first met at the start of the attack, but they seemed like they were going to squeeze out the last of them.

“The 3rd Battalion is also destroying the enemies in the city of Nampo, and the 2nd Battalion has also cut off the enemy’s waist. The cavalry regiment has blocked the enemy’s retreat route… The big guys will be here soon. Now is the time to completely strangle the enemy.”

“What do you mean by size?”

“Of course it’s our cavalry.”

The battalion commander made a meaningful expression.

It seemed as if the cavalry regiment, which had quickly advanced south from the alternative army, had decided to send out a battalion to sweep away the retreating enemies immediately after cutting off the enemy’s retreat route.

“While the cavalry charges into the enemy’s rear, we will completely subdue the enemy’s leadership.”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll prepare the troops.”

The final blow to the enemies might need to be a little more flashy.

With another whistle, the remaining ammunition from the flare launcher was sucked into the chamber.