Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 246



Only Noblemtl

#246. First Victory (1)

“Machine gun teams are fully deployed, below the regimental commander.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Soon, a loud noise of beans being roasted could be heard from up ahead, and beyond that, horses and people were wailing together.

But more and more enemies began to come closer, shouting among the shouts that they were fighting for their country and the ‘Emperor’.

And just as Madsen’s magazine was about to be emptied and replaced with a second magazine, the regimental commander said:

“Blow the trumpet to charge.”

Hearing that, Harcourt gestured to the bugler, then clenched his teeth and wrapped the hilt of his cavalry sword around his sword grip.

Phew!

Finally, a loud trumpet call sounded, and slowly but surely the cuirassiers, forming a tight formation, began to advance onto the plain.

***

The enemies who came into view a moment later had already had holes made here and there by machine gun fire in their ranks, but they did not become frightened or stop charging because of that.

If they turned their backs because the fireball was flying towards them, the time they were exposed would actually be longer.

In such cases, it was much better to stick close to the enemy even if it meant risking damage, and the Japanese Imperial Guard Cavalry Regiment was no exception.

“Battalion! Maintain a close formation as you advance! The enemy’s momentum has not been broken yet!”

The enemy riders were lying face down on their horses to protect their heads and chests in an attempt to reduce the area of ​​impact, and they were spread out to avoid the fire.

It was a decent method in its own way, but it was just a story about being exposed to the fire.

“Cavalry, all draw your swords! Sweep away everything you see!”

“Today, our ancestors look down on us! Let us show them what we can do for our country!”

The scattered cavalry lines could not stop the shock and penetrating power of the cuirassiers attempting to break through in dense formation.

The machine-gun fire completely ceased, and after a brief but relatively quiet moment, sword against sword, horse against horse, began to scream and tangle with one another.

“Fight for this land where our glorious ancestors sleep!”

“Charge, charge again! Let us bury their blood and flesh so that they become fertilizer for this land!”

The cuirassiers charged through the scattered ranks of the enemy cavalry regiments, piercing their targets like arrows shot by a skilled marksman.

Enemies who failed to withstand the charge were either crushed by their horses and riders, or their horses fell down from exhaustion after exchanging swords several times, or they were unable to move and died without being able to respond properly.

The Japanese army was forced to fight an unreasonable fight in many ways.

This type of cavalry combat was completely unfamiliar to the Japanese cavalry, whose formation was closer to mounted infantry than to European-style cavalry.

It was like a fight between a child and a grown adult.

The Japanese cavalry, who were generally excellent riflemen, were ironically being thoroughly trampled by the Korean cavalry, who were more like warriors skilled in pre-modern cavalry combat.

Bang!

The sound of the Japanese cavalryman’s sword breaking as he slashed fiercely at the cavalryman’s breastplate was heard.

It was a decisive attack aimed at the enemy’s vital point while he was fighting with other cavalry, but it only served to further anger the enemy.

The surprised enemy threw the handle of the sword to the ground and hurriedly tried to aim the rifle on his back, but it was already too late.

The enemy rider immediately subdued the other cavalryman who was facing him by stabbing him in the neck with the tip of his sword, and then immediately began to spur his horse while shouting.

“This cheeky little brat!”

The gruff-looking Korean cavalry officer swung his sword backhanded hard at the head of the enemy who had made a cowardly attack on him.

And then the black sword flew in, aiming precisely between the head and torso of the enemy cavalryman.

Bam.

A moment later, the head detached from the body and rolled across the floor along with the helmet.

As the steed galloped away with its headless rider sitting upright in the saddle, blood gushing from its severed torso like a fountain shocked all who watched.

When they realized that there was no way they could win by confronting them, some of the enemies began to run away.

Then the cuirassiers began to pursue them fiercely. It was much easier to cut down an enemy whose back was turned than one whose face was shown.

Some of the cuirassiers were wielding halberds instead of cavalry swords, which were also quite effective.

Once it gets properly set up, it will destroy anything, including the sword and the head.

“That guy is the commander.”

Even in the midst of the chaos, Harcourt was looking somewhere.

“If I just grab that, it’ll all fall apart.”

A man who appeared to be a commander was swinging his cavalry sword fiercely in the middle of the battlefield, holding the reins with one hand.

And he was trying to chase down some of his fleeing subordinates and launch an organized counterattack.

There were also those who appeared to be officers and flag bearers holding regimental banners.

Harcourt instinctively readied his cavalry sword, thinking that if he could just kill the author, it would probably turn out pretty well.

“There are many enemies there, Advisor! If we charge in too quickly, we’ll be in big trouble!”

“Don’t worry about it and continue the charge! I need to give a big present to the regimental commander who is fighting bravely.”

He ignored the other cavalrymen who tried to stop him, and without a second thought, he aimed the sword in his right hand at the enemy. Then he spurred his horse and increased his speed.

The enemy commander, who only then saw Harcourt charging from the side, immediately struck his chest with the cavalry sword he was holding.

Harcourt felt something slightly hot brush against his shoulder, but instinctively knew it was no serious wound.

“You should have aimed for the head, you idiot!”

Harcourt smiled bitterly at the bewildered enemy, then stabbed his long cavalry sword hard into the enemy’s open chest.

And then, immediately, the sound of the enemy commander’s breath being taken away was heard.

“Ugh… gurgling….”

To be exact, I tried to catch my breath somehow, but all I could hear was the sound of my blood boiling.

“These are the cuirassiers, you idiots!”

The enemy commander fell from his saddle with a blank look in his eyes, perhaps because he had never expected that he would die in this manner, or because he had never expected that a Western torturer, not a Korean, would rush at him.

The enemies next to him – presumably the military guard – slashed at him a few times, but most of them only managed to get him blocked by his breastplate or bruise his thick uniform, just like before.

Only one, a decisive blow from the enemy regiment’s standard-bearer’s cavalryman’s saber, wounded his face, but was quickly met with a backhand strike from an enraged Harcourt.

Harcourt’s blade shattered the regimental standard-bearer’s teeth and tore his mouth open from ear to ear, leaving him with a serious injury.

“Oh, I’ll take this.”

Harcourt snatched the chronology the rider had missed and grumbled.

Another Japanese cavalry officer rushed forward to try to retrieve the captured standard, but he too was easily subdued.

After striking the head of the warhorse with his cavalry sword, he thrust the blade into the broad back of the fallen enemy officer.

“Kwaaaaak!”

Meanwhile, the screams of the regimental standard-bearer who had suffered unbearable injuries rang in my ears.

Harcourt hesitated for a moment whether he should give him rest or show him mercy, but soon felt it was useless.

bang!

It was thanks to the other cavalrymen who followed the torturer that they pulled the triggers of their revolvers at the rider.

“You did a great job. It was already hard because it sounded like a pig being slit.”

“Your Majesty, are you okay?”

The cavalrymen were worried about the torturer who had a long scar on his face, but he always acted cheerfully and said while lifting the enemy’s standard in his left hand.

“It’s okay, it’s okay! We’ve taken the enemy commander’s throat and captured his military flag! Let’s continue to push the enemies back!”

“Wow!”

“The torturer has taken away the enemy’s military flag!”

The Japanese cavalrymen, seeing that the sacred cavalry regiment’s colors had been taken away, began to hesitate, their spirits visibly weakening as they fought fiercely.

The loss of military discipline meant that either the commanding staff was wiped out or had fled.

And then, as if by magic, before long the Japanese cavalry began to flee in all directions.

Finally, the enemies began to retreat en masse, either throwing down their weapons and raising both hands in surrender, or they began to flee in search of a way to survive.

Behind those enemies, a mocking cheer was heard, and a moment later, the continuous gunfire of the ambushed Maximovans firing at them filled the sky and the ground.

“···Report to Sunmuyeong. The enemy cavalry has been completely annihilated.”

“All right!”

Perhaps Sunmuyoung has also achieved a complete victory by now.

Kim Seok-joong looked at Harcourt and smiled.

The old adviser was looking at the sky breaking in the distance, holding tightly to the enemy’s chronicles that he had worked so hard to steal.

***

“The 5th Brigade sent a telegram directly to the commander. It asked if it would be okay to send all of Yonggang’s troops south to join in surrounding the enemy.”

“Permitted. The cavalry regiment has already cut off all enemy retreat routes, and most of the enemy has fled, so it would be okay to release the 5th Brigade troops to wipe out the remaining enemy forces.”

“In addition, two reserve cavalry regiments have arrived from Hamgyeong-do via Sunan. The Commander-in-Chief sent them.”

“The commander? I didn’t expect him to come at such a good time. Send them down to Songnim in a hurry. With their mobility, they will be able to completely take control of the enemy’s bridgehead on the right bank before the sun sets.”

“Yes! I will convey that!”

Both Foch and Pershing looked back and forth between the front and me with expressions of astonishment.

The battle was now entering its final phase.

The units that were directly attacking the city of Nampo and the entire regiments that were deployed to support them were defeated without even being able to properly resist the large-scale attacks that followed from the flank and rear.

No, to be precise, it was because they continued to advance without giving the enemies time to regroup.

This was thanks to the deep infiltration maneuvers of German stormtroopers and Chinese infantry during World War I, which allowed them to continue to push through the front lines as long as they had ammunition and supplies left.

The discouraged enemies were left with only three choices.

Either resist and die, escape, or surrender.

Many of them threw down their weapons and surrendered as officers and non-commissioned officers began to die, while others ran away towards the bridgehead.

Of course, the end for those who escaped did not look so good.