Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 254
Only Noblemtl
#254. Under the Frozen Mountains (4)
The emperor reacted in front of his subjects without any respect for dignity or anything. Although he was usually so sly and inscrutable, the bitterness of reality seemed too strong to bear.
Then he approached Han Gyu-seol and started talking very quickly, as if Maximo was spewing bullets.
“You know it well! If we abandon Pyeongan Province, it’s only a matter of time before Hamgyeong Province falls! Before that happens, before our ammunition runs out, order the military commander to annihilate the Japanese through another field battle!”
The Emperor made an unreasonable demand, and he himself was not unaware of the meaning of his words.
However, it was necessary to at least show that he was doing something as the emperor.
Someone attending the meeting would have pictured himself ordering the public to fight the enemy, and if that were to happen, the desired goal would have been achieved.
Prime Minister Han Kyu-seol answered silently, not knowing whether he knew or not.
“Your Majesty, that is an absolutely absurd order. Even if we destroy one Japanese division, reinforcements of a much larger scale will arrive within a month. If we continue this endless war of attrition, Sunmuyeong will not be able to hold out much longer than planned and will eventually collapse.”
“But… even so, I can’t just give Pyeongan Province away!”
“That is why Sunmuyeong is trying his best to delay the Japanese enemy by inflicting losses and preserving his forces as much as possible. However, it is inevitable to withdraw to Gwanbuk. They must survive in order to plan for the future. Please take comfort in the fact that the Japanese enemy is not able to advance to Wonsan thanks to the efforts of Noseo-ah and our navy.”
I thought there would be much more hope than during the Imjin Year, but it seems that wasn’t the case.
The emperor, who had witnessed such a disappointing reality, wandered around the palace like a restless puppy, thinking deeply about something for a while, and then hit his knee as if a good idea had just occurred to him.
“Yeah, that was it.”
“Your Majesty, what is it···.”
“Prime Minister, please listen for a moment…”
Han Gyu-seol heard the emperor’s whisper and then his face distorted as if he was saying, ‘What nonsense is that?’
However, since it was obvious that if I said that out loud, I would be criticized for being disloyal, I had to answer with a sigh.
“···I’ll tell the Navy.”
The emperor was grinning broadly as if he had come up with a clever plan.
I was looking at a map showing the entire Korean peninsula alone.
***
Boom! Boom! Boom!
“Hmm, the enemy’s artillery fire is getting closer.”
“They are pouring out every day. It seems that they are firing thousands of rounds a day on average.”
Hmm, is this the beginning of modern warfare?
I shuddered as I heard the sound of Japanese artillery fire near the front command post. Even here, my hearing was about to burst, so I had no idea how they could endure it on the front lines.
As expected, a single field gun could not completely break the enemy’s will to fight.
Rather, the angry enemies were choosing the worst possible offensive strategy.
“Sergeant, this is a big problem. The Hwangju defense line is being pushed back significantly.”
“what?”
“The enemy’s 2nd and 12th divisions are concentrating their attacks on Hwangju. The 7th Brigade under General Shin Tae-hyu, deployed on the front line, is being pushed back significantly.”
Damn, it seemed like the enemies were really determined.
I heard this was the third general offensive, right? Judging by the shorter intervals between attacks, it seemed like the replenishment of troops and supplies from the mainland was becoming smoother.
The Navy is fighting hard, but there are far more ships entering port than those sinking midway.
“The enemy’s guard division will soon be reorganized. Even if we stop this attack….”
“They will be here soon.”
After virtually destroying the Japanese Guards Division, the Japanese army completely changed their methods and began to attack.
The 2nd and 12th Divisions of the 1st Army, and even the reserve forces of the Korean Garrison Forces were mobilized to attack in a very classic way, this time not by passing the siege but by forming a front line and not giving the friendly forces any opportunity to attack individually.
“You bastards, do you have a spring where men and ammunition gush forth like water?”
“Still, I was relieved to see the ammunition from Uiju arrive in Pyongyang yesterday, but how long are we going to have to keep fighting like this?”
“That’s how it should be until the enemies retreat.”
Fucking ammo.
We already had a lot on our minds right now, and the most threatening of them all was that damned ammunition supply.
I thought we would use up all the ammunition depots near Pyongyang in one month.
“Patience, just a month ago I thought we had won the war by completely melting down an enemy division.”
“That was possible because we gave the enemies a chance to attack us individually. Kuroki, Izawa is trying to kill us with both good and evil intentions, but there’s no way around it.”
There is no way to counter this offensive.
If they were like the South Korean Army during the Korean War, who used the same large infantry force and US firepower to fight against the Chinese Army, which swept the entire front line with human wave tactics, they might have been able to sufficiently crush this method.
Or the Russians could pretend to be crazy and send down the 90,000 troops they had amassed near Bongcheon.
But the problem is that this is an absurd method, because we are not the South Korean army of 1952, and our friend next to us is not the US army that poured millions of tons of military supplies every month while playing ‘Show Me the Money’, but the Russian Empire that had the most backward industrial facilities in Europe.
“I know exactly what the enemy will do, but I have to suffer for it. This is a classic trick···!”
5th Brigade Commander Lee Kang-nyeon said this while gritting his teeth.
Well, some may disparage it as an outdated method by using the word classic, but in other words, it is still used today because it has been effective in tactics across the East and the West, past and present.
And this can also be said to be… something they are trying to do since they have that many troops and supplies available.
It also meant that they would lead the war into a true war of attrition, which is their true strength.
Of course, when looking at this war from a third party’s perspective and looking at the bigger picture, it will be evaluated favorably by future generations in that it led the Japanese army into a war of attrition early on… but for those of us who were on the front lines at the time, it was nothing less than hell.
“These crazy guys, they lost over 2,000 people in Hwangju yesterday, and they are said to have attacked again today.”
“Some of the western fortifications of Hwangju have fallen to the enemy. It is noteworthy that the enemy’s artillery fire is not ordinary.”
“Okay.”
I looked at the tactical signs in Hwangju while holding the baton with both hands.
One 7th Brigade held off the entire enemy 1st Army for nearly a month.
Of course, they were able to hold out thanks to the concrete fortifications built with the help of Major General Kontrachenko, as well as the support of machine guns and field guns… but the problem was that the number of Japanese troops was noticeably increasing every night.
“If things continue this way, the 7th Brigade will completely collapse. The casualties in the brigade have already exceeded 3,000.”
“Because of that problem, weren’t we replacing the casualties with new soldiers trained in North Pyongan Province starting in mid-November?”
In preparation for this situation, we continued to draft new soldiers and push them into the front lines, but even that was too much.
Defensive warfare, especially battles that rely on fortified positions, can certainly enable even poorly trained rookies or conscripts to do more than one man’s share, but that is only if they survive the battle.
The problem of a sharp decline in combat power was unavoidable as new recruits replaced the well-trained standing army.
Of course, from the defenders’ point of view, the exchange rate with the Japanese army was very good at 3 to 1… but it could not be denied that a fierce battle was continuing.
“Unfortunately, the enemy’s replacements outnumber our own replacements by several times. If our own replacements are reinforced by 300 people per day, the enemy’s replacements are reinforced by an average of 3 times, and sometimes even 5 times.”
He’s a gangster in terms of weight. Well, the population is several times different, so I guess he can’t make up for it to that extent.
“If things continue this way, not only will we not be able to break even, but the youth of the Kansai region will dry up.”
“According to information from the Records Research Office, ships carrying reinforcements and supplies come and go from Busan, Gunsan, and Jemulpo several times a day.”
“There is also news that over 200,000 troops have gathered in major Japanese ports. Of course, not all of them will be returned to the entire Korean Peninsula, but it is definitely bad news for us. If we are not careful and they land at Jinnampo….”
Something terrible would happen. Of course, the 2nd or 3rd Army, which was supposed to attack Lushun and Dalian, would not be diverted here, but if even one of the predictions were wrong… if an unexpected enemy unit were to divert to the flank, the death sentence would be brought forward a little.
“···I think it’s time for you to make a decision, Commander. It seems that the time has come to face the enemies directly in Pyongyang.”
Everyone in the front line command post looked only at my eyes and mouth.
If Phase 1 of the war had passed, it was now time for Phase 2 to approach.
I closed my eyes for a moment, then calmed my mind and gave the instructions I had been keeping in my mind.
“The enemy’s breakthrough of the Hwangju defense line is becoming inevitable. However, in order to ensure the safe retreat of our 7th Brigade and readjustment of the defense line, it is necessary to eliminate the enemy’s current offensive and the breakthroughs that have been formed.”
Who should we send to suppress the breakthrough?
The 4th Brigade, the elite of the government waiting in Pyongyang?
No, they should be left behind for the main battle to defend Pyongyang.
Then what about the 5th Brigade at Jinnampo? If we take them out, the enemy will have a chance to cross through Songnim Port again.
The fighting power was too weak to deploy a reserve infantry regiment or a reserve cavalry regiment, so only two units remained.
“Draw troops from the assault infantry regiment and cavalry regiment and block the enemy’s offensive. Pull back the defensive line to Pyongyang.”
“Huh? Not Heukgyo or Junghwa… but straight to Pyongyang?”
“Although the terrain of Heukgyo and Junghwa is rugged, if the enemy advances directly towards Neungra Island through Songnim, there will be no point in defending. If we make a mistake, we will always have to run the risk of our deployed units being surrounded. There is no need to take that risk. While the assault infantry and cavalry block the enemy’s attack, let’s have the 7th Brigade withdraw in an orderly manner and recover in Pyongyang.”
That’s why I hoped Hwang Joo would hold out a little longer.
I just licked my dry lips in regret.
But now, it was a time when even the time needed to make a choice was precious.
Because in the span of a minute, a second, countless soldiers were being erased from the list and disappearing from the world.
Today, the epaulettes on my shoulders felt much heavier than usual.