Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 256
Only Noblemtl
#256. The Brave Answer (2)
“All the Japanese soldiers are leaving Honam. Is this okay?”
“···If we arm the Progressive Party members, wouldn’t something be possible?”
Mr. Kim, the governor of Jeongeup County, was anxious because of the Japanese soldiers who left a few days ago.
At best, they could have controlled all the uneasy energy here by sending a platoon, but now even they have left.
Instead, they lightly armed about a hundred Progressive Party members they had gathered in Jeonju and sent them to each town, but they were not particularly trustworthy.
“It’s going to be a mess, it’s a market day today.”
“What the hell is going on, Your Majesty?”
All over the town, armed men with guns and swords were glaring, and the residents, who seemed terrified, were still carrying on with their daily lives, buying and selling things from the bundles of goods brought by the peddlers, and bargaining.
Even though war had broken out, people were still carrying on with their lives, and stalls were set up naturally on regular market days.
“How did I get here···.”
It’s better to quickly switch sides and keep this position.
Some upright people protested directly to the Japanese soldiers who had invaded without permission or sent letters demanding that they withdraw immediately, but they were immediately replaced semi-forcibly or imprisoned.
He had his own belief that people should always be blessed with opportunities to eat well and live well, and he treated the stationed Japanese soldiers with the utmost kindness, building up their trust.
Of course, on the surface, they said it was an inevitable choice to protect the residents of Jeongeup.
“Your Majesty, the Governor! There’s something big happening in the city market!”
“What now, what now!”
“Hey, Mr. Lim Byeong-chan is leading hundreds of armed hunters and heading towards the government office!”
“What, what?!”
As I hurried out of the government office, it was noisy outside.
Bang! That’s right!
Several gunshots were heard.
Progressive members stationed throughout the town either threw down their weapons and ran away, or pretended to resist and then responded by holding their guns in their hands, or they ran away to the government office.
“No, the government office’s armory is clearly intact···?”
“That’s not a coffin weapon! It’s not an old-fashioned shotgun like the one stored in the armory-”
Tadadang!
I actually heard the sound of a gunshot somewhere.
And behind them, gunners carrying military flags with the words ‘Honam Jinmu Commander Lim Byeong-chan’ written on them and a group of peddlers armed with various firearms were marching proudly, and the people of Jeongeup were cheering them on and chanting a slogan.
“Let us drive out all the soldiers and overthrow the traitors!”
“Long live His Majesty the Emperor! Long live the Korean Empire! Long live the Korean people!”
And this relief was getting closer and closer.
A few men leaned against the low wall of the government office, aimed their guns, pulled the triggers and fired in terror, but were soon met with concentrated fire.
“Whoa!”
Several people fell down, blood spraying everywhere, and the commander lay face down on the ground, trembling and shouting.
“Rain, damn it! What the hell are you looking at?! Go and stop them right now! And quickly, telegraph, telegraph for support!”
“Excuse me, all the telegraph lines are down! I think they’ve done it in advance!”
bang!
Before the government office could even close its doors, gunners and peddlers came in shouting and firing their guns indiscriminately.
Then, Lim Byeong-chan, carrying a long sword, walked in front of the military governor, accompanied by the Confucian scholars he had appointed as his staff, former officials, and local leaders.
All around, members of the Progressive Party who had been there instead of the Japanese soldiers were either throwing down their weapons and raising their hands, or climbing over the wall and running away.
“Hey, old man. Why, why are you all doing this? If we keep doing this, the Japanese will come and we’ll all die···.”
He knelt down before anyone else could grab him and spoke cowardly.
But Lim Byeong-chan, with a cold expression, opened a letter in his hand.
“Governor Kim of Jeongeup, listen to His Majesty the Emperor’s edict! Rather than resisting the enemy, Governor Kim bowed his head and surrendered Jeongeup, so you should be punished for treason and executed. This is the order that the court in Hamheung has given us.”
“Hey, old man! Save me, save me! This, this is all to save the people of Jeongeup from the disaster of war! Don’t you all know this! How can our Korea defeat the mighty Japan?”
“···Yes, just as you said, our country may lose this war.”
Lim Byeong-chan handed the letter over to the person next to him and slowly took out the sword on his waist.
Sling-
The well-sharpened blade reflected the sunlight and shone brilliantly.
“However, that does not mean that all the Korean people betray their monarch and country like you, make fun of the people, kneel down, and act cowardly before the enemy.”
“Hey, old man! Save me! Please save me-”
Before he could finish his words, his sword flew into the neck of the kneeling Jeongeup County Governor.
Crimson blood splattered on the white robe, and cheers erupted as the commander fell to the floor with a roar of boiling blood.
Behind Im Byeong-chan, a man dressed as a peddler, smoking a cigarette with a strange smile, spoke quietly.
“The war is just beginning.”
It would not be only here. The entire Samnam region, Gangwon-do, and a few months later, even the northern region including Hwanghae-do, would be hit by this massive guerrilla warfare like an unstoppable tidal wave that would engulf the Japanese pirates.
In this way, the second front was being opened in various places across the Korean Peninsula.
And it was like opening the gates of hell.
***
Hoseo, Honam, Yeongnam, Gangwon.
As soon as the reserve forces of the parking lot withdrew, there were over a hundred places where uprisings broke out.
As a result, the number of military leaders who had promised cooperation was beheaded or hanged one after another, well over twenty in number.
Just counting the places where the uprising took place, it meant that one third of the 331 counties in 23 departments and 13 provinces of the Korean Empire had actually revolted.
To be more precise, if you exclude the frontline areas and enemy-controlled areas, more than half of the areas controlled by the Japanese military were actually in that state.
Lieutenant General Hidenori Tojo, who landed in Busan to support the commander of the 2nd Reserve Infantry Division, had to hear such shocking news while waiting for the follow-up troops of the 2nd Reserve Infantry Division.
And as I moved north to the Gyeongseong Army Headquarters, I had to face even more such problems.
Although they were only a small unit that would not dare to attack a division-sized unit, it was not uncommon to see local officials and collaborators called Iljinhoe or Jinbohoe hanging out in the streets, cooperating with them from the rear.
Just now, as I was passing through the area where the Chungju supply unit was located, I was able to see with my own eyes the corpses hanging in a row from a tree at the entrance to a village, each with a sign written on it.
Lieutenant General Hidenori frowned and looked at the Chungju area logistics commander who was at a loss.
In any case, they must have been looking for a hole to hide in, having seen such an embarrassing sight in front of the high-ranking commander of the parking lot, their superior unit.
However, Lieutenant General Hidenori had no intention of blaming him. He simply wanted to hear the details of the story.
So he quietly told them to take care of it, then handed the commander a cigarette and said:
“There was a sign in Korean hanging on the tree earlier. What did it say?”
“It says in Korean, ‘I am a traitor who turned my back on my country. I will be judged by the people.’ This is all the work of the mob. Damn it, mobsters are running wild all the way to Chungju.”
“How many bodies have been recovered?”
“There are 20 at the village entrance and 14 in the market. They are all collaborators who were in Chungju.”
Before long, a name for them had been decided upon among the soldiers.
Rioters, bandits, and robbers.
Among them, the word ‘mob’ was used most frequently.
Among themselves, they seemed to express it with terms that had their own meaning, such as volunteer army or guerrilla force, but to the Japanese soldiers on the receiving end, it was something full of contempt, anger, and fear.
The word ‘riot’ may be the word that best describes the feelings of the Japanese soldiers.
“The situation in the rear is very serious. We are barely able to control our supply lines.”
“It’s only been two months since the war broke out?”
“As if they had been waiting, the mob is moving around in all directions. Your Excellency, may I speak frankly to you? If possible, I would like you to report to the Army Headquarters, or even to the General Headquarters.”
The commander, whose hair had turned white, spoke with a trembling voice.
He was barely holding a cigarette with trembling hands.
“···Tell me.”
“To be honest, our military is not even able to control the points and lines, let alone govern the occupied territory.”
“Because of the mob?”
“Yes.”
He took a deep drag of his cigarette smoke, then calmed himself again and said.
“The only thing that our Korean military completely controls is the land our boots are stepping on, and during the day, the villages and government offices where the Japanese flag flies are there, but at night, they fall under the control of the mob.”
“Isn’t their firearms level low?”
“No, that’s not necessarily true.”
“Hmm? What does that mean?”
When Lieutenant General Hidenori asked, he looked around cautiously and said this, as if he was worried that no one around him would hear.
“It’s no different from a standing army. In terms of firearms and tactics. There are quite a few local collaborators, so there are probably some who are secretly working within them… but someone is very closely supporting them.”
“Then they must be very knowledgeable about the military’s actions.”
He said, biting his lip.
“That may be the case, but they are not to be taken lightly. In addition, two brigades of Joseon soldiers from the Samnam region are hiding, having refused the disbandment order and fled somewhere.”
It seemed like they were really determined to attack.
By the way, centuries ago, during the Imjin War, such rabble and bandits frequently broke out, causing severe disruption in the rear, and this time it seemed to be no different.
“Oh, and have you seen where they hide their weapons?”
“weapon?”
“The Joseon bastards must have been preparing for war from the beginning. Rifles are hidden in every famous temple warehouse, and ammunition is cleverly stored in the hyanggyo, which teaches Confucianism to the people. Do you think that’s all? The village nobles become officers in times of emergency, the idlers become non-commissioned officers, and the servants and villagers become good soldiers. What can the reserves or quartermasters with poor weapons and training do against these people?”
“······.”
“No matter how many weapons are confiscated and those involved are punished, they keep coming out from somewhere. The words that we will be swept away by the waves of Koreans and die are on the lips of not only the soldiers but also all the officers in the Quartermaster Corps. Morale is not high to begin with, and if things continue like this, no matter what happens, it will happen firmly.”
He poured out the words he had been holding back. He said that he had reported the same content to the Quartermaster General’s Office several times, but all he got in return was a scolding telling him not to meddle in useless things and to just focus on his original duties as a Quartermaster.
“Is this a national trait or something···.”
“yes?”
“It’s nothing. First of all, I have to go to Gyeongseong immediately because I received an order. Commander Hasegawa is waiting eagerly for me.”
“Understood. And please tell them to send reinforcements. I’ve reported several times that we can’t defend the intermediate stops with just a company-sized force…”
At the quartermaster’s words, which were full of harsh words, Lieutenant General Hidenori patted his shoulder and stood up without saying a word.
The problem was more serious than expected.
The fact that not one or two, but all 21 logistics centers connecting Gyeongseong and Busan were saying the same thing meant that something was seriously wrong.
He ordered the entire division to increase its marching pace, then looked at the quartermaster commander and said:
“Excuse me, I need to write a telegram.”