Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 264
Only Noblemtl
#264. Surprise Gift (2)
“The enemies fled to Gaeseong on their own, fearing our pursuit! Are you thinking of abandoning Pyongyang, instead of pursuing and destroying such enemies?!”
“Be careful with your words, Chief of Staff Koo Wan-hee. What kind of nonsense are you talking about to the commissioned officer!”
“I’m sorry, Min-gong. But we can’t give up Pyongyang now. We’ve fought against the enemy twice and won, so we need to fight with momentum, but how can you say we should abandon this place…?”
I didn’t want to give up this place easily. However, according to reliable information obtained by the Records Research Office, by early to mid-January at the latest, the Japanese army was planning to reorganize the three divisions of the reorganized 1st Army, as well as deploy the five divisions they had brought from the mainland.
If you combine them, there were eight divisions, a maximum of 200,000 troops, and the route of advance was very clear.
It was Pyongyang that they themselves recognized as impregnable.
“Our 4th Brigade will fight here until the end! Commander, we must never abandon Pyongyang!”
4th Brigade Commander Seong Ha-young shouted as if his blood was boiling.
As he said, Sun Mu-yeong’s original plan was to hold out in Pyongyang as a last resort.
The original purpose was to evacuate the main force and non-combatants under Sun Mu-yeong to North Pyongan Province and Hamgyeong Province while the 4th Brigade fought to the end.
But the situation was going in a very different direction than expected.
We won so big that the Japanese, shocked by the victory, began to mobilize troops several months earlier than they should have done when the Battle of Lushun was well underway.
If this is the butterfly effect, then it would be effective.
It is positive that Japan’s ability to sustain war can be reduced early, but this is only for later.
The reality right now is that we are faced with an insurmountable obstacle, or rather, a natural disaster similar to a tsunami.
Of course, as expected, there was strong opposition from frontline commanders to my decision.
Even apart from the 7th Brigade, which suffered heavy damage, the opposition from the commanders of the 4th and 5th Brigades was extremely strong.
Most of them were from South Pyongan Province, and were called up from Pyongyang, so it seemed that they could not accept the idea of abandoning their hometown.
“Sergeant! Do you know why we said we would fight alongside the Hamheung court? It was to fight and die here in Pyongyang, on the Taedong River against the enemy! But instead of fighting, you suddenly retreat! You will be laughed at by the world! As long as the Chongcheon River flows proudly behind us, there can be no retreat!”
“The 5th Brigade Commander’s words are indeed correct! We must fight a decisive battle here, prepared to die, and not easily hand over the enemy to the Cheongcheon River. Hasn’t the military commander already faced fierce enemies and won twice? We have destroyed the enemy’s elite, and now it is time to deal with the enemy’s reserves. So, if we fight to the death with our 50,000 soldiers in Pyongyang, we will be able to inflict enormous damage on the enemy!”
I asked them a question in return.
“Then let me ask you this in return. Why should we bear the brunt of our enemies’ wrath?”
Of course, as a military officer, it can be said to be an honor to be able to fight against enemies and die for the country.
But the war does not end in Pyongyang.
Pyongyang was rather the beginning of the war, and its end would be in Fengtian and Tsushima.
And the Korean Empire had to survive until the end of the war.
The goal was to survive, in any form, while still occupying a piece of the country.
“We must preserve our power as much as possible and continue to fight the enemy. We must not bury our bones here with 50,000 soldiers.”
“But we can’t just let the enemy go like this! Even if the enemy brings eight divisions, Pyongyang is a natural fortress! We can face the Japanese and inflict enormous damage! But how can we just hand over such a place so easily?”
“This is simply not a number we can handle. With 50,000 troops, fighting an enemy that is nearly four times our size will be a sure defeat. That kind of end will not be here in Pyongyang, but in Hamheung, and it won’t be too late. And if we are completely annihilated….”
If they were annihilated, the remaining troops in Hamheung would have difficulty fighting the enemy.
Although there was the Guards Division and the 6th and 8th Brigades, they were not enough.
In addition, the enemy was also trying to greatly expand the front line.
It seemed as if they were trying to exploit the weakness of our military, which had a limited number of available troops, by forcing a war of attrition with a large number of troops.
Considering all the possible scenarios, it was undeniable that the time was slowly approaching for the troops from Pyeongan Province to be moved to Hamheung to prepare for a final defense.
“No one can guarantee His Majesty the Emperor’s safety. Fighting the Japanese here and dying is a righteous act, but the most important thing as a soldier is loyalty. If you fight the enemy and do your best, but then abandon your loyalty, what will become of you? Besides, if we fight here, what will happen to those poor people?”
“······.”
“I know that Pyongyang is important, and I am not unaware of the virtues of being a soldier. But it is also important to boldly accept reality and know when to retreat.”
Up until now, the difference in power between the two parties has not been that great.
It is surprising, but if the 1st Army had about 50,000 troops, then Sun Mu-yeong’s troops south of Pyeongan Province also had about 50,000 troops, which was not a big difference.
It was just that our side, which had no choice but to operate its troops defensively, was in a slightly tighter position.
“If the enemy tries to launch another attack, the entire defense line will be broken before they can even try to stop it, and everyone in Pyongyang will be sprayed.”
“···Even if a general mobilization order is issued···.”
“We don’t have enough firearms to arm ourselves with, let alone ammunition.”
I shook my head. In this war, which could be called the forerunner of modern warfare, ammunition was consumed at an incredible rate.
The armory in the Pyonganbuk-do region was already completely depleted, and now, as I said before, we had to fight while counting each bullet by hand.
“However, His Majesty the Emperor of Hamheung said that Hamheung might be in danger of being isolated, so why not try another field battle···.”
“The commander of the field army in South Pyongan Province is the head of the department, not His Majesty the Emperor who resides in Hamheung. Besides, how could he know the situation on the front lines from hundreds of miles away?”
I sighed and answered. There was a rumor going around that this guy was trying to find his position again and was stirring things up here and there these days, and it seemed to be true. If this was the case, I had to withdraw even more.
If I die fighting here, it will only benefit the Emperor, and if I lose, it will be his justification to eliminate me. In any case, since I lost to the enemy, he will hold me accountable.
Moreover, since they have lost most of their field army power, their support base will naturally disappear as well.
I had to withdraw with them somehow.
I was concerned that it might end up being similar to the withdrawal operation carried out by the South Korean and allied forces in Pyongyang, with the illegal intervention of the Chinese military.
“If the governor says something like that, then the difference must be significant. In that case… it seems like the best thing to do would be to give up Pyongyang.”
“If there were three enemy divisions, I could somehow stop them, but eight divisions would be impossible. Even if all the great generals of the East and the West, past and present, returned alive, they would not be able to overcome this difference in strength.”
Min Yeong-hwan nodded at my words and said.
Of course, the frontline field army commanders were still unable to hide their dissatisfaction, but they kept quiet when Vice Minister Min Yeong-hwan, one of the military’s spiritual leaders, personally took my side.
“By the way, the retreat route… will be very difficult.”
“It’s winter and there’s too much snow. The distance from here to Hamhung is about 300km, and if we withdraw the troops, we can withdraw within a week, but the problem is the non-combatants and civilians. Commander, we can’t drive them into the pit of death.”
“···We can’t protect them all. The priority is the systematic withdrawal of the military and local officials in Pyeongan Province.”
“No, brother! Where in the world is there an army that abandons its own people? At the very least, we have a mission to ensure that they can withdraw to Pyeonganbuk-do or Hamgyeong-do by their own efforts. That is the reason for our army’s existence, its purpose, and its result! If we can’t even do that, there is no reason for our Korean Empire’s army to exist and fight!”
“Commander of the Office, if you do that we’ll all die!”
The two brothers, Min Yeong-hwan and Min Yeong-chan, started growling at each other this time.
They weren’t originally that close brothers, but as they gradually started to feel cornered, their sensitivity seemed to have reached its peak.
“Let’s leave it at that, both of you.”
“Sir, but!”
“I think there might be a way.”
I said, looking at the landline that was directly connected to Hamheung.
The moment I picked it up, I knew I might be crossing a river of no return.
However, if only the 300,000 residents of Pyongyang and the 1 million people of Pyongan Province could be evacuated to a relatively safe place, then they could even join hands with the devil.
Everyone was waiting for my next words, and I picked up the receiver in front of the Sunmuyeong staff and commanders.
***
The already bustling port became even more chaotic with the arrival of two platoons of army soldiers.
After the operation ended, the destroyers Baekdusan and Jirisan, which were busy repairing damage caused by the battle and loading ammunition and other supplies while anchored in the port, received an emergency operation order in the name of the Chief of Staff of the Marshal’s Office.
“Is this really the order the Navy gave? To put those army troops on this tiny destroyer and land them on Ulleungdo? The sea there is so rough right now…”
“It’s an order from above, so there’s nothing I can do. Besides, tell that story to your superiors. Then they’ll immediately say something like this. Then they’ll ask, “Why on earth did you go out to this rough sea to destroy trade?” Then how are you going to explain that?”
“No, no matter what, the sea of Ulleungdo and the coast of the East Sea are definitely different···.”
“Do those people know that? And do they, too, come from the high-ranking officials of the enemy? They should accept that this is the situation and worry about how to make those Japanese bastards foam at the mouth.”
Baekdusan’s captain, Shin Sun-seong, spoke to the Jirisan’s captain, who was complaining.
Heavily armed army soldiers, not suited for the navy, were boarding the destroyer with their weapons stowed away and their eyes raised in a murderous glare, while the sailors looked at them with awkward expressions.
“This is Hong Beom-do, the commander of the Sunmuyeong direct unit.”
“Nice to meet you. This is a historic moment where the Army and Navy will operate together for the first time, so let’s shake hands like Westerners.”
To the army commander who was saluting, Shin Soon-sung suggested shaking hands instead of returning the salute.
He was momentarily surprised by the Navy’s culture, which was different from that of the Army, but soon took her hand in white gloves.
It was a stark contrast to his twisted and scarred hands.
“Yes, I heard the brief outline of the operation from the Navy Command···.”
“Do you have any further questions?”
“I wonder why you asked if we could split the ships and send them to the north and south of Ulleungdo.”
“Oh, that part, I see.”
Hong Beom-do, who had taken off his military hat and was carrying a rather unusual pistol on his waist, reached out to the platoon leader behind him and asked for a map.