Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 279
Only Noblemtl
#279. Matryoshka (5)
Friendly infantrymen annihilated Japanese soldiers who had been occupying houses that had been destroyed by artillery fire while throwing grenades at them.
Those who were occupying a relatively large brick building were instantly annihilated by a dynamite attack installed by the 6th Brigade’s engineering company.
Gunfire rang out for those who fled, while bayonets and buttstocks hurled themselves at those who chose to resist.
Although friendly soldiers occasionally fell to enemy gunfire, we also saw several times as many enemy soldiers being caught in return fire.
“You’re starting to expand your previous skills. Very orthodox.”
Pershing continued his account of the infantry operations, saying:
“The Japanese army is also putting up quite a bit of resistance.”
“Yes, that’s right. We’ve broken their spirit with artillery fire, but their fighting spirit is truly remarkable. Still, unified resistance won’t last long.”
Even if resistance was fierce at the individual unit level, it was also due to this problem that the battle situation could not be changed.
While the resisting units held back the enemy’s offensive forces, the commanders on the ground had to make decisions such as sending in reserves to flank the attack or deepening the front to hold back the enemy.
However, the enemy’s command was completely destroyed by the artillery fire and the subsequent infantry breakthrough, making it clear that they were unable to respond appropriately.
Of course, some of the remaining enemies made slightly different choices.
There were attempts to block the advance of the two battalions of the 6th Brigade by creating variables of their own.
“Sergeant! The enemy is turning around and trying to surround our attack line! Please deploy the reserves…”
“This is why I told the machine gun team to move forward. Now, watch closely.”
Adjutant Shin Pal-gyun gestured, but I answered nonchalantly.
In fact, the Japanese army was trying to move troops to the flanks and engulf the friendly attack lines with skirmishers.
It was clear that among those guys there were definitely some who knew how to fight.
If it had been the Russian army in the Far East, they might have been surprised by this attack, their battle lines might have collapsed, or they might have been caught in the storm of mountain barrage fire and fled. It was such a swift and agile attack.
But unfortunately, their opponents were not the Russian army, but soldiers from the 6th Brigade.
As if they had been waiting for it, the concentrated fire of the machine gun team that had advanced forward engulfed the Japanese infantry formation that had not yet reached its firing position.
As if according to a well-written script, the friendly infantry battalions defeated the enemy and quickly took control of the southern part of the village, and the enemy leadership seemed to immediately respond.
As soon as I saw the frontline units being pushed back, I made a very quick decision to immediately deploy the reserves to block the breakthrough of additional friendly units. Of course, everything up to this point was just as I had wanted.
“Send a provisional cavalry regiment. Cross the frozen Taedong River tributaries and strike the enemy’s center.”
“All right.”
Did the Army Headquarters call this the Central Enlightenment Strategy?
It was a tactic of sending out a powerful shock force against superior enemies, breaking through the center, and attacking the enemy from the inside, but it was vague. Well, whatever the name, thanks to the enemy withdrawing their reserves, there was an opening to try this.
If there had been a cavalry regiment or an assault infantry regiment, I would have left it to them, but since that was not possible, I combined one reserve cavalry corps assigned to the Guards Division and one cavalry unit temporarily assigned to the 6th Brigade’s direct command to form a temporary cavalry regiment and used them as my little hammer.
I was really curious to see how the enemy’s 2nd division would respond to my decisive move.
Of course, the answer is set.
***
“The 15th Brigade’s front line is collapsing south of the town! The 16th Regiment commander and his command post were annihilated by artillery fire, and the 30th Regiment’s commander is said to be in critical condition after being hit while trying to stop an enemy assault!”
“When is that damn artillery regiment gonna arrive?!”
“There’s still no news···.”
Somehow I felt like the enemy was giving up Sachang-ri too easily.
As soon as the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, which had been ordered to pursue the fleeing enemy, retreated from the enemy’s counterattack, a fearsome enemy artillery fire covered the entire village.
The 2nd Division, which had not prepared proper defensive facilities due to the shelling that lasted nearly an hour, had to cover them with their bodies.
If I had known this would happen, I would have taken some time and brought the artillery regiment.
But it was too late to regret it. I tried hard to rationalize that it would be better for my mental health to think that their losses were less because there were no artillery.
But this made the commander himself miserable whenever he heard the enemy’s gunfire and when it landed, reducing countless men to dust and debris.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
This time, the artillery fire landed near the command post, engulfing the soldiers. There was no place here safe from the fire.
The division command center also suffered damage from the artillery fire, with the chief of staff injured and the commander of the engineer regiment killed, so it goes without saying that the other units were even more affected.
The surprise attack by enemy infantry units that followed immediately dealt a fatal blow to the Japanese regiments, which were already weakened by artillery fire.
The 16th Regiment, which was the first to head south, was paralyzed by artillery fire, and then its ranks were destroyed by an enemy infantry assault.
With the command center gone, it was said that as soon as one corner of the defensive line collapsed, it shattered like a glass dropped on the floor.
Next came the 30th Regiment, which rushed to reinforce the 16th Regiment.
However, the 30th Regiment was unable to properly prepare for battle as it became entangled with the collapsing ranks of the 16th Regiment, and in the meantime, enemy infantry rushed in and threw grenades, engaging in melee combat.
“Your Excellency Division Commander! The 30th Regiment Commander has been killed. The 15th Brigade’s front has been completely destroyed.”
“···shit!”
In the process, the 30th Regiment commander personally tried to unite the retreating 16th Regiment soldiers and the panicked 30th Regiment soldiers to fight a defensive battle, but it was not enough.
In the end, the 30th Regiment’s command center was also swept up in the enemy infantry’s assault and was reduced to ashes.
When all of the regimental commanders who had fought seasoned battles in the previous Sino-Japanese War were killed, the 2nd Division commander seemed to be getting angry.
Although the 15th Brigade Commander was trying his best to recover the two regiments that had lost their command center, it was difficult to control those who had already lost their minds due to artillery fire and surprise attacks.
“Deploy the 3rd Brigade. If the enemy has laid the groundwork and is waiting for this, we must destroy it.”
“But we don’t know how many troops the enemy will attack with. If we recklessly deploy the 3rd Brigade…”
“The enemy’s offensive forces will just attack the center! Then we will have to retreat again, lose Sachang-ri, and repeat the process of preparing to occupy it. We must stop it now! The enemy is coming from the south, so let’s send the 3rd Brigade, 4th Regiment across the frozen Taedong River tributary.”
“No, so are you saying we should abandon the 15th Brigade?!”
“The units there are tangled up in their formations, so if you send in the 3rd Brigade, 29th Regiment, they will collapse together. Since they have already collapsed, make the enemy’s offensive units tangle with them and slow them down, then tell the 3rd Brigade, 4th Regiment to attack from the flank. Then, the enemy’s flank will be exposed, and they will have no choice but to retreat.”
The 3rd Brigade Commander and the wounded Chief of Staff were arguing with each other, but the division commander had no intention of listening to them for too long.
He raised the hand of the Chief of Staff and ordered the 3rd Brigade to deploy, and with a reluctant expression, the 3rd Brigade Commander sent the 4th Regiment.
And as soon as the 3rd Brigade Commander left, a messenger came rushing back in.
His face was filled with confusion and fear.
“What is it this time, again!”
“Hey, the enemy cavalry… the cavalry is charging towards the flank of the 4th Regiment!”
Before the words could be finished, the sound of horses’ hooves and shouts could be heard from somewhere nearby.
***
“Let us crush the enemy under the hooves of our horses! The only sound we will hear today is not the fanaticism of our enemies, but their screams of sorrow and fear of death!”
On the left wing of Sachang-ri, where the Japanese army had not yet confirmed its position, a cavalry unit appeared on the other side of a tributary of the Daedong River.
Although they were not uniformed in uniform or weapons as befitting the reserve cavalry, they were fierce attackers and were veterans who had been fighting the Qing on the border for over a dozen years.
And most of them were elite soldiers who formed the Chungui Corps, which was founded by Lee Beom-yun in Gando.
In addition to those carrying revolvers and Western-style swords, artillerymen who had been silently defending the border in the 6th area also charged on horseback.
Although the use of cavalry in urban warfare was, as pointed out in the horsemanship textbook, a battlefield to be avoided, just like a fortress battle, this time it was different.
The left wing of Sachang-ri, which had few urban areas, had a plain of about 2 to 3 km in length, and it was possible to easily penetrate and sweep away an enemy infantry regiment attempting to cross the frozen Taedong River tributary and strike the flank of the 2nd Battalion of the 6th Brigade.
As the hooves of horses pounded the ground and the cavalrymen swung their swords, lances, and spears in their hands and shouted battle cries, the flanks of the 4th Regiment of the 3rd Brigade of the Japanese army hastily attempted to establish a defensive line.
But there was too little time to mass the loose cavalry to block cavalry attacks.
“charge!”
With the roar of the last words, the vanguard of the cavalry was the first to attack the flank of the 4th Regiment of the 3rd Brigade.
Those who had been hit by horses were lifted into the air as if they had been in a traffic accident, and the swords, spears, and halberds held by the seasoned cavalrymen mercilessly swung among the enemy ranks.
The sound of blades crashing, breaking, and the rarely heard noise of blades rang in my ears.
“Kill all who resist!”
“Kwaaak!”
A man who appeared to be the commander of the cavalry swung his sword, cutting deeply into the chest of an enemy who fell to the ground, and an enemy infantryman who was threatening his horse with a bayonet was pierced in the abdomen with a lance by another cavalryman who ran in like lightning.
As the spearhead broke with an unfamiliar dull sound, the cavalryman dropped it and immediately fired at other enemies with the revolver he was carrying, pushing back the panicked infantry with his horse.
With a ‘thud!’ sound, the person was tossed around like a toy soldier.
As the cavalry passed, the ranks of enemy infantry were torn apart, and those who could not escape were trampled or fell to the ground, mortally wounded by the weapons of their riders.
“The enemy continues to be crushed, Turnip! The cavalry charge is working!”
“Now I’m going to push you without hesitation.”
Any army throughout history, even the mightiest tanks, would die nine times out of ten if their sides were exposed.
And they weren’t particularly different.
The enemies also aimed for it and tried to attack the flanks of the friendly forces, but conversely, because they exposed their soft parts, they were exposed to the most pre-modern cavalry charges and were covered in blood.