Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 282
Only Noblemtl
#282. Into the Valley of Death (2)
“They are Joseon bastards!”
With someone shouting a final warning, the soldiers of the 29th Regiment of the 3rd Brigade, who were in charge of the temporary defense line, had to look ahead with eyes soaked with fear and fatigue.
There were sporadic artillery fires throughout the night, the sound of enemy instruments coming from somewhere, and there were many instances where they appeared to be about to attack and then retreated again.
The 29th Regiment, which had been on alert for the enemy all night without rest, at some point realized that the enemy was maintaining silence.
And by the time we realized that this was the beginning of a new attack, it was already too late.
The Japanese army, exhausted to the point of exhaustion, could not help but be astonished at the fact that the Koreans were attacking again without even tiring.
Without even considering that different units would attack from different directions.
It was easy to guess how bad the Japanese army was, as people who were tired and hungry tended to lack broad thinking and creativity.
“No, they attack without stopping?!”
“Are you, by any chance, one of those infamous assault infantrymen or something?”
“no way···.”
Of course, they could not even imagine that the enemy attempting to infiltrate from the front was a reserve force of only two battalions. They only saw the enemy with iron stamina who persistently attempted to attack despite the fierce fighting during the day.
Eventually, hunger, cold, and fear of the enemy led to a massive collapse of the defenses. It happened in an instant, like water seeping into dry farmland.
The Japanese army, who were barely holding on, suddenly lost what little sanity they had at the thought of the notorious assault infantry that was right in front of them.
Like a single drop falling into a glass of water that is just barely full but not overflowing.
Even the soldiers of the Japanese army, famous for their strict discipline, were unable to respond to something that was beyond what a human could handle.
At that time, the strict military discipline and the threatening words of officers and non-commissioned officers, which were more fearsome than demons, were of no use, and people simply moved according to their human instincts to survive.
“Eww! Run away! There’s no hope here!”
“The assault infantry are coming! The devils are coming!”
And this fear spread much faster and more viciously than a cold. As the right wing collapsed, even the center of the defensive line and the left wing, which had seemed to be holding their ground, began to waver noticeably.
“I won’t let those who talk nonsense get away with it! If you see the enemy, shoot them!”
“You little punk! Where are you running off to? Go back and defend your position immediately!”
“Get out of the way! I want to live!”
“Everyone run away! The enemies are coming!”
Beyond the officers and non-commissioned officers who drew their swords and stood in the way of those who tried to escape, they were now being beaten by the terrified soldiers, and in severe cases, were even killed.
The soldiers abandoned the trenches that they had dug so hard and fled from their positions one by one, avoiding the enemies who were running across the frozen Taedong River tributaries. In the eyes of those who had succumbed to fear, there was no sign of fighting spirit or will to fight.
***
“What?! Even the 29th Regiment collapsed?”
The unit was collapsing before it could even make proper contact with the enemy. The front line was collapsing to the point where even the division commander could not do anything about it.
“This is a mass panic! It is impossible to control it with just the officers and non-commissioned officers on the scene!”
“Chief of Staff, stop those cowards! Stop them and somehow make a way for the 15th Brigade to retreat!”
The collapse of the 29th Regiment inevitably led to the collapse of the 4th Regiment, which was returned to the reserve and was in the process of being reorganized.
The situation of the 4th Regiment was even more serious than that of the 29th Regiment. With most of the officers missing, there was no one who could properly command them.
As the situation became more serious, Lieutenant General Nishijima, the commander of the 2nd Division, sent all officers at the division headquarters to the front line. He even said that those who refused to follow orders and retreated could be summarily executed, but the problem was that their authority and threats had little effect on the retreating soldiers.
“Son of Sendai! Don’t run away from the front lines like a coward when faced with a small number of enemies! Return to the defensive line immediately!”
“The enemy is coming in like a tidal wave from all across the front! The damned assault infantry is coming!”
Now the gunfire and explosions were loud and clear, right up to where the division command post was.
The enemies who crossed the river were either beating up stragglers or forcibly breaking down the light resistance of some of the troops still remaining in the defensive line, and were attempting to enter the intersection, the only route of retreat.
Panic broke out as the 29th Regiment of the 3rd Brigade fled through the ranks of the wounded and the remnants of the 15th Brigade, which was still withdrawing.
The troops that were supposed to retreat and the troops that were forced out were tangled up with each other, causing chaos.
Even the barely maintained order had collapsed, and everyone was trying to run away first, leaving the wounded behind.
“Commander! It’s over! The people attacking us are called assault infantry!”
“what?!”
“No, assault infantry… Weren’t they out to reorganize?!”
Rumors beget rumors, and they soon spread throughout the 2nd Division. Adding to the fear, information about the enemy began to snowball, with many distortions and falsehoods attached.
And the soldiers of the 2nd Division, who were infected with this fear, could no longer be commanded or controlled.
Because everyone was either running away or just waiting for an opportunity to run away.
Lieutenant General Nishijima judged that further fighting was difficult, and he had to change course again to escape somehow.
First, he ordered them to destroy all important documents and equipment that were difficult to take with them, and to take the division flag that could not be taken away and retreat, but for some reason, not even the military guards were in sight.
“Military guard, where did the military guard go!?”
Because I raised my voice in a hurry, I ended up hearing news I didn’t want to hear.
“The enemy has pushed in to within a kilometer of our division headquarters and has withdrawn all our remaining troops! Those damned things are coming in like a tidal wave!”
The collapse of the defensive line seemed so severe that even military guards had to be called out to block it.
He quickly handed the division’s equipment over to his adjutant, drew his pistol, and went outside.
There was a commotion of gunfire and screams all around, and someone grabbed his arm.
He was surprised and tried to thrust his gun, but fortunately it was not the Joseon guy, but the chief of staff who had a bandage wrapped around his head.
“Where have you been, Commander! The enemy cavalry is now pursuing us from the southern road! There is no time, so get out of here! The roads are jammed, so run to the mountains, to the mountains you see over there! We will stop the enemies for now and then join up!”
His heart sank at the words of Chief of Staff Colonel Ishibashi. Now at a loss for words, Lieutenant General Nishijima had no choice but to mount the horse his adjutant had brought and look at the ruined Sachang-ri with a face that seemed to have lost its soul. Death was devouring them everywhere.
***
“Advance! Let’s trample on them all and avenge the third son!”
While trampling on the enemies who had just fallen, Lieutenant Noh Baek-rin continued to encourage his subordinate units to charge while holding the volley gun in one hand.
It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this relieved.
As they charged forward, stirring up the enemy camp, enemies came out here and there with their hands up, throwing down their weapons and begging for their lives, or they scattered in all directions, frantically trying to find a way to survive.
Although they were armed with intense hatred and anger, they were easily defeated by it, to the point of being helpless, which made them even more embarrassed.
The enemies were scattering so quickly that the grenades prepared to clear out the enemy on the defensive line were not even used properly.
Most of the trench lines were empty, or just soldiers without officers or non-commissioned officers, throwing down their weapons and raising both hands.
The sound of grenade launchers firing echoed all around, along with the loud gunfire.
‘If I had known this would happen, I should have brought more shock detonators for use with grenade launchers instead of delay detonators,’ he said, regretting it for a moment.
“Commander, down! They are retreating to the intersection!”
“Keep chasing them! Drive them so they never set foot in this place again!”
No one ever dreamed that things would work out this easily.
Even before the first infiltration maneuver, it was a difficult time because the enemy’s defense line was firmly established in a narrow area.
Despite the fact that our forces were significantly smaller than the enemy’s, we were still wondering what to do when a large-scale defection, which appeared to be a split in the enemy’s line, began to occur on the left wing of the front line.
The effectiveness of the infiltration maneuver was greater than expected, as large and small fights broke out between the fleeing enemy and the commanders trying to stop them.
In order to leave the confused enemies to do even more foolish things, No Baek-rin ordered the charge while shouting as loudly as possible, without even firing grenade launchers, which was the signal before an attack.
The 4th Battalion, a neighboring battalion, also saw this and, as if they had made a promise, began to run forward with their long bayonets aimed at the enemy.
The Japanese army, which at first glance seemed so large and unstoppable, was fleeing in an unusually shabby manner.
After defeating the Qing, the reputation of having the strongest army in Asia both domestically and internationally was now meaningless.
“Surrender, surrender! Please don’t shoot!”
As we broke through one of the trenches, instead of being hit by bullets, this time a Japanese soldier holding a white flag shouted awkwardly but urgently.
The soldiers, who were about to put in the grenades, gave a stop signal and then aimed their rifles at the enemies, saying:
“You little punk, you speak our language well, are you by any chance a collaborator!?”
The Japanese soldier spoke with a frightened expression, barely suppressing his emotions as if he were about to cry if he were provoked even a little more.
“No, I’m not! Oh, I came to Joseon to study abroad for a short time as a language student!”
“If this is a trap, you all know how to fall for it.”
“This is not a trap! All the officers and non-commissioned officers who were here are already dead! My comrades, too, want to surrender! Don’t shoot!”
“···Tell them to drop their weapons and come out now! If you do anything stupid, I’ll kill you all!”
At that moment, Lieutenant Noh Baek-rin, who was present, shouted at them directly, and then a noise was heard from inside the trench, and soon Japanese soldiers who had hurriedly thrown their weapons out of the trench came out with both hands raised in a shabby appearance.
There were more people coming out with injuries, big or small, than those who were not injured.
Most of them appeared to have been shelled, probably due to the large-scale shelling that had occurred during the week.