Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 294
Only Noblemtl
#294. No problem on the Gwanbuk front (2)
Brigade Commander Hyun Heung-taek immediately took appropriate action.
Usually, the Japanese army would throw the traitors who were intended as meat shields into the first wave of the attack, and the moment one of them broke through, they would try to make a big hole by sending in the reserve units from the Guards Division or the 2nd Reserve Infantry Division.
In this way, the enemy secured a bridgehead several times and captured part of the highland army, which caused quite a headache.
The enemy tried to push back with numbers, ignoring sacrifices and continuously pushing back, no matter how many casualties they suffered.
But that didn’t last long.
“···It seems like the number of traitors has decreased significantly these days.”
“Well, that’s probably it.”
The group of rebels that initially mobilized 20,000 men appeared to be inadequately replenished as time went on.
Previously, it took quite a bit of sacrifice and concentrated bombardment to get rid of them, but at some point, the number of enemies started to decrease significantly.
It seemed to have quite a bit to do with the recent conscription riots that have been breaking out all over the occupied territories.
It was said that discontent began to run rampant in both the metropolitan area and the local areas as they forcibly dragged in young men from the occupied territories to transport military supplies and to cull those who could be used as cannon fodder on the front lines.
“It seems like the conscription riots had a big impact. Do you know anything about it?”
“Ask Manager Cho Dong-yoon instead of me. I only signed.”
···Director of Records, Jo Dong-yoon, took action with this in mind.
It seemed that they mobilized all the surviving branches, the volunteers and remaining troops of the Second Front still under their control, and even the collaborators within the so-called new government who had begun to switch sides when the odds of defeat became clear, and carried out operations in both Hanseong and the provinces.
The already seething public sentiment exploded with forced conscription as the farmland was devastated by refugees and large-scale purges and the Japanese army prepared to take away what little harvest there was.
The record research office simply threw a match into a dry field.
“blasting!”
I came to my senses from a moment of thought at the sound I heard from far away, and saw something exploding at the outpost.
The flash of the explosion obscured the view ahead with a thick layer of dust that made the rain that had fallen all week pale in comparison.
Through the telescope I could see fallen enemy infantry, screaming and dying, usually in gruesome ways.
“What is that?”
“It’s a rock bomb. It’s a method of laying pebbles and rocks of appropriate size on top of explosives and detonating them when enemies come. It’s useful when a large number of enemies come. Oh, and when in a hurry, they put shell casings in the cartridges and detonated them, but these days, they don’t do that.”
From what I’ve heard, it seems like a type of fugas mine.
In any battlefield, as time passed, there always appeared forms of convergent evolution in offense and defense. The Fuga mines, which can now be called improvised minefields, were of a similar type.
“···That’s a pretty good method. If it’s not urgent, collect the cartridges and return them to the platoon.”
“Of course. By the way, Mr. Sunmusa. It was funny when a captured enemy officer saw a volley of rocks and said, ‘Isn’t this foul play?’”
“So what did you say?”
“You shouldn’t have invaded in the first place,” he replied.
I laughed silently at Hyun Heung-taek’s answer. Well, they were the ones who crossed the line first.
Meanwhile, the battle continued to rage fiercely. Enemies who had broken through the minefields of Fuga, known as ‘rock mines’, began to press the friendly outpost front line in significant numbers, and the troops in the outpost positions, unable to withstand this any longer, began to retreat.
“The enemy has finally crossed over the forward positions. Our company on the forward line is retreating to the main fishing boats.”
“Damn bastards, they’re pushing in the meat shields again. No matter what happens, we have to protect the main fishing boat! Tell the grenade launchers to fire over the enemy’s heads. And tell the machine gun crew to move to the reserve position and shoot those bastards as soon as they gather.”
The best way in this case was to take down the traitors who were being thrown by the enemies with meat shields from the beginning.
The method was to concentrate firepower on the front lines of the offensive force, first bring down the first wave of attacks, and then eat away at the Japanese army, which could be called the real main force, which had to be deployed early.
“Shoot!”
With a loud command, the public firearms directly controlled by the battalion commander opened fire simultaneously.
It was a flawless defensive game.
He was fighting well thanks to having learned fire control, reserve force operation, and how to deal with the enemy through bloodshed.
When the meat shields finally collapsed, the Japanese army was forced to choose between two options.
Either stop the fight and retreat, or commit the reserves you’ve saved and try to break through again.
And as expected, the Japanese military chose the latter.
No matter how capable the commanders were, they were forced to make sacrifices for the sake of time and the friendly forces in Manchuria, so there was nothing they could do.
“Enemy reinforcements are approaching. Commander! Request artillery support immediately. The target is the Japanese attempting to cross the river from Geumya-eup. Tell them to throw plenty of high explosives at their heads!”
“Yes, I understand!”
It was the same even then. As the enemy’s advanced troops, which amounted to one company, were hit hard with the hammer of artillery, the Japanese army had no choice but to return one of the infantry companies that had been assigned to break through the front line to Geumya-eup, with tears in their eyes.
Just like the ‘Baek Geo-dae’, the suicide squad of the Battle of Lushun, they also wore white bands on their military uniforms and ran as if they were prepared for death. It seemed that today was the day they would break through Geumya-eup.
Of course, the commanders here didn’t just sit back and watch.
The already chaotic battlefield became even more intense as friendly artillery fire soon struck the enemy’s reinforcement route.
It was a scene that perfectly demonstrated what was meant by the saying that artillery adds dignity to a dogfight, as if it were a line from a game.
Just as flowers bloom, the flash of light and the dust produced by the shells left a strong impression.
The push-and-pull battle that lasted for hours could only be described as thrilling and blood-curdling.
Finally, the brutal battle ended with the enemy’s retreat.
The friendly infantry persistently beat the traitors, who were the meat shields, into a state of near-death, and forced them to retreat, tangling them with the Japanese troops who were acting as the poison tactic.
And then the company defending the left wing suddenly began a spear-launching charge toward the entrenched Japanese offensive force.
I think I saw the reserve force and the brigade search party heading somewhere, so they seemed to be moving in that direction.
The enemy’s front lines, caught in the unexpected assault, began to crumble uncontrollably.
In the end, having failed to break through after being pushed back in a firefight at a crucial moment, and perhaps concerned that continuing the battle would allow the friendly forces to counterattack, the enemy reluctantly decided to retreat.
Finally, the moment came when the enemy’s eighth attempt to advance toward Hamheung ended in failure.
“They are retreating!”
“Don’t make a fuss. Check each battalion for casualties and remaining ammunition, and tell them to repair the destroyed positions immediately.”
“Yes, Brigade Commander, lower left!”
As if they had expected it, the inside of the command center was extremely calm. At first, they must have been happy to repel the enemies, but now things have changed a lot.
They immediately checked the number of friendly casualties, the state of remaining ammunition, and the extent of destruction of the defensive positions, and then gave instructions to prepare for a night attack.
From far away, a soldier’s mournful melody could be heard.
Perhaps it was a final requiem before sending off the fallen soldiers. And it was a very familiar melody, the one from ‘Going to the Front’ that I had learned before the war.
“···The soldiers really liked that song. It was both tragic and the line hinting that they would soon be able to reclaim their homeland was similar to their situation.”
“I see. Let’s go back to the main building.”
I tried to pretend not to know and walked out of the command post. There was no way I wouldn’t know the hidden meaning of that military song.
In that way, even today, a short telegram may be delivered to the Marshal’s Office and the temporary palace in Hamheung.
[No abnormalities on the Gwanbuk front.]
This alone would have been enough.
I looked down at the battlefield, holding the sword bestowed upon me by the Emperor, amidst the cheering soldiers. They would never be able to get past this place.
***
“What? We lost again?! Now we’re completely wiped out?!”
“The conditions are too unfavorable for us. It was an unreasonable war from the beginning.”
Both the Guards Division and the 2nd Reserve Infantry Division were failing in all their offensives.
In the early stages of the battle, following Lieutenant General Hidenori’s suggestion, the simultaneous use of some 70 field guns belonging to two artillery regiments was able to inflict significant damage on the enemy’s defenses.
According to him, it was a Napoleonic-style artillery operation, and similar to the enemy’s artillery operation.
In any case, it was firmly believed that in the early battles in this manner, it would be possible to capture some of the enemy’s entrenched high ground and open the way to Hamheung.
“Commander, I heard there’s another riot in Jemulpo. The Army Headquarters is requesting that you send troops as per the new government’s request…”
“You damn Joseon bastards, stop conscripting in such an idiotic way!”
“Come on, Commander. Don’t be angry. For now, we will send troops from our reserve infantry division, which has some spare time. Send one battalion from the 7th Reserve Infantry Regiment, which is currently being reorganized, to Jemulpo!”
But now, due to the conscription riots that spread like wildfire at one point, the power was greatly dispersed.
Joseon’s incompetent new government attempted to recruit auxiliary troops and laborers to support the Japanese army by force or by putting forward people who did not command public respect, but this only led to a large-scale uprising.
It was around this time that the guerrillas, which had temporarily subsided due to the 1st Army’s suppression operation, began to rise again.
It was impossible to control the entire Korean Peninsula with only the six battalions under the direct command of the 1st Army and the remaining two divisions under the 1st Army that had become rags.
Rather, the garrisons deployed in each city and the small garrisons deployed to connect supply lines were isolated due to the riots, and in some cases, the ruling apparatus of the new government was overthrown, creating so-called “liberated zones.”
“Those useless fucking bastards, because of those bastards, one entire regiment of our division was dragged away!”
It was only natural that Lieutenant General Asada, who was still commanding the Guards Division, was angry.
As expected from those incompetent guys, they caused an accident but couldn’t even put it out properly.
The security forces and militia sent to suppress the protests were instead being pushed back by the rioters and were fleeing.
Eventually, the Japanese military had to be brought in and suppressed with bloodshed.
“···In total, a brigade-level force must have been mobilized. And yet, they still haven’t been able to subdue them all.”
During this process, a large number of Japanese troops were mobilized from the Hamheung area.
A brigade of troops, including the 2nd Guards Division and the 2nd Reserve Infantry Division, were hastily mobilized and given priority to suppressing riots in the Gyeongseong area and the Gyeonggi-do region.
Naturally, as soon as these troops left, the offensive in the Hamheung area lost much of its momentum.