Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 296
Only Noblemtl
#296. No problem on the Gwanbuk front (4)
Other staff officers in the Marshal’s Office advised caution and dismissed Lieutenant Colonel Lee Gap’s words.
If we only look at the enemy’s movements that have been revealed above the water, it is natural that their opinions carry more weight.
But I still couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling, so I ignored the opinions of my staff and looked at Lieutenant Lee Gap and said.
“Yes, opinions may vary. But shouldn’t there always be a basis for such claims?”
“Sergeant, don’t you think the enemy’s actions are strange? The recent battles with the Japanese army did not start with small-scale battles like this. They always used the tactic of putting the traitors in the forefront to greatly exhaust the firepower of the friendly forces, and then deploying the main force to simultaneously break through the front and flanks. But this time it’s different. They simply have a strong intention to tie down the friendly forces.”
I stroked my chin and pondered his words.
I could feel the rough texture of my beard, which I hadn’t shaved for some time.
“But even that is a calculated action by the enemy…”
“The tactical actions of the Japanese army are somewhat different from those of our army, but they are fundamentally very aggressive. They have been greatly influenced by the tactical theory of the Deokguk Dynasty, and as a result, their strength is in conducting large-scale operations, but the tactical actions that the enemy is currently showing are very different from this.”
“hmm···.”
By the way, I said that only gunfights were still taking place. As before, the enemy was appearing from all sides, but they were not carrying out large-scale assaults to overthrow the positions. They seemed very discouraged, even though they were on the offensive.
“Furthermore, remember the peculiarity of this war, where the exchange rate between the enemy and the enemy was 4:1, and up to 6:1. This exchange rate was possible because the enemy was willing to throw away a battalion or a regiment to destroy the friendly defense line.”
Certainly, the enemies had a strong mind like that.
Unlike us, who do not spare even a single soldier or officer, they did not hesitate to replace soldiers if they could buy enough time or if the sacrifice was worth it.
Thanks to that, the PIA exchange rate, when limited to us, showed a difference of up to ‘6.5:1’.
If you include the Russian military casualties, the ratio drops to 2:1.
“But this time it’s different. This time, on the surface, they’re on the same offensive as before, but if you look at the details, you can see that they’re taking a very passive approach. This suggests that they have another intention.”
“Can you tell me what you think your intention is?”
“Of course, sir. The enemy may be trying to hide the fact that they have no more offensive capabilities. The enemy knows very well that our main force in the Hamheung area has not moved yet. If the offensive capabilities are low and we switch to a hasty defense, and our army’s proud encirclement and destruction through fire and movement are carried out once again….”
“The Japanese pirates who entered our land will be finished off.”
As Lieutenant Lee Gap said, the enemies would have known my intentions by now.
As if neither side was taking advantage of the eternal opportunity to attack, it was now time for the momentum of the war, which the Japanese had been forcibly holding onto through several offensives, to shift to our favor.
In baseball terms, the Japanese were currently in the top of the 9th inning with two outs and two strikes.
And if the last offensive effort was a miss, now it’s time to give the opponent a chance to attack after the short commercial.
The problem is that the opponents don’t have a special closer who can clean up this situation, and we have a cleanup trio waiting at the plate who can finish a tight game.
By the time the 15th Division troops scattered throughout the Samnam region were reassembled and brought together in Hanseong, the entire Korean Peninsula front would have been decided.
“That’s right, Commander. Besides, the enemy has not yet won the battle in Bongcheon. They must have thought that no matter what happens, we must hold them back until they win in Bongcheon.”
Lieutenant Lee Gap continued his explanation with excitement.
As if he were a high-ranking staff member of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, he was quite astute in pointing out the enemy’s expected intentions and future actions.
I listened to his explanation as if I found it quite interesting.
“So now the sword has been handed over to us. Commander, it is now our turn to launch a counterattack against the enemy. If we miss this opportunity, we will be deceived by the enemy’s deception. We must deploy the reserves, turn the front, and recapture Wonsan.”
He convinced me with an expression that seemed to show intense conviction.
As I just smiled without saying anything, the other staff members spoke instead of me.
The voice of Army Chief of Staff Yoon Young-ryeol, the younger brother of the former Minister of Military Affairs and a typical example of the cautious group, was the loudest.
“But since they’ve been working with us, they’ve probably learned a lot about our tactics and figured out our intentions, so if they counterattack incorrectly, the results could be bad. The words of the Chief of the Operations Department, Lieutenant Lee Gap, make sense, but I think it would be better to dispatch a reconnaissance unit to figure out the enemy’s intentions.”
As such, the cautious view has still prevailed.
Lieutenant Lee Gap’s words were reasonable, but they were even more so because they were based on assumptions and intuitions based on the Japanese military’s previous tactical actions, speaking from outside the observable range.
In general, Wonsoobu and Sunmuyeong have learned very well what I have been doing so far and have accepted it as if it were a textbook.
They believed that the best way to conduct battles was to plan operations and conduct battles based on solid empirical evidence ‘within the observable range’, based on accurate frontline information and reconnaissance reports.
After a moment of hesitation between the two sides, I called the signal officer and had him telegraph the following order to the 8th Brigade at the front:
“To the 8th Brigade Commander, the patrolman is sending a telegram saying, mobilize the brigade’s direct search and reserve forces and attempt a localized counterattack toward Geumya-eup. Oh, and tell them to only pursue up to Ipseok River. Don’t force yourself to cross the river.”
“All right!”
It was something that could be done by lightly poking the enemy once to check their intentions, and then waiting to see how they would react before making a conclusion.
There was silence in the conference room for a moment, and then I paused the meeting, saying that I would have to talk again depending on the results of the offensive.
And the results that would shake up the battle lines ahead arrived sooner than expected.
***
“What? They retreated?”
I had no idea, but the real enemies were surprised by the counterattack and were in shambles. It was definitely different from the previous attacks.
The 8th Brigade attempted a counterattack on the right wing of the front line by attaching the 4th Battalion, which had been assigned as the brigade reconnaissance company and reserve force, to the enemy, who had crossed the Ipseok River flowing in front of Geumya-eup and were only pouring suppressive fire on the friendly forces’ positions.
The numbers weren’t that great either.
The 4th Battalion, which had suffered heavy casualties in the previous battle, was only able to mobilize about 60% of its actual strength.
If it were a normal Japanese army, they would have easily stopped or pinned down a counterattack of that level.
Because they would have simply surrounded or encircled the enemy with more troops than their reserves, thus blocking their advance.
But this time, everything went against expectations.
It was said that the Japanese lines collapsed with incredible speed before the small counterattack force of our forces could even make proper contact.
“The main point of the report is that the enemy’s forces were smaller than expected.”
“They say that the number of enemies was too small up to the Ipseok River basin. And also···”
“furthermore?”
“They say they have also abandoned Geumya-eup, their main stronghold. They say that the 4th Battalion Commander and the search unit commander on the scene made a unilateral decision to ford the shallow part of the river and reclaim the Geumya-eup area.”
“Have these guys really lost their offensive power···?”
“The 8th Brigade seems to be in disarray right now. We are immediately requesting orders for future operations from the Sunmuyeong and Marshal’s Office.”
Rather, the 8th Brigade seemed more flustered because the enemy was collapsing so quickly. They unexpectedly recaptured not only the enemy’s bridgehead, but also Geumya-eup in the Ipseok River basin, which could be called the starting point of the attack.
It seemed that there were supplies abandoned by the enemy there, as well as wounded people that they had not been able to take with them.
“This time, it seems that Lieutenant Lee Gap’s words are right.”
“This is a great opportunity.”
I and Chief Lee Gyu-tae, who were the first to receive the report, looked at the tactical map with quite serious expressions.
The two divisions, six garrison battalions, and 20,000 rebels were now almost completely wiped out.
The thought of KCTC came to mind.
The infantry regiment I was assigned to at the time, which had to capture the combat objective of Kim X-ri within the training grounds, lost 70% of its total strength during the offensive week.
As soon as I returned to the emergency defense, I suddenly remembered that time when the entire front collapsed in just two days, before I could even fill the allotted time.
The opposing force, with tentacle-like attacks, broke through the defensive lines of the friendly infantry regiment and annihilated even the most fiercely resisting American company attached to the regiment, and then swept through the rear. As someone who watched the regimental commander’s expression turn seriously pale right after, I could sense that something similar was happening to them this time.
In such situations, information about the enemy was always distorted and exaggerated, and unrefined information often led to incorrect responses. It was also likely that the enemy mistook the friendly forces’ localized counterattacks for large-scale counterattacks.
In the end, the enemy’s response to our local counterattack meant only one thing.
“Tong-eo-sa… I think it is time to attack Wonsan now.”
“This is the beginning of a real counterattack.”
At the mention of the counterattack by Lee Gyu-tae, the blood of the staff officers present seemed to boil.
The time for the counteroffensive, which tens of thousands of soldiers, thousands of brave guerrillas fighting on the second front, had to sacrifice their precious lives to reach, had arrived.
The sword of war that the Japanese military had been forcibly holding onto for so long has finally begun to turn to us at the critical moment.
“At that time, the main force of the Japanese army was already in Manchuria to engage in a battle with the Russian and Russian forces. The enemy army would not even dream of redeploying for a grand battle.”
“Yes. Summer is ending and we are entering fall. It is definitely… fall is coming.”
I spoke metaphorically. The tide was turning now.
The rough waters that seemed as if they would sweep us away were now beginning to surge towards our enemies.