Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 306
Only Noblemtl
#306. Russian SteamRoller (6)
“Wait a minute, reinforcements are coming so quickly? And the ground is soggy from all the rain, and there’s so much fog?”
The front line was nearly 100km long, and naturally, it would take more than a day and a half of forced march for a reinforcement brigade to reach the 3rd Army, which was located at the far left of the front line.
Although the 15th Reserve Infantry Brigade was only 20km away, so the main force could arrive in the evening, the remaining reserve infantry brigades of the Manchurian Army were deployed much further away.
But they came this quickly? And they brought reserve troops with them who had never even marched properly?
Something didn’t add up.
No matter how much I thought about it, this wasn’t an ally. It definitely seemed like a special force of cunning Roske’s who were pretending to be allies and approaching from the rear.
“Send a reconnaissance unit immediately, quickly!”
“Huh? Commander, what is that···.”
“Those are not our forces! Quickly send the troops we’ve collected from the 2nd Cavalry Brigade to the area approaching from the rear! Quickly!”
And with that, the thunderous roar of gunfire suddenly began to turn the entire quiet battlefield upside down.
Chiefs of Staff Nogi and Ijichi, as well as other members of the General Staff, threw themselves onto the mud floor to protect themselves from the artillery fire without even having time to regain their composure, and only then did they clearly realize what kind of situation they had found themselves in.
The Tsar’s hammer was finally, after a long wait, falling on the heads of the Third Army.
***
“Brave children of the Caucasus! Descendants of the Cossacks who commanded the earth! There, beyond Manchuria, the enemy’s cries are heard! Now is the time to come forward and cut off their feeble breath! Our weapons have been silent for too long, and the Tsar awaits our victory! Silence their ranks, just as the Ottoman fortresses always fell silent when we advanced! Advance!”
With a shout from a regimental commander, the Russian infantry began to advance toward the front line.
Japanese officers and soldiers began to hastily establish defensive lines, and their artillery made desperate attempts to block the 2nd Manchurian Army’s encirclement maneuvers, but it was already too late.
Scattered and insufficient ammunition was not enough to stop these men, who numbered well over 100,000.
“It’s too late, Japonsky. We’ve taken the initiative in battle without you even knowing it. How long did you think the hilt of that sword would be in your hands?”
Gripenberg looked down at the front lines, his eyes burning with triumph, muttering as if the Japanese commander was right in front of him.
When the commanders who had defended Cheongha Castle for several days approached him, he welcomed them with open arms.
“Thank you for your hard work, Lieutenant General Alekseev. And Lieutenant General Rennenkampf. You have completed your missions well beyond your assignments.”
“Commander, are we going to counterattack now?”
“Yes. Now it is time to put an end to this long-standing feud.”
With his words, the Tsar’s hammer finally began to slowly break the left wing of the Japanese army, which was greatly raised, along with the 100,000 strong army.
Thanks to the brave garrison battalions of Cheongha Fortress and the two cavalry divisions of Lieutenant General Rennenkampf who fought just as hard and bought time, the main force of the 2nd Manchurian Army was able to arrive at the front line at the scheduled time.
“Commander! The 1st Siberian Army Corps has penetrated the enemy’s rear.”
“Very good. We will continue to suffocate them from all sides. You dare to take over Cheongha Castle and fearlessly attack the rear of our imperial army? You wicked bastards.”
Gripenberg gripped the baton tightly in his hand as if it were a Japanese baton.
The Japonskis, who had been fearsome when they were moving and moving again, pounding away their allies, but who had lost all their strengths and were now fixed and worn out, were no longer fearsome. They were simply prey.
“Order all the disarmed batteries to fire simultaneously.”
“Yes, Commander!”
Although about 100 of the 400 field guns had not yet arrived on the battlefield, he judged that the current force was sufficient to destroy the enemy.
It was possible because he thought that the best plan was one that was imperfect but could be used at the right time, rather than one that was perfect but missed the timing.
Although the Russian army was criticized for having separate infantry, cavalry, and artillery, and especially for having no operational common ground between the infantry and artillery, this time it was different.
Having learned through shedding blood, they poured out the incredible power of a bogatyr on their enemies, shaking the heavens and the earth at the same time as the infantry advanced.
“Gentlemen, Saint Barbara protects our artillery! Let us show the wrath of the holy saint to the pagan Japhonski!”
“Ura!”
The Russian Imperial artillery, named after the patron saint of artillery, Barbara, began to press down on the Japanese lines as if they were crushing Napoleon’s Grande Armée.
With shells exploding from all sides and the Japanese lines already surrounded on all sides, the Russian 2nd Manchurian Army began to advance toward the front line without waiting any longer.
With pointed bayonets in the lead, the officers’ sharp sabres were aimed squarely at the enemy lines.
Just ahead of them, the flag bearers raised their banners, bearing the patron saints of the holy corps and the history of their regiment, which began to flutter in the strong wind.
“advance!”
And finally, when the commander’s shout sounded, the military band began to play the tune of the advance, and at the forefront of the battle line, the chaplains began to recite the sincere faith of the Orthodox Church.
Just the sight of a huge army moving in formation would gradually weaken the enemy’s morale.
“The 1st Siberian Army Corps is sending its vanguard to strike the enemy’s rear, while the 10th Army Corps is striking the enemy’s front.”
“Order Kutnevich to throw the Mixed Rifle Corps into the empty left wing. They don’t yet know the exact direction of our attack and the number of our men.”
“Yes, Commander!”
“Lastly, release the 8th Legion into battle. They are the honorable ones prepared for this moment.”
Gripenberg, who was looking down at the battlefield coldly, looked at the 8th Army Corps of the Odessa Military District, which he had brought with him with great care.
After the war broke out, it was a corps that he was able to reorganize with his own hands after studying how his allies, the Korean army, defeated the Japanese army in the field.
The 8th Army Corps originally existed to strike the Ottomans in the Caucasus with bayonets in their lungs and cut off their heads with shashkas, but this time it was different.
They had to be reorganized again, this time to trample the short Japonskis under their boots and drive them into the ground, according to the Tsar’s demands, and Gripenberg was happy to reforge them.
He summoned officers and non-commissioned officers who had served in Korea for a long time under his own authority, called in experts on Asia, and asked the Korean government and military to translate their infantry tactics into Russian.
He bound it and distributed it to the key commanders of the 2nd Manchurian Army, asking them to learn their methods.
Above all, there was something else that was particularly noteworthy among his accomplishments.
In order to reduce the gap between officers and men, the unconventional measure of promoting literate soldiers to officers and non-commissioned officers was continued.
Although there was opposition from some commanders, he could not tolerate any obstacles standing in his way of turning the tide for victory.
A number of them were replaced or dismissed, and new people took their place in his command.
After enduring so many hardships, it was the elite soldiers of the 8th Army Corps who were forged into a true hammer capable of executing the Tsar’s wrath even in the distant Far East.
“It’s a shame there are no grenades or grenade launchers, though…”
“Don’t worry. The improvised grenades will do the job.”
We originally planned to import some from Korea, but gave up due to unfavorable local conditions.
Instead, they were replaced by makeshift grenades made from shell casings or tin cans with long fuses, much like those used in the Napoleonic Wars.
Some quartermasters or grenadier commanders were skeptical whether this would be of much use in the damp Manchurian autumn, but it remained to be seen.
“Now we can clearly show the world what the commander’s choice is.”
“I hope their way is right.”
He could confidently boast that, unlike the Korean army, the Russian shock infantry had a clear advantage.
Unlike the Korean army, whose numbers were limited to regiments at most, the Russian army was able to use the large number of troops themselves as a shock force by organizing entire corps into shock units.
That wasn’t all. The fact that a considerable number of Madsen were distributed deep into the small units in place of hand grenades was also a gambit by Gripenberg.
In order to maximize the impact, the commander of the Korean army relied heavily on the firepower of explosives used by the infantry, including hand grenades, while Gripenberg turned his attention to the firepower of firearms used by the infantry, that is, firearms capable of rapid fire.
Accordingly, the so-called vanguard units, which were in the vanguard, concentrated their Madsen deployments down to the platoon level, and the remaining general shock units concentrated their Madsen deployments at the company level, thereby suggesting a new direction for the war.
And this inevitably aroused shock and anger in the Russian Imperial Ministry of War, which was much more conservative than other empires.
Sukhomlinov, whom Kuropatkin had initially intended to appoint as Chief of the General Staff, was heavily criticized for this.
They blindly criticized the Gripenberg method, saying it was “like scattering bullets on the ground,” “a foolish imitation of the armies of small Far Eastern countries,” and that it was taking the role of the cavalry away from the infantry, but they soon shut their mouths thanks to the Tsar’s chilling warning.
In any case, according to Gripenberg’s instructions, one third of all Madsen machine guns introduced into Russia were supplied to the 8th Army Corps, and the rest were provided to the cavalry as originally intended.
Of course, this organization was largely based on that of the Korean Army’s assault infantry regiment, and was the result of a close analysis of the results of their machine gun operation.
Accordingly, he reported to the Quartermaster Command and the Artillery Committee to purchase additional supplies, which would probably be decided upon seeing the course of the battle.
“We must win this battle. Only then will we be able to secure the means to continue the war.”
Thanks to the support of France, which did not want the collapse of Russia, which would have to take charge of the anti-German front in the event of an emergency, it seems that purchasing weapons and ammunition was not that difficult.
Of course, if he lost this battle, he would never be able to come in again.
It seemed that there had been a lot of skepticism recently about Russia’s ability to fight back-to-back losses.
Nevertheless, with the support of France and Belgium, which had noticed their intentions, they were able to somehow raise war funds by selling bonds.
And it was to maintain that that the Tsar sent his gamblers here.
Well, up until this point it was a matter for the noble nobles of St. Petersburg to decide, so it wasn’t something for Gripenberg to think about anymore.
“Commander, the advance units of the 8th Corps are being deployed to the front lines.”
Gripenberg made the sign of the cross for them in silence, then picked up his telescope and looked at the 8th Corps soldiers through the slowly clearing fog.
They were given only one command.
All he had to do was to continuously break through the enemy lines until the power and anger given to him ran out.
In the manner of the Korean military, they would relentlessly drive through the enemy like an unstoppable engine until their power was exhausted, destroying them and clearing the way for follow-up troops.
In this way, the 8th Corps advanced with the momentum of an animal.
The momentum was the very rage and courage of the Russian Empire, the very hatred for its enemies that their ancestors had shown at Borodino and Sevastopol.
They roared as they carried icons of Orthodox saints whom they believed were watching over them.
And finally, as if the saints were beginning to smile upon them, the rain stopped, the fog cleared, and the sun began to rise brightly for the first time in a long while.