Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 311
Only Noblemtl
#311. Glory of the North (3)
“Hey, turnip!”
“You don’t have to worry about anything in Sunmuyeong anymore. After all, your battalion is the only one suffering in this situation. Aside from that, it was a pretty good insight. It wasn’t a judgment that could penetrate my operational intentions, but it’s pretty impressive that you were able to come up with such a result with limited information and tactical judgment. You didn’t waste your time at the North Korean Military Academy.”
The smiling sergeant put his hand on Lieutenant Kim Si-jin’s shoulder and said.
“Hey, what’s going on here···.”
“I came to see my children. I feel bad about keeping them locked up in the dock warehouse for a few days.”
Perhaps he came to visit for encouragement.
After a brief greeting with the 2nd Battalion commander and staff, he immediately approached the soldiers and encouraged them while listening to their stories.
And I cautiously thought that it might not turn back, but that was a misjudgment.
“Sijin, gather all the company commanders and battalion staff officers. I have something important to tell you.”
“······!”
Perhaps the real intention was this.
Lieutenant Kim Si-jin immediately summoned the company commander and his staff, and immediately began talking about something very important.
***
“···We are really going to Wonsan. Commander, after the battle is over, you must give me a carton of cigarettes.”
“Damn, I shouldn’t have bet on that.”
“Ehhhh, I’m really looking forward to the American cigarettes that the battalion commander often smokes.”
“Ugh.”
As a result, the patrol division reported that there would be a landing operation on Wonsan and that the operation would begin at 19:20 today when dusk began.
When the battalion commander, Lieutenant Kim Si-jin, complained that he had told them too late, all he got in return was the inscrutable gaze of the police officer staring at him intently.
In any case, the start of the operation was an unavoidable fact, and accordingly the 2nd Battalion was ordered to board the cruiser Yangmu by 16:00 with all its troops and the supplies and ammunition to be used during the operation.
“But I guess there is a reason why we don’t go straight to Wonsan.”
“If we go right away, we’ll be suspected. Besides, the friendly units in the Gowon-eup area need to carry out a deception attack, so they’re probably timing it accordingly.”
If they follow the Hamheung-Wonsan direct route, they can land before 10 p.m. However, due to the somewhat simple deception operation and the issue of clearing enemy coastal outposts, they will have to take a route around the open ocean, so the full-scale landing operation will likely be carried out at 1 a.m., two days later, and even if they allow for delays due to weather and ocean currents, it will likely be around 2 a.m., he said.
“The guards division kids are going to have a blast.”
“That’s right. But aren’t we also going to get into trouble? We have to go by boat for two days.”
As we boarded the ship while chatting, I was surprised to see that it was wider than I thought.
It was a gigantic ship of a different dimension from the ships I had just seen with my eyes.
It was originally said to have been used as a coal carrier in Yeonggili, but the deck and interior were surprisingly large.
The firefighters were constantly putting in smokeless coals to keep the engines running, and the gunners and loaders were manning the rapid-firing guns on the deck, so it seemed like the operation really wasn’t that far away.
“This is Shin Soon-seong. It is an honor to be working with you on this operation.”
“Please take care of me, Captain.”
The meeting with the captain and other naval officers also took place almost simultaneously with boarding.
I thought it would be just a simple greeting even if it was called a meeting, but it didn’t seem to be the case as there seemed to be a lot of prepared maps and plans.
“Oh, everyone is here. Well, since we don’t have much time, let’s get started right away.”
As expected, a person from the Operations Bureau of the Marshal’s Office aboard the Yangmu came and gave a rough outline of the operation.
He was said to be a lieutenant colonel, but seeing as he was younger than I thought, I thought he might be an officer who had studied abroad in Japan or Russia.
Currently, many of the Korean Army’s field-level officers are centered around those who studied abroad.
In any case, he began to transmit information about the expected deployment of the most important enemy forces and their landing points.
“The operational outline of the assault infantry battalion is simple. The operation will begin when the Navy deceives them and anchors in the port. The assault infantry battalion’s operation will be supported by the records investigation office agents stationed inside Wonsan and the direct task force of Sunmuyang dispatched to suppress the coastal outposts. Together with them, the primary objective is to destroy the Wonsan garrison headquarters and paralyze the command structure.”
“No, the garrison headquarters is deep in the city, isn’t it a little dangerous…?”
Captain Shin Soon-seong made a displeased expression as he said, “Why are you talking like that when it’s not your operation?” However, the operations officer smiled at his appearance and continued speaking.
“Rather, it won’t be that difficult. The Navy has already subdued the forces that threaten the ship, and the number of enemy ground forces inside Wonsan is not that great either…”
From the explanation that followed, it seemed that the defense forces in the Wonsan area were not that great.
Originally, the Wonsan garrison consisted of only one battalion, including one military police company, but as the war intensified, it was said that the organization was expanded to three battalions (one regiment).
“First, a total of one company of Japanese naval and army soldiers has been deployed to directly defend the port. The rest have been deployed on the outskirts of Wonsan City to block any possible invasion by friendly forces.”
“Where are the rest of the enemies?”
“The two battalions under the garrison and the majority of the reinforcements heading towards Wonsan seem to have gone to Gowon-eup. Even though they are called reinforcements, they are just a bunch of traitorous dregs that have been gathered from nowhere.”
The staff officer from the Operations Department spoke with a very gentle smile, not typical of military personnel.
No matter how he looked at it, the thought crossed Lieutenant Kim Si-jin’s mind that he would be better suited to being an elementary school teacher rather than a soldier.
“I hope there won’t be any major difficulties during the operation. The enemy has no idea of our intentions due to our deception operation, and even if we respond right now, it will be too late. The chief of police said that strategic surprise attacks must be kept secret for 24 hours, and tactical surprise attacks must be kept secret for 6 hours. The enemy still doesn’t know that.”
“Hmm, I see···.”
“Then I hope you have a pleasant hunt in Wonsan. I will go back and wait for news of your victory.”
He gave one last faint smile and began to carefully descend the stairs to the dock.
Immediately after the operational meeting under the pretext of a meeting, and after checking the guns and ammunition one last time, Lieutenant Kim Si-jin looked out at the sea, trying to control his anxious mind.
Their war, which had begun at sea, would now end in reverse through the sea.
***
“Commander! The North Koreans have launched a major offensive!”
“What? The amount of shelling is several times more than usual!”
Lieutenant General Asada covered his ears against the pouring artillery fire and frowned. Just as the situation at the front seemed to be taking a turn for the worse, it seemed that the enemy had finally begun its offensive.
Major General Umezawa, who had just returned to the rear command post after inspecting the front line, was listening to his staff’s words with a puzzled expression.
“The scouts reported that they had visually confirmed enemy units moving across the Yongheung River tributary. Units of at least battalion level were moving, and they were clearly heading towards the mountainous Sudong-myeon!”
“What? That’s the place that leads to the rear of our defense line!”
“That’s the problem. Their intentions are unclear. They’ve been harassing our troops with small-scale attacks, but now they’re suddenly launching a full-scale attack. It doesn’t make sense.”
Like a cat playing with a mouse, the Joseon people harassed the defense lines they had set up in Gowon-gun for several days.
The harassment continued by attacking, retreating, and then almost breaking through the defense line through a night attack, retreating again.
But now that they were switching to a counterattack and mixing infiltration maneuvers and artillery firepower to immobilize the Japanese lines, it was clear that there must be some hidden intention behind it.
However, it is not clear at this time what the intention is.
“What a mess, attacking while most of our troops are tied down. Are there any troops left in the reserve infantry division?”
“No. Our division also does not have enough troops to send out, so we redeployed the Wonsan garrison troops here.”
“That’s right···.”
The enemy cleverly forced the reserves to rush to the front line early, and began to attack as soon as most of the troops were deployed in a thin, long defensive line.
It was too late to reorganize the defensive line, withdraw troops, reorganize the reserves, and send them to the front.
“It is said that the enemy has appeared in large numbers along the entire defense line. The enemy is currently developing points where crossing of the Yongheung River is possible.”
“What? We need to block it, intercept it, or something. What are you all doing?”
“We are unable to move due to the powerful artillery fire and Maxim cannon fire. Furthermore, the rainy season has ended and the rivers have dried up, increasing the number of fordable points… We cannot block them all with our limited manpower.”
One way or another, only painful things kept happening.
Lieutenant General Asada covered his face with both hands and sighed deeply.
Looking at that sight, Lieutenant General Hidenori clicked his tongue and opened his mouth.
“If I had known it would turn out like this, I should have deployed troops to Palbongsan and pulled the main front line back even further than it is now…”
There was a 1,000m high Palbongsan Mountain to the rear, so we thought about using it as a command post, but it was over 8km away from the main fishing boat, so we gave up on that idea, which was the beginning of trouble.
In response, Lieutenant General Hidenori proposed a completely new method.
Instead of obsessively blocking the enemy’s crossing, he advocated reducing the area of the defensive line to match the size of the remaining forces, organizing a large number of reserve forces, and building a new defensive line with Gamjeong Highland behind it.
In this case, there was a constant risk that the enemy might attempt a direct offensive toward Wonsan, but he mentioned that since Palbongsan in the rear would serve as a checkpoint, it would be an effective blocking attempt without having to directly defend Wonsan.
If the enemy were to attempt an offensive toward Wonsan or Gowon, it could be foreseen that the reserve forces could be sent out to conduct a blocking/interception battle, thus buying quite a long period of time.
However, this plan was immediately rejected by the commander of the Guards Division.