Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 323
Only Noblemtl
#323. Legend of Lightning War (3)
“What is this?”
“Hehe, these are the precious fish I brought to sell during this Chuseok. You all know this, right···.”
“No. This time, the garrison commander has given orders to strengthen the security. Open all the boxes.”
“Oh my, if I open all of this now, all the fish will go bad. I brought them in just in time for this market, so how could it not be fresh?”
At the entrance to Cheongju Castle, a soldier of the new government army holding an old-fashioned Snider-Enfield rifle and a merchant who was bringing in a lot of goods for the upcoming Chuseok holiday got into a minor scuffle.
One of the soldiers stabbed the fishy box with his bayonet, and sure enough, a fish came out.
The soldiers were talking amongst themselves, leaving their sad-looking master behind.
“Oh no, all the fish are ruined!”
“Are all of the things above fish?”
“hmm···.”
It was nearing the end of September, the Chuseok holiday of 1904.
Despite the turbulent economic conditions, Chuseok, just like the Lunar New Year, was also an important holiday for merchants that they could not miss.
The new government and the Japanese military command suppressed merchants, including peddlers, who were in fact responsible for supplying the second front, but this has now died down.
Like red blood cells that deliver nutrients to every part of the blood vessels, if it weren’t for them, the imbalance and redistribution of resources in each region would have been unthinkable.
In the end, the new government, which had compromised with reality, had no choice but to turn a blind eye to what they were doing, even though they knew it.
And this was still in operation as a major intelligence network, directly passing information on the Japanese and new government forces’ major military supply systems and troop movements to the Joseon government in Hamheung.
And some opportunists took advantage of them and tried to play both sides, the new government and the governments in Japan and Hamheung.
“If it doesn’t work out, then know that it doesn’t work out. Where are the lowly fools….”
“Oh my, Your Majesty. We dare not meet you… I hope you can use this to help the country even a little bit….”
The soldier of the new government army, who was making threatening gestures as if he was about to swing his butt at the merchants who were complaining, quickly put something that was presumed to be an envelope into the front pocket as if he had done this many times before.
The soldier, who guessed what it was, cleared his throat and tapped his chest with his hand.
It was quite thick and seemed like it would be quite filling today.
The soldier looked around, put it away, and whispered to the others, “Pass!”
“Ahem, this isn’t right, but since you guys seem so desperate, I’ll just let you go. From now on, you must obey the laws of the country. Do you understand?”
“Oh, my. Of course, Your Majesty.”
The merchant, who had been constantly bowing and expressing gratitude, spat on the floor as soon as he passed through the gate.
“Fucking bastards. Talking shit with empty guns.”
“Was that an empty gun?”
“You’ve only seen guns like that once or twice. They’re out of ammo now. Last time, they gave us a Murata rifle, but after it got completely destroyed in Bongcheon, they even took all of that back and gave us these old guns… Those are just clubs, clubs. I swept them once last time and the kids around here were screaming that they had no ammo.”
The men laughed at the proud new government soldiers from earlier, then looked around with sharp eyes.
I could see the soldiers of the new government army gathered in groups of three or five around the market, and there were also people waiting for the fishmongers to come and beckoning to them while watching them with eagle eyes.
“By the way, the security is pretty tight. It looks like they really came from Bongcheon.”
One of the laborers who was pushing the heavy cart with him answered.
“Those guys probably figured it out. They were defeated by the Russian army at Bongcheon, and Wonsan fell, so they’re worried about when our army will come down, so it’s clear they’re trying to crack down on the rear. In addition, the enemy’s main force that was rampaging in the southern region is also moving north to Hanseong.”
As he said, the situation had already tilted greatly, and now all that remained was how to subdue the enemies.
And if this war is won, the commander-in-chief, who will be praised as the greatest general since Admiral Yi Sun-sin, began the three-ro Byeongjin with the order to ‘advance at full speed’, saying that he could not give the enemy any time.
If all went as planned, our troops would have been advancing along Hansung, Pyongyang, and the entire east coast axis.
So the Records Investigation Office ordered the retreating Second Front to reorganize and respond to their operations.
As the Chuseok holiday approached, an order was given to the remaining peddlers’ organizations to redeploy supplies and troops and to start uprisings throughout the country.
“There will be many patriots from the Imperial Association who will come forward besides us.”
The organization of the Imperial Society, known as Howal 100,000, still survived underground and was moving under the direction of Gil Yeong-su, who had been given the rank of Army Lieutenant General.
In any case, if they were to move, it was clear that the Records Investigation Office, the Marshal’s Office, the Sunmuyeong, and the remaining Second Front forces would all move at once.
This operation, which would attack all major cities, government facilities, and military facilities throughout the Korean Empire, especially in the area south of Hanseongbu (the so-called Three Souths), would be carried out on an extremely large scale.
I heard that just the officers and soldiers of the Records Investigation Office and the Marshal’s Office who were mobilized like these were in the hundreds, and if you add up the troops that were assigned to the 2nd Front, 50 battalions and approximately 50,000 people were scheduled to be mobilized.
“If the guys inside here want to do their job, they have to rise up when there are the most people, so now is the perfect time.”
“Yeah. Right now is the best time because there are the most people. My friends are waiting over there.”
Inside the cart, there were a lot of firearms lying underneath the fish.
There were hundreds of Deokgukje Mosul rifles that had been used in the old pro-military camp days, which were much more advanced than the empty Enfield rifles that the new government troops were using, and a similar number of Yukhyeol guns with Hongik Precision’s mark engraved on them were piled up here and there.
Although the Second Front lost a lot of supplies as it was pushed back and defeated by the enemy, there was still a lot of equipment that the Japanese army had not found.
“It’s almost the market.”
“Okay. Then let’s have some fun.”
They continued to pull the cart towards one side of Cheongju Castle and spoke.
And the men who had made contact there immediately shook hands in silence, put the fish away, and picked up their rifles and pistols.
Finally, liberation from oppression was approaching.
***
“What?! The uprising broke out as soon as our troops withdrew?”
“They started to attack us to celebrate Chuseok, a Korean holiday! They call themselves the 13th Provincial Army and are threatening to retake Gyeongseong!”
Hasegawa almost fell backwards. Now he was on the verge of going crazy.
Since the fall of Wonsan, news of the enemy’s advance was arriving every hour.
Even though they were flying in a jumbled manner, I could still tell where the tips of their swords were pointed.
A group of rebels calling themselves the 13th Degree Creative Army sent letters to foreign embassies in the Zhufu and Shanghai areas, though it is unknown how they were sent, and even kindly explained their legitimacy and the purpose of their uprising, asking to be recognized as an “official belligerent group of the Korean Empire.”
Of course, the Koreans in Hamheung said that they, too, were their country’s loyal and fearless troops and ordered an all-out counterattack.
And even in this desperate situation, the new government, which may have been incompetent, colluding with the enemy, or both, just sat there dumbfounded, almost like an idiot.
The new government’s ministers held meetings every day, but their policies never went beyond ten li outside of Gyeongseong, and the military operation plans shared by the military headquarters were often spread to the enemy within a few days.
The most absurd thing was that after I instructed a police chief in the Gyeonggi area to take measures to suppress the rioters, the very next day, the rioters ambushed the passageway where the military troops were moving and fled after causing quite a lot of casualties.
These were people who could not and should not be trusted.
That wasn’t all. The Murata single-shot rifles that had been given to arm them, which were now in short supply even in the mainland, also ended up in the hands of the rioters at some point.
According to dispatched police officers, frontline soldiers or mid-level officers of the new government army were making deals with the rioters by selling military supplies in exchange for money or receiving pardons.
Even the new government officials in Gyeongseong were exchanging information while keeping one foot in the enemy’s shoes, but the local governments were going one step further.
However, I couldn’t just throw everything away and lead this political situation alone.
Not only did they have to shoulder it in name only, but the Korean army, which was already in a disadvantageous situation, could not handle this chaos alone.
Even so, in this situation, working with such incompetent people made me feel like my life was getting shorter every day.
Hasegawa was at a loss as to what to do in this situation.
Kuroki was trapped in the Hoseo and Honam axes, fighting the enemy, and even the capable Lieutenant General Hidenori was not even sure whether he was alive or dead.
“The enemy is advancing along Gyeongseong, Pyongyang, and the entire east coast axis···.”
“Commander, it will take two days for our troops from the Samnam region to arrive.”
“Tell them to quickly bring in the troops from the Gyeonggi area. They’re faster than we think, so before that, gather all the troops that can be deployed to defend Gyeongseong!”
It was not possible to guarantee the defense of Gyeongseong with a force of only about 8,000 men.
It would be barely possible to control the situation if the remaining 40,000 troops were to come together.
But if they came in targeting this, then he had no choice but to take special measures.
“All the new government troops inside Gyeongseong, redeploy to Yangju. And starting today, declare a curfew from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m., and tell them that anyone who refuses to comply can be shot. If there is even a response from inside Gyeongseong, we are finished. There is no way to escape to Jemulpo.”
“Yes? If that happens, only 3,000 of our troops will be left in Gyeongseong. It’s too dangerous!”
He heard the astonished cries of his staff, but he spoke firmly.
“We have to intercept them. The fastest way from Wonsan to Gyeongseong is through Yangju, so tell them to block this place no matter what happens. Otherwise, we’ll all end up with our heads cut off by the Joseon bastards’ swords!”