Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 357



Only Noblemtl

#2-14. Zhang’s Rising (7)

“Hey, is the director here?”

“Why, is there a face that I shouldn’t look at?”

“No. I thought you wouldn’t come this far. Even if you did come, I thought you would come with the troops that were dispatched from Jemulpo.”

“I had an inkling that the train schedule had suddenly changed and that reinforcements would arrive earlier than expected, but I didn’t expect them to arrive like this… … .”

As soon as I arrived at Sinuiju Station, the 5th Division Commander, Lieutenant General Park Seung-hwan, the 7th Brigade Commander, Lieutenant General No Baek-rin, and the North Pyongan Province Inspector and Gando Administrator, Lee Beom-yoon, looked at me with surprised expressions. Of course, they probably never thought I would be here right now.

Leaving behind the cumbersome black uniform, I came out in a neat khaki uniform, carrying only a pistol on my waist, and immediately moved to the headquarters set up on one side of the train station, saying that I was running out of time.

“So, how are things?”

“It’s not good, but the enemy’s movements are slower than expected. I don’t know what their intentions are, but judging from the fact that they’ve set up a garrison in the Dandong area and are requisitioning supplies, I think they plan to hold out longer than expected.”

“That makes sense. Jangjakrim’s main force is coming.”

“Ugh, that damn kid. This time I’m going to kick his ass in the shape of a star.”

Despite their surprised expressions, everyone’s faces were filled with anticipation. It was understandable, because they could expect that if I stepped forward, I would definitely be able to achieve results different from theirs. Everyone knew how the battlefields I had been in during the last war and the seven border conflicts had turned out.

“That’s right. That’s why I came here in person. The 1st Assault Infantry Brigade will be assembling at Shinuiju Station within the next four hours, and the 1st Guards Cavalry Division will arrive at Yongampo within 60 hours. However, the enemy doesn’t know about the former, and is instead concentrating on the latter.”

I said this while placing my baton on a map where railroad lines were drawn in a jumble. The enemy would vaguely know that the central response force would arrive only 72 to 120 hours after the situation arose, so we had to actively use that.

“Therefore, we need to quickly take control of the battlefield before the enemy realizes our intention to reinforce our forces. While the 1st Assault Infantry Brigade is infiltrating the enemy’s rear through the bridge toward Uiju, the 5th Infantry Division and the 7th Brigade will concentrate their forces here.”

Everyone’s attention was focused on the place I pointed with my finger. That was Hwangcho-pyeong, a place where there were some fairly large islands at the mouth of the Amnok River. It was roughly an island a little larger than the current Yeouido.

And the famous Wihwado Rebellion, which cannot be left out when discussing the founding of the Joseon Dynasty, was located right around here.

“Are you talking about Hwangcho-pyeong? If we do this, our main force will be too far from the enemy’s main force, Dandong, and our movement may be paralyzed. In addition, there are only a few enemy troops left in the Dungan area.”

Overall, our forces here were smaller than the enemy. The 6,000 troops of the 7th Brigade, the two infantry regiments and one artillery regiment of the 5th Division that had hurriedly moved north from Pyongyang, and the militia regiments organized locally, totaled less than 20,000.

Although we were severely outnumbered and lacked the means to defend, I decided to use this to my advantage. The enemy probably knew roughly how much of our force was concentrated here, but if they suddenly took an offensive stance, it could have been a different story.

“That’s why we need to focus even more on the Yalu River estuary. We need to make it look like we’re really trying to cross the river so the enemy will respond sincerely. If we want to deceive the enemy, we need to deceive them clearly.”

“That’s true, but… … .”

Chief Noh Baek-rin, whose tail was sticking out, looked at me with a look of doubt.

“We must show the enemy a play that is so full of energy that they cannot help but be fooled. A play that will make it impossible for the enemy’s main force to escape from the dungeon.”

And if at that time they had launched an offensive from a completely unexpected direction, they could have caused quite a bit of confusion. Just by diverting some of their troops to the mouth of the Yalu River and deceiving them into thinking they were crossing the river with artillery fire, they could have brought about quite good results.

“If we send an advance party to Hwangcho-pyeong and the artillery fires to confuse the enemy troops stationed in Donggan, they will have no choice but to react.”

It seemed that the warlords had fought us more often than we thought, and had gained some experience. After getting beaten up so often, they had developed a keen eye for detail, and were able to sense where and how someone was going to hit them, and raise their hands to block them.

“If the tactical movements of our forces are faster than expected, and if the troop deployment is done at the mouth of the Yalu River, then… even the most foolish commanders who are former bandits will feel both great curiosity and fear about our intentions.”

In addition, the location of this Hwangchopyeong was amazing. As expected of a lower-level island, the sedimentary layer continued to thicken, and it was stuck between Dandong and Donggang to the point where it could not be considered an island. Considering this, the enemy could not help but react.

“Then, are you going to cross over to Hwangcho-pyeong and attack the enemy right away?”

“No, we will only confuse the enemy as if we were going to cross here. We will tie up the enemy’s main force in front of us as much as possible, pin the enemy down with superior firepower, and continue fighting in our current position until the assault infantry brigade breaks through 30-40 km and strikes the rear.”

“It will take more than a day to break through. Is that okay?”

“day?”

I said, tilting my head.

“Even if they were an assault infantry, it would take a whole day to cover 30-40km in one breath. During the last Battle of Jinnampo, wasn’t that why they mobilized carriages and wagons instead of walking and started moving 10km behind the front lines? I think this is a bit too much… … .”

“I’m going to get through it by bicycle.”

Everyone looked puzzled at the mention of bicycles. If you say bicycles, everyone would think of them as the ones that the postal workers in the city ride to deliver mail or the police officers patrolling the countryside.

However, as a result of the lessons learned from the Far East War, the Marshal’s Office of Operations conducted considerable research on the mobility of elite units, and in the process, they approached the idea of ​​organizing bicycles very seriously.

In particular, Pershing, upon his return to the United States, handed over some of the data on experiments with bicycle infantry on colored troops in 1893, which also played a role.

It is said that they loaded up about 90kg of military supplies, food, and bicycle maintenance accessories per person and rode 2,000 miles through 5~6 states and rough terrain in about a month. In fact, if you think about it, there were also cases of Swiss bicycle infantry, or the Japanese army’s southern operation, such as the Silver Wheel Unit, which was responsible for the mobility of infantry, so it would have been quite helpful.

Initially, the cavalry conversion of the assault infantry was considered, but since most of them were miners who had little experience with war horses, it was pointed out that it would take too long to train and deploy them, making them less efficient than bicycles.

It was easier to handle than a warhorse, required less supply, and could run without problems even on rough terrain, and it also had a pretty good speed. It could easily cover 30~40km in 4~5 hours. In addition, it had a great load capacity and was quieter than a warhorse, so it was a mobility system suitable for an assault infantry brigade that would move to the enemy’s flank and rear and deliver a powerful punch.

Of course, since it was a time when synthetic rubber did not exist, tire rubber was a strategic material that had to be imported in its entirety, and its impact power was weak when used as a substitute for cavalry, but everyone agreed that there was no better material for enhancing operational mobility.

“It’s a bicycle… The assault infantry has a plan for everything.”

“Yes, since we can easily break through in 4~5 hours, it would be best for everyone to start moving now. The 5th Division and 7th Brigade should immediately move their subordinate units to Hwangcho-pyeong.”

Then he put his hand on his waist and spoke softly. For an ordinary person, riding a bicycle for 40 km in 2-3 hours would be physically limiting, but for the infantry soldiers who were well-trained and in excellent physical condition, it would be an achievable time.

“I wonder what will happen when Jangjakrim completely destroys all the guys he cherishes. Let’s show them what our army can do.”

“Very good.”

I smiled and moved my body, thinking about what was going to happen to them in the future. The only choice left for them, who were lacking in reconnaissance and learning, was how long they could escape with their forces intact.

***

Boom! Kukookung! Kukookookung!

“What? Why the artillery fire?!”

“The Koreans are pouring out artillery fire!”

The units under Jangjakrim, who had been waiting around in Dandong, were bewildered by the sudden barrage of artillery fire. At first, they would randomly drop one or two shells, but after about ten minutes, they started to pour out artillery fire with determination.

He urgently ordered his cavalry to check the enemy’s movements and sent them out to the Yalu River, but when they returned soon after, what they said was quite something.

“The enemy is trying to enter the island between Dandong and Dungan! With artillery fire, the enemy has started to gather all the ships along the Yalu River!”

“what?!”

The Japanese adviser next to him crossed his arms for a moment, tilted his head, and looked at the map as if he found it strange. No matter how you looked at it, there was absolutely no reason for the enemies in the Uiju and Sinuiju areas to suddenly come down to the mouth of the Amnok River and launch an attack.

“Could it be that these guys are planning to cross this island and cut our forces in half?”

“Some of the enemies have started to move from the bridge side, but I haven’t been able to confirm them in detail. Surely they aren’t trying to attack us from both sides?”

If some troops had moved from the bridge toward Sinuiju and more enemy movements had been observed toward the mouth of the Yalu River, this could only mean one thing: they were trying to tie down our forces in front of Dandong and cross the river, using hammer and anvil tactics.

There were troops stationed at Donggang, but they were only enough to monitor any possible attempts at crossing the river, and were not powerful enough to openly block them. I wondered if the enemy had noticed this and was attempting to cross the river, but the advisor raised his hand and opened his mouth.

“No, there’s something strange about this. There’s no reason for the enemy to cross here.”

“No, what does that mean?”

“The enemy is very good at tactical deception. As the saying goes, ‘the enemy pretends to target one place while attacking another,’ so it’s very likely that they will attack somewhere else.”

“So what do you think your goal is, Advisor?”

“We’ll have to do more reconnaissance to be sure. However, this place is probably not the real target. Rather, I think the enemy is trying to cross the bridge and attack Dandong directly.”

The advisors still couldn’t figure out their true purpose. Perhaps they were just trying to tie down the main force of our forces by pouring out distracting fire with a small number of troops and artillery units to prevent them from crossing the bridge in Uiju, but somehow it seemed like the enemy wouldn’t act so insignificantly.

“But because of those inaccurate worries, if the real enemies cross the river, it’s over! Send the troops in Dandong to the mouth of the Yalu River, immediately! We can easily deal with those who cross the bridge with our remaining troops!”

The commander shouted at his subordinates, furious at the unexpected attack attempt. If the real enemy quickly took control of Hwangcho-pyeong, crossed the very shallow river, and attacked their weak rear, it was obvious that quite absurd things would happen.

“There is no reason to attack so quickly… … .”

The commander, who was no different from a band of bandits, frowned and looked towards the direction where the artillery fire was pouring down, wondering where his confident demeanor had gone. There was still at least 60 hours left until the main enemy force arrived, and even if they were to rush from Jemulpo, they could not take action this quickly.

“Could it be that guy came here?”

“If it’s him… … .”

“The Manchurian Tiger, that guy named Kim Si-hyuk. Could it be that guy who came here?”

The commander’s expression turned pale in a sudden manner. It was a nightmare that I neither thought about nor wanted to experience. And while the Japanese called him the Brain God and the Napoleon of the East, they called him by a more intuitive nickname.

“If it’s him, maybe it’s possible. He’s different from other Joseon guys. He wins in ways that are beyond what we can imagine.”

“…no way.”

“He might really cross the river. Redeploy your troops as soon as possible. If it’s him, he might really cross the river and destroy us.”

Amidst the terrified expression of the commander, the torturer also could not erase his terrified expression. Throughout the Korean peninsula, countless Japanese youths had died because of him.

“The enemy’s advance party is crossing towards Hwangcho-pyeong!”

“Stop it now! Send out all the remaining troops in Dandong and stop them from crossing the river!”

Amid the shouting and yelling, Japanese-trained and hastily organized warlord troops from Dandong began to move out of the city and toward the mouth of the Yalu River.

And little did he know that this would be a fatal mistake.