Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 370



Only Noblemtl

#2-26. The Thin Red Line (4)

This was because they had to penetrate each and every settlement, border guard office, and post office located in each area connected to the supply route. However, these villages were not ordinary villages that could be easily passed over or plundered. Rather, they were closer to fortresses.

A militia consisting of young men and women who normally farmed and raised livestock but responded to the call to action when they heard the bell ringing to signal an emergency and were mobilized to defend the village, positioned with guns on top of the castle walls that looked at least 4-5 meters high.

The village’s old men and children took up the resistance carrying food and ammunition, and the women carried the wounded to the center of the village, preparing everyone for battle.

It goes without saying that they would not listen at all when told to surrender, and a frontal attack would not be profitable at all.

So, up until now, I’ve been leaving those places behind and taking a detour, but from now on, it’s a different story.

It was a situation where they had to either break through there and establish a stable supply line, or turn back and retreat right now.

“What if we brought some damn artillery and laid down direct fire on them?”

Jang Jag-rim asked with a hint of anticipation. He then realized that his army had a brigade-sized artillery unit.

They were armed with a small number of Japanese Type 31 rapid-fire guns and a large number of old Qing Army breech-loading field guns, and although they were not suited to modern warfare, they seemed to have thought that they would be effective against the militia that could not afford artillery.

But the answer I got back was pessimistic.

“Those guys are so slow that they’re way behind us now. And even if they were to come, it’s honestly uncertain whether we’d be able to take them down.”

“No, why?”

“If you want to attack a stone fortress like that, you won’t even be able to use shrapnel. In the end, you’ll need high-explosive shells that can destroy the fortress walls themselves, but our artillerymen only have a very small number of high-explosive shells. Are you going to waste those precious shells, less than a thousand rounds, on attacking villages like that? That’s why I’ve talked about purchasing high-explosive shells several times, but the advisors kept putting it off day after day.”

The woodcutter continued speaking cautiously to Jangjakrim, who was sighing.

“Furthermore, if we are to use artillery, we must secure a proper supply line. Only then will we be able to smoothly supply ammunition and destroy the castle walls. However, it is impossible to use artillery without securing a supply line.”

“Isn’t that mean that in the end you can’t attack?”

“In conclusion, yes. In addition, their settlements are like thorns in our necks in every possible supply route. In the end, we have to break them down one by one… and that would require artillery, and there’s no way to compensate for the artillery’s lack of high-explosive shells… It’s difficult to do with our current strength. If they continue to stall and hold out, their main force, which has destroyed the vanguard, will approach, it will be a disaster.”

“Damn you, you sly Joseon bastards!”

Jang Jag-rim threw his baton down roughly and got angry. No, it would be more accurate to say that he felt goosebumps running down his spine. He shivered at the fact that, despite claiming to be the King of the Northeast and increasing his power, his power was nothing more than a gilded record.

“Our forces consisting of only cavalry and infantry are too much. We should withdraw for now. If we continue like this, we will gain nothing.”

“···.”

Jang Zuo Lin also thought about it in his own way. The background that allowed him to claim the title of King of the Northeast was the tightrope walk between Russia, Japan, and Yuan Shikai’s Beiyang government.

From Russia, they were able to gain recognition of their power by promising to maintain order in the Far East Governor-General and South Manchuria based on their military power, and from Japan, they were spotlighted as a useful card to check the Korean Empire, and from Yuan Shikai, they were able to receive various titles in the name of being the only power in the Northeast region that had been virtually abandoned.

But if he were to lose this time and completely lose his power, his value would completely fall to the ground.

If that happens, I will have to live a life of anxiety, not knowing when I will die, being chased by enemies from all sides, let alone recovering. In the end, I will have no choice but to face suffering that is no different from when I was a bandit in the past.

“Rather than confronting the enemy head-on, we should first gather our strength and retreat. Even if we fight the enemy with all our heart, who will seriously help us? It would be nothing more than words. They would cheer on their comrades who are fighting against the invaders, that’s all. In fact, they have nothing to lose if we disappear, brother.”

And the woodcutter’s words had some merit. After all, the attack on South Manchuria this time was also due to the machinations of Yuan Shikai and Japan.

Yuan Shikai used this as an excuse to ascend to the throne of the masterless Forbidden City, and Japan now drove them into South Manchuria in order to find a pretext for intervening in South Manchuria in some way.

However, if, contrary to expectations, they were to suffer a great defeat and collapse, they would have no hesitation in letting go of Jangjakrim in order to escape their difficult situation.

I could tell what was going on just by looking at the expressions on the faces of the Japanese military advisors who were right next to me.

“President Yuan Shikai will also draw the line, saying that we acted unilaterally, and the Japanese will do the same. We must retreat quickly and preserve our remaining forces.”

“But losing 30,000 troops···”

“You have to say that it was just the subordinates acting arbitrarily. If we continue to fight the enemy like this, there will be no way back. We are not Xiang Yu, the overlord of Western Chu, nor Han Xin, who must attack Bae Sui’s camp. We have a hometown to return to, and we must continue to live here.”

At Jangjak-sang’s sincere advice, Jangjak-rim finally came to his senses and let out a deep sigh, opening his mouth with a more subdued expression than before. They had a future if they protected the permanents.

Although the city of Yeonggu has lost much of its significance as a major trading port over the years, and with the construction of a railway terminus in Dalian, it has become difficult for the city to enjoy its former glory.

Well, that means the Russians probably tolerated Jang Jag-rim, who they considered to be relatively obedient, settling down there.

Of course, Yeonggu itself was still useful as a coastal port, and it was also valuable in its own right because it had a short railway link to the South Manchuria Railway branch line, so it was an extremely valuable city to them.

Moreover, compared to the mediocre Jinzhou, it was definitely a city that ate Western food, so it was a city that they could not afford to lose.

“If we delay any longer, their fleet will come. They will have difficulty striking our moving forces, but if they are permanent, it will be different. If they bombard our key facilities in the city center, it will be a disaster.”

Come to think of it, it seemed that the Joseon people had mobilized a fleet from the west coast and anchored in Lushun.

Their mere presence had already made the atmosphere strange, but if they had gone a little further north and fired cannon shots at Yeonggwang, irreversible events would have occurred.

However, it was highly unlikely that the Beiyang government’s navy, based at Dagu Port in Tianjin, would come forward.

It was clear that the Joseon fleet, which was supported by battleships, protected cruisers, destroyers, and gunboats, would not even come forward, as a few 2,500-ton cruisers, destroyers, and torpedo boats would not be able to do anything against them.

In the end, retreat was the only answer in many ways. After much thought, Jang Jag-rim looked at everyone, or rather, at Jang Jag-sang, and spoke quietly.

“···All troops will be returned to the permanent base.”

Jangjak-sang breathed a sigh of relief and quickly relayed the orders of his only superior, Jangjak-rim, to all his troops, who abandoned their original attack plan and began to retreat.

Now, all that remained was to firmly defend Yeonggwang and ask for mediation from Yuan Shikai, Japan, and the Russian Far East Governor-General.

***

It took quite some time to advance towards Yingkou, which was a long way off. By recapturing Andong and the train station in one day, the transport of supplies and troops could be continued much more smoothly.

The large volumes of goods transported along the railway lines arrived quickly and accurately, rivaling those transported by steamships.

But the problem lay elsewhere. The pre-World War I level of military supply had clear limits. Moving from station to station was fast and accurate, but moving it back from station to front was no different from pre-modern warfare.

That is why every step, from advancing ground forces to relieving isolated or besieged settlements and expanding supply lines, was a daunting task.

It wasn’t completely impossible, thanks to the location of the settlements here and there, as they served as intermediate bases for continuously pushing forward, pumping out wagons and carts loaded with supplies.

Thanks to this, I was able to deploy two divisions and two brigades to the outskirts of the permanent area at a fairly fast rate, and I was able to link up with the fleet’s deployment time. Of course, during this process, I also encountered some of the main force of Jangjakrim that had not been able to retreat.

Perhaps they had gone about 50km south from Yeonggu and then caught the rearguard of those who were retreating in a hurry after hearing news of the battle.

They desperately tried to establish a front line to prevent our ground forces from approaching the permanent outskirts and to wage a delaying war against our forces, but I simply crushed their resistance.

First, the artillery regiment was deployed to focus its usual mobile barrage fire on one part of the front line, creating a large crack in the defensive line, and then the old Guards Brigade and the Demonstration Brigade of the 1st Guards Cavalry Division were moved forward to expand the breakthrough.

After that, the Guards Cavalry Regiment and the 5th Division Cavalry Squadron were largely diverted to the right wing of the front to block their retreat route, and the 1st Assault Infantry Brigade was deployed through the secured breakthrough to break through the enemy’s defense line. They suffered thousands of casualties and were forced to retreat in just half a day.

“What a pity, what a pity. If we had vehicles instead of horses, we could have killed more enemies.”

In fact, this was a problem that had to be solved in the long run, because there was no supply system as efficient as vehicles for transporting troops and supplies from the railway station to the front line.

There were many armies that were dying because this didn’t work out properly. It was the same even in modern warfare.

“···Director, I’m honestly scared now. How far have you thought about it?”

“If possible, I would like to subdue them all the way to Shanhaiguan. However, if that happens, the high-ranking members of the cabinet will be terrified, Russia and China will be shocked, and Japan will froth at the mouth and cause chaos, so I will have to be content with staying on the edge of the eternal.”

Perhaps if our means of transportation had been much more advanced, we could have shown them what the Six-Day War was like, like Moshe Dayan did, but it was a shame, given the times.

Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s slow at all, so I guess that’s to be expected.

“What about the runways?”

“It’s almost done. In fact, we could be launching reconnaissance planes right now.”

The Army Aviation Administration also deployed engineers to prepare a makeshift runway to actively operate French-made reconnaissance aircraft.

Unlike the runways used by modern aircraft, the runways of this period were much simpler to prepare.

“Good. At noon tomorrow, when the fleet sets sail from Lushun and reaches the bombardment position, the artillery will then focus on striking the enemy’s outer defenses. The bombardment will be brief but powerful like never before.”

The plan was to pour down firepower roughly equivalent to the Allied Forces’ firepower during the Battle of White Horse Hill.

At that time, it was a large-scale artillery attack using 105mm, 155mm, and even 203mm guns, but here, they had to be satisfied with 75mm.

Of course, since the 12-inch battleship main guns would also be mobilized, the impact of the firepower itself would be incomparably enormous for the enemy.

Especially where there are no tigers, the fox is king, and although it is a full-dreadnought battleship, it is practically a death knell for those guys who have no mines or fleet power.

“After about two hours of preparatory bombardment, the 1st Guards Cavalry Division and the 1st Assault Infantry Brigade will break through the enemy’s defensive line, blocking their retreat and reinforcement routes, and the 5th Division and the 7th Brigade will move to the flank and enter the city. The enemy’s number is estimated at around 70,000, but since many of them are poorly trained, the goal is to collapse them with a single powerful impact. Does everyone understand what I mean?”

As I gathered the division commanders, brigade commanders, and regimental commanders together and coordinated the operation for the last time, I secretly hoped that this one shot would knock them out.

Unless the enemy was knocked out by a single, very powerful blow, it was clear that it would be difficult to seize the opportunity to launch such a bold offensive as this without follow-up supplies and reinforcements.

Everyone nodded instead of answering, and as I stood up, I gave the order to disperse for tomorrow, then called the artillery and wire construction units aside and instructed them to take some action.