Joseon Needs a Coup - Chapter 388



Only Noblemtl

#1 Side Story Episode 2. – The Retrograde Struggle of the Dual Empire (3)

Three days later, the mobile training of the Guards Cavalry Division began at the training grounds established south of the Han River. Thanks to the emphasis on the necessity of such training grounds for testing new doctrines and revised tactics after the war, as well as for improving the combat capabilities of field units, the training grounds were secured much faster than the new headquarters of the Marshal’s Office.

In general, this place was mainly used for offensive and defensive training between units, but there was something much more important. It could be said that it was a kind of stage for introducing new doctrines that the Marshal’s Office’s Operations Department was studying every year. Of course, not all doctrines were successful, but under the enterprising logic that at least new things could be learned even from failure, this place was used quite consistently.

However, today, it was opened for training purposes rather than for that purpose. For those who want to learn the basics again, it would be much better to show the most basic of the basics rather than showing new doctrines that are difficult to understand.

“We welcome you to our military training exercises. Perhaps, this will be your first visit as an officer corps of the Habsburgs.”

I greeted them from a place with a clear view of the training grounds, with a couple of telescopes ready. If you count the foreign military attachés who have passed through here, it seems like they have been to pretty much every country.

Not only Russia and France, which were friendly countries to us, but even military attachés from Japan and Qing came to observe at least once. The only exception was the officer corps from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with which we still had no proper diplomatic relations.

“It’s called a mobile training exercise, and we in Habsburg also have this type of training…” “Isn’t that more like a festival than a training exercise?”

Lieutenant Colonel Burchany’s words clearly meant the annual military maneuvers conducted by the Austro-Hungarian Army. However, it was more like a parade or festival involving troops than a serious training exercise in preparation for war.

“I can’t deny it.”

“So, I hope you remember well what you saw and heard here. It will show you how much you can derive from such a large-scale training.”

They were initially surprised by the fact that the units were deployed in a form that was quite similar to actual combat, although it was smaller than the scale of the military maneuver training conducted in their own country. The sight of trenches being built as if preparing for battle, artillery batteries being lined up, and machine guns lying in ambush in well-hidden positions according to the commanders’ instructions might have been a fresh shock to them. As I said before, the military maneuver training of the Habsburg army was more like a festival.

“Hey, those who are walking around without taking cover are sort of… referees?” “It’s kind of similar. They give each unit a situation and evaluate how they deal with it, or they closely judge who is taking more tactical actions in a confrontation between the attacking and defending forces.”

It seemed as if they had seen officers holding pens and notebooks from afar, wearing white armbands on their right forearms. Those who had the autonomy to act critically, creating situations and evaluating how to deal with them one by one, also seemed a bit unfamiliar to them.

“How many troops are usually deployed for this type of training?” “Usually, two regiments are deployed for attack and defense, respectively, and they train for several days, but up to three brigades can be deployed. Today, because the training is so large, two brigades were deployed.”

“It’s definitely big.”

“It was the same in the last war, and recently, large-scale battles above the regiment level have been occurring frequently. In addition, there is no better training to improve the combat capabilities of not only the commissioned officers commanding the battalion level and below, but also the regimental and brigade commanders who can control them all, and the division commanders who have to command them all.”

As I looked at the units that were still in action down there, I felt my mouth water as old memories came to mind. The commissioned officers must have felt like their backs and legs were going to break, the field officers must have had their butts about to break as they had to keep directing operations, and the generals must have had their heads spinning trying to figure out a tactical way to overcome the given situation.

“General, it will begin shortly.”

“Okay.”

The staff officer next to me said to me, “The 1st Brigade of the Guards Cavalry Division and the Assault Infantry Brigade will probably start exchanging blows soon. The training was scheduled to last a week, with three days of attack, one day of redeployment and rest, and three more days of defense, so it was going to be quite a tough journey.

“It’s a beginning.”

In the distance, red flares signaling the start of training were adorning the sky, and in the distance, through the telescope, the units of the 1st Brigade of the Guards Cavalry Division, which was assigned to the attack mission, began to move in a scattered manner with a swaying movement. I looked at the commander of the Guards Cavalry Division who happened to be nearby and asked him sarcastically.

“Division Commander, are you confident that your brigades can break through the assault infantry brigade’s defenses?”

“Of course. Most of our soldiers who are advancing down there now are those who fought in the last war, drinking sewage water and combing their hair with wind and rain. No matter how strong the assault infantry is, it will not be easily defeated.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

The commander of the Guards Cavalry Division, Lieutenant General Park Seung-hwan, said as he placed his baton on the table. As he said, the Guards Cavalry Division was a unit formed by combining the Guards Division that had been active in the previous war and the Provisional Cavalry Division that was created as the campaign neared its end, so most of the instructors, officers, and veterans were veterans with extensive war experience.

“Lieutenant Colonel Burchani, they are our Guards Cavalry Division that won many victories in the last war. Can you see their movements?”

“The advancing infantry doesn’t move in a dense formation at all.”

He swallowed hard and couldn’t take his eyes off the telescope, as if he were a spectator watching an exciting play. Or perhaps he looked envious.

“In the face of exponentially advanced scientific weapons and tactics, the dense formations of the past no longer work. The British Army suffered great losses in the Boer War, and the Russian Army suffered great losses in the early campaigns against the Japanese, all because they did not prepare their units for movement and marching in direct proportion to the development of such firearms.”

“This is the most important lesson the Habsburg army must learn.”

“Therefore, basic education must be provided to each individual soldier and each officer.”

At my words, he took his eyes off the telescope and looked at me for the first time. His eyes sparkled between his glasses, so I thought he had finally figured out something important.

“The essence of education is not simply teaching the people letters, Lieutenant Colonel Burchani. This is also a matter closely related to the refinement of the national army. In order for the soldiers to go to the front lines and fight as the country commands, maintain their ranks, and shout the name of the Emperor and the Fatherland, they need to know higher things.”

“By learning letters?”

I nodded instead of answering.

“Education begins in very small units. The higher the level of education, the more diverse and wide the range of tactics that the army can choose. Do you now understand why the Russian army from Siberia only formed its battle lines in a marching formation that you would see at a parade?”

This was the same thing that happened in the actual Russo-Japanese War, and in the same incident that turned into the Far East War of this world. The low level of training, the high illiteracy rate, and the gap between officers and soldiers were the reasons why they could not choose high-level tactical actions. In the end, they advanced toward the fire net built by the Japanese army’s skirmish ships, forming the most confident formation or the only marching formation they could use in the parade ceremonies.

And of course, the end was marked by tragedy. In an instant, entire battalions and regiments were melted down by the Japanese army’s fire or suppressed by artillery fire. It was not for nothing that before the Battle of Fengtian, whenever the Russian army encountered the Japanese, it usually suffered casualties of 40% of its officers and 30% of its men.

Had it not been for the adequate reinforcement of the elite units of the 2nd Manchurian Army under Gripenberg and the improvement of the command structure under Commander Kuropatkin, they might have repeated the original history despite our efforts.

“…I guess that’s because the level of understanding among officers and soldiers was low. At least until the Battle of Mukden.”

“Educating the people is also a shortcut to creating a strong elite army in times of war. If there are many people who can read and write, the range of understanding that each individual can have will expand, and based on that, various tactics can be used.”

Here is a similar example of the difference between the Chinese and South Korean armies during the Korean War. You might think that the illiteracy rate in both is similar. However, if you look into it in detail, the difference is significant. While the illiteracy rate in the South Korean infantry was only about 25%, in the Chinese army it was 75%, three times higher, so it became increasingly difficult to use flexible tactics.

At the beginning of the war, it was possible to use complex infantry maneuvers such as movement warfare thanks to the resistance of those from the Eighth Route Army, who had accumulated considerable experience in the Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War, and those from the former Kuomintang Army who had retained their combat experience by changing flags after the Chinese Civil War. However, as these soldiers began to disperse after the second half of 1951, it became difficult to use the bold infantry maneuvers of before.

As time passed, the percentage of illiterate soldiers in the Chinese army increased, while the South Korean army, thanks to its own internal investment in training and education systems, was able to gradually increase the number of soldiers who could read and understand.

And as the number of officers and soldiers who could read and write properly and fight increased, they were able to use extremely complex combined arms cooperation between infantry, artillery, and engineers, and carry out difficult missions during offensive and defensive battles, and unlike at the beginning of the war, they became the most dangerous enemy to the Chinese army.

It is no wonder that the Chinese military command, unlike in the early days when they largely ignored the South Korean military, came to the conclusion that ‘the South Korean military was becoming more cunning’ as the war progressed. Although this difference seemed very small, the difference in the outcome was a factor that could never be overcome.

Moreover, this would be enough of a prescription to relieve another itch that the Habsburg army was experiencing. At that moment, Lieutenant Colonel Burchani seemed to have felt similar sentiments, as he blurted out the following words from nearby.

“The Habsburgs were barely hanging on thanks to the efforts of the Kaiser, who had to shoulder a murderous workload, and those who tried to profit from within the system called the empire. However, hundreds of thousands of peasants who had not yet formed a national identity and those who were dissatisfied with the current system were growing helplessly.”

As he said, the Habsburgs’ central focus was so meager, so subtle a compilation even from a 21st-century perspective that it must have seemed interesting but bizarre to contemporaries a century earlier.

“We must face the enemy on two sides, or perhaps on three. But our army cannot unite and stop them. The disorganized fighting will continue. That is why we need the general’s method so much. In the end, in order to create an elite army and a people loyal to the Kaiser, we cannot overlook that part of education.”

“…if only it could be shown that it could be loyal to one object, no matter what the focal point.”

Originally, they had been trying to resolve this since the formation of the Dual Empire with the blind faith in the Catholic religion that could bind the empire together and the venerable history and honor of the Habsburgs. Perhaps if Lieutenant Colonel Burchani could learn something from this and do something in his home country, he could produce meaningful results in his own way.

“You have to take all those aspects into account. The more you learn about war, the more profound it becomes.” “War is something that is measured by all the capabilities of a country. Even if you have a lot of soldiers and cannons, those who don’t understand it will ultimately be defeated.”

There was a reason why the Japanese military raised the standards for military conscription examinations so high, and there was another reason why we also hastened the establishment of large-scale schools, universities, and public secondary and higher education institutions in the name of ‘serving the country through education.’