Chapter 555

Episode 555: Blood River (1)

“We’ve finally arrived.”

Cho Byeong-deok, who climbed up a hill near the Yalu River, looked at the Joseon land beyond the river and muttered.

Jo Byeong-deok, who was looking at the land of Joseon across the river, turned to look at his subordinate generals.

“It’s been a long road. “Isn’t that right?”

“That’s right.”

“I didn’t expect the Hwaryongpo to take up so much time.”

“The Hwaryongpo is as picky as it is powerful.”

At Jo Byeong-deok’s words, the subordinate generals all mentioned the Hwaryongpo and shook their heads.

* * *

As his subordinate generals said, the Hwaryong gun was as difficult to operate as its performance.

First of all, the transportation process was a problem. Even though it was divided into two, the weight of Hwaryongpo was enormous. Therefore, we took this into consideration from the beginning when making plans and assigned a large number of people.

However, as the frozen ground thawed under the enormous weight of the Hwaryongpo, the ground became soft and had a greater-than-expected upward effect, making it very difficult for the Hwaryongpo to move.

As a result, close to 20,000 additional personnel had to be deployed in addition to the troops and manpower assigned to be in charge of movement. Only after they solidified the road and built a temporary bridge over the river that must be crossed, Hwaryongpo was able to move properly.

Only after going through such a vicious struggle was the Liaodong army able to reach the banks of the Yalu River. It was a whopping 10 days late from the scheduled river crossing for the first five days of March.

* * *

“Anyway, we’ve arrived, so we should start the operation.”

Strengthening his will, Jo Byeong-deok took out the telescope from his pocket. Jo Byeong-deok, who was pulling the telescope’s tube, suddenly stopped and looked at the telescope in his hand.

Jo Byeong-deok, who was looking at the telescope for a moment, burst out laughing and muttered.

“Using Joseon goods to attack Joseon... That’s ridiculous.”

Joseon-made telescopes were a necessity not only for Jo Byeong-deok but also for the Ming army commanders. Although the Ming Dynasty produced telescopes, it could not match the performance and quality of Joseon-made telescopes.

Jo Byeong-deok, sitting on a horse and holding a telescope to his eye, looked at the walls of the Insan camp across the river.

“Hoo~.”

Jo Byeong-deok, who was looking at the walls of the Insan camp and the iron railings stretched to the left and right, clicked his tongue.

“Tsk! I was preparing. “Well...”

Jo Byeong-deok paused for a moment and looked up at the sky.

Monks were floating high in the sky behind Insanjin.

“There’s no way you wouldn’t know since you were looking at it from such a high place. And the officials would have been released.”

Liaodong was the land of Ming, but it was also the land of Joseon. Thanks to this, Ganja sent from Joseon and Jurchen tribes following Joseon were watching the Liaodong Army here and there.

Jo Byeong-deok, who was examining Insanjin through a telescope, came down from the hill with his subordinate generals.

Jo Byeong-deok entered the military camp erected at the bottom of the hill and checked the situation.

“When will the vanguard’s preparations for departure be finished?”

“Everything will be ready in two days.”

“Have you prepared a way to destroy the iron fence erected by the Koreans?”

One of his subordinate generals immediately answered Jo Byeong-deok’s question.

“yes. “I plan to order the Jurchen tribe.”

“The Jurchen tribe? Hmm....”

Jo Byeong-deok, who pondered for a moment, nodded.

“I guess it’ll be okay.”

* * *

Building defense facilities using stone required a lot of wealth. Thanks to this, many of the defense facilities located on the border relied on wooden fences.

The Jurchen tribe’s method of destroying this was to use a rope with a hook. A rope with a hook was hung from a wooden fence, tied to the saddle, and then pulled. It may not have been possible with the strength of just one or two fences, but if 10 to 20 or more people put hooks in one place and pulled, the fence would collapse.

To prevent this, the defending side desperately cut off hooks and attacked the Jurchen cavalry. However, the moment he exposed himself for this purpose, he became the target of arrows from the Jurchen tribe behind him.

* * *

Although satisfied with his subordinates’ measures, Jo Byeong-deok added an order.

“If possible, provide ropes with hooks to the infantry as well. After all, cavalrymen are easy targets. “I think it would be a good idea to pay one per 10 units.”

“I will.”

“Have you checked the water depth and temperature?”

“yes. We asked nearby residents to find out. “The water has risen a bit since the thaw season has passed, but the dry season has not yet ended, so the deepest place is only about waist level.”

“What is the flow rate?”

“They say it’s not that fast. They say that if you are a little careful, you can cross it on foot.”

“Good, good.”

Jo Byeong-deok could not hide his satisfied expression upon hearing the report from his subordinate general. Many of the losses suffered during river crossing operations occurred during the river crossing process.

The bottom of the trench was dug a little deeper and the soil dug out was placed in bags to thicken the area around the gun pit. And many of the hard-working soldiers were worn-out soldiers.

“hey! “I need to do some more reinforcement here!”

“yes!”

“Put up scaffolding here! Are you going to stand on tiptoe and pull the trigger? Don’t just build on top, reinforce what’s around you!”

The military instructors and military officers looked dumbfounded at the sight of the old soldiers.

“What do you want? What’s going on? “What about the people who just a few days ago were just pulling out the dishes because they didn’t want to shovel?”

The old soldiers responded to the military training and the words of the military leaders by pointing across the river.

“Those guys weren’t around until the day before yesterday, right?”

“So you’re working hard now? You bastard! “That’s why you can’t get promoted!”

* * *

Five days later,

when the eastern sky was getting brighter, movement slowly began to increase in the Liaodong army camp.

“Are you ready?”

“It’s done!”

“okay? “Shoot fire and darts!”

The soldier who was waiting for the officer’s order lit the wick and fired it into the air.

Sigh~. pop!

As the fireworks soared into the sky and sparked fire in the air, fireworks soon rose up here and there.

Soon after, small and heavy artillery pieces from the Liaodong Army batteries encamped a short distance from the riverside opened fire at the same time.

Kwakwakwak! Puff!

The artillery shells that flew across the Yalu River caused pillars of sand and earth along the riverside and the surrounding area.

Ugh! Floating!

As soon as the Liaodong army’s bombardment began, loud drums and trumpets sounded from the fortress of the Insan camp, and shouts were heard from all directions.

“Enemy attack! Enemy attack!”

“Battle deployment! Combat deployment!”

With shouts coming from all directions, the soldiers came out of their hiding places and ran to their assigned positions.

“Take off the packaging!”

“Ready to load!”

The soldiers in charge of operating the boxcars and shotguns removed the packaging covering the wagons and shotguns and hurriedly began loading them.

“Loaded!”

“Ready!”

“atmosphere!”

The soldiers finished loading with quick movements and looked beyond the gun muzzle, waiting for the order to fire.

bang! bang! Quack!

“It’s artillery fire!”

“Get down!”

Instantly, a second wave of artillery fire followed, and the soldiers laid the man down on the floor of the trench.

This was followed by a third wave of bombardment.

bang! Quack!

The Joseon soldiers, who were lying prone under the continuous bombardment, were all swearing.

“Damn it! Are our artillerymen still sleeping?”

While they were spitting out curses, the Joseon army’s artillery finally began to move.

“We’re in position! Here are the coordinates!”

Artillery commanders who received the coordinates from the messenger adjusted the aiming points of the guns they commanded.

After a while, the guns of the Joseon Army batteries opened fire all at once.

Kwakwakwak!

As the Joseon army’s counterfire continued, the Liaodong army’s artillery fire began to weaken.

“Stand up! “The enemies will soon cross the river!”

“Medic! Medic!”

As the artillery fire from the Liaodong Army subsided, the soldiers in the trench line took up positions in the firing line. And medics ran around carrying stretchers to pick up those who had been killed or injured by the Liaodong Army’s artillery fire.

Hee hee hee!

“Wow!”

While the Joseon army was busy moving, the loud sounds of horses and shouts of people erupted from the river.

The river crossing of the Liaodong Army had begun.