Chapter 559

Episode 559: Blood River (5)

Although Jo Byeong-deok’s order had not yet been delivered, the Liaodong Army soldiers were moving according to Lee Jing-ok’s wishes.

The reason the Liaodong army moved like that was because of two traps laid by the Hyang and Joseon armies.

The first trap was a wire mesh net.

The Joseon military laid a total of 5 layers of barbed wire netting. Among these, the front three layers were laid along the Yalu River in front of Insanjin, but the back two layers were laid to the left and right with Insanjin at the center.

The Liaodong Army, which had broken through the three-layer barbed wire net, instinctively headed to a place where there was no barbed wire net and concentrated on the front of the Insan camp.

Fortunately or unfortunately, there were structures spread out in front of the Insan camp that looked suitable as cover. Therefore, the Liaodong Army soldiers began to flock towards the Insan camp.

And this was the second trap created by the scent.

* * *

The second trap was a moat installed in front of the Insan camp.

“Do you mean this is a moat?”

“Usually, when it comes to moats, it’s common to dig into the ground...”

When they first saw the incense blueprint, everyone involved looked perplexed. Until then, moats were made by digging a wide and deep pit along the perimeter of the castle wall and occasionally filling it with water.

But the Moat of Incense was not like that. It was correct to build along the castle wall, but instead of digging the ground, it meant building stone walls on top of the ground.

“It acts as a sufficient moat.”

The fragrance was explained in detail to the officials.

-A stone wall is built along the castle wall, but rather than surrounding it completely, a passageway is created in between. Also, make it in at least 2 layers.

In this case, the enemy must pass through this passage, so they cannot cling to the castle all at once. In other words, the defending allies can limit the number of enemies to an appropriate number.

– Stone walls are not simply built high. When viewed from the side, only the side facing the castle wall has a triangular cross-section that is close to vertical.

In this case, the attacker cannot use the moat as cover.

-Even if the attacking side sets up artillery in the moat and attempts to attack the castle wall, the cannonball cannot hit the castle wall and goes over the castle wall due to the slope of the moat. Even if you forcefully lower the angle, if you make a mistake, the recoil of the gun will tip over the gun.

-If pits are drilled along these moats and passageways, the worst killing zone will be created.

“Hmm...”

After hearing the description of the scent, the officials tried to imagine it.

A maze-like structure unfolds before the eyes of enemies flooding in like a flood. The enemies that were struggling eventually end up stretching out along the maze.

A group of enemies climb up the slope of the stone wall that blocks their eyes, but they are covered in blood and fall down due to Jo Ran-hwan’s baptism aimed at them at that time.

The moment you pass through the dizzyingly curved passage and step out in front of the castle walls, the artillery and long guns already waiting start firing.

Everyone involved who had imagined that far trembled.

“The hell of royalties is about to unfold...”

But that was the attacking side’s position, and the defending side’s best policy.

In the end, flat fortresses that were not fortresses were newly built or remodeled according to the city’s design.

And as the officials expected, a hell of royalties was unfolding in front of the Insan camp.

* * *

“charge!”

“charge!”

“Wow!”

Following the commander’s order, the Liaodong Army soldiers shouted and ran towards the English gate of the Insan camp.

When viewed from the sky, the shape of the Insan camp looked like two squares stacked on top of each other.

The gate was located on the front left side of the palmangseong-shaped fortress wall with eight sharp edges as the 2-jang (approximately 6m) high outer fortress overlapped with the 3-jang (approximately 9m) high outer fortress.

And with the moat area of the Insan camp in the middle, the main gate of Yeong and the entrance to the castle were located.

Normally, a drawbridge would have been lowered between the entrance to the castle and the main gate of the castle, serving as a passage. But now that the war was underway, the drawbridge had been raised and secured.

Eventually, Liaodong soldiers flocked to the moat area, carrying traditional siege tools such as ladders and ropes.

As the soldiers flocked in, the shotgun that was waiting for them, looking down at them, fired a bomb.

bang! Quack!

The soldiers who climbed onto the stone walls of the moat without any cover fell backwards, covered in blood.

* * *

As time passed, the barbed wire nets stained with the soldiers’ blood were broken one by one, and the Liaodong Army soldiers began to break through the moat area.

The same was true for the soldiers who climbed the stone wall.

A rope with a hook was nailed to the stone wall, and while they were climbing down the rope, other soldiers lay down on the slope of the stone wall and advanced in a crawling manner.

As the Liaodong Army was adapting, the Joseon Army also began to respond differently.

The firing distance of the Bigyeokjincheonroe was shortened, and the number of times the fuse was wrapped around Mokgok was greatly reduced.

pop! Puff! Quack!

The fired thunderbolt exploded on the heads of the Liaodong Army soldiers who were lying prone. The Liaodong soldiers, who had their backs exposed because they were lying face down, suffered fatal damage.

* * *

The soldiers of the Liaodong Army who broke through the moat in such a brutal struggle began to run towards the walls of Insanjin.

As many Liaodong Army soldiers began to enter the killing zone between the castle wall and the moat, the food trucks that had been silent until then began spewing fire all at once.

Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tang!

As blood splattered from the soldiers’ bodies and dust rose from the surrounding ground, the Liaodong army soldiers running towards the castle wall were crushed.

“Find the blind spot!”

“Find a blind spot!”

The surviving commanders desperately ordered to find a blind spot, and the soldiers also looked everywhere to find a blind spot.

However, there were no blind spots on the walls of the Insan camp.

The walls of the castle rose upward at a steep slope and were smooth without a single protrusion. The artillery posts and artillery pits located on all sides were also positioned in a way that penetrated into the interior. This meant that there was no shadow for the attacking enemies to rely on.

The highlight of this wall was the corner turrets extending in eight directions. It was not simply a pointed shape, but an edge shape similar to a diamond shape.

The advantage of creating a shape like this was that the blind spot disappeared. If it had simply been a sharp or rounded corner, it would have been difficult to properly respond if the enemy stuck to the castle wall, but by making it diamond-shaped like this, it was possible to deal with enemies sticking to the castle wall.

At least, cross-fire was taking place from at least two neighboring forts and castle walls on the left and right, greatly increasing the defense.

And on the other hand, saying that defense power was increasing meant that there was a huge sacrifice on the part of the attacker.

As an aside, when I was drawing the blueprint, Hyang said this.

“It’s a bit hard to say this, but Western kids definitely know how to catch people on the battlefield.”

* * *

While the bloody battle was taking place in front of the walls of the Insan camp, fighting did not stop in other areas.

The reckless assault had stopped, but instead a fierce firefight was taking place.

“You’re the youngest! Tantong!”

“Here it is!”

As soon as he answered, Han Il-nam opened the lid of the cartridge and handed the package of ammunition inside to the commander and other soldiers. Ojang, carrying a pack of 20 bullets on a sturdy cotton belt around his neck, loaded new bullets into his long gun and aimed straight ahead.

bang!

“What are you doing, youngest?!” “Hurry up and get a new cartridge!”

“Yes yes!”

As soon as he answered, Hanilnam ran quickly along the traffic route. Before we knew it, the Liaodong Army riflemen who had crossed the river joined the battle, so bullets flew in from time to time, and Han Il-nam had to duck and run through traffic.

The commander, who glanced at Han Il-nam running safely, loaded a new bullet and pulled the trigger.

bang! ping!

“Yikes!”

As soon as he pulled the trigger, the commander, who flinched at the enemy bullet that passed right by him, immediately reloaded and aimed at the enemy line, swearing.

“Shit! Damn pit!”