Chapter 560

Episode 560: Blood River (6)

Artillery battle between the Liaodong Army and the Joseon Army To be precise, the artillery shells fired by the Liaodong Army towards the Joseon Army created large and small pits along the Yalu River and around the iron rail network.

Of course, it was not a huge hole like the artillery shells of the 20th and 21st centuries made. However, in the soft ground along the riverside and in nearby areas, pits were created deep enough to cover half of an adult man’s body if he lay on his side.

The Liaodong Army soldiers who broke through the first three layers of barbed wire netting and stopped in front of the fourth barbed wire net used the pit and the corpses of their fallen comrades as cover to avoid the Joseon army’s gunfire.

Once they were able to avoid the Joseon army’s gunfire, the Liaodong army desperately began to dig into the ground with everything they had on their bodies – the helmet they were wearing and the swords and shields they were holding.

The rifle corps and archers, who followed the vanguard and arrived in front of the fourth wire net, were in the same situation.

As they had been trained, the musketeers and archers stood stiffly and prepared to fire, but when they tasted the bitterness of the Joseon army’s volley of fire, they hid themselves among the corpses scattered everywhere and began to dig holes.

“hurry! hurry!”

“hurry! hurry!”

The Liaodong army’s musketeers and archers took off their helmets and frantically dug holes.

But the speed was as slow as a snail. This was because I had to dig while crouching down on the ground.

If you stood up even a little, the Joseon army’s bullets would come flying at you.

“Oops!”

When his colleague, who had briefly raised his head while digging in the ground right next to him, died with a single scream, Wang Il urgently fell to his knees.

Wang Il, who had stopped his actions for a moment, pulled the body of his dead colleague and placed it on top of the body that was blocking his path when the Joseon army’s shooting stopped.

Wang Il, who thought he had become safer with this, saw the face of his dead colleague. The wide-open eyes of his dead colleague, who could not even close his eyes, were glaring at Wang Il.

Wang Il muttered as he held up his hand, which was covered in blood and dirt, and closed his colleague’s eyes.

“Namu Amitabha Buddha, Namu Amitabha Buddha....”

For the peace of his colleagues and his own atonement, Wang Il put his hands together and recited the Buddhist chant.

puck! Puff!

At that moment, bullets flew into the body of his colleague who was covering him, and Wang Il grabbed his helmet again and started digging like crazy.

* * *

The reason archers and musketeers were digging like crazy was not just for escape. A pit was also needed to properly utilize the weapons they had.

bang!

Lee Sam, who pulled the trigger at the head of the Joseon soldier visible through the barbed wire net, quickly came down to the bottom of the pit and started loading.

Lee Sam lowered the iron gun while lying down and poured gunpowder into the muzzle as carefully as possible. According to my training, I had to stand upright and reload, but that was impossible in the current situation. I just hoped that as much gunpowder as possible would go down the tilted gun barrel.

Next, Lee Sam put the bullets in and struck them a few times with the charging rod, filled the fire door with an appropriate amount of gunpowder, and then closed the door’s lid.

Finally, Lee Sam, who had finished preparing by pulling the flintlocked gun, carefully put his head above the hole and aimed the gun.

bang!

Lee Sam, who pulled the trigger again, hid himself immediately and repeated the operation without checking whether he hit the target.

The most important thing for him now was to continue shooting until the end without dying.

Survive and continue shooting until the enemy retreats or your allies retreat.

The situation for the archers was even worse. Musketeers could shoot even while lying down, but archers had to raise their upper bodies at least to properly draw their bows.

Therefore, the archers of the Liaodong army had to focus their efforts on digging the ground rather than drawing their bows.

In the process, many archers became targets of the Joseon army and served as cover for their colleagues.

* * *

As the sun went down, the fierce battle between those who wanted to take it and those who tried to stop it gradually calmed down.

As the western sky turned red, the Liaodong army, which had been attacking them in a desperate attempt, also began to retreat.

“They’re backing off!”

“Did you cross the river?”

In response to Lee Jing-ok’s question, the staff shook their heads.

“no. “It appears that they retreated to the beachhead prepared on the riverside.”

“Hmm...”

“It’s not a lot.”

Jo Byeong-deok frowned and asked another question.

“The reason we suffered great losses in today’s battle is because we were pushed back in the artillery battle. What is the situation of the artillery units? “Except for the Hwaryongpo.”

“Many artillery pieces deployed along the riverside were destroyed by the Joseon army’s artillery bombardment. That’s why I’m collecting broken artillery pieces and selecting things that can be reused.”

“So how much is the loss today?”

“It’s about 60%.”

“How much recovery is possible, including things that can be brought back to life?”

“It’s 50%. “It will take at least three days.”

“Reduce it to two days.”

The artillery unit commander looked embarrassed at Jo Byeong-deok’s order.

“That’s because we don’t have enough manpower.”

At those words, Jo Byeong-deok looked back at the commander of the Jurchen unit.

“Deploy the soldiers to support the artillery unit. “I think we’ll need them after we take down that damn wall.”

“I will do so.”

None of the commanders expressed dissatisfaction with Jo Byeong-deok’s orders. Considering today’s battles, assault troops armed only with swords and shields were useless.

“Recover to at least 60% within two days. Even if it is impossible to destroy the castle wall, artillery is definitely needed to suppress the trench next to it.”

“I will do my best.”

After hearing the answer from the artillery unit commander, Jo Byeong-deok turned his head and looked at the fire artillery unit commander.

“Are all the Fire Dragon Cannons destroyed?”

“The surviving artisans are doing their best to restore it.”

Jo Byeong-deok’s face brightened at the answer of the Hwaryongpo unit commander.

“Is recovery possible?”

“For now, I think we can restore Gate 1.”

After hearing the answer, Jo Byeong-deok had a face full of regret.

“One gate is too small...”

“I will try to recruit craftsmen.”

“There must be at least two doors to crush the trench line. Remember, if you can’t break the trench line, you’ll have no choice but to continue the damn siege.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

* * *

The meeting continued.

Jo Byeong-deok pointed to the Insan camp on the map hanging on one side and continued speaking.

“We suffered greater losses than expected in today’s battle. This means that the defenses of this castle were stronger than expected. In other words, Joseon put a lot of effort into the defense of this castle. And this could mean that if we just capture this castle, the next one will be easier.”

The generals nodded at Jo Byeong-deok’s point.

According to information obtained from the Ming Dynasty, the total number of Joseon troops was less than 200,000, and about half of them were naval forces.

And the size of the Joseon army confirmed in today’s battle was about 50,000.

This meant that if only that castle was breached, half of the Joseon army’s ground troops would be lost.

Of course, if the situation was like that, Joseon would also raise its troops through conscription, but a ragtag army that was not properly trained would not be an opponent for the Liaodong Army.

Jo Byeong-deok, who pointed out this part, continued.

“Therefore, what we need to do right now is to do our best to restore the artillery unit’s strength. As you can see from today’s battle, the losses are too great to climb over the walls of that damn castle. Destroy the wire mesh with artillery and take a detour. And...”

Cho Byeong-deok used his baton to draw an imaginary route that bypassed Insanjin drawn on the map.

“After taking a detour like this, we will dry this damn castle to death.”

“They won’t just sit there and watch.”

When one of his subordinate generals pointed out the problem, Jo Byeong-deok nodded.

“I guess so. That’s what I’m aiming for. “The guys that were crouching in that damn castle are coming out.”