Chapter 583

Episode 583: Broken Dream (6)

Kwakwakwang!

As artillery guns were fired at once from batteries located in the Joseon army’s position in the southwest of Liaodong Province, numerous clouds of smoke began to form on the southern walls of Liaodong Province.

After the first bombardment was over, the Joseon soldiers who were checking the results of the bombardment all let out exclamations of exclamation.

“How about it? “You lasted?”

“Hey! “You can handle it because you’re so big?”

Exclamations like this came out from everywhere, but they were not exclamations but closer to sarcasm.

The southern wall of Liaodong Province, which had been subjected to intensive bombardment by the Joseon army, had collapsed by at least one-third or at most half.

The problem was that the walls were not strong enough to withstand the heavy artillery fire from the Joseon army with only that much damage.

It was able to endure because the walls of Liaodong Castle were so high and thick.

The walls of Liaodong Fortress were high and thick, with a height of 10 jang (approximately 30 m) and the width of the castle road reaching about 1 jang (approximately 3 m).

This large and thick fortress wall boasted its size since the old Goguryeo period because it was built on flat land, and was further strengthened with bricks when the Ming Dynasty came into power.

With these high and thick walls, a waterway connected to the Taizi River flowing to the northeast of the castle, and the moat surrounding the castle filled with water, Liaodong Castle became an impregnable fortress.

However, the Joseon military was not very worried.

The first reason was the direction of the Joseon army’s attack. The Joseon army was attacking from the southeast of the castle.

Liaodong Fortress, which was divided into an outer castle and an inner castle, had a structural feature: half of the southeastern and southwestern walls of the outer castle overlapped with the walls of the inner castle.

This was because from ancient times, the attack routes of enemies attacking Liaodong Province were north and west.

Therefore, the attack direction chosen by the Joseon army was able to attack Naeseong directly. This was a turning blow that really hit Liaodong Province in the back of the head.

The second and biggest reason was the presence of artillery.

The high and thick walls of Liaodong Castle boasted strong defensive power against those armed only with existing cold weapons.

Of course, there were catapults that could throw heavy stones, but it was difficult to bring down the brick-reinforced walls with just catapults.

However, the walls were useless in front of artillery. Even the brick-reinforced castle walls were easily exposed in front of artillery guns that fired heavy iron bullets at high speeds from a greater distance than a catapult.

“Hmm... something is a bit disappointing. Tsk....”

Choi Yun-deok, who was checking the results through a telescope, quenched his appetite and expressed regret.

“If it had been the scorching bullets used by the naval forces, it would have been able to destroy them more hotly...” *

* *

Until now, the main artillery of the Joseon land navy was the full-length artillery. Because of this, it was not possible to use ignition bullets using contact fuses like the naval forces.

The reason why breech-loading artillery was deployed late in the Army was that artillery with adequate power and mobility had not yet been developed, and the production of Bigyeokjincheonroe had become too large.

Bigyeokjincheonroe was the best weapon against the cavalry and infantry of the Jurchen tribe that flocked in the fields of Liaodong or during sieges.

Satisfied with this performance, the command of the Land Forces produced and possessed large quantities of Bigyeokjincheonroe.

Thanks to this, the only breech-loading artillery used by the ground forces was still shot cannon.

* * *

“It’s unfortunate, but we’ll have to think about that issue after this war is over. Otherwise, Captain Uichon (the pen name of Kim Jeom) will try to eat me first.”

Every time a messenger came from Hanseong, Kim Jeom and the Minister of Finance and Economy sent a separately written letter along with the order. And the content of the letter was simple.

‘It’s good to win, but save what you can! And make sure to take what you can!’

“How did they become so close...”

Choi Yun-deok, who had been murmuring his feelings about Kim Jeom and the Minister of Finance and Economy, immediately straightened his expression and gave an order.

“Continue shelling! “Keep shelling until those walls are gone!”

“yes!”

Shortly after Choi Yun-deok’s order was delivered, the Joseon Army battery continued firing again.

* * *

The Joseon army’s bombardment continued for almost three days.

There was a break in between to cool the overheated gun barrel, but once the gun barrel cooled down properly, the bombardment continued.

It was not only the castle walls that collapsed due to the persistent bombardment of the Joseon army.

The spirit of the Liaodong soldiers who went on defense also collapsed.

“Namu Amitabha Buddha Namu Amitabha....”

“Hee! Hi-Hi! Hehehe!”

There were many people crouching down and just chanting, and those who had lost their minds kept popping out.

“Come to your senses! “Come to your senses!”

“This guy is out of his mind! “Get it away!”

“monster! “It’s a monster!”

When a huge excavator appeared, spewing black smoke into the sky and snorting white steam from the side, the Liaodong Army soldiers crouching in the ruins of the castle wall were frightened.

“Every season! It’s an iron horse! “It’s the Joseon military’s season!”

“Don’t be scared! It’s the Joseon military’s season! “It’s not a monster!”

When some experienced Liaodong Army soldiers looked at the excavator and shouted, “Iron Horse,” other soldiers who had been in a state of panic immediately came to their senses.

However, the soldiers who came to their senses soon became lost in doubt.

“Why is the iron horse here?”

However, that question was soon resolved when I saw the legs dangling from the crane attached to the excavator.

“Shoot! Shoot! “That bridge must not be built!”

“As soon as the bridge is built, the Joseon army will rush in! “We have to stop it!”

“Shoot! “Shoo!”

bang! Ta-ta-tang!

After confirming the situation, the soldiers began pulling the trigger on the approaching giant excavators.

However, their shots were blocked by the iron plate surrounding the excavator and bounced off in vain.

At that moment, fire was emitted from the turrets on the left and right sides of the excavator’s huge upper body.

Ta-ta-ta-tang!

* * *

As iron horses using steam engines were created, tow trucks and excavators using them were soon created.

Naturally, King Sejong and the military, who understood the capabilities of tow trucks and excavators, decided to use them for military purposes.

“The problem is that due to the characteristics of the steam engine, it takes a lot to produce proper output...” After

thinking for a while, Hyang immediately came to a conclusion.

“This is a contrarian! Let’s just make it bigger! “I like steampunk!”

The military multi-purpose excavator created in this way boasted an enormous size.

It wasn’t just that he was big.

With a separate steam engine running on the body and upper body of the excavator, several people were on board, including the soldiers who would operate it, the soldier who would drive the body, the soldier who would control the equipment attached to the top, and the soldier who would be in charge of rotating the top left and right.

It was assumed to be used in the middle of a battle, so it was covered with thick armor plates and was equipped with two turrets equipped with fire trucks for self-defense.

After seeing the result, Sejong looked back.

“It looks like the governor’s tile-roofed house is moving around.”

“Shall we abolish it?”

“...Let’s just use it.”

“thank you!”

* * *

The excavator arrived at the moat, enduring the gunfire from the Liaodong army, and began to lower the pontoon bridge it had been carrying.

The Liaodong troops who rushed in to stop this had already been subdued by the Eulsik wagon attached to the excavator.

“as it is! slowly! slowly!”

According to the command of the commander stationed in the upper body, the pontoon bridge was slowly lowered, and the engineers holding the rope hanging from the pontoon adjusted the position by pulling the rope here and there.

Coo!

Finally, with a dull sound, a pontoon bridge was built over the moat. An engineer quickly ran onto the pontoon bridge and loosened the fixture connecting the pontoon bridge to the excavator.

The engineer, who worked desperately to loosen the fixture, ran back with all his might and hid behind the excavator.

“Good work!”

“Good job!”

The soldier who heard Daejeong, the commander of the unit he belonged to, and his colleagues thanked him for their hard work, cursed under his breath.

‘Shit! After losing the damn lot! ‘Never draw lots again!’

Grumble!

“I’m backing off!”

“I’m backing off!”

“Open the road!”

The excavators who safely laid the pontoon bridge retreated, and soon the Joseon Army riflemen began to cross the pontoon bridge.

bang! Tatang!

As the Joseon army entered the interior of Liaodong Province in earnest, full-scale street fighting began.