Chapter 740

Episode 740: Dagger (10)

While the locals were earnestly searching for Allah, the imperial commanders looked perplexed.

“It’s a matter of organizing things.”

What made them perplexed was the abundance of corpses in front of them.

“I think the battle took about an hour, but cleaning up will take at least two days.”

“That’s a number that can only be achieved by borrowing labor from a construction site.”

The commanders, who were gloomy at the thought of clearing away the corpses scattered everywhere they could see, frowned when they saw the expressions on the faces of the soldiers standing around them.

“Why are you doing this again?”

“If someone sees it, they’ll think you guys are corpses.”

“Oh, nothing... Wow!”

“Song, sorry... Wow!”

The imperial soldiers, whose faces were as pale as the corpses littering the desert, could not respond properly and began vomiting. As soon as one or two people started vomiting, the surrounding soldiers also stuck their heads out of the flatbed and started vomiting.

“Uweek!”

“Ugh!”

The commanders shook their heads as they looked at the soldiers vomiting yellow gastric fluid.

“You’re so soft to throw up a tantrum just because you saw an invoice...”

In response to the young commanders’ complaints, the senior commanders behind them laughed and said something.

“You guys did that in Liaodong too.”

“The frog said he didn’t know when he was a tadpole...”

The young commanders looked embarrassed at the scolding from the senior commanders.

The senior commanders, who were criticizing the younger commanders, seemed to understand the soldiers’ behavior.

“When we were young, looking at invoices was not unfamiliar to us. Nowadays, it seems like it has become really unfamiliar to our friends.”

“I agree. The saying ‘Sangjeonbyeokhae (桑田碧海)’ really resonates with me.”

* * *

As the senior commanders said, the presence of death in the daily lives of the people of the empire had greatly diminished.

During the late Goryeo Dynasty and early Seon Dynasty, there were many corpses and refugees everywhere due to frequent invasions by Japanese pirates.

Even when King Sejong came to the throne, thousands of deaths from starvation were reported to the government every year due to frequent poor harvests. If an epidemic broke out there, many people would often die.

Therefore, those who spent their childhood during this period were familiar with death and corpses.

However, as police officers became successful, these tragic events began to disappear.

The number of people dying from starvation began to decrease as policies were actively implemented, such as the expansion of water treatment facilities, the settlement of refugees, and the import of grain.

In addition, the spread of basic hygiene culture such as bathing and bold support for public health and public medical care gradually reduced the prevalence of infectious diseases.

As the situation improved, death gradually became distant from the daily lives of the Joseon people at the time.

This was also true for soldiers.

As large-scale bloodshed such as the Giyu Rebellion and the Muntemu Rebellion disappeared and the Jurchen people returned to power, the northeastern region stabilized and the number of incidents of bloodshed greatly decreased.

Of course, there were many cases of seeing blood and corpses while fighting pirates at sea, but this did not affect the general public and soldiers.

Soldiers who had gradually become accustomed to peace became accustomed to blood and death again through the First Light War.

However, more than 10 years after Joseon became an empire, blood and corpses were once again unfamiliar to young soldiers.

Thanks to this, when the excitement of battle subsided, there was vomiting from all directions.

* * *

“I understand, but the problem is a problem. I haven’t had much practical experience so far.”

“Although we did engage in actual combat, it was mainly in the Navy.”

High-ranking officials talked with serious faces.

The junior executives who went through the chaos of the First Light War, especially the Yalu River Defense Battle, 10 years ago, have now become mid-level executives. The junior officers and soldiers who were supposed to assist them and take charge of the future of the imperial army were now vomiting like that, becoming a subject of ridicule for their superiors.

“How does it compare to our allies?”

The soldiers answered with one voice to the questions of the allied commanders.

“The Imperial Army must never be turned into enemies.”

“In order to deal with the imperial army that has properly prepared for defense, we must deploy at least 10 or 20 times as many troops.”

The allied commander looked in disbelief at the soldiers’ answer.

“We know that the imperial army’s weapons are powerful because we have used them. But 20 times more troops? Have you confirmed this properly?”

“I saw it clearly with my own eyes! The imperial army annihilated nearly 2,000 enemies with only 300!”

The soldiers told the allied commanders what they had secretly seen.

“...I can swear on God’s name that everything I’ve told you so far is true.”

When not only Christian but also Muslim Ottoman soldiers took the oath, the faces of the allied commanders turned pitch black.

-It is only 1/5 the size of the Eulsikhwacha, but has a faster firing speed.

-Unlike the Eulsik freight car that requires at least five people, it is sufficient to operate with only two people.

To this advantage, the imperial army added volume.

If a flatbed wagon was loaded with thick defensive sand bags, each car could have a maximum of 6 guns, 3 on each side.

This was due to the size of the freight car itself, the size of the operating personnel, and the storage space for the cartridges.

With this arrangement, the number of freight cars that could be mobilized when a battle broke out was three.

However, the imperial army built a position one level higher in the center of the flatbed car and placed eight double-type freight cars there.

Because it was located in a high space in the center, it was arranged so that all eight doors could be used even if enemies came from either the left or right.

In the end, a total of 24 8-gun gun carriages at the front, middle, and rear were firing crossfire at the Mamluk cavalry.

The problem wasn’t just the side-by-side freight cars.

The military rifles used by the imperial army were also scary weapons.

The imperial style long rifle introduced and used in the late Suez War also provided overwhelming firepower.

While the Mamluk and Spanish musketeers stood and reloaded, the Allied soldiers could reload while lying prone or kneeling on the ground.

The firing rate was also the same. The Eulsik Long Rifle, a breech-loading single-barreled rifle, guaranteed an overwhelming rate of fire compared to the full-loading matchlocks and rifles used by the Mamluk and Spanish armies.

Therefore, now that the war was over, the allies were putting all their efforts into trying to replicate the Eulsik long rifle.

However, the empire introduced a military-type long gun that overwhelmed the Japanese-style long gun.

-A long gun that fires 5 rounds at a time.

According to the soldiers’ reports, it had advantages and disadvantages compared to the Japanese style long rifle.

The advantage was the fast firing rate, and the disadvantage was the greatly increased bullet consumption.

“It’s not just long guns...”

The combined-type long guns and the combined-type boxcars boasted an overwhelming rate of fire compared to the Eulsik.

In other words, compared to Eulsik, bullet consumption also increased significantly.

The allied commanders who thought that far had the same question.

‘Even if I could import it, would my country be able to handle the supply?’

The allied commanders who thought that far felt a chill down their spines.

‘You mean an empire is possible?’

In the end, the French commander muttered without realizing it.

“These crazy imperial bastards...”

The French commander’s words were followed by the Florentine commander’s words.

“If we join the empire, it would be quicker to go bankrupt than to lose in a war.”

Although facing a bleak reality, the allied commanders conveyed the soldiers’ reports to the envoys and even conveyed the opinion that it would be a good idea to introduce it at the same time.

And the envoys who heard the commanders’ stories also had a sad look on their faces.

“Is it a problem even if there is no problem?...”