Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 268

“Fire rockets!”

“Fire rockets!”

As thousands of rockets flew, leaving white smoke trails behind them, the Jurchen cavalry riding at the very front began to scatter to the left and right, shouting.

Fire rockets were not unfamiliar to the Huligai tribe.

The Ming military also had a similar gunpowder weapon propelled by gunpowder called “fire rocket.” The Huligai tribe, who had often seen the Ming military use fire rockets against the Northern Yuan cavalry, learned the countermeasures devised by the Northern Yuan cavalry.

Following those observed and learned countermeasures, the Jurchen cavalry quickly dispersed to the left and right.

Although they would lose the density and speed, which are the most important factors in the cavalry’s specialty of breakthrough tactics, density was a secondary issue, and speed could be sufficiently recovered at the current distance.

However, there was something the Huligai tribe did not anticipate.

The fire wagons and singijeon of the Joseon military were quite different from the fire rockets and their launching device, the swarm of arrows, which they were familiar with from the Ming military.

[TL/N: Singijeon is a type of fire arrow launcher. Click here for image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/Hwacha-Shinkigeon_Style.jpg/330px-Hwacha-Shinkigeon_Style.jpg ]

***

“It may be cliché, but when it comes to King Munjong, the fire wagon is a must-mention, and I can’t just gloss over it, right? I’m supposed to be that fellow. And it will be quite useful for the time being.”

At the decision of Hyang, the fire wagon and the singijeon to be loaded on it were greatly improved.

The first thing Hyang touched was the singijeon. It was decided that the singijeon to be mounted on the fire wagon would be the medium singijeon, not the small singijeon.

As the capacity of the propellant increased, the singijeon fired from the fire wagon gained even faster flight speed, a range of 500 bo (about 600 m), and penetration power to pierce leather armor even at that distance.

After completing the development of the singijeon, Hyang also worked on the fire wagon.

In the history before Hyang’s intervention, one could choose between two options: the arquebuses or the medium singijeon, but Hyang boldly stipulated to use only the medium singijeon.

He also modified the cart on which the rack was placed, designing it for easy attachment and detachment of the launch rack.

Therefore, when a battle occurred and 100 rounds of simultaneous fire were completed, the time to bring a new launch rack that had been placed in a safe zone and replace it could be greatly reduced.

The fire wagon developed in this way made a significant difference in power compared to the fire rockets and their mounting device, the yiwofeng arrows, used by Ming.

Ming’s infantry could fire 32 fire rockets at once using the arrows. However, Joseon’s fire wagon fired 100 rounds at once.

Ming’s fire rockets could theoretically fly 400 bo (about 480 m). However, due to the fact that they had to be carried and fired by a person, the effective range was around 200 bo (about 240 m).

However, by using the fire wagon, the Joseon military could properly utilize the theoretical maximum range.

***

The singijeon fired by the Joseon military flew over the heads of the Huligai cavalry.

“Huh?”

The cavalry, who had turned their eyes to follow the singijeon flying over their heads, realized that the target of the singijeon fired by the Joseon troops was not them.

“Targeting the infantry?”

Upon confirming that the target of the singijeon was the infantry, the Huligai cavalry burst into laughter without even realizing it.

“Foolish!”

The infantry had shields. Although fire rockets had the advantage of being able to fire a large number of arrows simultaneously at once, the power of a single fire rocket was not significantly stronger than that of a single arrow. It could be effective against mounted archers who could not have shields, but for infantry holding defensive shields, its power was notably weak.

“Fire rockets!”

“Raise shields!”

“Shields!”

Seeing the singijeon filling the sky and flying toward them, the infantry of the Huligai tribe raised their shields above their heads and crouched.

Swish! Thunk! Thud!

The singijeon began to stick into the shields covered with leather on the outside and copper plates around the edges. The soldiers’ eyes were filled with fear as they saw the arrowheads pierce through the wooden boards, revealing themselves with the sound of wood splintering.

“Don’t be afraid! Trust your shields!”

The soldiers, for whom this was their first battle, had to forcibly suppress their fear at the shouts of the commanders and veteran soldiers.

“Ugh!”

“Argh!”

In the midst of that, some unfortunate ones screamed as singijeon pierced their shoulders, arms, or legs.

And another unexpected event unfolded for the Huligai tribe.

Bang! Boom!

“Aaaargh!”

“Ack!”

“My eyes! I can’t see!”

“My ears! My ears!”

“Aah! My arm!”

“My leg! My leg!”

In an instant, screams overflowed among the infantry of the Huligai tribe.

The singijeon that had stuck into their shields and bodies had exploded.

The screams erupted as wooden fragments created by the exploding singijeon stuck in the shields and the iron pellets inside the singijeon flew out, causing permanent damage to their vision or hearing.

Even worse off were those who had singijeon stuck in their shoulders, arms, or legs. Broken bones were a given due to the shock created by the explosion, and some even had their arms or legs severed. Those who had singijeon stuck in their shoulders or chests died instantly on the spot.

***

In the history of Joseon before Hyang’s intervention, Joseon had also agonized over strengthening the power of the singijeon fired from the fire wagon. As a result of that agony, they came up with the idea of creating a separate space filled with gunpowder in front of the propellant container attached to the singijeon.

The explosion of the gunpowder stored in this extra space could inflict additional damage, large or small, to the soldiers or facilities hit by the singijeon, and the singijeon that fell to the ground could explode, causing confusion in the enemy formation.

And Hyang had touched this extra space. He filled it with Deokgap-style gunpowder, which had even stronger power than black powder, along with 5-6 small iron pellets used in cannons.

As this space exploded, the iron pellets inside would scatter in all directions, inflicting additional damage.

***

Leaving behind their unfortunate comrades, the infantry of the Huligai tribe had to continue advancing, covering their heads with shields.

“Keep moving! If you stand still, you’ll end up like those guys!”

Although they suffered considerable losses as more than 1,000 singijeon poured down in an instant, the infantry of the Huligai tribe had no choice but to advance.

Swish! Whoosh!

“They’re coming again!”

“Run! Run! There’s no other way than running!”

As the loud flight sound was heard from the sky once more, the infantry of the Huligai tribe gritted their teeth and began to charge at full speed.

As the infantry started running, the Huligai cavalry moving ahead also had to speed up.

Their mission was to crush the enemy formation and allow the infantry to safely break through. Therefore, they had to move ahead of the infantry.

***

“The plan is falling into place nicely.”

On the hill where the Joseon military had set up their formation, Lee Suk-myo looked at the staff officers with a bitter smile.

– Break the enemy’s morale, make them exhaust their energy, and put our troops in an advantageous position.

This was the first thing Lee Suk-myo had thought of.

In his opinion, the greatest strengths of the Jurchen were that most of them were skilled horsemen and their brutality.

To prevent these strengths from being properly utilized, Lee Suk-myo had to thoroughly use his head from the selection of the battlefield.

Using the mobile strike units and the Wudihe cavalry, he forced Manchu and Mentemu to head toward Gilim and made them pass through the narrowest of the passages in the southwestern region of Gilim.

And in the middle of that narrow passage, he built a defensive line with spearmen, swordsmen, and musketeers, and deployed the artillerymen on both hills. And to the left and right of that, he positioned the Joseon cavalry and the Jurchen cavalry of Wudihe, making it so that Manchu and Mentemu had no choice but to choose a frontal breakthrough.

And using the long range of the singijeon mounted on the fire wagons, he had shaken the advancing warriors of the Huligai tribe.

“It will be 50 jang (about 150 m) at best…”

Seeing the warriors of the Huligai tribe charging while raising a cloud of dust, Lee Suk-myo held back the rest of his words.

An additional 50 jang or so would not be a big problem physically for the cavalry. However, for the infantry who had to take the singijeon with their bodies like that, 50 jang would be a demonic distance that gnawed at their willpower and stamina.

As the cavalry of the Huligai tribe began their charge, Lee Suk-myo immediately issued an order.

“Fire the cannons.”

“Yes, sir! Fire the cannons!”

At the staff officer’s order, the signal bearer waved the signal flag.

After a moment, the cannons that had set up formations on both hills simultaneously fired the cannons.

Boom boom boom!

As both hills were enveloped in smoke, Lee Suk-myo muttered.

“Let’s see how useful the tricks learned from the navy are. By the way…”

Lee Suk-myo smiled deeply, feeling the wind tickling his cheeks.

“The wind is very good. I like both the wind direction and the wind speed. The smoke will dissipate quickly.”

While Lee Suk-myo was enjoying the wind, about 100 explosions simultaneously spread over the heads of the charging Jurchen cavalry.

Boom boom boom!

“Aaaargh!”

Neigh!

Nearly 100 cannons exploded simultaneously above the heads of the charging Huligai cavalry.

As the cannons exploded, numerous fragments and the iron pellets inside scattered in all directions, and the Huligai cavalry and horses riding beneath them rolled on the ground, covered in blood.

***

The first to think of using the ignition tubes of cannons for aerial explosions was the navy.

While fighting against the Japanese pirate ships or Chinese pirate ships, the navy became dissatisfied with the cannons mounted on their warships.

“It’s over if we just hit the pirate ship. The problem is that hitting it is difficult.”

Engaging in a naval artillery battle on the waves was difficult to expect an accuracy rate above a certain level, no matter how well-trained the navy was.

The large arrows used in the general’s fire cannons, such as the general’s arrows or iron pellets, showed an accuracy rate close to wastage even with slightly rough waves. Therefore, the navy fired four slightly smaller arrows than the large arrows or filled the cannons with iron pellets and fired at the pirate ships.

At this time, young naval officers came up with a new tactic.

“Since the cannons has the best power, let’s try using it!”

So, when they used the cannons, they saw better effects than expected. And whether by chance or intentionally, the navy confirmed that the cannons that exploded in the air by wrapping less fuse had the most deadly effect, and they began to frequently use the cannons against pirate ships.

And this tactic was passed on to the army.

***

Boom!

Although there were slight differences depending on whether it exploded higher in the sky or at a lower altitude, whenever the cannons exploded above the heads of the Huligai cavalry, dozens to hundreds of cavalry had to roll on the ground.

“This is insane!”

The Huligai cavalry, with bloodshot eyes, kicked their horses’ sides like crazy.

Blood seeped from the horses’ sides that were kicked by the spurs, but no one had the leisure to care for them.

“We need to escape this hell!”

“We must get as close to the enemy formation as possible! If we get close, they won’t be able to do as they please either!”

“Even if we die, we must ride!”

With the quick judgment of veteran soldiers with extensive battlefield experience, the cavalry charged like madmen.

Riding alongside the warriors of the tribe, Mentemu shed tears of blood.

“We should have detoured even if it meant taking damage!”

Due to the pressure from the Wudihe tribe’s mongrels and the Joseon cavalry, Manchu and Mentemu had to head toward Gilim.

However, the problem was what came next. The place where the Joseon military had pushed them into was the narrowest of the many paths leading to Gilim.

The width of the road between the low hills rising on both sides and the connected hilly terrain was about 400 jang (about 1.2 km).

It would have been a width without any problem usually, but it was not so when tens of thousands of troops were gathered like now.

Especially now, it was a narrow space for nearly 20,000 cavalry to maneuver.

For the Joseon military, which had cannons as their main force, it was pushing the warriors of the tribe into the optimal killing ground.

“Joseon troops!”

“Joseon troops!”

“Joseon troops ahead!”

Hearing the shouts from around, Mentemu looked ahead.

In the distance, the formation of the Joseon military blocking the way with long spears could be seen.

Gauging the distance, Mentemu instinctively grabbed his bow, took out a long arrow from the quiver hanging on the right side of the saddle, and pulled the bowstring with all his might.

“Hng!”

Mentemu straightened his body, steadied his breath, and released the bowstring.

Swish! Whoosh!

Soon, the arrows shot by the Jurchen cavalry drew parabolas and fell over the heads of the Joseon troops blocking the way ahead.