Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 270 Battle (9)

While the musketeer unit was preparing for close combat, the spearmen unit was advancing step by step to confront the Huligai infantry while maintaining their formation.

As Joseon’s spearmen unit began to move, the cavalry unit of the Huligai tribe, which had retreated to the left and right, began to turn their horses’ heads to intercept the spearmen unit.

It was because as the spearmen unit advanced, a gap began to form between them and the musketeer unit behind them. And although Joseon’s spearmen unit tried their best to maintain their formation, they were gradually dispersing.

It was because if they penetrated that gap and wreak havoc, the Huligai infantry could deliver a proper strike.

“Let’s go!”

“Ha!”

As the Huligai cavalry drew their sabers and moved toward the spearmen unit, the Joseon cavalry unit firing from the hill also reacted.

The cavalry unit, who re-inserted their smoking muskets into the saddles, pulled out the cavalry spears hanging from the saddles and aimed them forward.

“Charge!”

“Uwaaa!”

As soon as the commander’s order was given, the Joseon cavalry unit, gripping their spears, rode their horses down the hill.

Their target was the Huligai tribal cavalry, who were starting to show their backs in front of their eyes.

The primary objective of the cavalry unit was to prevent those cavalry from attacking their allied spearmen unit.

No matter how thick the iron armor worn by the spearmen unit was, they couldn’t withstand horse hooves.

Those spearmen were as valuable as the cavalry unit. They were not mere consumables.

For the Joseon military, there were only three types of soldiers who wore full plate armor, excluding the commanders.

The Royal Guards who protected the king in the palace, the cavalry, and the spearmen.

Those who relied on iron armor covering their entire bodies and fought enemies with only spears and long swords, without even shields, could not be mere consumables.

The Army had selected the strongest men, painstakingly trained them in swordsmanship using long swords, and equipped them with iron armor that even arrows or blades couldn’t pierce. They were Joseon’s barricade.

They were the spearmen.

Because they were carefully selected, their numbers were not large.

The spearmen of the Hamgil Provincial Army advancing in the front and the spearmen of the Pyeongan Provincial Army coming from behind constituted the majority of the spearmen in the Joseon military.

***

After the spearmen unit was created by Hyang, the commanders who had confirmed its value through various training and mock battles insisted on making a large-scale – tens of thousands – spearmen unit.

“These people!”

Before Kim Jeom could explode at the opinion from the military department, Hyang stepped forward and opposed the military’s dissent.

“There are several problems, so large-scale organization is problematic.”

“Why is that?”

“Yes, why?”

When not only the military department but also Sejong expressed doubt, Hyang explained the reason.

“First, it’s a matter of cost. It’s true that the cost has become cheaper as the Anju Steel Mill supplies steel in large quantities and labor is reduced using presses. However, it’s still expensive.”

When he pointed out the cost issue, Kim Jeom nodded greatly.

However, the military department did not easily back down.

“According to the military tactics so far, all soldiers wear armor. Especially the units in charge of defense, such as the shield bearers, spearmen, and swordsmen, must wear at least chain mail. We are integrating those units and turning them into spearmen. The cost may have decreased, but it won’t increase to a problematic level.”

“Of course, it can be seen that way. However, considering the lifespan of the spearmen unit, it will cost too much.”

“The lifespan of the unit? Does the Crown Prince believe that the spearmen will soon become useless?”

“Yes, Father.”

“Why?”

“Because of arquebuses.”

After taking a brief breath, Hyang continued his explanation.

“In the case of the matchlock arquebus, it penetrates plate armor even from 100 bo (about 120 m) away. To borrow a vulgar expression circulating in the market, plate armor is penetrated in front of arquebuses ‘like the paper door of a newlywed’s room on the wedding night.'”

“Ahem! Ahem!”

“Cough!”

At Hyang’s expression, Sejong and the ministers coughed in unison.

“The historian…”

Seeing the historian already writing it down excitedly, Sejong let out a small sigh and brought up a counterargument.

“Isn’t that because the matchlock arquebus you created is superior?”

“When the matchlock arquebus appears on the battlefield, Ming will also immediately follow and make it. Although they won’t be able to match the performance of the matchlock arquebus right away, their performance will still be much better than the arquebuses currently in use. If such arquebuses are deployed in large numbers, the spearmen will become useless. My estimate is 30 years at most, 10 years at shortest.”

Kim Jeom interrupted Hyang’s words.

“Then, isn’t armor unnecessary for the cavalry as well?”

“Don’t the cavalry have horses? Of course, the cavalry will also take off their armor someday.”

“Hmm…”

At Hyang’s explanation, Sejong, the ministers, and the commanders of the military department fell into serious contemplation.

Hyang’s explanation was too realistic to be considered an excessive speculation. They also thought that if Ming knew about the existence of the matchlock arquebus, they would surely follow and make it.

Joseon also secretly brought in good weapons used by Ming or copied and made them.

While everyone was pondering, a young commander from the military department asked Hyang.

“Then, why did the Crown Prince create the spearmen?”

“Because for those 10 to 30 years, they will definitely be worth it. Even now, if we confront the Jurchen and Japanese pirates, they will demonstrate the greatest power.”

“Ah…”

***

And so, the number of spearmen organized did not exceed 5,000. Of those, 4,000 were divided into two and deployed in Hamgil and Pyeongan Provinces.

And through this battle, the spearmen were clearly proving their worth.

Therefore, the cavalry stepped forward to prevent their meaningless loss.

***

The Joseon cavalry unit, which had gained even more speed by utilizing the acceleration obtained while descending the hill, charged into the Huligai cavalry with their spears aimed forward.

“Oh no!”

“It’s the Joseon army!”

As the Joseon cavalry unit struck, the Huligai cavalry fell into confusion and panicked.

Forgetting about the Joseon cavalry on the hill was a clear mistake.

However, the Huligai cavalry, from the commanders to the rank-and-file cavalrymen, were in a state of not being in their right minds.

Normally, the commanders of the Huligai cavalry would have deployed troops to keep the Joseon cavalry on the hill in check.

However, the bombardment using cannons and the gunfire from the musketeers and cavalry had turned their minds into a mess.

On top of that, there was the desperation to break through the Joseon troops and go north. In the end, the commanders could not come to their senses, and they ended up exposing their backs and flanks to the Joseon cavalry.

***

The Joseon cavalrymen who had made a full-speed charge simultaneously thrust their spears.

Skilled cavalrymen aimed at the Jurchen cavalrymen on horseback, but many cavalrymen aimed at the horses the Jurchen cavalrymen were riding.

Neigh!

The horses of the Jurchen cavalrymen, fatally wounded by the spears of the Joseon cavalry, collapsed to the ground with a pitiful scream.

The Jurchen cavalrymen who escaped from the saddle with agile movements had to desperately roll on the ground.

If they were even a little late, they would lose their lives by being hit or trampled by the hooves of the Joseon cavalry’s horses that followed.

Among the Jurchen cavalrymen who lost their horses like that, a few brave ones tried to grab and pull down the nearby Joseon cavalrymen, but they had to become skewers, pierced by the spears of the Joseon cavalry that followed.

Therefore, the Jurchen cavalrymen who lost their horses had to desperately roll their bodies for survival.

It was because they were outnumbered for such an adventure, and the Joseon cavalrymen were not easy opponents either.

The Joseon cavalrymen ignored those Jurchen cavalrymen and charged at the Jurchen cavalrymen who were still on horseback, drawing their six-barreled horse guns and cavalry sabers.

The threatening presence to the Joseon cavalry was the Jurchen cavalrymen on horseback.

The Jurchen and horses were inseparable. However, saddles were expensive items, and most Jurchen were accustomed to riding horses without saddles from a young age.

The problem was that to ride a horse without a saddle like that, they had to tightly squeeze the horse’s body with both legs.

As they lived like that during their prime growth period, the leg bones of most Jurchen men became deformed.

Therefore, Jurchen without horses had to be considered as having almost no mobility, and the Joseon cavalrymen ignored the Jurchen cavalrymen who had lost their horses.

The treatment of the unseated Jurchen cavalrymen could be done later or left to the infantry.

The ones that needed to be dealt with first were the Jurchen cavalrymen who were still on horseback.

***

While the Joseon cavalrymen and Huligai cavalrymen were fiercely engaging in close combat, the spearmen were also confronting the Huligai tribal infantry.

“These crazy…”

“They’re madmen…”

The spearmen at the very front, gripping their long spears, all cursed without exception.

The eyes of the Jurchen charging toward them were filled with only madness.

What was even more surprising was that most of the Jurchen charging like that were bare-chested.

With eyes full of madness, the bare-chested Jurchen were charging toward them, holding sabers or axes in their hands.

***

What had driven the Huligai tribal infantry into this state of confusion was the singijeon and cannons, no, the cannons.

The Huligai tribal infantry had somehow endured with armor and shields until the singijeon.

However, in front of the cannons, neither shields nor armor were of any use.

Whenever there was an explosion in the air, many brothers died or collapsed to the ground with severe injuries, covered in blood.

Watching such a tragedy, the Huligai infantry looked forward.

There were no attacks from those damn fire bullets where the cavalry was.

“Then…”

While running at full speed, the Huligai infantry threw away their shields and took off their armor.

In a situation where they had to run as fast as possible, the useless armor and shields were cumbersome items.

All they needed now were weapons to kill those Joseon bastards blocking the way ahead.

If we break through those Joseon bastards, everything will be solved!

Only this thought remained in the minds of the running Huligai infantry.

There was no thought about the next situation.

***

“Those damn bastards are begging to be killed! Grant their wish!”

At the commanders’ shouts, the spearmen at the very front gripped their long spears even tighter.

“First row! Thrust!”

“Yah!”

“Cha!”

As soon as the commander’s order was given, the spearmen in the first row thrust the long spears they were holding into the chests of the Jurchen and immediately withdrew them.

The simple awl-shaped spearhead aided in quick retrieval.

“Ugh!”

“Ack!”

Those stabbed in vital points collapsed to the ground with a short scream. However, the Jurchen who were stabbed while missing the vital points grabbed the spear shaft.

At that moment, the commander of the spearmen unit shouted.

“Second and third rows, advance!”

“Uwaaa!”

Through the space created between the spearmen in the first row, the spearmen in the second and third rows leaped forward, holding their long swords high.

The spearmen who leaped forward immediately cut off the necks of the Jurchen holding the spear shafts and swung their swords at the Jurchen charging behind them.

Clang! Clang!

Soon, a fierce close combat broke out with loud sounds of swords clashing from all directions.

Although they had suffered heavy losses from the singijeon and cannons bombardment during the charge, the number of Huligai infantry was about 5,000, and the Joseon spearmen they were facing numbered 2,000.

However, the situation on the battlefield was even, no, the Joseon troops were gradually gaining the upper hand.

The biggest reason was that the morale of the Huligai infantry had been greatly dampened due to the singijeon and cannons.

And by taking off their armor, the Huligai infantry’s defensive power had become non-existent.

However, as madness took the place of their broken morale, the Huligai infantry charged like crazy.

In this chaotic battle, those who had only recently become spearmen found themselves in a difficult situation.

Although they had become accustomed to swordsmanship through rigorous training and sparring until they had a foul taste in their mouths, they were constantly driven into a crisis as they encountered the overflowing murderous intent in actual combat.

In the end, to win and to survive, they drew other weapons they had prepared in advance.

The weapons they drew were sickles and axes.