Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 271 Battle (10)

Until they joined the military, most Joseon soldiers were farmers. To them, axes and sickles, especially sickles, were very familiar tools.

Joseon farmers could handle sickles almost like their own hands. And Joseon’s sickles – more precisely, wooden sickles – were that versatile.

Starting with cutting rice or barley during harvests, removing weeds, trimming branches, and cutting trees were the basics, and they even caught vipers or snakes that popped out of bushes.

“When encountering a snake, a noble catches it with a bow, and a commoner catches it with a sickle.”

This was the common sense of Joseon at that time.

Interestingly, those who wielded sickles and axes like this were the new recruits who had only recently become spearmen.

At least for three years or more, the veteran soldiers who had learned swordsmanship for an average of five years and experienced real combat conducted close combat with just a long sword.

Looking at the long swords of those veteran soldiers, the only thing that was the same was the length of the blade.

The specifications of the long sword issued to the spearmen were all the same.

With the progress of the training, it was 4 cheok (about 1.2 m) according to the standard Yeongjocheok (營造尺, a standard of measurement). Of that, the blade length was 3 cheok (about 90 cm), and the handle length was 1 cheok (about 30 cm).

The shape was a double-edged straight sword.

All spearmen were trained and put into real combat with long swords made in this uniform way.

And the veteran soldiers who had experienced various real combat situations and gained experience through sparring began to touch their beloved swords.

The part the veteran soldiers touched was the handle.

The first thing they touched was the guard.

Some attached heavy iron hammers to both ends of the guard, while others lengthened the guard and made it pointed. Or there were those who made both ends in the shape of small axes and even sharpened the blade.

Changing the shape of the guard like this was to win in close combat.

When holding the sword upside down and striking the enemy, this modified guard took the upper hand from the enemy.

Veterans who were not satisfied even after modifying the guard also touched the pommel.

At the end of the sword handle issued to the newly formed spearmen, there was a large round lump of iron attached.

It was to balance the sword and use it as a blunt weapon in close combat.

However, veterans who had experienced real combat made this pommel even heavier.

By intentionally moving the center of gravity to the back, they were able to handle the direction of the blade more quickly and freely with just the movement of the wrist. It was an improvement made through experience ingrained in the body without even knowing the principle of leverage.

Those who gained even more experience changed the shape of the pommel to a nail shape.

The purpose was to strike the back of the neck or back of the enemy trying to grab and knock down their body in close combat, inflicting fatal injuries.

With various decorations added to it, the swords of senior spearmen had their own unique shapes except for the blade.

***

The spearmen wielding these long swords, axes, and sickles engaged in close combat with the Huligai infantry.

“Die!”

To block the sickle swung down by the spearman, the Huligai infantryman instinctively raised his arm to cover his face.

“Aaargh!”

The Huligai infantryman who blocked the sickle with his arm screamed.

The sickle swung down by that Joseon soldier not only cut through the well-crafted leather armguard but also more than half of the forearm.

The terrible pain coming from the arm drained the strength from the Huligai infantryman’s body.

At that moment, the Joseon soldier’s sickle pierced this unfortunate Jurchen’s neck from the side.

Next to him, another spearman struck down the pommel with a sharpened blade toward the back of the Huligai infantryman who was trying to grab his waist and knock him down.

The Jurchen, whose chest was pierced by the awl-like sharp pommel, suddenly had difficulty breathing and couldn’t even make a sound.

Due to the sudden shortness of breath, the Jurchen began to struggle, and the spearman freed from the restraint swung his long sword at the Jurchen’s neck.

The Jurchen’s head fell to the ground like an apple falling from an apple tree by the spearman’s sword swung down like that.

***

Although the spearmen were blocking and engaging in a bloody battle with the infantry of the Huligai tribe, Huligai infantry who had broken through their defensive line also began to emerge.

The Huligai infantry who had climbed over or bypassed the spearmen’s wall like that began to run toward the Joseon musketeers and artillerymen who had set up a formation about 20 jang (about 60 m) away.

As the Huligai infantry charged, the musketeer commander shouted.

“Prepare for alternating fire! Advance! First row, aim! Fire!”

Ratatata!

As soon as the commander’s order was given, the musketeers in the first row simultaneously pulled their triggers. Breaking through the smoke that rose in an instant, the musketeers in the very back row stepped forward.

“Aim! Fire!”

Ratatata!

Following the commander’s orders, the musketeers moved their positions like a spinning wheel and continued advancing and firing.

The Huligai infantry, under the concentrated fire of the musketeers, faltered on the spot. No, they were collapsing as they came forward one by one, receiving gunfire.

As the musketeers made two rotations like that, the distance between the Huligai infantry and the musketeer unit narrowed to about 10 jang (about 30 m).

Gauging the distance, the musketeer commander issued another order.

“Retreat! First row, aim! Fire!”

Ratatata!

Following the commander’s order, the musketeers in the first row who pulled the triggers quickly moved to the very rear of the formation. And the musketeers in the second row, who had become the lead, raised their muskets and aimed at the Huligai infantry.

“Fire!”

And so, after the musketeer unit repeated advancing and retreating three times, there were no more Huligai infantry coming over the spearmen unit.

To be precise, the Huligai infantry had been annihilated.

Coinciding with the annihilation of the Huligai infantry, the Joseon cavalry units also began the process of finishing off the Huligai cavalry.

The Huligai cavalry desperately resisted the Joseon cavalry, but they could not withstand the six-barreled horse guns held by the Joseon cavalry.

Seeing the attempt of the Huligai warriors to break through the Joseon army’s formation being thwarted, Lee Soon-mong ordered his staff officer.

“Send a signal to the 2nd and 3rd Mobile Strike Units and the Wudihe tribes. Tell them to clean up what’s left behind.”

“Yes, General.”

After a moment, the signal bearer waved the signal flag.

As the Mobile Strike Units, confirming Lee Soon-mong’s order, moved toward the remaining tribesmen of Manchu and Mentemu, the cavalry of the Wudihe tribe also began to move.

***

As the cavalry of the Wudihe tribe moved in coordination with the movement of the Joseon military’s Mobile Strike Units, the cavalry of the Huligai tribe, which had been keeping the Wudihe tribe in check, had to block the Wudihe tribe’s path.

However, their morale had hit rock bottom. It was because they had clearly witnessed their main force being annihilated with their own eyes.

“Fight! If we collapse here too, our families will all become slaves!”

At the tribal chief’s blood-spitting shout, they forcibly mustered their strength and blocked the Wudihe tribe’s path, but the situation of being outnumbered by about 1:3 was unavoidable.

In the end, the last warriors of the Huligai tribe fought desperately to block the Wudihe tribe and were literally swept away.

Watching all the warriors of the tribe die, the remaining people of the Huligai tribe and the Odoli tribe desperately tried to turn their wagons and attempt to escape.

However, those targeting them clung to them tenaciously.

As a significant number of the remaining men turned into corpses, the tribespeople of the Huligai and Odoli tribes gave up everything and accepted their end.

And so, the survivors of the Odoli and Huligai who fell into the hands of the Joseon military and the Wudihe tribe numbered about 20,000. And most of them were women and children.

With the survivors of the Huligai and Odoli tribes in the middle, the Joseon cavalry and the cavalry of the Wudihe tribe surrounded them in layers.

While the survivors of the Huligai and Odoli were shedding tears of blood, thinking about their bleak future, Lee Soon-mong was discussing the distribution of the spoils with the Buyeo and chiefs of the Wudihe tribe.

“Our Joseon will take 80% of the spoils.”

“That’s a bit…”

At Lee Soon-mong’s words, the Buyeo of the Wudihe tribe had a troubled expression.

Although they played a supporting role, the sacrifices that occurred in the small-scale battles on the way to Jilin were not insignificant.

Therefore, if it were up to him, he would want to overturn the table right away, but the problem was that he couldn’t do that.

‘If we overturn the table here, we will end up like those Huligai and Odoli!’

Considering the overwhelming firepower the Joseon military had shown against the Huligai and Odoli warriors just before, it was something that should never be overturned.

Moreover, according to the report of the scouts who had gone out for reconnaissance and returned, there were nearly 20,000 Joseon troops that had come up to 20 ri away.

If they made even a small mistake, the Wudihe would also follow the fate of the Huligai and Odoli.

However, taking only a mere 20% of those many spoils was a huge loss.

As if knowing the mind of the Wudihe Buyeo, Lee Soon-mong continued.

“Ah! The spoils mentioned by our Joseon do not include the people.”

“Does that mean… you will hand over all those people to us?”

“That’s right.”

At Lee Soon-mong’s answer, the face of the Wudihe Buyeo brightened.

‘This changes things!’

Most of the survivors of the Huligai and Odoli over there were women and children. They were the most valuable beings.

With that number of heads, not only could they fulfill the number of slaves they needed, but they could also sell them to Ming or other tribes and make a tidy profit.

In the end, after a few more back-and-forth negotiations, the negotiation ended.

– Joseon takes 70% of the spoils, including warhorses, various weapons, and agricultural tools.

– The Wudihe tribe takes the survivors of the Huligai and Odoli tribes and 30% of the spoils.

After the negotiation between the two sides ended, the soldiers of the Joseon military and the Wudihe tribe began the distribution work.

Lee Soon-mong and the command post stepped aside and directed the distribution work and battlefield cleanup.

“Separate the corpses of our troops from the enemy’s corpses!”

“Wrap the corpses of our troops in blankets and load them on wagons!”

“Don’t forget to pay respects!”

The Joseon soldiers silently paid tribute to their fallen comrades and collected the corpses as carefully as possible.

However, the corpses of the Huligai and Odoli tribal warriors who killed them did not receive such treatment.

The Joseon soldiers roughly stripped the armor from the corpses, gathered the weapons separately, and loaded them onto wagons.

On one side, large pits began to be dug to dispose of the corpses of the Huligai and Odoli tribal warriors after the collection work was finished. Once those pits were completed, the corpses of the Huligai and Odoli tribal warriors would be thrown in and cremated.

Watching the soldiers busily moving around in all directions, a staff officer said to Lee Soon-mong.

“Wasn’t it too generous to hand over the prisoners to those Wudihe bastards?”

“It was the royal command issued by His Majesty. The General Staff also agreed.”

“I know that, but now that I see that number of heads, I’m saying it’s a waste. Joseon lacks everything, but isn’t the most lacking thing people?”

At the staff officer’s words, Lee Soon-mong clicked his tongue softly.

“Tsk! Did you see the eyes of those prisoners? They were brimming with venom. Do you think it will be beneficial to bring those venomous bastards to Joseon? Do you want to suffer catching bastards like Hwacheok again?”

“If we tame them moderately…”

“The best thing to do is to leave it to those who know how to properly remove the venom.”

Pointing at the Wudihe tribe with his chin, Lee Soon-mong concluded.

“By the time the eastern expedition is over and we head west again, those guys will have removed the venom on their own. That’s the best way.”