Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 271

Episode 271: Battle of Songhua River. (10)

Before entering the military, most soldiers in the Joseon Army were farmers. To such people, axes and sickles, especially sickles, were very familiar tools.

Joseon’s farmers could handle the sickle almost as if it were their own hand. And that’s how versatile the Joseon Dynasty’s sickle – to be exact, a wooden sickle – was.

When harvesting, cutting down rice and barley was the starting point, removing weeds, pruning, and cutting down trees were basic tasks, and also catching poisonous snakes and snakes that came out of the bushes.

‘When you encounter a snake, a nobleman catches it with a bow, and a nobleman catches it with a sickle.’

This was common knowledge in Joseon at the time.

What was interesting was that the people holding sickles and pottery were new swordsmen who had only recently become spearmen.

Veteran soldiers who had been practicing longsword skills for at least 3 years, with an average of 5 years, engaged in close combat with only one longsword.

If you look at the long swords of those old soldiers, the only thing that was the same was the length of the blade.

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

As the construction progressed, the standard Yeongjocheok (營造尺) was built, measuring 4 cheoks (approximately 1.2m). The length of the blade is 3 cheok (approximately 90 cm) and the length of the handle is 1 cheok (approximately 30 cm).

The form is a double-edged straight sword.

All spear swordsmen were trained and put into battle with identically made long swords.

And veteran soldiers who had experienced various battles and gained experience through sparring began to try their hand at their beloved swords.

The part that the veterans touched was the hilt.

The first one to touch was Kodungi (Guard).

Some people attached heavy iron weights to both ends of the nose, while others lengthened the nose and made it pointy. Or there were those who made both ends into the shape of a small ax and even had a blade.

The reason for changing the shape of the nose like this was to win in close combat.

When holding the sword upside down and striking the enemy, this transformed nose robbed the enemy of victory.

Old soldiers who were not satisfied with their noses also tried their hand at the sword pommel.

The long swords issued to new spearmen had a large, round piece of metal on the end of the hilt.

The idea was to balance the sword and use it as a substitute for a blunt weapon in hand-to-hand combat.

However, veteran soldiers who had experience in actual combat made this sword fighting style even more difficult.

By intentionally moving the center of gravity back, the direction of the blade could be manipulated more quickly and freely just by moving the wrist. It was an improvement made through experience that was imprinted on the body without even knowing the principle of the lever.

Those who gained more experience there changed the shape of Geompadusik to the shape of a Jeong (釘).

The purpose was to inflict fatal wounds by cutting the back or back of the neck of an enemy who was trying to grab his torso and knock him down in hand-to-hand combat.

In addition, various decorations were added to the swords of the veteran spearmen, except for the sword blades. They all had different shapes.

* * *

Spearmen carrying long swords and axes and sickles engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Huligai infantry.

“die!”

To block the spearman’s scythe, the Huligai infantryman instinctively raised his arms and covered his face.

“Ouch!”

The Huigai infantryman, blocking the scythe with his arm, screamed.

The sickle that the Joseon army struck cut off more than half of the forearm as well as the toshi made of well-trimmed leather.

The Huigai infantryman’s strength was drained from his body by the terrible pain shooting up his arm.

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

Next to him, another spearman grabbed his waist and slashed his sharp-edged sword towards the back of the Huligai infantryman who was trying to knock him down.

Yeo Jin-in, whose chest was pierced by a sword sharp as an awl, suddenly became suffocated and could not even voice out.

Yeo Jin-in began to struggle due to his sudden shortness of breath, and the spearman who was freed from his restraints struck his long sword at Yeo Jin-in’s neck.

When the spearman’s sword struck like that, Yeo Jin-in’s head fell to the ground like an apple falling from an apple tree.

* * *

The spearmen were fighting fiercely, blocking the Huigai tribe’s infantry, but the Huigai infantry that had broken through their defense line also began to come out.

The Huligai infantrymen, who had overcome or bypassed the wall of spearmen, began running toward the Joseon army gunmen camped about 20 yards (about 60m) away.

The commander of the musketry shouted as the Huligai infantry came running.

“Prepare cross fire! March! Aim at the first row! shooting!”

Ta-ta-tang!

As soon as the commander’s order was given, the riflemen in the first row pulled the trigger in unison. In an instant, the riflemen in the back row took the lead through the rising smoke.

“aiming! Bangpo!”

Ta-ta-tang!

Following the commander’s orders, the musketeers moved their positions as if a cart was turning and continued to advance and fire.

The Huligai infantrymen, who received concentrated fire from the musketeers, hesitated on the spot. No, it was collapsing under gunfire coming from the front.

As the musketeers made two rounds, the distance between the Huligai infantry and the musketry units closed to about 10 pieces (about 30m).

The commander of the rifle corps, who had been assessing the distance, gave the order again.

“Go away! Aim at the first row! shooting!”

Ta-ta-tang!

Following the commander’s order, the first line of riflemen pulled the trigger and quickly moved to the very back of the line. And the leading two-line musketeers raised their rifles and aimed them at the Huligai infantry.

“Bangpo!”

As the rifle corps repeated forward and backward three times, there were no more Huligai infantrymen crossing the spear corps.

To be precise, the Huligai infantry had been annihilated.

Coinciding with the annihilation of the Huligai infantry, the Joseon Army cavalry also took steps to eliminate the Huligai cavalry.

The Huligai cavalry desperately resisted the Joseon cavalry, but they could not withstand the flesh-and-blood horseback rifles carried by the Joseon cavalry.

Yi Sun-mong, who saw that the Huligai warriors’ attempt to break through the Joseon army’s camp was thwarted, gave an order to his staff.

“Send a signal to the 2nd and 3rd Mobile Strike Team and the Woodiger tribes. “I tell you to organize what’s left behind.”

“Yes general.”

After a while, the rider waved the signal.

As the mobile strike force confirmed Yi Sun-mong’s order and moved towards the remaining tribe members of Man-ju Lee and Muntumu, the cavalry of the Woodiger tribe also began to move.

* * *

As the cavalry of the Woodiger tribe moved in sync with the mobile strike force of the Joseon army, the cavalry of the Huligai tribe, which was keeping the Woodiger tribe in check, had to block the path of the Woodiger tribe.

But their morale was at its lowest. This was because they clearly saw with their own eyes the sight of their main base being annihilated.

“Fight! “If we fall here, our whole family will become slaves!”

Hearing the blood-vomiting cry of the tribal leader, he forced himself to stay strong and blocked the Woodiger tribe, but he could not help but be outnumbered about 1:3.

Eventually, the last warriors of the Huligai tribe were literally wiped out in a desperate battle to stop the Woodiger tribe.

Seeing all the tribe’s warriors dying, the remaining members of the Huligai and Odori tribes desperately attempted to escape by turning their wagons around.

However, those targeting them fell prey to them.

As many of the remaining men turned into corpses, the Huligai and Odori tribesmen gave up everything and accepted their end.

There were about 20,000 survivors of Odori and Huligai who fell into the hands of the Joseon army and the Woodiger tribe. And most of them were women and children.

The survivors of the Huligai and Odori tribes were surrounded by cavalrymen from the Joseon army and cavalry from the Woodiger tribe.

While the survivors of Huligai and Odori were shedding tears of blood as they thought about their bleak future, Yi Sun-mong was discussing the distribution of the spoils with Birer and the chieftains of the Woodiger tribe.

“We, Joseon, will take 80% of the loot.”

“That’s a bit…”

Hearing Lee Soon-mong’s words, the Woodiger tribe’s Burer looked embarrassed.

No matter how auxiliary the role was, the sacrifices that occurred in the small battles that took place on the way to Jilin were significant.

So, I wanted to overthrow the game right away, but the problem was that I couldn’t.

‘If we upset the situation here, we’ll end up like those hooligai and Odori!’

Considering the overwhelming firepower that the Joseon army had shown against the Huligai and Odori warriors just moments ago, it was absolutely impossible to overturn the game.

According to reports from scouts who returned from scouting in the outskirts, the Joseon army, numbering nearly 20,000, had reached a distance of 20 ri.

If there was even the slightest mistake, Woodiger would follow in the footsteps of Hooligai and Odori.

However, taking only 20% of that much loot was a huge loss.

Lee Sun-mong seemed to know Woodiger Buerer’s feelings and continued speaking.

“ah! “People are not included in the spoils mentioned by our Joseon Dynasty.”

“You mean… you’re going to hand over all those people to us?”

“That’s right.”

Woodiger Buerer’s face brightened at Lee Soon-mong’s answer.

‘This is a different story!’

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

With that number of people, they could not only fill the number of slaves they needed, but also make a good profit by selling them to the Ming Dynasty or other tribes.

Eventually, after several more pushes and pulls, the negotiations ended.

-Joseon takes 70% of the loot, including war horses and various weapons and farm implements.

-The Woodiger tribe takes the survivors of the Huligai and Odori tribes and 30% of the loot.

Once the negotiations between both sides were over, the Joseon army and the warriors of the Woodiger tribe began distribution work.

Yi Sun-mong and the command staff stepped aside and directed the distribution work and battlefield clearance work.

“Separate the corpses of your allies and the corpses of your enemies!”

“Wrap our soldiers’ bodies in blankets and put them on the cart!”

“Don’t forget to be polite!”

The Joseon soldiers paid silent tribute to the bodies of their dead comrades and collected the bodies as carefully as possible.

However, the bodies of the Huligai and Odori tribe warriors who killed them did not receive such treatment.

The Joseon soldiers roughly removed the armor from the corpses, collected the weapons separately, and placed them on carts.

On one side, large pits began to be dug to dispose of the corpses of Huligai and Odori warriors after such collection operations. Once that pit was completed, the bodies of Huligai and Odori tribe warriors would be thrown into it and cremated.

One of the staff members, who was looking at the soldiers moving around in all directions, said to Lee Sun-mong:

“Wasn’t it too generous of you to hand over the prisoners to the Woodigers?”

“This is an order given by His Majesty. “The Chief of Staff also agreed.”

“I know that, but when I look at that number of people, it feels like a waste. “Joseon is lacking in everything, but isn’t it people that it lacks the most?”

Lee Soon-mong clicked his tongue slightly at the words of his advisor.

“Tsk! Have you seen the eyes of those prisoners? The poison was very strong. Do you think there will be any benefit in dragging such poisonous people to Joseon? “Do you want to go through the trouble of catching them again when there are more people like Hwacheok?”

“If you let it heal properly….”

“If you want to remove the poison, it’s best to leave it to those who know how to remove it properly.”

Sunmong Lee concluded by pointing at the Woodiger tribe with the tip of his chin.

“By the time the eastward advance is over and we head west again, they will have drained all the poison on their own. “That’s the best way.”