Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 298
Episode 298 Departure. (4)
“All sails are set!”
“Full speed!”
“yes! Well done!”
Upon hearing the reports from his subordinates, Gang Nam-gil, captain of the challenger-class ship No. 3 ‘Maeng Jin (Proceeding Bravely)’, clenched his fists and exclaimed in delight. The adjutant who was commanding the sailors next to Gangnam Road raised his voice.
“I think it’s faster than my top speed during training!”
“good! good!”
Gangnam-gil, who had been nodding his head repeatedly, raised his voice.
“Our ship’s name is Meng Jin! Screw those pirates so as to live up to the name of the ship!”
“ancient!”
The sailors responded loudly to Gangnam-gil’s command.
The morale of the sailors and commanders seemed to be through the roof. But only two people did not.
“Uweek!”
“Yuck!”
Those who opened the cabin window at the stern and vomited were the first lawmakers to board the ship.
The lawmakers sighed after drinking the motion sickness medicine they had prepared just in case.
“The ship and the crew…”
“The name itself was ominous.”
* * *
After the first Challenger-class ship was named ‘Challenger’, the names of the Challenger-class battleships that were launched continued to be given challenging names.
The name of ship number 2 was ‘Invincible’, ship number 3 was ‘Force’, and ship number 5 was ‘Enterprising’.
This was also the case in the sea emergency. From ship number 2 onwards, the ships were named after fast birds of prey or wild beasts.
Thanks to this, those who named the ship and presented it to King Sejong had to wrestle with the Chinese dictionary.
“It would be nice if we just added a place name like before!”
There were people who cried like that, but it was difficult to do so because the panokseons were dominating those names.
* * *
When the Joseon Navy selected captains for Challenger-class and Sea Emergency-class ships, there was only one standard.
‘You will have to experience an unknown area that you have never experienced before, so choose someone who has a strong sense of adventure and is excellent at improvising.’
In accordance with these standards, the navy began to select suitable captains.
“Isn’t this going too far?”
High-ranking officers of the Chiefs of Staff and the Land Naval Forces, who saw the naval forces’ movements, expressed concern. This was because the selection of commanders had already begun when the blueprints for the Challenger-class ship had just been created.
However, the navy scoffed at such concerns.
“joy! If you choose someone after the boat is out, it’s too late! “If you take your time and choose from there, you can choose the right people in time!”
In the end, this issue came up to King Sejong, and King Sejong sided with the naval forces.
“The navy’s argument is reasonable.”
The people selected like that were people like Oh Ha-seok. The reason Oh Ha-seok and his party went to Aden with Mansour was not just to educate them on how to use artillery. It was to see and feel the reality of the distant sea, which was different from the coastal waters of Joseon that he was familiar with as a future ocean-going fleet commander.
As a side note, as the Challenger-class ships were steadily launched, I was able to meet the captains of Hyangdo. After meeting with the captains like that, Hyang was excited.
‘What is it? These idiots!’
It was a fragrance that did not realize that it was also a formidable idiot.
* * *
In many ways, Gangnam-gil was like a symbol of these idiots.
‘He will either become a famous general or become a great thief and become infamous.’
This was the evaluation of the elders of the family and the elderly in the neighborhood who saw Namgil in his childhood.
Although he came from a literary family, Namgil rose to government office through military service due to his personality.
After becoming a military officer, Nam Gil steadily built his career in the Army and Navy. He became a cavalry commander and engaged in chase battles with the Jurchen tribe, and as a naval commander, he commanded ships in the Tsushima conquest army led by Lee Jong-mu.
While general military officers preferred one over the other, such as working on the ground or working on the water, Namgil preferred either service.
On the ground, it was great to become a cavalry commander and have fun riding horses in the plains of Liaodong, and it was great to move to the naval forces and fire off artillery mounted on the front lines. What Nam-gil hated was being confined to a fort or camp.
As time passed and the separation of military branches progressed through King Sejong’s orders, Joseon’s military officers had to decide on their course. From now on, the Navy would continue to be the Navy, and the Army – renamed from the Land Navy – would continue to live as the Army. Therefore, military officers like Nam-gil had to decide their future path.
While Nam-gil was thinking about this, an interesting rumor came to his ears.
-The crown prince claimed in front of the king and ministers, ‘If Joseon is to expand, it must take control of the sea!’
-The king also said that the crown prince’s words were reasonable!
After hearing the rumor, Nam-gil felt his cloudy mind become brighter.
“yes! Since ancient times, it has been said, ‘Men should play in big water!’ Isn’t the ocean truly a big body of water? Mhahahaha!”
Colleagues who were listening to Namgil next to him whispered quietly.
“Is that big water that big water?”
“Probably not?”
In any case, because Ilshin’s abilities and career track record were good, Namgil was able to become the captain of the newly built Challenger class ship.
“good! very good!”
Namgil was very satisfied after seeing the new ship. This was because the speed was fast and there were many guns.
* * *
As most of the captains of the new battleships were ‘talented idiots’ similar to Namgil, the sailors under their command were also formidable.
Recruiting the necessary sailors for new ships was a ‘volunteer priority.’
The first reaction of sailors who saw the proclamation posted throughout Joseon was negative.
“I’m sailing to a place where I don’t know what’s going on and I don’t know when I’ll return, so why get stuck there? “It’s not like I’m carrying around an extra life.”
However, the merchant ships of Mansour’s upper class stopped by regularly, and the sailors who followed Oh Ha-seok to Aden and Alexandria volunteered to operate the newly built ships.
The crew members who had traveled to a foreign country shared their experiences with their colleagues.
“The courtesans at the base of Alexandria have hair as if made of gold, and their breasts and buttocks are as big as a piece of meat!”
“Even if you take just one stick, which is common in Joseon, and sell it, you will only get a few nyang of gold!”
“If you go there, they sell spices like pepper like rice at Ssajjeon!”
The cold sailors began to shake little by little from the experience, which was a mixture of great bragging and a little bit of truth.
And Mansour’s fleet, which regularly visited Joseon, also shook the hearts of the sailors. Curiosity began to outweigh fear as people with skin color and appearance that were significantly different from the Koreans, Japanese, and Chinese, such as the Ogwija (烏鬼子) sailors, became familiar.
And just in time, the government issued a new proclamation.
-Additional reward money paid.
“Gazuaa!”
“Whoa!”
Perhaps because the proclamation was so effective, the reception desk for accepting applications was blocked.
What’s interesting is that this wasn’t limited to the naval forces. Many young people heard this rumor and knocked on Suyeong’s door. It was a different situation from the past when people avoided the naval forces, saying, ‘Sinryangyeokcheon (the status of a nobleman is noble, but the work he does is low).’
* * *
Because it was a ship full of these people, Maeng Jin-ho’s mood was not one of fear but of excitement.
However, the soldiers and commanders who handled the artillery did not lose sight of the last reason.
“Handle with care! “If you make a mistake, it’s you who become meat, not those pirates!”
“yes!”
When the gunnery commanders commanding the guns on the first and second floor decks were ready, they grabbed their guns and shouted.
“Ready!”
“The naval guns are ready.”
According to the manager’s report, Gangnam-gil inspected other parts.
“What is the arrangement of the shotguns and musketeers on the first floor deck?”
“Done!”
“Are all the musketeers positioned at the watchtower?”
“Done!”
After receiving the manager’s report, Gangnam-gil turned his head back.
The other two sister ships formed a single line at an appropriate distance and were chasing Maeng Jin, who was on board.
“Indeed….”
After the lightening, Gangnam-gil was satisfied with seeing his fellow ships moving quickly and accurately, as befits the Joseon navy, which is notorious in the coastal waters of Joseon. He took out a telescope, unfolded it, and observed the pirate ships.
“It’s as big as a ship, and the number is about twenty? And it’s reasonably sticky. “Is there anything I can be more thankful for?”
After checking the situation, Gang Nam-gil handed over the telescope to the manager, opened the wheelhouse door, and shouted.
“Go straight!”
“Straight!”
Gangnam-gil, who gave the order, looked at the pirate ships and imagined the future situation.
The Joseon fleet that made up Danjongjin would attack the center of the dense pirate group and tear the dense pirate fleet apart.
“Heh! “This will probably be your first time experiencing a battle like this.”
The expression on Gangnam-gil’s face as he looked at the pirate ship resembled that of a wild beast with its prey in front of it.
* * *
If Gangnam-gil had the look of a wild beast in front of its prey, Zhao, the leader of the pirate fleet, had a similar look.
“Dan Jong-jin? Are you trying to push in?”
After seeing the formation of the Joseon fleet and understanding its intentions, Commander Zhao nodded slightly.
“If you’re that big, it’s worth thinking about that. “I don’t know what country it was made in, but it’s quite big.”
The large gray front approaching from in front was quite large. It was a ship as large as the Bosun of the Zheng He fleet that I last saw a few years ago. The problem was that it was my first time seeing a ship. Similar-looking ships had never been seen anywhere in the Ming, Wae, and Joseon in that corner.
“But you saw us too easily.”
His fleet was also comprised of pirates who had been pirating for generations in these rough seas. It would have been a fatal misjudgment to come in believing only in size.
“And…”
Leader Zhao glanced at the deck of the ship he was on. There were six guns on the deck. It was a Ming military artillery piece that I had secretly obtained by contacting a black marketeer of the Ming Dynasty some time ago.
* * *
He was a scary guy who could throw a heavy iron ring weighing almost 30 pounds (about 18 kg) up to about 200 paces (about 240 meters).
The black marketeer who handed over the artillery assured in a confident voice.
“The best artillery of the Ming army! “There is no one who can beat this!”
“I heard that the Joseon Navy’s artillery can travel far?”
The black marketer shook his head at Director Zhao’s words.
“Shipbuilding? Ah, Joseon also used a lot of artillery. But how good can the performance of artillery made by such a small country be? “This artillery is made by the Ming Dynasty, made by the Ming Empire!”
* * *
Leader Zhao, who had been pondering the words of the black marketeer, came out of his thoughts and checked the situation.
“Are the artillery ready?”
“Yes sir!”
“Have you properly prepared your fire arrows?”
“Yes sir!”
“I told you to just aim for the sails this time. “Don’t make me have a hard time putting out the fire by hitting it in a faraway place like last time.”
“Yes sir!”
Fire arrows were one of the attack methods favored by pirates. Fire was the biggest enemy of wooden ships. Of course, a hull that had been floating in the sea and retained moisture for a long time did not easily catch fire. However, the moment the fiery arrow hit, the attention of the other crew members was distracted, creating a gap.
In addition to that purpose, fire arrows were useful, and the first thing to aim for when shooting fire arrows was the sails of the enemy ship. The moment the sail caught fire, the opponent looked like a fish on a chopping block.
After confirming that his subordinate pirates were ready, Commander Zhao looked at the other pirate ships. As the enemy ship approached Danjongjin, fellow ships were quietly gathering.
The moment the enemies formed a single line and jumped into the center, the pirate ships gathered around them were ready to pounce.
Those ships I had seen for the first time in my life had the intention of breaking through, relying solely on their size, but the situation would have been like a wild boar caught in a net.