Black Corporation: Joseon - Chapter 739
Episode 739: Rain (9)
After hearing the answer he wanted from Han Taek-gil, Lee Gil-son returned to the office and checked the situation.
“What is the damage?”
asked Lee Gil-son, a subordinate answered as he shuffled through the paper.
“There are five deaths and twenty injuries. Eight of them are seriously injured.”
“What about the slaves?”
“The number of injured slaves brought in is approximately 320. The number of dead has not been determined yet. We will check immediately with the number of remaining slaves. I am sorry.”
Seeing his subordinate lowering his head, Lee Gil-son lightly waved his hand.
“It is too late to check now. More than half of them must have run away. And there is no need to worry about the slaves as it is the responsibility of the alliance. What about the damage to the hired locals?” “
About 20 people were killed and about 70 were injured.”
“Unexpectedly, the damage was small?”
“As soon as I saw the bandits, I was the first to run away. But as soon as the attack was over, I came back and cleaned up the scene.”
“Pay sufficient compensation to the families of the deceased and those injured, and also pay rewards to those who participated in the on-site recovery.”
“yes.”
“What is the situation on the scene now?”
“The Dongmyeong Army has been dispatched to the scene and is guarding the scene. But what comes next is the problem.”
Lee Gil-son nodded at his subordinate’s point.
“We don’t have enough troops. To be precise, the number of bandits is increasing, but we can’t get reinforcements.”
* * *
After the Battle of Suez ended, the Allies drastically reduced the number of troops stationed in Suez.
It was not because they believed in the agreement, but because of war expenses and political struggle.
The main players in the war during this period were mercenaries.
Most of those who were most familiar with not only traditional cold weapons but also the latest weapons, guns and cannons, belonged to mercenaries.
Therefore, stationing a large army in Suez was not an easy task even for the Medici family.
The best way to solve this problem was to station a standing army, but the second reason was holding it back.
In France and Portugal, there was still a struggle between nobles and kings.
* * *
The Duke of Braganza, who purged Afonso, Count of Barcellus, and his associates, resigned from his position as regent as soon as Afonso V became an adult and acted as chancellor of the kingdom.
What was interesting was the actions of the Duke of Braganza, who seized military power and power.
He was preoccupied with consolidating the royal authority rather than consolidating his own power.
The problem was that the person who would become the owner of this increasingly strong royal power was not Afonso V, but his son, Joao II.
This was the result of Afonso V’s choice.
When Count Barcellus was alive, Afonso V joined hands with him to push out the Duke of Braganza.
However, due to the Duke of Braganza’s counterattack, Count Barcellus and the nobles were purged.
Afonso V, who saw Count Barcellus and other nobles dying before his eyes, did not step forward even though the Duke of Braganza stepped down as prime minister of the kingdom.
Afonso V still entrusted power to the Duke of Braganza and spent his days indulging in alcohol and women.
“That’s bad.”
After confirming the situation of Afonso V, the Duke of Braganza focused on strengthening the royal authority for King Joao II, who was born to his daughter Isabella, Afonso V’s concubine.
And France was in a similar situation.
The only difference was that Charles VII’s biggest enemy was his son, Louis XI.
* * *
Because of this situation, the Allies were unable to deploy many troops to Suez.
Therefore, the allies mainly operated cavalry.
The cavalry operated by the Allies was very different from the existing cavalry in Europe and the Middle East. It was not a knightly order formed by wealthy commoners or nobles at their own expense, but a cavalry unit managed by the state, similar to an empire. As for armament, similar to the Empire, long guns were the main force.
Before we knew it, the allied forces stationed in Suez began calling this cavalry ‘Dragoon’.
It was the emergence of dragoons who were far ahead of their time.
Although it was a powerful cavalry unit, its size was small compared to the area it was supposed to protect.
Because of this, people who were not sure whether they were bandits or Mamluk cavalry began to set up camp, and this time they suffered greatly.
* * *
Gilson Lee, who was complaining about the fatal weakness of the allies, gave an order to his subordinates.
“The Imperial Army has moved. Prepare the iron horse immediately for the Imperial Army to use.”
The subordinate’s face brightened at Lee Gil-son’s command.
“Are you finally moving?”
“Yes.”
“I will prepare right away!”
The subordinate answered loudly and ran outside immediately.
“Wow!”
Not long after, a loud shout was heard from outside. Lee Gil-son smiled bitterly at the shouts raised by the imperial people.
“They’re people who just can’t live with what they’ve suffered…”
Lee Gil-son, who said that, was also from the empire. Lee Gil-son glared at the map hanging on the wall and laughed bitterly.
“I had fun so I’ll be excited and come back again. That day is your memorial day.”
* * *
‘The Imperials are preparing for revenge! ‘
Allied commanders and envoys who heard the rumor came straight out and headed to the railroad construction headquarters.
“Hmm…”
“Hoo?”
The allied commanders’ eyes began to shine after seeing the movements of the imperialists.
Unlike before, two iron horses were bundled into one, and large flat cars were additionally connected to the middle and rear of the front freight cars of the iron horse.
After confirming that it was properly connected, the imperialists mobilized local people and slaves and began stacking sand bags on flatbed trucks.
Once the defense facilities were prepared with sandbags, the imperial army began loading military wagons and toys for firing Bigyeok Jincheonhoe.
The expressions of the allied commanders who saw this changed from serious to serious.
“You could call it a moving fortress. I understand why two iron horses were mobilized.”
The allied commanders nodded at the Portuguese commander’s words. I received the words while stroking the beard of the Ottoman commander, who nodded to the Portuguese commander’s evaluation.
“Come to think of it… we’ve never seen how the Empire fights on the ground, have we?” “
That’s right…”
“We need to provide military support.”
* * *
The imperial army gave a simple response to the alliance’s offer to support its troops.
‘Not required. We repay what we have received.’
“You’re arrogant.”
The Florentine commander responded to the French commander’s words.
“If there are too many troops, the bandits will not attack, so I agree that it is not necessary.”
“At best, it looks like 200 to 300. Is that possible?”
In the end, the allied commanders deployed several of their trustworthy subordinates disguised as local residents.
* * *
Construction resumed with materials supplied to the site using heavily armed iron horses.
However, contrary to expectations, the raid did not continue immediately, and the imperial army began to gradually become bored.
“It’s going to be a hot day, so if you’re going to come, come quickly!”
The sun was blocked by the tent erected on the flatbed, but the heat was still there. Therefore, the imperial army, exhausted from the heat, waited for the bandits even more patiently.
After thirty-seven days (21 days) of waiting, the imperial army and the Mamluk cavalry finally met.
* * *
A sand dune a little away from the construction site.
Mahdi, who was hiding on the ridge and examining the scene with a telescope, clicked his tongue lightly.
“Tsk! The defense has been strengthened as expected.”
“What should we do? Should we back down?”
At the question of his subordinate who was watching along with him, Mahdi turned and looked down the hill.
At the bottom of the hill his men waited for his orders.
Mahdi, who was looking at his subordinates with confident expressions, turned his head again and looked at the scene.
“Now we are at 2000… No matter how you look at them, they don’t look like they can exceed 300, but the problem is the freight cars…”
Mahdi muttered as he looked at the freight cars on the iron horse through a telescope.
Because of the bitter memories of being hit by a freight train in the last war, Mahdi was most concerned about the existence of the freight train.
“There isn’t one…”
Mahdi, unable to find the large, six-barreled freight car, made up his mind.
“There is no freight car! Then hit!”
* * *
“Hot, hot…”
While the imperial soldiers, exhausted from the heat, were grumbling, bells and screams suddenly broke out.
Ding ding ding!
“It’s the enemy! It’s the enemy!”
The imperial army, which had been stretched out by the people’s cries, urgently stood up.
“Where are you?”
“Over there! Over there!”
Boredom disappeared from the eyes of the imperial soldiers as they looked in the direction pointed by the people running on iron horses.
At the top of a distant sand dune, thousands of cavalry clad in black from head to toe were glaring at the imperial army.
“Evacuate the workers and slaves!”
“Prepare for battle! Prepare for battle!”
While the railroad employees were evacuating the workers and slaves, the imperial soldiers removed the packaging covering the cannons of the freight cars and began preparing for war.
When the deputy gunner took out the bullet belt from the cartridge and inserted it into the bullet hole of the freight car, the gunner vigorously turned the rotating shaft attached to the body.
Slam! Slam!
“Ready!”
The imperial troops, who had finished preparing everything from freight cars to toys and general musketeers, announced in loud voices that they were ready.
At that time, the enemies on the hill began charging.
“It’s coming!”
* * *
Doo doo doo doo!
With the sound of horses’ hooves pounding through the earth, the commanders commanding the imperial army shouted to their soldiers while holding horseback rifles in their hands.
“Wait! Wait! Wait a little longer!”
“Wait a little longer!”
The soldiers who were waiting for the commanders’ orders swallowed dry saliva as they looked at the enemies coming closer and closer.
‘Wait? It’s already right around the corner? ‘
‘If you get any closer from here, shouldn’t you be punching instead of shooting? ‘
The commanders pulled the trigger when they saw the murderous eyes of the running enemies.
bang!
“Let go!”
Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tang!
As soon as the commanders’ orders were given, the gunners on the boxcars pressed the triggers in unison.
As soon as the fire trucks started spewing fire, hell broke out.
The Mamluk cavalrymen and the horses they were riding became covered in blood and started rolling on the ground.
50 sheets in front of the iron horse (about 150m).
This was the place where the life and death of the Mamluk cavalrymen who attacked the construction site were decided.
Very few Mamluk cavalry crossed the line. However, they too were caught by the waiting musketeers and either lost their lives or were seriously injured and fell to the ground.
“Damn it! Was there a new freight car!”
Mahdi, who saw the scene of the massacre, gritted his teeth and lamented his mistake.
The freight car was the only being that showed that kind of firepower. But he swears to Allah that the freight car he knew did not exist.
What he meant was that the pagans, who deserved Allah’s curse, had created a new freight car.
“Retreat! Retreat….”
Puff poop!
Just when the Mahdi decided to retreat, the waiting toys simultaneously fired their Bikkeokjincheonhoe.
As a trick to deliberately shorten the ignition time, the Bigyeokjincheonroe exploded all at once above the heads of the Mamluk cavalry.
The Mamluk cavalrymen, hit by an unexpected rain of steel fragments, could not even scream and fell to the ground along with their horses.
Among them was the Mahdi.
* * *
After about an hour (about 2 hours), the battle was over.
The number of Mamluk cavalrymen who fled from the scene of brutal slaughter did not exceed 30.
“Oh Allah…”
The locals who returned after the battle looked for God as soon as they saw the hell that unfolded before their eyes.