The Battle of Shenyang (Part 2)
To secure the Hun River, small coastal boats for coastal use—borrowed from the French Far Eastern Fleet a few days earlier—had finally arrived.
They had steamed up from far downriver, trailing thick black smoke that stretched like a dark ribbon across the sky, a visible proof of their steamship nature. Given the swift current of the Hun River, they had advanced cautiously, engines throttled low to avoid accidents.
Yet the Republican soldiers who had rested for days and polished their weapons could not conceal their bewilderment.
“Small…?”
“That’s what I thought.”
These were nothing like the massive French warships they had seen at Yingkou or Lushun. Crawling toward them like turtles, the French boats were barely larger than the ferryboats they had seen at the Han River dock.
Disappointment lasted only a moment. Then bugles sounded, and the shouts of NCOs and sergeants cracked like whips across their plump backsides. The soldiers were herded toward the predetermined assembly point along the riverbank, where battalions and companies were formed up.
“The 3rd Regiment—the vanguard of the National Revolutionary War!”
At the general’s command, the crows’ beaks of the battlefield turned in unison: the dark South Blue of the North Army, the faded gray of the Southern Alliance, and the pitch-black uniforms that looked like the hair of a young girl.
But their gazes did not rest on the general’s face.
Instead, they were fixed on a young captain whose upper body barely reached the platform slightly higher than the general’s. His face was only partially visible from a distance, yet he was trying desperately to make himself seen.
When the soldiers focused on him, the young captain—the origin of the Joseon Revolution, the Tongryeong of the Republic, and their young monarch—raised his hand and waved.
<Waaaah!!!>
The light from the sharply honed bayonets flashed in every direction. Against the backdrop of the surging riverbank dyed entirely in pitch black, the sight of a single boy waving his white hand was truly eerie.
The scene was mechanical, yet chills ran down spines. Among the international press corps—mostly Japanese—William Russell stood out with his exotic face, and his young apprentice Ernest Bethell, who had claimed the role of apprentice, found the atmosphere novel and different from previous battlefields. The hearts of every journalist in the corps began to race, and they too grew excited.
Once the boy’s aura—leader, revolutionary, and young monarch—had faded, the figure standing on the platform, leaning on a large sword, was Han Seong-geun, the vanguard commander of the Northern Expedition and commander of the 3rd Regiment of the People’s Army.
Like in the old days, when a national monarch had stood tense and nerves sharpened on the front line with his soldiers, he called out in a loud voice.
“The revolution is here with us!”
His eyes bloodshot, the whites turning red with congestion, he shouted again.
“So let us report victory to the Republic’s people and the Tongryeong!”
<Long live! Long live! Long live!>
With the general’s roar, cheers and shouts erupted from every direction.
Battalions, companies, regiments, and divisions filled with conscript militias roared in unison. The thunderous cheers echoed across the southern bank of the Hun River, through the city village of Shenyang, and reached even the observation post where the People’s Army encampment and French artillery batteries were preparing to deploy.
Han Seong-geun, seeing the morale of the People’s Army higher than ever before, reaching toward the heavens with their cheers and fighting spirit, thrust his sword forward and commanded.
“Charge! Forward charge!”
“Charge! Charge!”
<Waaaah!!!>
With the firm command, hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of soldiers leaped into the Hun River without hesitation.
Without an inch of fear, they advanced straight toward the northern part of Shenyang—whether through prefabricated bridges, requisitioned ferry boats, or on foot.
To the People’s Army who witnessed the living revolution, there was no more fear.
Yet, unlike the soldiers’ enthusiasm for plunging into the fast-flowing Hun River with a splash, the Qing army—being no fools—began fierce artillery fire and resistance against the Republican forces crossing the river and pushing into the northern Shenyang.
「Koon!」
A deafening scream accompanied a shell that fell nearby. A French naval officer, now a wet rat, poured out curses while gripping the helm and leaning his upper body back sharply.
“Hoo.”
The Qing shell had sunk far into the river water, much farther than before. Yet the sight of the iron shell disappearing into the river with white foam streaming at high speed was not a pleasant sight for Hong Beom-do and his subordinates who had boarded the French boat.
At that moment, the French captain gripping the helm of the boat saw his subordinate fidgeting and thought a problem had arisen, his expression turning serious as he asked.
“W-what are you saying?”
“Don’t let go of the railing! The force of the shell sinking into the river pulls people along!”
“Hiik!”
“Haha!”
Shocked by the translation of Hong Beom-do, the soldiers fell from the railing of the boat. Seeing that, Hong Beom-do—clad in iron armor, two M1903 revolvers at his waist, and the spiked club from before—laughed.
Another shell fell even closer to the side of the boat, sending a large splash of water. The soldiers who had fallen from the railing shouted again.
But the more shocking scene that followed left them unable to close their mouths or scream. They witnessed the horrific sight.
With an immense shockwave, a big explosion erupted nearby.
“Such…”
“Damn it… there shouldn’t be such damn things…”
Unluckily for them and luckily for the Qing, one of the Qing artillery batteries that had only been firing blanks completely vaporized a ferry boat carrying soldiers.
Whether it was a high-explosive shell or just a dumb iron shell, Hong Beom-do himself had no way of knowing. But the French captain gripping the helm was anxious as he hurriedly raised the engine to full speed with even worse curses.
He was now without any leeway, shouting at his subordinates who were going mad from the aftershock of the explosion, scattering debris of people and limbs everywhere.
“Everyone, stick to the inside as much as possible! If you don’t want to become ghosts by bad luck!”
While they struggled to moor the boats on the northern bank of the river, on the other side trying to secure a bridgehead through the prefabricated bridge, the number of casualties was increasing geometrically.
“Keuk!”
“Eh, mom…”
“H-help me! Help me!”
“Save the people!”
Unlike the boats spreading freely across the river to cross, this side had fixed coordinates and areas, so the Qing shells were falling. There was no way to avoid their artillery fire.
What they could rely on was only the French support artillery that could silence the Qing batteries through cannon fire. Until then, they had to face the shells on foot and install the bridge quickly.
In the situation where the smell of blood and water was everywhere, Hong Beom-do and his unit members seized the best opportunity and were the first to cross the river.
When the head of the boat touched the bank, the French captain shouted in broken Korean.
“Get down! Get down!”
“What the hell are you doing, you idiots! Get down quickly!!”
With the command, Hong Beom-do jumped into the mud first. His feet sank to the ankle due to the heavy armor weight.
In that situation, using his large stature to pull out a few hesitant subordinates, he pulled out the revolvers at his waist with animal-like reflexes and shot forward while shouting.
“Enemy!”
Even though he was discovered first by Hong Beom-do, the Qing soldier who was shot first by him fell forward with a gasp.
Behind him, soldiers from the boat who were trying to disembark and comrades next to him opened fire forward in unison.
“Fire!”
「Bang! Ta-da-da-tang!」
The acrid gunpowder smoke whooshed in front like a tornado, and the pungent bullet smell tickled the tip of Hong Beom-do’s nose. Familiar smell.
Since it was a sudden volley while trying to land from the boat, some fired awkwardly and comically, but the concentrated volley was effective in itself.
When Hong Beom-do’s boat touched the riverbank, the Qing officer who sent the soldiers, of course, and his subordinates were also scattered in the mud in an instant, with dozens of blood splattering.
Despite the horrific bullet wounds, Hong Beom-do smashed the Qing head with his club while screaming, then immediately led his unit members and threw himself onto the levee where the Qing were pouring down.
Then, the first thing that entered their eyes was the high tower. It was the enemy’s observation post.
Since most of the ones who had been pushed this way recently, two enemy soldiers poking only their heads from the observation post fired at them. Hong Beom-do hurriedly hid his body and shouted to the subordinate next to him.
“Throw a grenade! They’ve set up an observation post on the river levee!”
“Th-there was no observation post until last night, right?”
“Probably set up overnight! Don’t talk nonsense, here!”
“Load!”
Without wasting words, the subordinate who pulled out the grenade from the launcher and loaded it handed the launcher. Hong Beom-do aimed it with his eyes and shouted.
“Fire!”
“Fire!”
「Thung, koon!」
Due to the close distance, the tin can grenade successfully landed on the observation post roof, scattering fragments and massacring the Qing who were resisting.
“Direct hit!”
“Advance! Advance!”
Confirming that the meaningful resistance of the enemy was completely eliminated, Hong Beom-do’s subordinates jumped into formation in unison according to his command.
When crossing the river levee, the Qing soldiers who were terrified or stunned scattered in all directions.
“Die, you bastards!”
Behind Hong Beom-do, who was pierced by the shots and bayonets of his unit members and fell, he checked the small barracks of the local commander and the cave next to it, then immediately pulled the fuse of the grenade and threw it into the hole.
“Here!”
「Kuang!」
With the explosion, the ground shook and dust rose. Clearly, that cave was the lodging and wartime shelter for the enemy.
He set fire at the entrance of the cave to complete perfection, then pointed to the remaining observation posts and the encampment behind the stockade and commanded his subordinates.
“Advance! Advance!”
“Kill them all!”
With cheers, curses and shouts followed from all directions. Gunshots, explosions, screams followed, and more screams and curses followed.
“Forward!”
“Stab!”
His unit members in formation herded the wounded Qing soldiers screaming in the corner of the stockade. Those who had been bayoneted or shot were crawling on the ground dirtying it to survive, and naturally, when all enemy soldiers were gathered in one place, Hong Beom-do’s subordinates pulled the triggers.
One side of the blood-soaked stockade would surely later say ‘There was a battle here too.’ in a desolate way.
Meanwhile, Hong Beom-do, leaving the aftermath to his subordinates, immediately jumped to the next levee with a leap, cursing and checking the combat situation of other units.
To say it first, it was very serious.
“Damn it, 1st squad! 2nd squad!”
“Yes!”
Upon the company commander’s order, the squad leaders who jumped up hurriedly like new recruits with tension opened their mouths with serious expressions.
“Originally…, we should have secured that point and acted as a bridgehead for the follow-up troops, but as seen, this terrain is different from what we saw from across the river; it’s a structure that gathers everything inward. No choice. We have to go behind the levee and secure those observation posts over there.”
“U-with us alone…?”
In the place Hong Beom-do pointed, there were at least three observation posts and temporary positions like the one just now.
Of course, it was the Armored Infantry that had the strength to fight one more time without resting, but winning against a force that looked at least five times the number of the company was not an easy thing to say, so the squad leaders had bewildered faces.
To these, Hong Beom-do answered with a wry smile.
“Why, scared?”
“That’s not it…”
“Don’t worry. I’m scared too.”
“Eh?”
Surprisingly, when the company commander honestly confessed his fear, the squad leader was startled and looked back at him.
However, in Hong Beom-do’s eyes, there was no fear. Only, the depth that couldn’t be read as befitting his age conveyed from his eyes.
Hong Beom-do, in front of such subordinates, tapped his breastplate with his finger and spoke.
“This armor blocks bullets from the bastards and blind shells from the bastards, but I’m not putting my life on the line betting on just that. I saw a guy who stuck to the city wall with only this stupidly heavy armor and was torn apart by shells in the last battle.”
“…”
Hong Beom-do emphasized the word “torn apart” and then shrugged his shoulders.
“So, you believe the company commander’s judgment. If we just capture one observation post here and trap all the incoming follow-up troops, that would be real massacre and suicide!”
And this was true.
Because the unit of Hong Beom-do was the vanguard, and as the elite, they had to break through the Hun River and beyond to secure a stable bridgehead as much as possible, so that the river crossing operation with certain death could be ended with the least damage.
With appropriate and excellent judgment, without hesitation, Hong Beom-do, who had searched for the next goal splendidly without contacting the upper command, had no more hesitation.
“1st squad!”
“Yes, sir!”
The 1st squad leader jumped forward. Hong Beom-do pulled his shoulder strongly and commanded.
“You all attack both observation posts in the western direction. Once secured, immediately report and rejoin here. 2nd squad!”
“Yes!”
“You move with me. First attack the place that looks like an observation post in the front to annihilate the enemy, and then secure the stockade behind it. The remaining soldiers, set up stakes and ropes here so that follow-up troops aren’t swept away by the current, prepare for all contingencies!”
After giving each goal, Hong Beom-do finally checked his M1903 revolver, which was now completely empty.
Ammunition was sufficient. Just need to fight again.
Confirming that the short maintenance of the subordinates was over, he commanded.
“Let’s go!”
The iron wolves of the battlefield, who had found the sacrifices, started moving again.