The Shadow Over Panjin
On the western coast of Shenyang, the central city of China's Liaodong region, lies the port city of Yingkou. Yingkou is the second-largest port city in Liaodong after Lushun, which boasts a military harbor and defensive facilities. Since the Manchu Qing Dynasty's tax exemption had not yet been lifted, preventing the influx of immigrants from North China, the population was a mere thirty thousand. Most residents were fishermen who ventured out to sea daily for traditional fishing activities, making it a typical port village.
A bit further north, there is a county called Panjin. This small village, located only 150 kilometers from Shenyang and about 40 kilometers north of Yingkou, would later grow into an oil-producing region alongside Dazichang and Dongbei due to the discovery of oil fields like the Liaohe Oil Field. In other words, it was a place where oil would one day gush forth in enormous quantities.
But at present, Panjin was merely a small settlement between Yingkou and Shenyang.
Or perhaps, the expression 'small city' would be more fitting than 'small settlement.' Since the time when people in Liaodong began clearing jungles and swamps under official orders, dispatching settlers periodically to start farming, it had been approximately 1,200 years. Thus, from ancient times through the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, the places where people gathered in Liaodong were limited.
Therefore, Panjin's existence was not just a neglected village or town in the eyes of Shenyang and Yingkou; it served as a satellite city of appropriate scale to supply food to the surrounding major cities and ports, and it was not easily dismissed. Moreover, after the Jurchens took control, they established a government-run pasture in this city, steadily supplying horses. Thus, it was not just a village lacking industrial facilities for farming alone.
Panjin was such a village.
It was a village that had to plow furrows in the fields, periodically manage the horses and sheep scattered in the pastures, anticipate the unpredictable weather of Liaodong, and bend their backs under the sun every day. Until it became the foundation of Liaodong's industry and a typical advanced industrial city in the future, it remained such a village.
And there, the shadow of an invasion they had never imagined cast over it.
Dust rose.
A large army.
"... The target is Panjin!"
"This is just a rural village."
Woo Beom-seon, the division commander of the 'Republic's Vanguard' 1st Division, who was also the chief of staff of the Wolf's Lair and an elder of the Youth Vanguard, was cleaning his watch while covered in dust from returning riders and gesturing for them to rest comfortably. He soon pulled out his telescope from his waist and looked through it.
Soon, the view of the small city entered his blurry lens. A typical Chinese brick city wall surrounded the village, with government offices, markets, and residences lined up in the center. The walls, managed similarly to other villages in Liaodong, showed cracks in the middle or had collapsed in places like the walls of a deserted village.
"They are quite decent."
Most such villages lacked sufficient garrison troops or government soldiers, so the residents lived together.
He didn't know the reason, but he had heard that ordinary Qing residents, with their rough temperaments, sometimes fought with each other without hesitation and judged each other on the spot without the leisure to contact the authorities.
But Woo Beom-seon, who believed that the central government's power was strong and that, having interacted with the French and Americans and prided himself on living in a rule-of-law state as a civilized nation like Korea, did not see the barbaric temperaments of the Qing as a reason to ignore the authorities. It was not just 'temperament' but rather 'barbarism' and illegality. It was truly strange.
Anyway, due to such reasons, Woo Beom-seon thought that this village's defense force would be only the village maintenance or some blood relatives of the Manchu officials handling soldiers, so there was no need to worry further. He turned the horse's head. There was no need to waste time devising strategies and deploying troops for such a simple village.
"There's nothing more to see."
Woo Beom-seon, having roughly assessed the city's defensive capabilities, pointed to the city with the tip of his chin and said to his officers.
"Just like before. Each regiment and battalion should mobilize their assigned small arms to shake the city from all directions. When they waver, the selected regiments will advance to the center of the city to seize the urban area. This time, yes. The 3rd Regiment."
"Yes, sir."
"You will select the vanguard this time and advance to the center of the city. Inspect the soldiers."
"Understood!"
The regimental commanders and battalion commanders receiving orders in a stiff manner from the division commander.
Most of them were young officers who had just become regimental commanders after completing training at the Special Skills Force and Japanese military academy, and a few old officers with gray hair stood beside them as advisors. And Woo Beom-seon, while giving orders to the regimental commanders, also paid attention to the elders.
"I would appreciate it if you would properly supplement the young officers who are still lacking."
"Do not worry, General."
"We will follow your orders, General."
The old officers, startled by the division commander's request, knelt, but Woo Beom-seon just nodded gratefully and remained silent.
They were the core. Experienced old leaders who had experienced the two Opium Wars that pushed them back to Ganghwa Island and the turbulent periods of the Daewon-gun era and the tyrannical period.
There was also the request from Seung-man.
Now, it was also the request of Seung-man, who had become their 'lord.' The gist of the request was simple. Show respect to the old seniors to properly establish the military's upper and lower discipline. Although Woo Beom-seon, who claimed to be illiterate in political matters, didn't fully understand, since it was Seung-man's request, who was older than the adults, he would just follow it thinking it was right.
Nevertheless, the effects of Woo Division Commander's behavior, who always showed respect to elders and seniors in front of many people, were significant without being seen.
The young officers who had gone to Japan to study, graduated from the military academy and infantry school, and boasted about receiving advanced education corrected their demeanor according to the division commander's actions. Even the old officers, who might easily be shaken by nostalgic and reactionary thoughts from the past, were gradually accepting the new government with emotion in their hearts.
Anyway, after giving the rough priority and mission for the conquest of Panjin, Woo Beom-seon continued.
"In eight hours, the headquarters in Shenyang will begin a large-scale feint offensive with artillery fire facing the Hunhe River front. The enemy we will depart from Yingkou has already captured Wonsan as a feint and disguised our movements from the enemy through the movement of many troops. Therefore, we must quickly maneuver northwest of Shenyang before the operation starts at 00 to strike the enemy."
It was the first time the Republic Army, which had not yet completely abandoned traditional methods, attempted a two-sided, no, three-sided precise offensive. The design of this precise operation time, which could appear nervous and mechanical, was the core of this operation, and it was a kind of new 'tactic' that the East, familiar with pre-modern combat methods unlike Europe that developed through the Napoleonic Wars, had not even experienced, even Japan.
And Woo Beom-seon, glancing at the communication carriages supported by the French Republic and the Far East Squadron, the key to such precise operations, opened his mouth again.
"Therefore, we must completely occupy Panjin by at least 5 o'clock, seize the supply line and communication line connecting Yingkou and Panjin, and then hurriedly advance north. Before the traitors in Shenyang notice our operation and decide to flee beyond the fortress, they must appear behind them like magic with a 'thud.' Do you understand?"
"Yes!"
If that was the case, this war would end here. There would be no need to actually fight the battle, and the Qing army, consisting of 170,000 soldiers surrounded by the Republic Army, would just eat their scarce rations like rats in a trap and surrender.
*****
Several hours later, in the northern part of Shenyang, Nie Zhichao and Nie Shicheng, who had set up a camp and issued orders for operations across Liaodong, received a very surprising report and jumped up from their seats.
"Panjin...?"
"Y-yes, sir!"
"Map, map!"
Nie Zhichao, who was so surprised by the courier's report, covered in ash like a defeated soldier, hurriedly looked for the map, and Nie Shicheng just stared at the man with a dumbfounded expression.
That the enemy was in Panjin suddenly? They had been heading to Shanhaiguan to cut off the Republic Army's supply line, hadn't they?
Nie Zhichao hurriedly pulled the map from the table, calmed his surprised mind, and asked the courier in a pressing tone.
"What was the enemy's strength? Their momentum?"
The courier, shrinking under the general's momentum, hurriedly emptied a large water cup and began to explain in detail.
"According to the last telegram from the Republic Army's observation post in Jinzhou, 'At least 13 transport ships have sailed north through the river via Yingkou.'"
"So, even if we take the minimum, it's more than 30,000! But it's Panjin? What were these bastards monitoring?"
Nie Zhichao and Nie Shicheng, who quickly grasped the situation with that one sentence, shouted. It wasn't the problem with the observation post and outpost. The problem was that the transport ships were fake, and the direct general staff that should have analyzed and delivered them to Shenyang had made a stupid mistake.
"If we had been able to observe only the supplies being unloaded in Yingkou and the activities of the Beiyang fleet conducting reconnaissance, such a mistake would not have occurred."
Zhang Zhidong, who had been standing with arms crossed and a serious expression, added. As he said, if the sunk Beiyang fleet had been able to properly patrol from the Bohai Sea, such trivial mistakes would not have existed.
After Zhang Zhidong's words, silence fell in the room. The Korean army had emerged from an unexpected place. They had clearly thought the Koreans would find a breakthrough from Wonsan.
After staring at the distance between Panjin and Shenyang for a while, Nie Zhichao opened his mouth.
"General Nie. We must quickly recall the reserve unit we sent to Wonsan."
"That is a given, but the problem is time. What do we do about this..."
The Qing generals were not fools. Especially Nie and Zhang had grown as commanders through repeated beatings by the French since the start of the Opium War.
They also knew well what the Korean army was aiming for and what they were trimming around them.
At that moment, another courier jumped out in front of Nie Shicheng, who was hurriedly scribbling a return order for the reserve unit to Wonsan.
"Urgent report! The Republic Army occupying the central part of the river has begun simultaneous attacks on the front line!"
"Damn it."
Now it was clearer.
They had begun a full-scale offensive from today as a starting point to perfectly tie them up.
"Let's abandon the city completely."
Nie Zhichao's reflexive words were that the southern part of the city was facing the offensive.
Zhang Zhidong, startled by the words to abandon the city, stuttered.
"The city...?"
"Yes."
Nie Zhichao, who silently nodded his head at Zhang Zhidong's concern as the Liaodong Defense Commissioner, began to explain his thoughts in a firm expression to the commander, Nie Shicheng.
"If we are swayed by the enemy's actions rushing at us like this, at least tomorrow we will be drowned in blood and drown in Shenyang."
It was an exaggeration, but it was true.
They were squeezing from all sides to make this place their grave.
If, according to the courier's report, Panjin had already been occupied and, according to the previous report, there was an enemy force lurking in Wonsan, the Liaodong defense army and Beiyang army stationed in northern Shenyang would be no different from being surrounded.
"The enemy's intention is one. Our hesitation in not being able to completely abandon the city. And slowly drowning in Shenyang."
Nie Zhichao's words, explaining what was happening inside the map, the generals nodded.
As he said, if we stay in Shenyang, we would be hit by the Korean bastards and fall.
"But even if we abandon the city, there is no chance of victory for us, is there?"
At that time, Zhang Zhidong said with a worried voice.
The problem was that Shenyang was not a simple city, it was the founding sacred site of the imperial family, and Empress Dowager Cixi opposed retreating.
"It is not that we cannot provoke the main force to come out on its own by tying ourselves to the city. If we stay like this, the entire army will be surrounded and annihilated by the side offensive coming up from Jinzhou and Panshan."
And the enemy knew the internal affairs of the Qing Dynasty surprisingly well.
For some reason, there were undoubtedly eyes and ears of theirs in Beijing.
"Quiet."
The command post, where mutual blame, confusion, and nonsense had been exchanged for a while, calmed down with the roar of one person.
In the end, the decision was up to the commander, Nie Shicheng, so he clasped his hands together and opened his mouth.
"Let's divide the troops into two. Exactly three."
"What?"
"We will carry out a delaying battle against the enemy in Shenyang, and the main army will join the rear unit returning from Wonsan and prepare to rotate in northern Shenyang. This is desirable."
Nie Shicheng raised his hand to Nie Zhichao.
No matter how you looked at it, the Qing Dynasty had lost too much to continue acting like spoiled children in front of symbols and substance.
When Zhang Zhidong tried to protest, Nie Zhichao hurriedly blocked him and praised Nie Shicheng's decision.
Better to fight properly and lose big than to keep retreating without fighting and surrender.
Because honor would remain.
"This is better. Now, as per the chief commander's prediction, the Korean army is doing exactly what we want because we are clinging to Shenyang and they want us to come out, and because we lost Panshan and Wonsan. Moreover, excluding the reserve unit heading to Wonsan, most of our Beiyang Army is caught in the enemy's front, and a side breakthrough is just a matter of time. We have no choice left."
"Good."
Fortunately, the young Beiyang Army at this time was not rotten.
The young officers full of vigor accepted the orders of the two loyal ministers who did not easily give up in the face of defeat in front of them humbly, and after showing an example to the commander to prepare for the decisive battle, they hurriedly left the barracks.
In the end, the only one left with a bewildered expression was Zhang Zhidong, the Liaodong Defense Commissioner, so he sighed and focused on the operation again.
"Contact Wonsan to hurry the return of the rear unit and issue orders to abandon the river dikes across the Hunhe River front. Withdraw in an orderly manner to preserve the unit as much as possible, that is the top priority."
"Understood, sir."
So, the three generals began to coordinate counterattack and retreat.
Although defeat was already in sight, it was important to retreat well even if it meant fighting.
Soon, the Korean army's artillery and gunfire began to echo in this northern area as well.
Now it was night.