The Recapture of Hanseong (2)
The French legation’s flight from Hanseong this time was different. During the Agwan Paeheon, we had no real power. Now, things had changed. We had an army ready to march south, and for the moment, Korea stood in a position where the Great Powers were watching us with interest.
“We must also secure the Unsan Gold Mine without fail.”
“The Unsan Gold Mine… You mean the one that American bastard Conder gobbled up?”
“Yes, sir.”
Korea was, surprisingly, a country possessing the largest gold deposits in East Asia. Of course, the Great Powers had nibbled away at them through their predatory tactics, but even in the modern era the potential remained enormous. The only reason North Korea had closed the mines, I’d heard, was for the sake of regime stability.
“So you’re saying we should cozy up to America?”
Should I call them Mirigeon or just America? At the very least, we could use Allen to tilt the United States favorably toward us. After all, America had sucked up quite a bit of honey from Korean gold mines. And yet those same bastards had signed the Katsura-Taft Agreement and tacitly approved Korea’s handover to Japan. It was utterly disgusting. Still, when you’re the weak one, you have no choice but to bow your head.
“Now that the Japanese have been reduced to that state, even America will have to change its board. When an opportunity appears, we must seize it firmly, General.”
“What is it?”
I had no way of knowing how much I would accomplish from here on. At the very least, I had to completely castrate Japan so it could never again covet the Korean Peninsula. Even if a bunch of halfwits ended up running the country, I had to make sure Korea would never again be pressured by Japan.
Putting Yi Beom-yun in the foreground and letting Min Yeong-hwan handle the political maneuvering would be fine. But the command authority over the Sapodae must remain in my hands. When Russia eventually collapsed, if we wanted to seize the Maritime Province and the rest of the Russian Far East, the Manchurian Army had to belong to me.
No matter how much this body looked like a woman, given the achievements I had piled up, even if I couldn’t enter the central political arena, I should at least be able to claim a proper seat in Manchuria.
“On this occasion, please organize a separate army for me. I will contact General Kuropatkin, the Far East commander. We must entrust them to the Russian forces.”
“What are you talking about?”
What else? It meant we were going to invade Japan proper. Once the formation was set, we had to open the board on a grand scale. Even Hitler had tried to pull off a lightning war. We too had to move aggressively to recoup the war expenses we had overprepared and to extract the funds needed for modernization.
“The Tsar will probably attempt a landing on Japanese soil in order to recover from the damage his country has suffered. We will follow Russia’s lead and land together, then ravage the Japanese mainland. Only then can we hold the upper hand in the postwar negotiations.”
All you have to do is exactly what I tell you. If you do that, becoming the first Prime Minister of the New Korea won’t be difficult at all.
“Is that even possible? It’s the Japanese homeland. If they scrape together every defender they can, we won’t be able to hold out.”
Good grief. This old man really doesn’t understand. Precisely at a time like this, we should strike even harder and run completely wild.
“That’s exactly why we must move faster. We have to pressure their capital, Tokyo, before they can organize a proper defense. While the opportunity exists, we must trample the Japanese thoroughly. We have to crush not only their body but their head as well. Only then can we catch our breath and secure a foothold for our future advance onto the continent.”
“You’re saying we’ll fight the Qing later?”
“Once we begin exerting influence over Manchuria, a clash will be unavoidable.”
In any case, war with them was already scheduled. If so, now—while we still had the chance to step on them—we had to gather every ounce of strength we could and strike first, whatever the method.
“Hah… Very well. Since we’ve already started this, we might as well see it through to the end.”
Yi Beom-yun offered no further objections. The time had come to march south.
Around this time, the foreign legations in Hanseong were frantically gathering intelligence on Manchuria. Britain in particular was paying especially close attention to developments there. The other legations were also prepared to completely revise their Far East policies depending on how the Russo-Japanese-Korean War unfolded. After all, Britain’s hunting dog, Japan, had fallen into the abyss. There was a chance to seize an opening.
Among them, the ones showing the deepest interest were the French and German legations.
“As expected, the Korean army trained by the finest army in Europe is on another level. Hahaha! Or perhaps it’s because Korea’s Joan of Arc led from the front? In any case, this is all thanks to France.”
France naturally boasted that Korea had defeated Japan with their help, while on the German side:
“So Britain is withdrawing from the Korean Peninsula. In that case, it wouldn’t be so bad for the German Empire to become more involved in the Far East from now on.”
They were already thinking about reorganizing their future Far East policy.
“Hoo… How did things come to this?”
The collapse of their ally Japan. It was a monumental event that had occurred only a few years after the Anglo-Japanese Alliance was signed. Jordan, who had held a secret meeting with Ok Jin-seo—the Sapodae staff officer, cavalry regiment commander, Shenyang administrator, and diplomat—promptly relayed the news to British Ambassador to Japan Macdonald and was hurriedly preparing mediation proposals.
Meanwhile, American Minister Allen was not particularly pleased with the situation.
Fucking Japs.
Those insane bastards had seized the Unsan Gold Mine that had been granted to his late friend (that pushover) by the Korean Emperor. (To be precise, it was in the northern part of the peninsula.)
“That damned Emperor. If he had died after properly guaranteeing American interests, I would have offered memorial services for him every year.”
He had heard that some group called Korean righteous armies or whatever was blocking the way at the Imjin River. In that case, the forces occupying the gold mine were probably remnants of the troops who had marched south from Manchuria.
“But there is still a chance left!”
From what he understood, over four hundred thousand Japanese soldiers had vanished in Manchuria. In effect, every single unit dispatched to Manchuria had disappeared. That Korean Joan of Arc, or whatever she was called—the British called her a reaper or a devil—once that woman finished cleaning up Manchuria and marched south, the entire board would change.
While the foreign diplomats in Hanseong were busily moving about, a fierce battle was underway at the Imjin River.
Tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tang!
Kwaaaang!
“General! General! We’re completely out of ammunition!”
A raggedly dressed righteous army soldier ran up to Nam Sang-deok, complaining that they had run out of bullets. But their side was hardly in a comfortable position either.
“We’ve also exhausted our artillery shells.”
From the beginning, it had been impossible to hold this position with such a ragtag force. The fact that they had endured this long was already a miracle. If they ran out of weapons on top of that, there was nothing more they could do.
From what they had heard, the troops who had marched south from Manchuria had already occupied the north, including Uiju. If things continued like this, they would be surrounded from both sides. No—they might be annihilated by Kuroki’s army before they could even be encircled.
“I wanted to hold out a little longer…”
The Maxim machine gun he had been operating had also run dry. It would have been wonderful if they had had more ammunition so they could keep using these weapons. Because Nam Sang-deok had not yet heard the news from Manchuria, he was gradually growing exhausted.
Goddamn it.
This was all because of that incompetent Emperor. He knew he shouldn’t think this way, but he couldn’t help it. The man had already lost his queen to Japan, yet he still clung to an alliance with them and ended up stabbed in the back like this. What a pathetic, power-hungry fool.
The only reason Nam Sang-deok continued to fight now was for the people of this nation, the Korean Empire. He was no longer fighting for the Emperor.
“The Joseon army has run out of ammunition! Imperial troops, cross the river! We must seize the Korean Peninsula quickly and block the Manchurian Joseon bastards at the Yalu River!”
The Japanese were swarming forward like madmen, shouting “Tenno Heika Banzai!” or whatever it was they screamed in worship of their Emperor.
“The final battle is upon us. How can any son of Korea flee from this fight? Soldiers, fix bayonets!”
In a heavy, deathly silence filled with grim resolve, the Korean Empire’s Capital Guards, provincial Jinwidae, and righteous army soldiers alike fixed bayonets, gripped spears and swords, or raised bamboo spears.
“From now on, let us kill even one more Japanese bastard and shed our blood for the motherland! Long live the Korean Empire!”
The moment Nam Sang-deok’s troops finished fixing bayonets and prepared to charge the oncoming Japanese army—
The Kuroki forces, who had been advancing with ferocious killing intent, suddenly halted their advance.
Why are they stopping?
Nam Sang-deok wondered why the enemy had abruptly frozen in place.
“Second Lieutenant! A massive force has appeared behind them!”
“So they plan to devour us neatly from both sides.”
As expected, the Japanese truly were trash. It was absurd that the Emperor had ever thought of entangling himself with such people. Still, nothing had changed. They would have to throw themselves at the enemy’s main force and die.
“That’s not it, sir. It’s the crow banner!”
“The crow banner?”
If it was the crow banner, then it belonged to the Sapodae of Gando. Did that mean Korea had achieved victory in Manchuria and was now marching south?
“There are at least tens of thousands of troops! And behind them are twice as many more! We’re saved!”
Tens of thousands of soldiers, and twice that number behind them—it had to be the main army of the Korean Empire. With that kind of force, they could easily overpower Kuroki’s army or whatever it was called. After all, even Kuroki’s troops had already been beaten by the righteous army once.
“Go! Proud Sapodae! Crush the Japanese dogs trying to devour our brave Korean soldiers and march south!”
The Sapodae, charging forward with crow banners fluttering, moved in perfect order and discipline. Simply watching them filled the heart with boundless emotion. The army swept down like a tidal wave, enveloping the tiny Imjin River force as if to protect them, while the cavalry took the lead.
“A woman?”
A woman was riding at the head of the cavalry. He had heard there was an outstanding female commander in the Sapodae. A person who had even risen to the position of Shenyang administrator. Could that woman be her?
“Slaughter the Japanese!”
The way she issued commands in both Manchu and Chinese was quite striking. The Sapodae apparently included Manchus and Han Chinese, so it seemed to be a truly multi-ethnic army. The sight of that woman embracing and leading all of them was the very image of an ideal leader.
The Japanese troops who had been crossing the river were helplessly swept away by the Sapodae cavalry’s sabers and spears.
“Retreat! Retreat!”
Before long, the Japanese who had crossed the river began to flee. Soon the infantry following behind the cavalry joined the pursuit, chasing the enemy relentlessly. It was a victory for Korea.
Around this time, a new figure arrived in Hanseong. His name was Ito Hirobumi. Over the past few days he had grown so haggard that he looked as if he might collapse at any moment. The future of the Empire was now finished.
Russian warships were currently lined up along the coast, destroying every single port in Kyushu. That dog Kuroki.
It had been a gamble from the start. He didn’t know where the intelligence leak had come from, but Russia had perfectly defended Manchuria and had even seized naval superiority. If one were to nitpick, Kuroki’s assassination of the Emperor had been meaningless, but his share of the blame was still enormous. Although the subsequent Ikki uprising had been barely suppressed, they had struggled against the remaining Hanseong troops holding the Imjin River, and now the Sapodae had begun marching south. In this battle they had suffered a complete and utter defeat that could not even be sugarcoated.
From now on, the Empire would be preoccupied with restoring its national strength. Until the day he died, he would never see it rise again among the ranks of the Great Powers. Joseon would use this gap to steadily build its own power, and it was obvious they would seek revenge against the Empire.
In that case, they would have to wait for a later opportunity.
There were almost no Japanese forces left capable of stopping the Sapodae’s southward march. The Japanese supply units remaining in the northern part of the peninsula had occupied a few villages, but that was all. It was nearly impossible for such a tiny force to halt the Sapodae.
Once the Sapodae gained momentum, their southward advance swept away the remaining Japanese remnants in northern Korea in the blink of an eye. In every city, the Taegeukgi flew alongside crow banners.
The only time they encountered anything resembling a real army was at the Imjin River. The Japanese forces there had driven Nam Sang-deok’s regiment to the brink of annihilation, but our arrival had foiled them.
“I hear that Choi Ik-hyun’s righteous army coalition has been crushed,” Kim In-soo said, as he always did, while wiping blood from his saber.
“Is that so?”
So Choi Ik-hyun had led the righteous armies. In that case, virtually every scholar in the Korean Empire had risen up together. If so, carrying out reforms would become much easier. There would be no need for me to dirty my own hands. Well, even if the scholars rose up, we could simply beat them down. But at least for now, appearing as Korea’s Joan of Arc, it would be a bit awkward to do so. Although I had the nickname of reaper, it wasn’t yet time to fully utilize that title. It was fine to be known as a reaper to foreign enemies, but for my current self it was a rather delicate label.
“Yes. They were thoroughly trampled.”
“Then the scholars must have been wiped out.”
It really was a pitiful outcome. Since I was, after all, a person of the Korean Empire, the news left a complicated feeling.
“Yes. The scholarly faction that would have obstructed reform has collapsed.”
The fact that the scholars had all been wiped out was rather pleasing. With this, we could increase the reparations even further. Japan might very well become the next Qing. And if that happened, Japan would be finished.