Manchuria's Madwoman
In the survivor shelter back in the day, I got kicked out for supposedly stealing food. Sure, I had stolen food before—but only in the very beginning. Never after joining up with other survivors. Yet they threw me out on a false charge anyway. Here, I planned to pin a nonexistent crime on someone else.
“So we just brand the whole village as rebels?”
“Yes. While we’re at it, we can skim off a share for the Far East Governor-General too, can’t we?”
Unlike the Far East Governor-General, we were the army securing Manchuria’s public order. As long as he turned a blind eye in the middle, we could loot to our hearts’ content and slip him a cut afterward.
“But isn’t it going too far to commit such blatant evil just to survive?”
“Our own future is on the line—why should we care about those Chinese bastards? Besides, China has been the axis of evil tormenting us all this time. This much should be acceptable.”
This was enough. After all, the Korean Empire was already steeped in imperialism at this point. The fact that it had even poked at the Qing was proof enough, even if it hadn’t looked much like an empire before. So this was something we were naturally meant to do.
“The looting has already begun. At this point, we should drive in stakes and, with the Russian army at our backs, crush the Qing forces together.”
We had to make sure that whenever anyone in Manchuria heard the word “demon,” the Korean Imperial Army came to mind. We would move purely for profit and trample every Qing soldier without mercy.
“Hmm.”
“General, we don’t know when the Japanese might invade. We’re weak, and victory in war isn’t guaranteed.”
This was reality. The Japanese had launched a surprise attack on the Russians and seized the advantage with a naval victory, yet we were so feeble we couldn’t even properly resist them. Our numbers were hopelessly insufficient, so at the very least we had to cultivate quality here. At the same time, we had to overhaul the rotten mindset of the Korean Imperial Army from the ground up. While we looted on a far larger scale than anything we had done so far, we would make sure the Korean army was no longer seen as the pathetic force that couldn’t even fire a single bullet at the Japanese.
“Very well. Continue.”
“Even if we die, we must change enough to bite back until the very end. Only then can we prepare for what comes next.”
Of course, I had no intention of actually dying. When the Russo-Japanese War broke out, I would make Gojong run like his ancestor slapping his own cheek and head for Gando—or even farther into the depths of Manchuria. After that, together with the Russian army that possessed foreknowledge unlike in the original history, we would crush the Japanese. Yes, if we just ran during the Russo-Japanese War, we could at least reach the middle ground. That was why the Japan-Korea Protocol had been signed in the first place.
“You have quite the head on your shoulders. Good. This matter will grow large, so stay by my side this time.”
Wait, no. At the very least, I had to slaughter the Qing mercilessly here in Manchuria if I wanted to make a name for myself.
“No. Please assign me to the Sapodae for the expedition.”
I shook my head lightly. This time I had to go myself. I had to personally gun down the Qing like a demon—thoroughly, mercilessly. Even before coming here, I had already killed countless fellow survivors in the apocalyptic world to stay alive. What were foreigners in this era compared to that?
“Can you manage it in a woman’s body? Last time you just stood there dazed and we had to retreat without doing anything.”
That had been the original owner of this body. I was different. I would try as far as I could. Wasn’t that obvious? Rather than standing still and getting beaten, it was better to strike first. It would also be good to let the British see our prowess. I had considered allying with them, but once they chose Japan as their partner, the line between us was already drawn. Besides, we shared a border with Russia. So I would do it.
“I will definitely succeed.”
I spoke with a bold, resolute expression.
“What would your father say if he saw you like this? Keuh… Well, you must have your reasons.”
After being hit by the truck last time, I hadn’t paid much attention while trying to grasp the situation here, but whether forced or voluntary, I had already killed and looted countless times. And here I was supposedly invincible? Did they really think I wouldn’t do it? To survive, I had to do something. I intended to rewrite the future that would collapse into nuclear war like the idiot I was. Of course, I had no intention of acting recklessly just because I was invincible. First, I checked the future that had changed into the alternative-history gallery once more.
I'm trying to write an alternative-history story set in Gando. But I don't know much about this period. What happened when Yi Beom-yun led the expedition into Manchuria?
Got it, got it. If we save Mukden for last, casualties will be high and the colonial future still won’t change. In that case, maybe I should just go ahead and make chlorine gas. The method itself isn’t that difficult. No, wait. Even so, there’s the Hague Convention. We’re not supposed to use chlorine gas yet. Besides, even if it’s against another country, what does it matter if we ignore the Hague Convention when we’re trampling Qing bastards? I’m not planning to use it right away anyway. It’s just preparation for when the fighting gets tough. I won’t be deploying gas immediately. So in the end, the answer is still me—the invincible one. If I charge ahead first like a madwoman and slaughter the Qing, won’t the Sapodae follow suit and go wild too? Plenty of people in the Sapodae here are already eager to loot Manchuria. It’s entirely possible.
“From now on, our Sapodae will march into Manchuria and expel the Qing forces and Chinese who resist both our Korean Empire and Russia! Show the Han pigs the might of Korea! Long live His Imperial Majesty! Long live the Korean Empire!”
“““Long live His Imperial Majesty! Long live the Korean Empire! Waaaaah!”””
Having plundered and occupied every village near Gando, Yi Beom-yun’s Sapodae now began a full-scale punitive expedition at the indirect request of the Far East Governor-General’s office. Of course, as I said before, the true objective was nothing more than looting.
In the original history, the Gando operation had begun in December 1903, but now we moved on a much larger scale. With far greater numbers than history recorded and the resolve to deploy across all of Manchuria, we organized a force of over five thousand by incorporating not only the Jongseong Jinwidae but also inspectors from the Korean Empire’s border police office and even part of Seo Sang-mu’s army from West Gando. This was a much larger force than in the original timeline, and Yi Beom-yun himself officially declared it the Sapodae under his command. Even for Yi Beom-yun, assembling this many troops was pushing it. Interestingly, Gojong did not particularly object. Instead, to avoid an all-out war between nations, he simply dumped everything on Yi Beom-yun.
“Since Gando Administrator Yi Beom-yun has become a warlord and entrenched himself in Gando, this has nothing to do with us.”
Since they couldn’t brand him a traitor, the authorities in Hanseong merely defined Yi Beom-yun’s actions as “unauthorized conduct.” The Korean Empire, which secretly desired territorial expansion, did not label him a traitor. With support from the Far East Governor-General’s office, the Sapodae split its forces and simultaneously attacked the Qing barracks in Mukden and Jilin Province.
“How dare these Joseon bastards—where do they think they are? Gurk!”
“But they’re total pushovers, right?”
The Qing army was a ragtag mob. Before the 1905 New Army reorganization, the Qing forces in Manchuria were utterly incompetent, so they stood no chance against the Korean Imperial Army that had come prepared for territorial expansion and launched a surprise attack. Battles erupted between the ambushed Qing troops and the Korean forces at the barracks in Mukden and Jilin. The Qing soldiers were helpless against the Korean assault.
Tat-tat-tat! Boom!
Bullets rained down and field guns belched fire. I was in the middle of this battlefield. I had thrown myself directly into the fray as a Jinwidae officer during the assault on Mukden. Why? It was obvious. If I wanted to at least command troops, there were clear limits to what I could do in a woman’s body. I had to prove myself with my own flesh and blood.
However, as I said, the true goal of this punitive expedition was looting, and many who had joined the Sapodae did so precisely for plunder. Would I leave my comrades who charged ahead hoping to make a killing to fend for themselves? Of course not—I followed right behind.
“W-we’re looting too!”
“Kill every last one of those Qing pig bastards and sweep up all of Manchuria’s gold and treasures!”
As if I would let them get ahead of me. The looters of the Sapodae followed, and close-quarters combat began.
“How dare you betray the grace of the Celestial Empire and side with the Japanese, and now you even covet us!”
Some older Qing soldiers glared at us and charged. Thanks to the Universal Language, I could understand every word they shouted. Hearing that kind of talk made my blood boil. On a battlefield where blood flowed like rivers and corpses piled high, I shouted back at them.
“You lot were the ones who submitted to us until the early Joseon period and then cast that grace aside, weren’t you?”
The Qing soldier’s eyes widened in shock. He clearly hadn’t expected me to speak Manchurian.
“What the— this bitch?”
Around this time the northern Jinwidae were armed with Berdan rifles, and I too aimed my Berdan at the Qing soldier.
Bang!
The muzzle flashed and the middle-aged Qing soldier who had been staring at my face collapsed limply. He wasn’t the only one. When attacking the Qing barracks, I charged ahead alone. I didn’t rely on the rifle alone. I fixed the bayonet and attacked in a spike-like manner.
“To attack the Celestial Empire is an act of utter wickedness!”
I met the Qing soldier charging with a rusty spear using the bayonet of my Berdan rifle.
Thud!
The Qing spear pierced my body, but unfortunately I suffered no wound. When the spear was pulled out, the punctured area healed as if melting away. The old man had been telling the truth. Even after seeing the alternative-history gallery’s ability, I had half-doubted it, but with this, even a woman’s body was more than enough.
“Sh-she won’t die?”
The Qing soldier muttered something in Chinese, but I didn’t need the Universal Language to understand—the look on his face said everything. His expression was so ridiculous that I smirked and drove the bayonet straight into his chest. Mercilessly, cruelly enough to make anyone flinch.
“This is why I charged at you.”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Grinning, the invincible warrior who could not die impaled Qing soldiers without mercy, as if massacring civilians. Every Qing soldier touched by my Berdan bayonet died without resistance, like diseased beasts. Even if my strength was lacking or I yielded the attack, as long as this body did not die, Qing attacks were meaningless.
“A m-monster.”
A young Qing soldier my age looked at my face before dying and recoiled in horror—it was almost amusing. The experience of surviving in that hellish world was proving extremely useful here. Before I knew it, my rifle was drenched in blood and my face was splattered with it as well. I would have used more bullets if I had them, but ammunition was running low.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Those idiots are just shooting from behind. Even with Russian backing, Russia couldn’t supply all Mosin-Nagants during the Russo-Japanese War. The ammunition we’re receiving now might cause supply problems for the Russian army later. Once we’re in the city streets, we should be stabbing with knives.”
“Hey, you morons! Save your bullets! Can’t you see the Qing bastards are complete idiots? Stab them with knives! Avenge King Injo! Avenge the humiliation of Samjeondo!”
Nationalism was boiling within the current Korean Imperial Army. Having tasted the sweetness of carving up the giant cake called Qing, the Korean soldiers would change greatly through this Manchurian operation. Now, with a just cause, if we pushed from behind, these looters would truly become demons.