The Manchurian Armory
A few factories had opened in Southern Manchuria. Calling them factories was generous; they were mostly cobbled together by our Director Choi using equipment scavenged from Japan. Now it was time to establish a proper ordnance factory and begin producing weapons, but I had plenty of concerns. The biggest problem was that I still had no clear idea what firearm to adopt.
During the Russo-Japanese War, Japanese rifles had unfortunately outperformed the Russian ones. Using something like the Mosin-Nagant didn’t feel right.
Finally taking the first real step, huh.
I had to think long and hard about what the Korean Empire’s standard issue rifle should be. Mixing everything together would get us wrecked just like at the Battle of Namdaemun. So I first discussed the matter with the ambassadors from various countries. The candidates I floated were the Russian rifles—as the Countess Ok—the Japanese Arisaka, and the French Gras. I threw them all out there and waited to see who would approach first.
After all, our options were limited. Regardless of how they had acted toward us in the last war, how many of the great powers would actually grant us a license to produce firearms? Personally, I leaned toward Germany. There was just something about Prussian engineering that screamed excellence. It wasn’t like I was drunk on German superiority or anything. Russian designs felt outdated by comparison. If we offered to act as their counterweight, it seemed Germany would be willing to provide support across the board.
In that light, the one that kept catching my eye was the familiar Type 30 Arisaka. After all, it was the rifle that had contributed to victory in the Russo-Japanese War. The Russian Mosin-Nagant had been thoroughly outclassed by it. We were already producing the Arisaka. Director Choi Jae-hyung, who had reached out to the now-defunct Mitsui & Co., had made it possible.
In the original timeline, Mitsui had apparently tricked the Japanese military attaché at the legation in Korea into selling them the design. I had no idea what they were thinking, but we had obtained it through Mitsui once again. After some time passed, I examined the candidate rifles at the Sapodae training grounds.
Bang!
The first one wasn’t bad.
“The rifle Your Excellency is currently testing is the Gras.”
“I see.”
It wasn’t terrible, but it still felt off. Being too heavily influenced by France could cause problems. Actually, it wasn’t exactly “influence,” but right now the Korean Empire needed to draw from multiple nations across every field. If we only referenced one country and adopted only their technology, we couldn’t fulfill our role as the counterweight of the East. It risked creating the impression that we were a pro-Russian, pro-German, pro-French, or pro-American state.
In the pro-Russian case, the Treaty of Paris had already established a buffer zone. We had agreed to remain a safe neutral nation in exchange for docking rights on Tsushima Island. Still, I was the Countess Ok. The army had received French influence while Germany was helping build the navy, so… what exactly should we base the standard rifle on?
“As Your Excellency knows better than I, this is the Sapodae’s primary weapon. The French officers issued them so we could fight effectively. Given France’s favorable impression of Your Excellency, they will likely permit license production.”
“I’ve seen it several times in Manchuria.”
It was the rifle the Sapodae had used. The Gras had been issued during full-scale training by the French officers, while their main weapon had been the Russian Berdan. Yeah, it still felt wrong to be overly influenced by France even in weapons. For now, let’s look at the next one.
“And this?”
“This was presented as a gift by a German officer during his last visit to Korea.”
Nam Sang-deok showed me the next rifle. Honestly, they all looked roughly the same to my eyes. Maybe Emperor Gojong had felt the same way and simply collected them all. It was only natural to reference rifles from multiple countries when deciding on a standard issue.
“I see. So it wasn’t merely a courtesy call.”
“It is called the Gewehr 98.”
Ah, the Gewehr. I knew this one. Wasn’t this the rifle that had been praised as the ideal service weapon? They said over nine million units had been sold at its peak. It had seen extensive use even in the First World War.
The Arisaka Type 30 and the Gewehr 98. These two were the most appealing.
“As expected, German designs really are excellent. Didn’t this thing sell like crazy?”
“That much?”
“It seems like it would be worth receiving the license and producing it ourselves. But that would require negotiations with them as well, wouldn’t it?”
I wasn’t the Wanli Emperor. No matter how I looked at it, if I asked too casually they would probably snap, Do I look like Nicky to you? Transferring submarine technology was likely a significant concession on their part. They probably figured it would be difficult for us to operate a large surface fleet, so they might as well let us run U-boats.
For a standard rifle, simply adopting it shouldn’t be a problem. That said, what would happen to the French Gras? We had only just approached Germany. France… I wasn’t sure. The truth was, France had contributed greatly to the elite training of the Manchurian Army. It felt wrong to demand even more from them.
“What is this one?”
Something new had caught my eye this time.
“Mannlicher? It appears to be from that era. They said it’s from Austria-Hungary?”
The Mannlicher-Schönauer, was it? Even I had only heard the name. Hmm. I was curious. No—before that, Austria-Hungary was interested in the Korean Empire’s standard rifle? Wasn’t it produced by Steyr?
“They sent someone? Directly? All the way to the Far East?”
“It seems there is considerable discussion in Europe regarding the Korean Empire’s standard service rifle. They did not come in person; it appears to have gone through the German embassy.”
“Is it really that well-known?”
It seemed far more famous than I had expected. Had my name spread that widely? Austria-Hungary. If it came from them, it might be worth looking into.
“Let me think for a moment.”
I immediately opened the alternate history gallery.
I killed them. Yeah. Fuck. Let’s just watch for now. The comments will vary anyway. It’s fine to observe a little. I wonder what kind of replies will come.
In the end, it was better to adopt a foreign design. Continuing to use Japanese equipment when public perception of Japan was completely ruined felt wrong. Since we had already tried—and failed—to improve the Arisaka in our own way, adopting something else made more sense. The Mannlicher-Schönauer was practically brand new. If Austria-Hungary had proposed it directly, it wasn’t a bad option. It was exactly the sort of “neither here nor there” country. Adopting their rifle would be acceptable. While the functions were all roughly similar, the Mannlicher-Schönauer best matched every one of my conditions. The Gewehr 98 would be next.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
“It’s nothing. Let’s put the Gewehr 98, the Mannlicher-Schönauer, and the Arisaka as the final candidates. We can already produce the third one anyway.”
For now, these three would do. The Berdan could also be produced, but newer designs were preferable.
“The Japanese rifles are excellent. And since we’ve already manufactured them at the ordnance factory, producing their design would be the fastest route.”
Nam Sang-deok said while holding the Arisaka Type 30. Of course we would have to use the Arisaka for the time being, but it still left a bad taste in my mouth.
“It just feels dirty. Even if we normalize diplomatic relations, if they see us using their exact model, I doubt they’ll stay quiet.”
The dirty feeling came first. Even if we had no choice but to use the Arisaka for a while, we could produce it under a different name for the time being and switch later.
“That’s true. I heard the man named Arisaka who designed this rifle collapsed from shock after the war and has since died.”
“Why?”
So that man had left behind nothing but the Arisaka rifle. Well, that alone would have been a blessing for the Japanese. After all, his weapon had delivered them a major victory in the Russo-Japanese War. Weapons existed for moments exactly like this, didn’t they?
“You remember the Battle of Port Arthur, right? The one where Your Excellency slit the throat of that Nogi fellow.”
“Yes. What about it?”
What did that have to do with the Arisaka? Well, considering the rifle’s role in the Russo-Japanese War, I could see the connection, but Nam Sang-deok seemed to mean something else.
He gave a small chuckle at my question.
“Apparently it was that Arisaka who suggested the strategy for capturing Port Arthur. He gave them the plan, yet they were defeated by Your Excellency not long after.”
I see. In a way, I was his mortal enemy. Still, what did that have to do with me? At least we were fortunate to be able to produce the Arisaka.
“It really is fortunate that we can produce even the Arisaka.”
Of course, we were manufacturing it however we pleased.
“I believe the court funneled some funds to the Mitsui side.”
Ah, so that was why they had handed over the facilities. Once again, it seemed Director Choi Jae-hyung had injected money to secure them. We had taken over Mitsubishi in Mitsui’s place, yet we had still managed to touch Mitsui itself. Truly surprising. Hadn’t Rothschild and Rockefeller shown interest in Mitsui? Anyway, this wasn’t bad. Maybe I should just crank out Arisakas.
“Hmm. It still feels dirty. We can slap our own name on it, at least.”
Using Japanese designs in itself felt uncomfortable. It wasn’t an absolute “We can never use the Japanese bastards’ weapons!” kind of revulsion. I wasn’t rejecting anything simply because it was Japanese. The fact that it had performed well against a white nation in the Russo-Japanese War proved its usefulness. Moreover, considering when the Type 30 had been developed, it was practically brand new. Performance-wise, mass-producing it now seemed perfectly reasonable. Should I just use it? There was simply this inexplicable dirty feeling.
What would the Korean people think? At the very least, it would help if Japan showed a completely submissive attitude toward us.
“It seems there are Japanese workers in the factory as well.”
“Japanese workers in the factory?”
No matter how hard their lives were, wasn’t the Korean Empire still better than their own country?