The Yellow River Showdown
The Qing army only needed to fill out the numbers. “Even if we win a siege battle, we won’t be able to catch the enemy’s leader. It’ll just end in some half-assed stalemate. We have to wipe them all out in one decisive fight.”
“Understood.”
“Since we need to demonstrate our capabilities in open-field combat, we should prepare for that.”
Of course, if we used that method, people would probably call it less of a display of capability and more of a sleazy loophole that skirted the treaty. But who cares? In the end, during World War I, they’ll be popping open gas cylinders and using poison gas while going, “Wait, this isn’t a shell?” At least we’re acting as a nation that never signed the damn treaty in the first place. Clean and simple.
“But even if we succeed, won’t that just mean handing everything back to the Qing again?”
“Their control has already completely collapsed. The fact that they even needed our help? That’ll only make things worse. They don’t have any troops left to control the provinces. It’ll turn into a power vacuum, and the warlords will rise up everywhere.”
The Qing Dynasty was already finished. The only state that would continue to exist was essentially a Manchu nation on life support, a rotting Qing that couldn’t survive without Count Ok. Still, they had made one good choice. It meant they had fallen so low they were forced to beg a country that had toyed with their ancestors’ remains. But at least they were struggling to survive. Better to fight like this than to just roll over and die. I personally held that decision in high regard.
“Then there’s no need for us to intervene in this war—”
“This time is different. This time, instead of division, Yuan Shikai and the revolutionary army have entered negotiations. It’s essentially a regime change. So we just need to provoke those bastards and smash them in one big lump.”
Yuan Shikai had negotiated with the revolutionary army. That was an undeniable fact. Then we’d catch them all at once and end the civil war quickly.
“Ha, those Chinese pigs have way too many bodies. I can’t even guess how many there’ll be.”
Nam Sang-deok let out a deep sigh, clearly frustrated.
“War isn’t fought with numbers.”
“Maybe not, but in our case, wasn’t it possible because we relied on terrain and fought on our own land?”
“War is fought with weapons. If it were only about numbers and terrain, why would the Qing have lost?”
Numbers meant nothing. War was fought with weapons. Of course, if the numerical difference was truly overwhelming, you’d be pushed back. But Yuan Shikai’s army wasn’t at that level.
Our goal was to annihilate the Beiyang New Army, put the Qing on artificial respiration, and crush the revolutionary army in southern China to turn the entire region into a power vacuum.
“Prepare that weapon. Distribute it to the entire army.”
“It will be done.”
“Make the Qing troops assist as well.”
I decided to get assistance from the Qing forces through Prince Qing. Even if we could handle the field battle on our own, the symbolic weight of having the Qing army present or absent was completely different.
“But now the remaining troops—”
“At the very least, the Qing court can still mobilize an army of this size. We need to show that much, don’t we? Even if you have to create an army that doesn’t exist, do it.”
The Qing court could still move a force of that scale. In reality, they had to present that image. If they truly lacked even that much capability, I would have dragged every single soldier from the Korean Imperial Army here for one massive decisive battle.
“Understood.”
This was how we subtly interfered in their internal affairs and pulled the Qing into our sphere of influence. The future where the Qing fell completely under our control was already clearly visible.
“Your Excellency. Yuan Shikai and the revolutionary army have begun their northward advance.”
Finally, what was coming had come. It seemed we would finish all preparations before then.
“Hmm. Come to think of it, from Korea’s perspective, we’ve suffered quite a lot because of Yuan Shikai. Reorganize the troops. Dig the trenches. We fight those bastards.”
For now, let’s just try whatever we can. If the situation gets difficult, I can always go alone and take Yuan Shikai’s head.
***
Our army finally came face to face with the ones who had crossed the Yellow River. In order to topple the Qing court, they had no choice but to fight us here. If they didn’t? The Western powers, who had their own rice bowls inside China, would intervene, and those bastards would never achieve their revolution.
We dug massive trenches to oppose Yuan Shikai’s northern advance. We also laid out barbed wire, thoroughly preparing so that it would be difficult for them to even approach.
“This barbed wire? Will these iron wires really help?”
“We’ll find out once we use them.”
According to the reports coming in, those bastards were advancing north immediately. Whether they were underestimating us or not, they probably thought we would defend in Beijing.
“No matter how you look at it, this seems a bit reckless.”
“Don’t worry. Those bastards are underestimating us. That will be their downfall.”
If they weren’t underestimating us, they would never have advanced north. Good. Now we just had to hold our position firmly without worrying.
How much time had passed? Finally, the damned army of that son of a bitch Yuan Shikai appeared in the distance.
“You Joseon bastards! Who do you think you are, barging in here? If you don’t want to die, turn back right now!”
Hmm. One soldier came forward and started spouting nonsense. There was no reason to fall for such cheap provocation. It was obviously just bait.
“Why? Does that bitch have the guts to lead an army here but not the guts to go back?”
“That son of a bitch worse than a dog!”
“I’ll go cut that bastard’s throat!”
The Manchu faction soldiers were so furious they looked ready to charge out at any moment. But there was no need to go out and take the bait. If we fell for it here, we would only end up looking shaken in front of the enemy. In situations like this, it was better to laugh at them instead of getting hooked.
“There’s no need to fall for such obvious provocation.”
“But if we look down on them, it could be problematic.”
Yeah. That point had some merit. They were already openly calling me a bitch and looking down on me. If I just sat here quietly while they mocked me, they would dismiss me even more for being a woman. In that case, I needed to give them an answer.
“There’s no need to go out and fight them.”
I simply picked up a rifle and aimed it at that beggar bastard.
BANG!
The body of the bastard who had been yapping at me lost all strength and collapsed. See? I told you it was bad to run your mouth recklessly.
“Answering with a bullet is enough.”
The moment the guy who had been mocking us collapsed, the enemy fell silent. Were those bastards a regular army? No. From the Qing court’s perspective, they were rebels who had betrayed the court. We had received a request for support from that very Qing court. It really was exactly like the Donghak Peasant Revolution when they called in the Qing.
“Kill all those Joseon bastards! Kill that bitch called Count Ok!”
“Long live the Three Principles of the People! Long live Dr. Sun Yat-sen!”
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The attack from the Beiyang New Army and the revolutionary forces began alongside the sound of my gunshot.
“Wow, they’re coming in absolutely massive waves.”
Against the enemy soldiers charging at us, we adjusted the range and fired our artillery.
BOOM! BOOM!
WHOOSH!
We launched Krupp field guns into that sea of humans, turning them into bloody chunks. Then the Maxim machine guns and Schwarzlose machine guns began to spit fire. The Schwarzlose had been purchased from Austria-Hungary. Since the enemy numbers were so ridiculous, even firing randomly turned people into meat paste everywhere.
“Does this even make sense?”
“Like I said, war isn’t about numbers. It’s about overwhelming firepower and defensive warfare.”
That’s right. Trench warfare of this era. And machine guns. They say it takes an insane amount of manpower just to break through a single trench.
“Those bastards must have machine guns too. It’s almost pitiful.”
“We’d have to be crazy to sell them to those bastards. All we have to do is hold our position and victory comes on its own. In this kind of fight, regardless of numbers, the side that attacks first loses.”
The history of war itself shows that defense has the advantage over offense, but this case was different from ordinary wars. Those bastards absolutely had to carry out their revolution. To do that, they had to topple the Qing now. That was the nature of rebels. If they lost momentum and dragged things out, the provincial powers who were only watching with calculators in hand might turn their backs on the revolution and return to the Qing court. So the ones forced to go on the offensive were them.
“If we win here, factions sympathetic to the Qing will emerge. Once that happens, China will truly thrash around like a foal stuck in a swamp.”
That way, China would lose both its revolutionary momentum and its growth engine. After all, we weren’t directly seizing the interests of the great powers. At this level, even the great powers wouldn’t be able to complain.
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
“Man. They really are coming without end.”
“I never thought this barbed wire would actually be useful.”
The barbed wire was proving genuinely effective. It obstructed their advance, and on one side we were pouring machine gun fire into those slow-moving Chinese bastards.
“Seeing them turn into meat paste makes me realize humans can change like that.”
“That’s just because those bastards are stupid.”
Those idiots were running forward to become meat paste because they were stupid. That was all there was to it. I didn’t know exactly how many there were, but watching them charge with pure brute force was almost admirable. Didn’t they feel wronged dying like that? Especially in a war they couldn’t possibly win. I genuinely couldn’t understand what they were trusting to throw themselves forward to become meat paste like that.
Every time bullets rained down, countless Chinese died. Ah! What a truly tragic thing. The Han people, who were the true heirs of the Middle Kingdom and had inherited the Mandate of Heaven, were being killed by the Korean people who had succeeded that very Mandate. It was truly, truly sad, but we were the Count’s army. So without any worries, we mercilessly slaughtered those mob-like bastards.
As if proving how fragile the human body truly was, they collapsed one after another, turned into literal meat paste. In the horror of trench warfare, the Chinese army was even trying to fill the gaps with sheer population. As far as I knew, the Beiyang New Army wasn’t that large in scale. Were the rest made up of revolutionary troops? Or maybe they had brought in numbers from all over the place. If it was only that much, it seemed like the Manchurian army alone could have faced them head-on.
Of course, since we had already chosen gas, there was no reason to increase our losses by fighting head-on. To prepare for the future, we had to minimize losses in battle.
“Your Excellency! Those bastards are trying to cross the barbed wire!”
So they were finally going to fill the barbed wire with human shields. Since we had already inflicted that much damage, it wasn’t a bad thing for us.
BANG! BANG BANG! BANG!
The rebels who had finally gotten close were once again crushed by our soldiers’ rifles. Even so, I had to acknowledge their momentum. Their strategy was also quite decent. The Beiyang New Army was still far in the back. The ones charging now weren’t even wearing properly unified uniforms. The Beiyang troops would come next. That was when it could truly turn into a chaotic melee. So we needed to thin them out a bit here.
“Then let’s move our cavalry as well.”
Using this moment to have the cavalry sweep through the enemy’s attack in one go. I led the cavalry in a wide arc and stabbed straight into the middle of the oncoming rebel forces.
“It’s the Joseon cavalry!”
“There’s only a handful of them! Stop them!”
It was useless even if they tried to stop us. No matter how many bullets they fired, I wouldn’t die, and most of the cavalry following me were regular troops who had participated in the Battle of Lüshun in Manchuria. Before the Chinese army could even counterattack, we struck their weak point and broke the rebels’ waist in a trance of violence.
“Kwaaaaaah!”
RAT-TAT-TAT! BANG! BANG!
When thousands of cavalry pierced through their center, the bastards who had been rushing to cross the trenches suddenly hesitated and couldn’t even get over.
“C-cavalry! Why now of all times!”
“Does that crazy bitch not even fear death?”
A few of them saw me at the front and started spouting nonsense, but that was all. Afraid of death? When I couldn’t die? It didn’t matter to me. Rather, I felt ecstasy. Standing perfectly fine in front of these vermin turning into meat paste and dying. How could I not feel excitement and ecstasy at such a sight?
I was superior to these bastards. Superior enough to have more than enough qualification to judge them. With that single reason alone being sufficient, I enjoyed the bullets pouring into my body and wildly swung my military saber.
The funny thing was that not a single one of them tried to shoot the horse until the very end.
“Kwaaaaaaaaah!”
It had turned into a melee. But it was a melee caused by my cavalry. In the end, the rebels couldn’t cross the trenches and were beaten in the middle.
“Retreat! Retreat!”
Finally, the Chinese bastards began to pull back. They had charged like a wave when they came at us, but now they retreated like the tide, leaving behind a red mudflat. Every time I saw something like this, I thought the Chinese truly had incredible tenacity. Even after creating a sea of blood like this, they would charge again. If we just let them go like this, they would reorganize and come back, dragging the fight out. Then some country like the United States or whoever might intervene. We had to throw the decisive blow.
“Shouldn’t we pursue them at least a little before they reorganize and catch them?”
At Hong Beom-do’s words, I thought for a moment. Should I pursue them now and just take Yuan Shikai’s head? That would make them collapse even faster. But the fact that the opponent was Chinese still bothered me. If they had been Japanese soldiers, there would have been parts I could use to spread Hongik ideology further. But against Chinese bastards, we had to inflict maximum damage. Only by collapsing them here could the Qing recover as quickly as possible.
I had briefly considered taking the ones who surrendered and using them as Qing troops, but judging from how the Qing had been so far, we wouldn’t be able to control them to prevent betrayal. They would probably run south again at the first chance and try to form another revolutionary army. In that case, it was better to just kill them all. It would be better to quickly sweep away the rebels south of the Yellow River and turn everything below the Yangtze into a complete power vacuum.
“There’s nothing good about poking a cornered rat. There’s something we need to do before pursuing.”
Before those bastards regained their senses and charged again, now was the opportunity. Even a cornered rat will bite a cat. If we pursued recklessly here, we would only end up taking damage ourselves. Yes. It was finally time to use mustard gas.