Episode 266: Battle of the Songhua River. (5)
Soon after, the Jurchen tribe’s cavalry appeared from afar.
“Ready for battle!”
“Ready for battle!”
Following the commanders’ orders, the soldiers calmed their trembling breath and prepared for battle.
* * *
“Ah, shit…”
Sundol, who was wearing full body armor as a spearman, swung his right arm and cursed.
“What are you doing?”
Sundol answered the question of the veteran soldier next to him with a puzzled look on his face.
“Because the place where the letters are written is itchy.”
“That’s why I tell you to film in a place that does it right, even if it costs a bit of money. He said he would save a few pennies, but I hope he gets rid of the mask….”
“Tsk….”
Sundol only ate his food with a puzzled look on his face as the veteran soldier scolded him.
At that time, Joseon soldiers tattooed their personal details, such as their name, date of birth, and hometown, before going to war. It was a kind of dog tag.
This tradition, known as ‘Bubyeongjaja (赴兵刺字)’, was banned when Hyang created the status badge, but many soldiers still followed the tradition and tattooed their bodies.
“Which guy is making small talk in this situation!”
Hearing a shout from a nearby military officer, Sundol and a senior soldier quickly shut their mouths and looked straight ahead.
I started hearing horses neighing in the distance.
“Sit on your knees! “Wugeochang.”
At the command of the commander, the spearmen knelt down on one knee and leaned their long spears on their right shoulder.
* * *
While the soldiers at the front were preparing their will to fight, the command staff located on the slightly elevated hilly area at the very rear where the Joseon soldiers were encamped inspected the situation with a monoscope.
“The enemy has entered a distance of 170 feet (approximately 510 meters)! Shall we release a thunderbolt?”
“Let go.”
In response to Yi Sun-mong’s order, the staff issued an order, and the flag bearer waved the signal fiercely.
The gunnery commanders who were looking at the command center at the very back of the group shouted in unison.
“Let go! Release fire!”
“Bangpo!”
At the command of the commanders, the gunsmiths pulled their lanyards in unison.
Kwakwakwak!
With a loud explosion, the waiting artillery guns fired at once. As the gun was pushed back due to the recoil that occurred at the same time as it was fired, the waiting artillerymen pushed the gun forward again and began reloading.
“Wrap the fireworks around Mogok one less time!”
“yes!”
At the command of the gunnery commander, the artillery commanders wrapped the fireworks around Mokgok.
‘Short one lap already?’
Some people had such doubts, but the order was an order, and the gunsmiths silently followed the order.
Quack!
“Ahh!”
Hee hee!
The lightning that flew like that caused damage to the front line of the approaching Jurchen people. It was a very shallow wound, but Agutai and the warriors took the situation seriously.
‘Is that the rumored Joseon Army fire bomb?’
Quack!
Another explosion occurred, this time leaving a slightly deeper wound.
Agutai, seeing the situation, gave hand signals and shouted at the top of his voice.
“Charge at full speed!”
Hee hee hee!
Doo doo doo doo!
“Waaah!”
As soon as Agutai’s command was given, all the warriors kicked the sides of the horse in unison. With a loud neigh, the horses began to run wildly forward.
The ground began to shake as thousands of horses galloped at full speed.
Before he knew it, Agutai was running right behind the leader and diligently calculating the number of cases.
‘That guy called Hwapo can’t easily control his distance! I ended up sprinting from a longer distance than expected, but this distance is okay!’
* * *
As the Jurchen race ran at full speed, Yi Sun-mong smiled in remorse.
“You got caught.”
Sprinting at full speed required a huge amount of physical strength. No matter how famous they were, if they wore armor and held a spear sword and ran at full speed, they would not be able to go even 30 feet (approximately 90 meters) and would be out of breath and unable to run properly.
This was the same with words. Sprinting with a load of nearly 140 geun (about 80 kg) to 150 geun (90 kg) on your back was a serious strain. In order for the cavalry to make a proper impact, it was common for the cavalry to start sprinting between 100 long (about 300 m) and 150 long (450 m). If it was shorter than that, they couldn’t speed up, and if it was farther than that, the horses got tired and slowed down.
That is why Yi Sun-mong used Bigyeokjincheonroe to force the Jurchen tribe to expend their stamina.
Of course, the distance of 10 to 20 chapters (30 to 60 meters) may seem short, but it was a battlefield where that short distance could determine victory or defeat or life or death.
“Tell the cavalry to prepare! “When you reach 100 feet (approximately 300 meters), release fire!”
“yes!”
The staff who received the order drove their horses to the front with all their might.
* * *
Kwabang!!!!
“Aaaah!”
“Damn it!!!”
Hearing the warriors’ screams, Agutai gritted his teeth and spurred his horse.
Those damn fire bombs of the Joseon army were exploding in the air.
Every time a bomb exploded in the air, the warriors and horses rolled on the ground as one, accompanied by a terrible scream. In that case, instant death would have been a blessing. It was clear that if I survived that situation, I would not have survived.
“run!”
“Run with all your might!”
The warriors, whose eyes were bloodshot as they watched the deaths of their comrades who had been like brothers, gritted their teeth and kicked the sides of their horses.
The sight of the Joseon Army cavalry lined up in a line appeared in the eyes of the Jurchen warriors who were running, breathing heavily, as if they were about to die at any moment.
Agutai and the warriors smiled wryly when they saw the Joseon cavalry waiting quietly.
“You idiots! Those cavalrymen just stand there! Did you just trust that measly canvas? anyway! The game is decided! “We win!”
Agutai took out the bow that was hanging on the saddle, lifted it up, and, leaning on the stirrup, loaded the arrow into the bow.
Shooting an arrow from a running horse was a basic skill of the Jurchen warriors. The Koreans were similarly talented, but they could not keep up with them.
With similar thoughts in mind, the second and third rows of Jurchen warriors sharpened their bows at the same time. When the 2nd and 3rd lines provide cover with arrows, the leading warriors drive away the enemies. It was a tactic that had been honed for generations since our ancestors, and it was a tactic that always worked well.
“If you go a little further, the arrow will reach you! “I’ll pay you back several times over!”
At that time, when they were looking at the Joseon army with a strong demonstration, the Joseon army’s cavalry formation was suddenly engulfed in smoke. And then a loud binge of drinking followed.
Ta-ta-ta-tang!
Sigh! Sigh!
“Aaaah!”
The leading warriors fell to the ground in Ususu with a sound several times sharper than that of an arrow flying.
“Don’t stop! run!”
“Wow!”
However, the aftershock warriors ran on their horses while shouting like screams.
-Cavalry dies if they stop.
It was knowledge acquired through a long history of conflict.
The Joseon army formation was clearly visible to the eyes of Agutai and the Jurchen warriors who had crossed another death line.
The Joseon Army cavalry that was blocking the front were splitting to the left and right and leaving, and the empty central area was where infantrymen holding long spears were waiting for them.
‘No head-on collision! The moment you stop behind that wall, you’ll be attacked! ‘We have to drag the cavalry down!’
Agutai, who had already taken the lead, waved both arms and made a hand signal. At Agutai’s hand signal, the Jurchen warriors split into two groups and began chasing the Joseon cavalry that was moving to the side.
Lee Soon-mong, who saw the scene, grabbed his baton and shouted.
“Got caught!”
* * *
The moment the Jurchen warriors split to the left and right, exposing their flanks, the commanders of the rifle units who were waiting in a horizontal march about 5 feet (15 meters) away from the spearmen’s formation screamed in unison.
“Let go!”
“Let go!”
At the command of the commanders, the riflemen in the first row pulled the trigger in unison.
Ta-ta-tang!
With a loud gunshot, the long guns opened fire, and the soldiers in the first row threw back their empty guns and received new guns from behind, preparing to fire.
“Bangpo!”
Ta-ta-tang!
After finishing firing once again, the soldiers in the first row handed over their empty guns and received loaded guns.
It was a place where the tactics devised by the local government and refined by front-line commanders were finally shown for the first time.
“The limitation of full-length rifles is that it takes too long to reload…”
Hyang, who knew about the problems with full-load rifles, found the answer in the memories of the 21st century.
It was a tactic born in European armies during the line infantry period.
To overcome the limitations of full-length rifles, European commanders’ first idea was to turn soldiers like watermills.
When the first line of soldiers lined up in three or four rows fired, they would immediately fall back and the next line would come forward and fire.
However, this method required a high level of training, and the short engagement distance of the smoothbore gun era meant that there was no answer to charging at the moment.
As time went by and the era of the Kangseonchong was established, a change in tactics occurred again, similar to what the Joseon army is doing now.
People were there and guns were moving around like a conveyor belt. The soldiers in the second, third, or fourth rows were like machines, loading guns with gunpowder, pouring ignition powder, and handing over guns, with the soldiers in the first row continuously firing.
However, the problem with this method was that it only worked if there were facilities that could defend the first line of soldiers.
A representative example was the ‘Killing Machine Battle of Fredericksburg’ during the American Civil War.
When the Northern army that sacked Fredericksburg attacked the Confederate army located behind the city, the Confederate army resorted to a stone wall and entered a defensive battle. Unfortunately, the fog that occurred when the battle took place prevented the Union artillery from providing supporting fire, leaving only the Union infantry to charge.
And in the battle that took place, the Confederate army, relying on the stone wall as a defense, maximized efficiency by turning its guns, and the Northern army had to retreat after suffering massive damage.
Confederate casualties were approximately 5,000. It was a defeat for the Northern Army that resulted in massive casualties of approximately 12,000 people.
* * *
However, the Joseon army had human barriers called spearmen armed with full body armor.
As long as the Jurchen tribes were not armed with firearms, these spearmen were sure to become a strong barrier.
Spearmen also provided another advantage to musketeers. It was to prevent the riflemen’s fire from being concentrated on a single target.
As long as the spearmen were in front, the riflemen’s aim was simple.
‘Aim and shoot only between the left and right windows in front of you.’
Thanks to what they had heard so hard, the musketeers were able to aim only between spears, almost mechanically.
* * *
The musketeers’ fire continued to cause damage, but Agutai and Jurchen warriors were persistent.
“If only I could catch the cavalry! If we can capture the cavalry, victory will be ours! Even though the infantry is armed with artillery, they are as slow as slugs! “As long as we catch the cavalry, we can turn the tables!”
These were Jurchen warriors who gritted their teeth and relentlessly pursued the Joseon cavalry.
In front of the Jurchen warriors who were chasing the Joseon Army cavalry, shedding blood, the Joseon Army cavalry turned around.
“at las!”
When the Joseon Army cavalry turned around and charged with long spears, Agutai and his warriors drew curved swords and charged head-on.
* * *
The head-on collision between Agutai’s warriors and the Joseon Army cavalry ended in the complete victory of the Joseon Army cavalry.
The response of the Jurchen warriors was delayed as the horses carrying them became tired and slowed down.
And the sturdy full-body armor and six-blooded cavalry of the Joseon Army cavalry once again shone.
And the Jurchen tribe led by Agutai no longer existed.
After completing the operation, Sunmong Lee called the commander.
“Good work. We will rest here today and start the chase again tomorrow. Please keep in mind that there are still many Jurchen tribes that need to be sorted out.”
“Yes general.”
The nightmare of the Huligai tribe is not over.
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