Black Corporation: Joseon

The enormous explosion and shaking momentarily staggered everyone in the command headquarters.

BOOM! BOOOOM!

Two more impacts immediately followed, shaking the command headquarters.

Lee Jing-ok, who had held onto the conference room table to steady himself, immediately issued orders as soon as the vibrations subsided.

“Confirm impact points! Check damage status!”

“Yes sir!”

At Lee Jing-ok’s order, messengers immediately ran out.

After sending out the messengers, Lee Jing-ok surveyed his surroundings. The command headquarters was located right below the watchtower of the inner fortress. Though he carefully examined the area, he saw no particular signs of damage.

Gathering his thoughts, Lee Jing-ok questioned the artillery officer beside him.

“If whoever’s commanding those large cannons properly knows artillery, it would be difficult to fire a second volley immediately. Artillery isn’t something you can fire in rapid succession. Reloading will take considerable time.”

“Is that so?”

At the artillery officer’s words, Lee Jing-ok briefly calculated various possibilities.

With cannons that size, they can’t move positions immediately. And if reloading takes time, there must be a lot of artillery crews gathered around the cannons right now. If we strike at this moment, we could render them useless…

After running various calculations, Lee Jing-ok muttered with a sigh.

“The problem is the casualties our artillery might have suffered… If we miss this chance, things won’t be fun…”

Lee Jing-ok muttered with a face full of regret. The impact from the bombardment just now had been tremendous. Having felt a shock that almost made him lose his balance momentarily, something must have certainly collapsed somewhere. If so, they would need to focus solely on defense rather than counterattack.

“His Highness guaranteed that it would withstand ordinary bombardment without issue… but what we just experienced was far from ordinary…”

***

While Hyang had guaranteed durability when building the fortress with iron-reinforced bamboo, many commanders remained skeptical.

In response to the commanders’ reactions, Hyang had even proposed building a mock wall and testing it with artillery, but King Sejong had rejected this.

“We don’t have budget to spare. Given your track record, we can trust you, and they won’t question it either.”

“Then doubt will remain until the end. I’ll raid the Ministry of Personnel’s coffers!”

“How long ago did you already raid that! Get out, you brat!”

Despite such skepticism, eventually all major mountain fortresses throughout Joseon were reconstructed with walls using iron-reinforced bamboo. And Bukhansan Fortress and Namhansan Fortress, which defended Hanseong and could serve as places for the royal family to relocate and withstand siege if necessary, as well as newly constructed garrisons and outposts in border regions, were built with new designs based on Hyang’s concepts.

This Insan Garrison was one of those new-generation garrisons and outposts.

***

As Lee Jing-ok was doubting the fortress’s durability, a messenger came in to report.

“No damage, sir!”

“What? No damage?”

“Yes! The shots hit the front of the fortress on both sides, and while there are some dents, nothing has collapsed or been penetrated!”

“Casualties?”

“Currently confirming!”

And shortly after, another report came up.

“Casualties confirmed! A few light injuries!”

At the messengers’ reports, Lee Jing-ok unconsciously muttered.

“What the hell… What exactly did they build?”

***

While Lee Jing-ok was muttering thus, chaos had also erupted on the opposite side.

“It’s intact?”

“Yes sir!”

At the scout’s report, Zhao Bingde put the telescope to his eye with an expression of disbelief.

“The projectile alone weighs 400 geun (approximately 240 kg) and it’s intact after taking that?”

Looking at Insan garrison’s walls with an expression full of disbelief, Zhao Bingde was left speechless.

The Joseon fortress walls were standing firm and intact. Of course, there were three visibly dented areas, but there were no holes or collapsed sections at all.

“What the hell… What exactly did they build?”

After examining the walls several times in disbelief, Zhao Bingde quickly gathered his wits and issued orders.

“Tell the Fire Dragon Cannon battery! Fire the second and third volleys as quickly as possible! Though it looks fine on the outside, shock must have accumulated inside!”

“Yes sir!”

After issuing orders to his staff officer, Zhao Bingde glared at Insan garrison and muttered.

“This could turn into a massive loss if we’re not careful.”

If they couldn’t bring down that fortress with the Fire Dragon Cannons, they might be forced to choose the traditional method of having soldiers scale the walls.

“Siege warfare leads to excessive losses…”

Worrying about potentially having to choose a method he absolutely didn’t want to use, Zhao Bingde examined the front lines again.

“Those damned iron barriers…”

Zhao Bingde ground his teeth while looking at the iron barriers blocking his soldiers’ advance.

Through messengers from the vanguard, he had learned these barriers were no simple things. The iron wires strung between the iron posts wouldn’t break even after dozens of strikes with great swords. To cut those iron wires, they had to target where they connected to the posts and strike repeatedly.

The problem was that the Joseon forces wouldn’t just let them do this. Soldiers working at cutting would immediately be shot down.

Those damn Joseon iron guns were demonstrating overwhelmingly superior range and accuracy compared to their own.

The best method was to hook grapples onto the posts or wires and pull. When at least ten men combined their strength to pull, the posts would fall and create a narrow path.

But even this wasn’t easy. When soldiers gathered, they immediately became targets for the Joseon forces.

However, the problem was there was no other option. As a result, casualties among soldiers assigned to breach the wire nets were enormous.

“If we could just push those damn things all at once…”

As Zhao Bingde was glaring at the wire nets consuming his soldiers and muttering, he suddenly stopped speaking. After pondering briefly, he immediately called his staff officer.

“Send a messenger to the Fire Dragon Cannon battery! Change of orders! Instead of attacking the walls, target those iron barriers!”

“Sir?”

“The Fire Dragon Cannon’s iron shot should be able to blast holes in those barriers!”

“Ah, yes! I’ll relay it immediately!”

Understanding Zhao Bingde’s idea, the staff officer called a messenger with a bright expression and relayed Zhao Bingde’s orders.

***

Around the same time, Lee Jing-ok was also stroking his chin while contemplating his next move.

“This could get interesting? Hmm…”

After calculating briefly, Lee Jing-ok looked at the artillery officer beside him.

“The General Cannon’s range should reach those large cannons?”

“Yes. But to be certain, we should only use the inner fortress battery.”

“Why? Isn’t more better?”

“That’s true, but shots travel further when fired from higher positions. The inner fortress battery is ideal for clearing those earthen walls that the observation balloons reported.”

Lee Jing-ok nodded at the artillery officer’s explanation.

“Then let’s do that! Messenger!”

“Yes sir!”

After calling the messenger, Lee Jing-ok gave orders to be delivered to the inner fortress battery and observation balloons.

After sending off the messenger, Lee Jing-ok smiled with satisfaction.

“I’d like to see what expression they make when those large cannons become unusable.”

****

Meanwhile, the Fire Dragon Cannon battery commander showed an interesting expression upon receiving Zhao Bingde’s orders.

“Target those iron barriers beside the walls instead of the walls?”

“Yes sir!”

“Understood. Tell them we’ll follow orders.”

“Yes sir!”

Watching the messenger mount his horse and ride toward headquarters, the battery commander clicked his tongue.

“What a shame. I wanted to see how many shots it would take to bring down those walls.”

At the battery commander’s words, all the subordinate officers nearby nodded.

Having heard that the Joseon walls had withstood three direct hits, all the Fire Dragon Cannon battery commanders were filled with intense competitive spirit.

“Oh? They withstood that?”

“Wonder how many shots they can take?”

Caught up in their competitive spirit, the commanders began rushing their subordinates.

“Move faster!”

“Yes, yes sir!”

At their commanders’ urging, the soldiers began picking up their pace.

***

The soldiers were equally caught up in the competitive spirit. Their position was 5 ri away from the battlefield. It was the perfect position where they could just properly fire these massive Fire Dragon Cannons without risk of death.

Though they had already experienced it during training, that Fire Dragon Cannon’s power was tremendous. These large cannons that could immediately punch holes through ordinary fortress walls were their pride.

“And they blocked it?”

“Must have been lucky!”

“Let’s see how long that luck lasts!”

Amidst such boisterous conversation, the soldiers focused on reloading the Fire Dragon Cannons.

***

Reloading the Fire Dragon Cannon was a time-consuming task.

First, they thoroughly cleaned the touch hole connecting the primer powder pan to the inside of the barrel. If this hole became blocked, the primer powder’s flame couldn’t ignite the powder inside the Fire Dragon Cannon.

Next, they attached ropes to rings at the cannon’s rear and pulled it up. By lowering the muzzle this way, small-built soldiers with cloth-covered faces could enter the barrel.

The soldiers who entered the barrel used brushes to scrape out powder residue and embers remaining inside. They paid particular attention to embers. If even a small ember remained when powder was loaded, it could cause a catastrophic explosion.

After the soldiers who scraped off residue and embers stuck to the barrel interior came out, about ten soldiers would work together to insert an enormous brush into the barrel.

After cleaning was completed by repeatedly pushing and pulling a brush the size of an average man’s upper body, the actual reloading would begin.

***

“Cannon cleaning complete!”

“Good! Begin reloading!”

“Yes sir!”

At the commander’s order, soldiers unloaded boxes from a supply wagon on one side. The boxes contained powder bags. Soldiers shouldered the powder bags and headed toward the Fire Dragon Cannons.

A group of officers and soldiers waited in front of the Fire Dragon Cannon with scales ready for them.

They began weighing the powder bags that the soldiers brought. Too much powder could cause the Fire Dragon Cannon to explode.

“Good! Load it into the cannon!”

“Yes sir!”

Just as the measured powder was heading toward the Fire Dragon Cannon’s muzzle, Joseon artillery shells began falling from the sky.

Bang! Boom! Bang!

“Uwaaak!”

“Take cover!”

The shells falling from the sky created huge columns of earth. Soldiers hit by fragments from Joseon shells or by shells bouncing off the ground rolled on the ground covered in blood.

Soldiers and commanders who barely avoided the shells hurriedly took cover.

After the barrage of shells ended, the commanders urgently began assessing the situation.

“Move the wounded and dead!”

“Keep the powder from catching fire!”

“Where did they come from! A surprise attack?”

The commanders’ first thought was a surprise attack. They thought Joseon forces had discovered the Liaodong army’s operation and made a flanking movement to strike from behind.

This was due to their fixed notion that no cannon except the Fire Dragon Cannon could fire this far.

However, their assumption was immediately proven wrong.

“No sir! They came from across the Yalu River!”

At the soldiers’ answer, the commanders shook their heads.

“Impossible! It’s over 5 ri from there to here! Only the Fire Dragon Cannon is capable of that!”

However, the Fire Dragon Cannon battery commander was the first to come to his senses. He shouted at his subordinate officers.

“That’s not the issue! First check if the Fire Dragon Cannons are intact! And resume reloading as quickly as possible!”

“Y-yes sir!”

At the battery commander’s orders, the subordinate officers hurriedly began checking the Fire Dragon Cannons’ condition.

“Fortunately all three cannons are intact!”

“Gun carriages also undamaged!”

“Resuming reloading!”

Just as work resumed, Joseon’s second volley arrived.

Story Arcs