Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 572

Episode 572 Go to war! Assault return ship (4)

Late April, 30th year of King Sejong’s reign (1448, Mujin year).

The Joseon and Ming fleets clashed in the sea near Socheong Island.

“It’s Joseon’s fleet! “Provincial comrade (provincial comrade)!”

Comrade Oh Gye-myeong, who commanded the Ming fleet, raised his telescope at the captain’s words.

Oh Gye-myeong, who was looking at the Joseon fleet emerging from the shadow of Socheong Island in the distance, looked back at his staff.

“It’s on the same scale as what our scout ships have discovered so far.”

“That’s true, but…”

The Chief of Staff paused for a moment and continued speaking with a slightly anxious expression.

“I am a little concerned that the scout ships that went out to scout near Daecheong Island did not return.”

* * *

Even before the current battle, the Ming and Joseon were engaged in a fierce battle in the West Sea.

An attempt was made to find out the size and direction of movement of the opponent in advance, and to prevent the attempt, the Ming scout ships and the Joseon scout ships engaged in a fierce battle, biting at each other.

And the result was mostly a victory for the Joseon navy. This was because Ming’s scout ships, with their poor armament and poor defense, could not respond to Joseon’s maritime emergency.

However, as the number of scout ships properly operated by the Ming fleets increased significantly, the amount of information about the Joseon combined fleet was gradually increasing.

However, the Chief of Staff was unable to hide his anxiety as not a single scout ship that advanced to the vicinity of Daecheong Island returned.

* * *

Oh Gye-sang chuckled at the Chief of Staff’s remarks, unable to hide his anxiety.

“Your timidity is the problem. Let’s take a look at where the war will take place now. There is sea everywhere. Even if you try to ambush, there is no island to ambush. Of course, there could be a Joseon guerrilla fleet hiding in Daecheong Island that you were worried about. But we can’t get caught in their ambush unless we go there. Rather, it’s a situation where they have to come out. And even if their numbers increase, don’t we have something to prepare for?”

There was a reason why the five commandments were so confident.

* * *

While on the way here, the Ming fleet increased in number.

According to the last information received by the Joseon Navy, there were 40 large ships and 80 heavy ships. However, last night, under cover of darkness, 10 additional large ships and 20 heavy ships joined the group.

The scale of 50 ships equipped with 80 guns was enormous.

There were 100 heavy ships equipped with 20 guns. Even if you simply combine the large ships and heavy ships, the number was twice as large as the current Joseon fleet.

* * *

“Yes, of course. The director also believes that victory is certain. But… I’m still a little anxious. “I’m afraid that if I make a mistake, I could suffer greater damage than expected.”

This was the chief of staff’s worry.

Joseon was crazy about artillery, whether on land or at sea.

The Koreans were crazy people who mounted 20 artillery pieces on Panokseon, which were smaller than their heavy ships. And the power of the artillery was excellent as it was made by people crazy about artillery.

According to what is already known, the number of artillery pieces loaded on that high-sea emergency fast line is about 30 pieces, and the Challenger-class line number is said to have about 50 pieces of artillery pieces loaded on it.

In that case, it was certain that if he was even a little bit careless, even if he won, the losses would be severe.

The large ships and heavy ships that filled the area today were almost all battleships born from the naval competition between the Ming and Joseon Dynasty.

If the damage to these fronts was significant, it would take a lot of time and money to restore them.

After learning the reason why the Chief of Staff was anxious, Oh Gye-myeong nodded.

“okay. I understand what you’re worried about. To avoid that, aren’t you using your staff and me keeping you by my side? “Please do your best.”

In response to Oh Gye-myeong’s answer, the chief of staff bowed his head in silence.

“I will do my best to help you!”

* * *

While Oh Gye-myeong and the chief of staff were gathering their fighting spirit again, the soldier on the watchtower shouted.

“The Korean front lines are moving!”

At the soldier’s cry, Oh Gye-myeong, the chief of staff, his staff, and the captain all raised their telescopes.

The Joseon battle lines visible through the telescope were spreading out long and sideways. And a fire bomb was fired into the sky from a Challenger-class front line that appeared to be a command module.

pop! Puff!

The fire bombs fired into the sky soon created colorful smoke clouds in the sky, and soon after, similar fire bombs were fired from Socheong Island and Daecheong Island.

“Just as you said, there was a male and female. “But they seem very surprised to see it revealed so early.”

“That’s right.”

The chief of staff nodded with a brighter face at Oh Kye-myung’s answer. It was the most painful thing for a male and female to happen when they were unaware. However, since we already knew, if we prepared properly, we could have reduced the damage to a large extent.

The Chief of Staff, who was inspecting the Joseon army’s camp with a brighter face, reported to Oh Gye-myeong.

“Looking at their movements, it looks like they are forming a diagonal line. “To be precise, it would be eight characters.”

“Right.”

Oh Kye-myeong, who nodded slightly at the Chief of Staff’s words, asked the Chief of Staff.

“I think I would like to move to a young formation with the main ships arranged in a diamond shape in the center and the middle ships placed on the outskirts. What do you think?”

The Chief of Staff looked at the formation created by moving the pieces of wood placed on the chart board here and there and nodded.

“I think it is the most appropriate.”

“Then let’s proceed as is.”

“Yes Dain!”

After a while, signals were moved from the Myeongsu army’s flagship. After checking the signals, the front lines soon began to form a young formation.

* * *

As they carried out such complex fleet maneuvers, both sides began to form their formations.

The Joseon Dynasty formed a half-wing formation centered on the challenger-level front lines with the best firepower and defense, with high-mobility ships placed on both wings.

The Joseon navy, which had completed the formation, quickly approached.

And as soon as they entered the range of the artillery, they started firing artillery, starting with the sea emergency front line.

Kuk-kung! bang!

As heavy gunfire rang out and smoke rose, pillars of fire began to rise from the heavy ships guarding the outskirts of the Ming naval forces.

Kkkwang! Boom!

“what! “Why are the front lines exploding…”

The Ming army command was shocked when they saw the midships located on the outermost side of Jin explode.

“Is it a sudden thunderstorm?”

“The power is too great for a sudden lightning strike!”

“Then what is that explosion?”

While the staff’s opinions were divided as they watched our front lines suddenly explode, reports came in from all directions.

“report! “Severe damage to the front lines attacked by the Joseon Navy!”

“Some ships are already sinking!”

The staff who received the report fell into panic.

“Nonsense! “No matter how powerful the lightning, you can’t sink a heavy ship with just one or two shots!”

“you’re right!”

The Ming naval forces, who already knew that the Joseon navy enjoyed using bigyeokjincheonroe, paid attention to this aspect from the time they designed the midships. The first floor deck was thickened and guns were placed on the second floor deck. The most frightening thing about Bigyeokjincheonroe was its explosive power and fragments. The object with surprisingly low penetration power was the Bigyeokjincheonroe.

Until now, it was common knowledge that the only artillery shells that could make a hole in the hull were iron or stone shells made of whole iron.

In order to withstand the attack of these artillery shells as much as possible, the ships were heavy ships and large ships that had dense watertight bulkheads installed and even built warehouses to store wood for restoration.

Therefore, their thinking was that they could not sink a heavy ship with one or two bigyeokjincheonroe.

And it was correct.

What the Joseon Navy used was not Bigyeokjincheonroe.

It was a high explosive bomb filled with gunpowder in a cone-shaped body and a contact fuse embedded in the warhead.

* * *

Interestingly, it was Sugun, not Hyang, who first proposed the concept of a high explosive bomb using a contact fuse.

“The lightning strike is very useful, but its penetration power is weaker than expected.”

“For Japanese ships, just one Bigyeokjincheonro would be enough, but for ships from the Ming Dynasty or other countries, that’s not the case…”

“But it’s also inconvenient to carry both toys for bigyeokjincheonro and regular artillery like now… Above all, it reduces firepower. !”

The naval command, which was struggling to solve the problems arising from mounting various types of artillery on a front line with limited space, soon came up with an idea.

“All we have to do is make a lightning bolt with sufficient penetrating power!”

“Is that possible?”

“There is someone who can make it possible!”

The naval command immediately went to the village and requested a solution to the problem.

Hyang, who received the offer, responded with a big smile.

“We will come up with the best answer!”

The answer was clear, but the results did not come out right away.

This was because at the time the proposal was received, Joseon’s steelmaking technology had just begun to develop.

Only after the steam engine was born and steelmaking technology had developed to the extent of iron horses, railroad tracks, and even iron bridges, were contact fuses and artillery shells of satisfactory performance able to be created.

As a bonus, although it was primitive, it was also equipped with breech-loading naval guns.

And the sea emergency fronts and challenger-class fronts were plastered with naval guns made in this way, and their performance was now being shown in earnest in battle.

* * *

Among the command staff who were in a state of panic, the first to come to their senses were Oh Gye-myeong and the Chief of Staff.

“What a disgrace! “The battle has only just begun!”

The staff came to their senses at Oh Gye-myeong’s words, and the chief of staff gave a mantra to Oh Gye-myeong.

“Joseon’s artillery is stronger than expected! The best answer in this situation is to stick as fast as possible! “If we enter the range of our artillery and engage in an artillery battle, we will be able to fully demonstrate our quantitative superiority!”

“Let’s do that! “Give the order for the fleet to advance at full speed!”

“yes!”

Soon a signal was raised on the command ship, and the Ming fleet began to advance at full speed.

“Hey! “Stir!”

The soldiers on the front line of the Ming army gritted their teeth and rowed. The officer standing in front of them screamed at them, raising blood in his neck.

“Stir until your arms fall off! “If you are even a little late, you will die!”

The Ming fleet approached the Joseon fleet with all its might. To survive and to win, they rowed with all their might and adjusted the sails.

“quickly! Just a little faster! little bit more! “If you go a little further, it’s the range of the artillery!”

As the distance from the Joseon fleet became closer, the Ming frontiers also began preparing for an artillery battle.

“We continue to incur losses, but this is bearable! A firefight is about to break out. Then I can repay you fully!”

“Of course I have to pay you back!”

While Oh Gye-myeong and the chief of staff were burning their fighting spirit, a soldier shouted from the watchtower.

“A strange ship appears on the left side! “Approaching at high speed!”

Hearing the soldier’s cry, Oh Gye-myeong looked back at the chief of staff.

“The male and female have finally appeared!”

“That’s right!”

The two men and their staff raised a telescope and looked in the direction pointed by the sailor.

“Dragon?”

In the direction in question, a large black ship with a huge dragon head on its bow was approaching at high speed.

“How can I do this if I don’t have a sail?”

“What about that black smoke?”

The chief of staff, who was looking at the ship approaching at high speed without a sail, was immediately shocked.

“Joseon has already put steam engines on ships!”