Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 708

Episode 708: Second Yellow Sea Battle (6)

Early November, Year 9 of the Imperial Calendar (1457).

As promised with Emperor Gyeongtae, the Ming Dynasty fleet was able to complete preparations for war by the end of October.

“Now it’s time to compete!”

“It’s a fight!”

Although the weather was getting colder, the air at the military ports where the Ming Dynasty’s Yellow Sea navy gathered was getting hotter.

Soldiers prepared for war, regardless of their rank, visited temples or convents near military ports, offered offerings, and prayed earnestly.

“Please let me come back alive this time too!”

Veterans who had experienced the last war earnestly prayed for their survival.

“Please help me achieve great success by accumulating meritorious deeds in this war!”

On the other hand, soldiers and military officers who had not experienced the previous war hoped to achieve success by accumulating merit.

“The Joseon navy is formidable!”

The seniors continued to warn, but the newcomers simply ignored their opinions.

“I’m worried too much! “We have a two-headed dragon!”

The Ming Dynasty navy was confident as they looked at the two-headed flame dragon proudly perched on one side of the military port.

-A one-man navy with a double-headed dragon is invincible!

Their pride had some basis.

The Double-Headed Flame Dragon was a two-headed flame dragon that was connected to two large ships larger than the large ships used by Zheng He’s fleet in the past.

In order to resist the artillery fired by the Joseon army, the hull was surrounded by 2 inches (about 6 cm) of iron armor.

Lastly, there was the presence of a gun mounted on the dragon head located at the bow.

Although it was smaller than the Hwaryongpo made and used by Ju Ji-jin, the largest gun among the guns used by the Ming Dynasty navy was mounted on the dragon head.

The Ming Dynasty navy’s confidence surged every time they saw the huge gun muzzle of a gun with its wide open mouth and the shiny copper-plated dragon head on the outside.

“Compared to the two-headed flame dragon, the black flame dragon is just a weapon!”

***

Four days before entering Weihai (present-day Weihai City), where the Ming Dynasty Yellow Sea Fleet headquarters was located.

In the large yard attached to the fleet headquarters, the Ming Dynasty naval officers gathered and held a large ceremony.

Admiral Deng Su-lin, commander of the Yellow Sea Fleet, who was in charge of overall command of this war, read the list of candidates in a loud voice, and then a Taoist monk known for his spiritual powers raised an offering to the sky.

Similar ceremonies were held at other military ports at the same time.

When the ancestral rites were over, the wine and meat given by Emperor Gyeongtae were distributed to the soldiers and officers. The soldiers and officers sitting around in groups of twos and threes were eating meat, emptying their glasses, and laughing heartily.

As the next day dawned, ships sailed simultaneously from all the military ports where the Yellow Sea Fleet was stationed. Families of soldiers and military officers flocked to the dock to see off the departing ships.

As the front lines outside the port disappeared from sight, the family visited nearby conduits and temples and began praying as best they could.

* * *

The day after the Yellow Sea Fleet set sail. A self-powered flying ball was moving slowly in the sky over the West Sea.

“Oh~. Shit! “It’s so cold even in the summer, but now that it’s winter, it’s freezing!”

The guards, who were feeling the cold winter wind high in the sky, were swearing as they adjusted their thick cotton quilted winter clothing.

When self-powered flight equipment was improved to the point where it could be used, the first place to adopt it was, of course, the Imperial Army.

-You can see details in low places, but you can see far in high places!

The Imperial Army, which had greatly enjoyed the use of flying aircraft in the last war, introduced self-powered flying flying equipment and was putting it to good use.

Of course, the soldiers who operated the self-powered aircraft had to suffer.

“Damn you bastards! “In a winter like this, I’ll just stay in the harbor and drink!”

Even as they worked hard to open the collars of their winter clothes, the guards continued to curse at the Ming navy as the cold wind blew through them.

For some time now, intelligence has been coming in that the movements of the Ming Dynasty navy are suspicious, and accordingly, the Imperial Navy has strengthened its reconnaissance of the inland sea.

Large and small scout ships searched the inland and southern seas, and self-powered flying aircraft floated in the sky, scanning all directions.

Even while swearing hard from their mouths, the guards put their telescopes to their eyes and diligently examined the sea below.

“uh! Smoke to the southwest!”

“Wait a minute!”

At the call of the guard watching in that direction, Ki-chong, who was in charge of Bhikkhu, hurriedly ran in that direction, scanned the sea with a telescope, and shouted into the transmission pipe.

“Turn to the southwest!”

At the shout of the gun, the bhikkhu slowly turned and moved towards the place where the smoke in question was coming from. And Gi-chong looked at the map and figured out their location.

Before we knew it, the guards had closed their mouths and were very nervous as they scanned the sea with telescopes.

Then at some point.

“found! Starboard bow direction!”

At the colleague’s shout, all the guards fixed their gaze in that direction.

“At least 70 ships!”

“More than 50 large ships!”

“Two-headed man! no! Confirmed three double-headed flame dragons!”

Among the Imperial Navy, the two-headed dragon was called a two-headed snake, or two-headed snake.

-It moves by turning a water wheel? In the middle of the sea? Is that also a wire? Then it’s a snake, not a dragon!

-If it has two heads, does a snake’s head become a dragon’s head?

Among the imperial navy, the two-headed dragon was an object of ridicule.

Gi-chong, who personally confirmed the soldiers’ reports, recorded the movement speed and location of the Ming Dynasty fleet and then captured Jeon Seong-gwan.

“Return immediately! “Turn your head!”

At Ki Chong’s command, the monk slowly turned around and began to go back the way he came.

“Shit! Damn backwind!”

As the season entered winter and the wind direction changed, Bhikkhu’s speed was not working properly, so Gi-chong swore, looked at the map, and gave orders to the guards.

“Prepare fireworks for signaling! “Look for a communication line nearby!”

“ancient!”

The guards shouted loudly at the gun command and diligently scanned the sea again.

* * *

One of the biggest problems facing the Imperial Navy during this period was the lack of a fast and efficient means of long-distance communication.

Fast communication was possible on land using a light-emitting signal tower, but this was not possible at sea.

To solve this problem, what came out after much deliberation was to launch small ships at regular intervals in the inland sea and the southern sea.

The small ships were equipped with a large number of signal kites and new devices, and when urgent news came from other communication lines or bhikkhus, their mission was to use these means to contact other communication lines and communication towers installed on nearby islands.

Although it was a good means, there was a fatal problem in that the small ships could not go out to sea if the weather was even a little bad.

Thanks to this, finding a way to solve this problem has become a top challenge.

And every time a related issue was pointed out, Hyang had to place his hand on his forehead and mutter to himself.

‘ah! ‘It’s like electricity and it’s like rubber!’

* * *

Fortunately, the bhikkhu found a communication line and was able to convey approximate information using a luminous communication device and signal fireworks.

And, using communication lines and the luminous communication networks of nearby islands, urgent reports were immediately delivered to the Inland Sea Command in Seosan and Seoul.

“The Ming Dynasty bastards have finally moved.”

Cho Jin-woong, commander of the Inland Sea Fleet, urgently summoned the commanders and explained the situation.

“According to the information received so far, the number of battleships mobilized by the Ming Dynasty bastards who moved this time is about 120. Among them, 100 ships are Daeseon. And of those 120 ships, 50 have moved toward Yeosun and 70 are coming this way.”

Nam Ki-nam, the second captain of the Maeng Jin-ho, asked a question in response to Cho Jin-woong’s explanation.

“Where did the two-headed man go?”

“All three of those snake heads are coming this way.”

At Cho Jin-woong’s answer, the face of Ki-nam Nam and the captain of the assault ship, who was sitting next to Nam Ki-nam, brightened.

Jo Jin-woong, who saw the bright faces of the captains of the assault ship, burst out laughing and muttered to himself.

‘Aren’t those guys scared in the first place? After all, they are the ones who raised those guys like that…’

* * *

Nam Ki-nam and his fellow assault return ship captains were people who watched and learned from previous captains. And the previous captains were the first to sail the Challenger-class battleship across the ocean.

To put it nicely, they were ‘courageous and daring people’, and as Hyang put it, they were ‘unparalleled thugs in the world’.

And since they were people who had seen, learned from, and been trained by such people, there was no way they were normal.

* * *

Jo Jin-woong immediately came to his senses and continued his explanation.

“Anyway, the only ones who can properly deal with those snake heads are our dragon heads. However, the problem is that they are outnumbered 3 to 2. The good news is that when it comes to fleet size, we are not pushed back. The same goes for firepower.”

The commanders all nodded at Jo Jin-woong’s words.

The number of ships deployed to the Inland Sea Fleet is approximately 90. Among them, if you subtract the number of small ships used as communication lines, the number of ships that can be deployed in battle is 72. Two ships were assault return ships, 30 of the remaining 70 ships were challenger-class ships, and the rest were sea emergency ships.

It was a situation where we were not inferior in numbers at all. fire power? No matter what the Ming thought, the Imperial Navy had no intention of being outgunned.

* * *

Since the last war, the Inland Sea Fleet has strengthened its strength.

-There is no way people can stay still!

The local government and ministers all made this judgment and the decision was made accordingly.

According to the decision of the local government and ministers, new Challenger-class battleships were supplied in large quantities to the inland sea fleet.

With the auxiliary sea emergency fronts in place, the Panokseon went through the process of being retired, leaving behind only a few in good condition.

And the Panok ships that survived were equipped with small steam engines, armed with bigyeokjincheonroe and double-type freight cars, and were deployed to the Yeosun region fleet.

The mission of the Panokseon, whose deployment was changed, was to assume the role of a landing ship in the 21st century.

If a conflict with the Ming broke out, the mission of the Panok ships deployed in Yeosun was to land troops in Tianjin and attack Beijing.

* * *

Cho Jin-woong continued his explanation.

“According to the previously established operational plan, if Ming did something, we would combine with the Northern Fleet in Lushun and attack Beijing.

However, this incident has proven that they also have heads. Thanks to this, we got a little more busy.

Smash the snake heads coming this way as quickly as possible and head north. Then….”

Cho Jin-woo explained the operation plan he had in mind.

After hearing the explanation, the commanders expressed their opinions, and the plan was revised little by little, becoming sharper.

Cho Jin-woong, who confirmed the final plan that was completed, nodded with a satisfied face.

“It’s okay. Then just keep going like this. The name of the operation was ‘Snake Hunt.’ “How is it?”

“Then, everyone, go back to your assigned ship, check the supply situation, and immediately fill in any gaps. “We will set sail tomorrow at dawn!”

“yes!”

The commanders responded vigorously and left the conference room and ran to their ships.

Cho Jin-woong, who was left alone in the conference room, opened a blank piece of paper and grumbled.

“Damn it… Writing a report is the most troublesome thing, but you damn Minggu bastards…”

No matter how politely you wrote a report, you had to follow etiquette, and that was never an easy task.

“Shit! It would be easier to go out to sea and fight to the death! What kind of success this guy has! So does Captain Shin! “Why are you leaving me out?”

‘The situation with Myeong-gwa is unstable, so the owner should stay for a while. ‘You know I trust the owner, right?’

In the last personnel change, Shin In-son kept Cho Jin-woong in his position by saying this. At that time, Cho Jin-woong liked that there was no need to go through hardships in Shinji.