Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 796

Episode 796: Bloody fight in the jungle (2)

The subordinate officer continued.

“If you listen to the words of Chogwan and other natives, they say that there are more than one tribe that grinds their teeth when they see those bastards who are either Aztec or Mesica.”

“Are you saying it’s not just the tribe of Shit and his companions?”

“That’s right. “If we can properly work with them, we can receive great help in supplying troops and maintaining supply routes.”

“Hmm… it’s okay. That’s plausible. But not everything goes as expected. “Let’s check the plan assuming that we are moving independently, rather than just by the tribe and our fellow tribesmen.”

“yes.”

Lee Jing-ok, who was giving orders to his subordinate officers, seemed to suddenly remember another problem and pointed out another problem.

“ah! And that’s it. Are we properly informing people of the ‘prohibited use of profanity’?”

“…yes.”

Lee Jing-ok grumbled at the sight of his subordinate officer stuttering his answer.

“How on earth… why did they choose a name like that…”

* * *

In the process of returning to Shinji, some of the defected natives took on imperial-style names.

Among the natives with such names, most of them recognized as their names the titles they called themselves during the process of escaping with the imperial army, such as ‘Seong’.

Thanks to this, a tacit agreement was reached between the imperial forces on the ship returning to Shinji.

-Do not use profanity that natives use as names.

And this agreement was immediately written into a report and sent to the township.

After checking the report, Hyang immediately gave an answer.

“The military must not use the profanity on this list.”

Jinpyeong, who was watching Hyang’s decision from the side, immediately pointed out the problem.

“Swearing is something that comes out without thinking, so wouldn’t it be better to just ban swearing? “Words are what show a person’s class, so why not take this opportunity to ban the use of profanity?”

Hyang responded to Jinpyeong’s words with a sour expression.

“You don’t swear?”

“How could a nobleman be so lowly….”

“Do you know that there are one or two reports that say you are the person with the harshest mouth in the field?”

“….”

“And why did you say that the nobleman was swearing so vulgarly? If you think like that, Tae Sang-tae is not a gentleman?”

“Huh!”

Jinpyeong’s face turned white at Hyang’s point.

When King Sejong got angry, he swore profanity without even realizing it. No, it wasn’t just Sejong. Taejong was also good at swearing. In particular, in the case of King Taejo, who lived most of his life on the battlefield, half of what he said in private was swearing.

Fortunately, in the case of King Sejong, he changed his habit by clicking his tongue instead of swearing. However, there was not a single person who did not know the curse hidden in that tongue-clicking sound.

That’s why Jinpyeong’s face turned white. If there was even the slightest misunderstanding of what Jinpyeong had just said, it would immediately become an insult to Tae Sang-tae.

“I was mistaken in my convictions!”

Jinpyeong immediately bowed his head and admitted his mistake, and Hyang responded by clicking his tongue.

“Tsk!”

* * *

Hyang’s orders were the same for the conquering army. In order to prevent unexpected mistakes, the conquering army had to become familiar with this from the time they received training at the headquarters.

-(Strategy) For this reason, the use of the profanity listed above is prohibited. If you are caught using the above abusive language, your salary will be reduced.

Among the soldiers who read the orders posted on the bulletin board, those who were not from the same clan made an expression that it was no big deal or actually laughed.

“Well, it’s no big deal… That’s not the only swear word…”

“It seems like the unit that fought in the south of Shinji only had surprisingly calm friends? Even the kids who go to the social school in our neighborhood use harsher swear words than that.”

Funnily enough, those who received the most pay cuts over time were soldiers from the gentry.

Those who graduated from the gentry lived a life that was far from swearing.

The place where they encountered swearing was mainly at social democratic schools. This was because, in accordance with the philosophy of ‘social equality,’ the academy held classes in one place without class distinction.

The problem was when the children in the class used profanity at home that they had learned at school.

“How can a child from a noble family use such vulgar language!”

“I think I learned it from kids my age at the Social Ministries School.”

“Then you should have stepped in and prevented it from being used!”

As the backlash continued in this way, graduates of the nobility were taught and trained not to swear.

As these people volunteered for the conquest army and underwent harsh military training, swear words soon began to appear in their mouths.

However, most of the swear words they were familiar with were the swear words they knew when they were young, and the problem was that most of those swear words were on the banned list.

* * *

The conquering troops arrived at the southern naval base on iron horses, rested for a day, and then immediately boarded the ship.

“There’s a long way to go!”

After sailing for 15 days, the conquering forces arrived at their target and immediately began building a bridgehead under the command of Lee Jing-ok.

“Then I’ll go right back and load up the rear.”

Lee Jing-ok nodded and accepted the words of the admiral leading the transport fleet.

“Please take care of me.”

“Good luck.”

“Thank you. By the way, I heard a story on the way, that a European ship was found stranded nearby?”

“yes. Looking at the traces, it looked like a ship that had escaped from a friendly attack before.”

“Were there any survivors?”

“After searching the surrounding area, it seems like I was attacked by those bastards.”

“I don’t have to see what it would have been like to know.”

The admiral nodded at Lee Jing-ok’s words. Seeing the admiral like that, Lee Jing-ok spoke again.

“Are ships still coming from Europe these days?”

“They come from time to time, but every time they come, they are either sunk or captured.”

“You must be very worried about the situation.”

“He said I had to hold out for at least five more years.”

“Make it hard.”

“thank you.”

After completing the unloading of troops and supplies, the fleet immediately turned around and returned to its home port.

Lee Jing-ok waved goodbye to the returning ship and turned around.

“This is where it really begins. “How should I deal with these things?”

It was Lee Jing-ok, who was full of murderous intentions towards the Aztecs.

“It’s easier than expected because there are big boats, so we have to do it right.”

According to the plan, the conquering army would arrive at the bridgehead through a total of 10 transports.

It was a large operation to transport 3,000 people at once, and this was possible thanks to the deployment of five large transport ships newly designed by the township.

Although it was a slightly larger transport ship than the Challenger class, it was equipped with only the minimum armament for self-defense. It was a ship specialized for transporting passengers and cargo.

“It was made because the trees of Shinji were large and strong, but it could not be released until control of the Atlantic Ocean was taken over. Or, let’s look at it again…”

While expressing slight regret, Hyang sent the blueprint in question to our headquarters. This was because it was certain that it would be useful in the Suez route, where maritime control had already been secured.

When the conquest army was safely transported five times, Lee Jing-ok finally began to move.

They formed three units of 1,000 men and dispatched them with Seong and other defected natives. Their mission was to establish contact with the Tseng and other indigenous tribes and bring about their cooperation.

“According to Chu Guan, the round trip will take at least a month… What should I do to spend my time?”

After pondering for a moment, Lee Jing-ok soon summoned his subordinate officers.

“Did you call me?”

“I have something to do.”

“Please order.”

Lee Jing-ok raised his hand and pointed to the jungle ahead.

“Push all that away.”

“yes?”

“The troops will continue to arrive, but this land is hotter and more humid than expected. If you do it wrong, there is a high chance that you will get tired or get sick before you even fight. So, you need to secure enough space in advance. And since the jungle blocks your eyes, you may be surprised. So, we need to push it as much as possible to reduce our weaknesses and utilize our strengths.”

All subordinate officers nodded at Lee Jing-ok’s explanation.

“I’ll do it right away.”

Soon, all the soldiers except those in charge of security left the beachhead, carrying logging blades and saw axes.

“Why did they say they were sending a lot of logging blades and axes and saws…”

“Did I come to fight or to cut wood?…”

The soldiers began to push out the jungle, one by one, while grumbling.

Afterwards, Hyang read the message sent by Lee Jing-ok and shuddered slightly.

“The division commander said, ‘Move that mountain.’ When he did this, the mountain moved…. Ugh~. I suddenly get goosebumps….”

* * *

It had been about a month and ten days since the units that had left the bridgehead returned.

Behind the returning troops were dozens of indigenous warriors armed with macuahuitl.

Lee Jing-ok, who was watching the scene from the watchtower, smiled slightly.

“I think it went well.”

Judging that things seemed to have gone well, Lee Jing-ok came down from the watchtower and greeted the returning troops.

“insect!”

“Good work! Let the soldiers rest and you come and report!”

“yes!”

After dispersing the soldiers, the commander led the indigenous warriors with Seong and visited Lee Jing-ok.

“Again, thank you for your hard work. “I was a little worried because it took longer than expected, but I’m glad to see that most of them returned safely.”

“thank you.”

“Okay, report it.”

“yes.”

The commander began reporting to Lee Jing-ok.

The commander’s report was summarized as follows.

-The tribe of Sseong hid in a deeper jungle than where they originally lived.

– After hearing the attack on the Aztecs, the tribe promised full cooperation. The hostility they have toward the Aztecs is beyond imagination.

-The tribe plans to move the entire tribe to the vicinity of the beachhead. This is to ensure the safety of the tribe and increase the efficiency of joint operations.

-They are requesting weapons for battle. The weapon they most want is a logging sword.

“Even logging?”

Lee Jing-ok, who was a little skeptical about wanting a ‘logging sword’, quickly nodded when he saw the macuahuitl held by the indigenous warriors.

“Indeed…”

Compared to the wooden sword made of obsidian, the logging sword was a weapon with much superior performance. Additionally, the logging sword was a weapon that they could use right away without any special training.

“They weren’t thoughtless. “I thought you would definitely ask for a long gun, but…”

Lee Jing-ok muttered softly and answered his subordinate commander and Seong.

“As soon as the operation begins in earnest, we will issue logging maps. “Is there anything else?”

The commander answered Lee Jing-ok’s question right away.

“They say the Aztecs are cursed.”

“curse?”

“yes. “When I listen to what they say, I feel like I have a pox.”

“pock? how?”

Lee Jing-ok asked with a look on his face that said he couldn’t understand.

Smallpox was a disease that had almost disappeared, regardless of whether it was native or new. One of the first things the natives living in newly developed areas did whenever they returned home was to inoculate themselves with cowpox.

That’s why Lee Jing-ok looked like he couldn’t understand the word ‘smallpox’ that suddenly appeared.