Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 951

Episode 951: Battle of Corsica (7)

“But it’s also something that can’t be helped.”

The idea of using numerical superiority to tie down the imperial fleet and then take over was not a bad idea. However, there were limits to pushing the ships in to tie them up. No matter how chaotic the situation was, a minimum level of command and control had to be possible.

And, if we succeeded in tying the enemy’s feet, we had to recognize that we could use the ‘hammer and anvil’ strategy, a classic and standard tactic of military strategy.

“It would be arrogant to say that it is difficult to use ‘hammer and anvil’ at sea, or that there are no people skilled enough to do such crazy things, except for our imperial fleet…” After

reflecting on himself, Son Il-won looked at the map and tasted it. He died.

“Tsk. That one assault ship I left out just in case would be exciting.”

In order to avoid unnecessary losses, the first draft of the operation was to move the Florentine fleet, escort fleet, and transport fleet to Genoa. However, Son Il-won, who accepted Hyang’s point, modified his strategy and changed it to sending one assault ship.

“No, you’re saying we shouldn’t fight on the assault return ship, but rather just fight the evil wind from the rear?”

‘There are no sane captains of assault ships.’

As if what was circulating among the Imperial Navy was true, the captains of the assault ships who heard of the operation strongly protested. However, as the saying ‘class is law’ implies, I had no choice but to follow Son Il-won’s orders. The captain and crew of the assault ship, which was decided through a lottery, had to set sail for Genoa while grumbling openly.

But now they were given the most important task. Son Il-won was a kind person who could be seen without even looking at the captain and crew of the assault ship who were happy as soon as they received the order.

“Now! My regrets end here! You just acted like your majesty, as always! If that’s the case, then I have to pay for the meal too! I can’t hear a tongue-lashing in this country!”

After steeling himself, Son Il-won summoned his staff.

* * *

Over time, people flocked to Corsica and the Tuscan Islands.

-The imperial fleet and the European fleet face off!

-It is said to be bigger than any naval battle I have ever seen or heard of!

As these rumors spread, people flocked to see a ‘historic naval battle.’ After receiving the report related to this, Hyang smiled bitterly.

“I heard rumors spread quickly even at this time…” The

French fleet, which passed through Gibraltar and entered the Mediterranean, headed for Barcelona, and the Spanish fleet headed for Naples. While resting and repairing while waiting for the Venetian and Habsburg fleets, many sailors disembarked from their ships and flocked to the bars of Naples.

And the drunken sailors were shouting things like, ‘We’re going to have a fight with the imperial fleet!’ and even started saying that they were going north to do it. The rumor that spread in the bar quickly spread everywhere. Reports about this went straight to the commanders of the allied fleet. The commanders who received the report smiled bitterly.

“Drinking and boasting are inseparable from sailors.”

“Isn’t this what you were prepared for? Let’s consider ourselves fortunate that it has happened now!”

The other admirals nodded at the words of Admiral Venezia, who had just arrived. As Julius Caesar said long ago, ‘the die was cast.’ The sailors probably knew this, so they opened their mouths that had been kept tightly closed until now. He may be trying to give himself courage by making such a fuss and boasting. Because the admirals knew how the crew felt, they did not take any action even as the rumor spread.

“Because the most important secret is not known…”

“Because it will set sail in just two or three days…”

But the Italians liked to make more noise than expected, and the speed at which rumors spread on land was at full speed. It was much faster than the sailing ship. The rumor that spread in this way soon reached the ears of luxury lovers. Unlike the north, where there had already been fierce fighting and small-scale battles still occur sporadically, the magnates of central and southern Italy, which had been fairly peaceful with only continued confrontation, began to shake their butts.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! You can’t miss it!”

“Going to a battlefield to watch war? Aren’t you crazy?”

“It’s a naval battle, a naval battle!”

“ah!”

Unlike land battles, where there is a high risk of getting caught up in a fight if you get too close, this battle was a sea battle. Unless you went out to sea on a ship, there was no need to get involved in a fight and suffer a lot.

“Even now, as long as you pay a few pennies and go through the search, you can go north! You can’t miss an opportunity like this, can you?”

“I see! Let’s go!”

Lustrous men from the central and southern regions, and even from Venice, flocked to Grosseto, south of Florence, and to Corsica, the Tuscan island.

“You said the sailors were going up north! Then there will be a naval battle near Corsica! That’s the only place!”

Among these people who flocked in, there were many painters.

“This is a great battle that will go down in history. Let’s make my name known through the pictures I paint to the best of my ability!”

In this way, a ‘historic naval battle’ that suddenly became a ‘circus’ took place.

* * *

The first to arrive at the battlefield was the combined Spanish-Venetian-Hapsburg fleet.

“That’s surprising. If they had heard the rumor, they would have moved already.”

“Did he get scared and hide after hearing rumors about our grand fleet?”

Hearing the Habsburg Admiral’s words, the other admirals fixed their gaze on the Habsburg Admiral. The other admirals who saw the Habsburg admiral’s face full of seriousness all had the same thought.

‘what? ‘What about this idiot?’

‘You said that, but are you still looking down on the imperial fleet?’

“Big! Big!”

The Venetian naval admiral, who diverted his attention with a light cough, returned to the main topic.

“Come on! Let’s not miss our good fortune! It’s only about 25 leagues (approximately 100 km) from here to Livorno. Even the slowest ship can travel in half a day. We need to quickly form a formation and not waste the golden time.”

At the words of the Venetian Navy admiral, the other admirals settled the situation with serious faces. After a serious meeting that followed, the Allied Fleet deployed its ships. As the battleships of the fleet were moving to find their respective positions, several sailors suddenly pointed to the sky and shouted.

“Captain! Sky! Sky! Look at the sky!”

“huh?”

The captains, who had narrowed their eyes and looked at the sky at the shouts of the sailors, froze. High in the northern sky, a small bhikkhu was moving with black smoke hanging like a tail. The captains, who had been staring blankly at the Empire’s self-powered flying vessel, soon came to their senses and gave orders to the crew!

“Signalman! Notify the command module! ‘Enemy spotted! Sky!’”

“Yep!”

At the captain’s command, the signalman climbed up to the highest point in the stern and waved the signal flag toward the command ship.

“They say the Empire’s luminous signal can transmit sentences in units, but ours only has a few words… Tsk.”

The captain, who was taking a sip of his food with an expression full of regret, raised his head again and muttered as he looked at the monk floating in the distance.

“They say that all kinds of strange things are made in the ‘Land of Flowers’…”

* * *

The self-powered flying monk who discovered the combined fleet immediately turned around and returned to Livorno. The self-flying monk who discovered Livorno’s signal tower quickly operated the luminous communication device and briefly conveyed information. As soon as the bhikkhu touched the ground, the bhikkhu’s commander submitted the document written by the bhikkhu to the headquarters. After checking the report with his staff, Son Il-won shared his decision.

“If we sortie now, we will have to fight in the field. I don’t think this is a good idea. We will launch as soon as dawn tomorrow.”

“Our troops are the minority and our enemies are the majority. Wouldn’t a field battle be more advantageous?”

Son Il-won shook his head at the senior staff member’s response.

“It’s nice to think like that, but keep in mind that you have to constantly move in order to subdue the majority with a small number. If even one ship from our front lines gets stuck in the middle of enemy territory, things will be difficult.”

“Ah! Su Guan’s thoughts were short.”

“No, if this was the sea of our empire, it would have been a good operation, but this is an unfamiliar sea to us. We can’t go on a field battle with only what we confirmed after only staying for a few months.”

Son Il-won, who pointed out the problems with the senior staff member’s proposal, went back to the main topic.

“The operation will begin as soon as dawn tomorrow. First…”

* * *

The next morning.

As soon as dawn broke, the imperial fleet left the port of Livorno and headed straight for Corsica.

“The Empire has moved!”

“Ooooh!”

“Wake up! Wake up!”

Onlookers who had been sleeping on a high hill on the island of Corsica rushed out of their tents and headed to higher ground when they heard the imperial fleet was moving. Onlookers who climbed to a high place with a clear view of the sea exclaimed in exclamation as they watched the imperial fleet passing by in the distance.

“Amazing, amazing!”

“Do you think those ships moving in front, spouting smoke, are the rumored ironclad ships?”

“I guess so.”

“It’s an ironclad ship… It’s floating, right?”

While various stories were being exchanged, those with some military insight were sharing different stories.

“If you look at the formation of the Imperial Fleet, it is in a straight line, and if you look at the Alliance Fleet, it is in a close formation… Is this a battle between spears and shields?”

“Rumor has it that the Imperial Navy prefers one-point breakthrough tactics. That seems to be true.”

If you look at the current formation of the two tribes from the sky, it is a confrontation between a ‘modified straight formation’ and a ‘dense formation with a strengthened center’. At the head of the imperial fleet heading towards the enemy lines were two assault ships. The arrangement of the two assault ships was a bit unusual, and they were not in a typical straight line.

The subsequent assault return line was not directly behind the leader’s assault return line, but was located on a diagonal line to the right. This was to use the bow main gun mounted on the assault return line. Because I couldn’t make fun of the most powerful artillery among the guns mounted on the assault return ship.

The challenger-class battle lines were moving in a straight line following the two assault ships positioned like that. Admiral Son Il-won named it ‘Seom (? Harpoon Island) Jajin’ because it resembles a harpoon when viewed from above.

The arrangement of the combined fleet opposite was as follows. The Venetian fleet, with its main five ships, the Venetian Gallius, arranged in a pentagon, was located in the center, followed by the Habsburg fleet. And on the left and right, the Spanish fleet was encamped. And between the Venetian and Habsburg fleets, pirate ships hired as mercenaries were filling the gap.

The Spanish fleet located on the left and right heavily reinforced the Venetian and Habsburg fleets located in the center, and the fleets on the sides were arranged in a long line. This was to prevent the approaching Imperial fleet from gaining speed by being caught in a long line of guns trying to pass through the flank.

When viewed from above, it looked like a large whale was blocking the view with its head facing north. The battle began to see whether the whale would block the harpoon or the harpoon would catch the whale.