Chapter 25: The war that was ruined

“That’s true, but at this rate, it seems like the Russian army won’t even be able to properly establish a base.”

“Because of those Koreans, we have no choice.”

Well, that might be the case.

Anyway, on the surface, Korea is an ally of Japan, after all.

“They knew of the Emperor’s death and, as soon as they were ready, they were planning to jointly attack the Japanese army.”

“Haha. Why the hell did we have to die like this?”

Kondratenko laughed in frustration.

It made sense, though, since he had made this mess due to one small miscalculation.

No, they won, but this situation was almost like a defeat.

I told them so.

“Let’s do this. Please hand over the 203 Hill to the Korean army. They’ve come here as our allies.”

“Korea betrayed us and sided with the Japanese army. Why should we do that?”

“Well, that’s all the more reason to do it.”

“I have the perfect suggestion that I think our friend Kondratenko would like.”

“We will resolve our hostile relations with Russia by helping them, and I will report to St. Petersburg about the Russian forces who defended the 203 Hill. The soldiers, who fought to the point of being on the verge of falling, survived thanks to the support from the Korean army.”

“How does that sound? Honestly, even you, Colonel, wouldn’t be happy about causing this mess with incorrect information, would you? Instead of the lacking Russian forces, our ally, the Korean army, stationed troops on the hill. That should be enough, right?”

I’ve even prepared a justification for him.

This way, we can pretend it wasn’t a big deal.

Kondratenko seemed to hesitate for a moment, but eventually accepted my proposal.

After all, it made sense, considering that the hill had been lost due to bad information and that it had led to a bloodbath with the Japanese army.

He didn’t want to take the blame because of Stessel’s actions, which had caused all this trouble.

In fact, it was better for Kondratenko to avoid taking responsibility for the deaths of the Russian soldiers under his command.

‘But why did he use “Daera” (Emperor)?’

It’s Kim Insu again.

‘Why does this guy keep showing up next to me? No matter how I look at it, he seems like some kind of spy.’

‘He doesn’t seem to be from the Korean Empire, so is he from Russia?’

‘Given his background with the White Army, he might be a Russian person.’

“I heard that when Emperor Taizu personally fought on the battlefield, he used ‘Daera’ to mock the enemy, so he’s probably trying to do the same.”

He’s just copying it.

‘Rather than just insulting, isn’t it better to enter with some atmosphere?’

“Are you asking us to defend this hill?”

Park Seo Sangmu didn’t seem to expect that they would have to defend the hill.

Now, he has to at least pretend to be on the Russian side.

It’s a good opportunity to switch sides while claiming to avenge the Emperor.

“The Russian army will treat us as allies, so there’s no need to worry. Also, the Japanese army will engage in a major battle with the main Russian forces, so there’s no need to worry about them either.”

“Yes. The complete destruction of Nogi Maresuke’s army.”

“The Japanese side will start to panic soon. They must have around 200,000 soldiers left, right?”

“Can they really win, even with the Russian Far East forces?”

Considering that the Russian commander is Kuropatkin, it might be possible, but that would only happen after I leave.

For now, we reorganized our forces.

We stationed 30,000 soldiers on the hill just in case, equipped with weapons captured from the Japanese army.

And with 50,000 infantry, 20,000 artillery, and 3,000 cavalry, we had a total of 72,000 troops.

In reality, even this was insufficient, but everything would be decided in this one battle.

The remaining task was to deal with Oyama Iwao’s army.

Right now, they were near the area of Fengtian, eyeing the region.

In other words, they were trying to invade my territory, so I had to trap them.

This one battle would decide everything.

The combined forces of Park Seo Sangmu and Lee Beomyun finally moved toward the Fengtian area.

***

At the Prime Minister’s residence in Tokyo, Katsura Taro, as usual, was raising his voice, scolding Army Minister Terauchi.

But it wasn’t without reason.

Today’s topic was the defeat in the Battle of Port Arthur.

“Yes, Nogi Maresuke’s army had been wiped out at the Battle of Port Arthur.”

“The Korean army had completely crushed them at 203 Hill.”

“They might have survived in some way, but most of the soldiers probably fled. According to the newspaper, there was no glorification of the Japanese Imperial Army.”

“It was written simply as ‘annihilation.’”

It just so happened that war correspondents had written about it.

The “Joan of Arc” of Korea, who rose up to save the country!

“I told you to bring victory, and you bring the victory of the Korean army! Nogi Maresuke’s army lost? No, they were completely wiped out? Is this really the Imperial Army Minister? Or are you the Korean Army Minister? I heard that even the cavalry led by a woman killed Nogi!”

“The Imperial Army was destroyed by a Korean woman!”

“I-I’m sorry. But Port Arthur had to be taken for the Empire.”

“Sorry? Is this something that can end with an apology?” Katsura Taro’s face turned red with anger, as if his blood was boiling.

“Dammit! Will saying ‘sorry’ bring the dead Imperial soldiers back to life? At this rate, even the Kuroki 1st Division in Korea will be in danger! Retreat the Manchuria expeditionary forces and have them defend Korea! Defend Korea at all costs and hold off the Russian army!”

“We will definitely defend the Korean Peninsula.”

Terauchi rushed out of the Prime Minister’s residence as if fleeing.

Katsura Taro wanted to make Terauchi the scapegoat, but it had already become too big of an issue.

“The Korean people are rising up. This is known by the Iglas too. America’s bond purchases are over, and the Empire is finished. Are we going to lose to Korea’s Ikki now?”

No, we already lost.

The surprise attack failed, and a 60,000-strong army was wiped out at the Battle of Port Arthur, destroyed by the Korean woman’s army.

Nogi Maresuke died in battle.

Now, all that remains is the total commander, Oyama Iwao’s army.

No matter how you look at it, there’s no future where they win.

Ito Hirobumi is trying to cross over to Korea and do something, but whatever he does, he won’t be able to prevent the Imperial Army from being destroyed in Manchuria.

And when asked if the navy was winning, the answer was also no.

No matter what the Iglas are doing with their new technology-supported fleet, they couldn’t even win against the Russian navy.

‘If the army and navy are destroyed, the Empire will be completely defenseless.’

“Hehehe.”

‘Maybe it’s time to prepare for seppuku.’

Katsura Taro gave up on his thoughts.

***

Meanwhile, the defeat in the Battle of Port Arthur was widely known in Britain.

As the world’s attention focused on the Far East, it was only natural for Great Britain, Japan’s ally, to take action.

“Once again, monkeys are just monkeys. They can’t even carry out a proper surprise attack. Didn’t they win just because the Russian army withdrew? After winning a few times, they lost an army of 60,000 in a single battle, didn’t they?”

“These fools can’t even distinguish right from wrong, killing their own ally emperor. How could we ally with such idiots? Prime Minister, are you out of your mind?”

“The war is already lost. There’s no chance of victory for the Japanese army. If you’re sane, break the Anglo-Japanese Alliance right now.”

Prime Minister Arthur Balfour was being relentlessly criticized from all sides.

“How can the military be assassinated and the scholars remain silent? Scholars of the Great Han, rise up! Avenge the military and protect your loyalty to the Great Han! Save the Crown Prince!”

“The year of Imjin has returned! Kill the Japanese!”

Meanwhile, on the Korean Peninsula, a united force of anti-Japanese troops, led by General Choi Ikhyun, advanced towards Hanseong.

“Order the immediate disbandment of Ikki!”

“No! I will never become a puppet of those Japanese dogs who killed my father!”

Crown Prince Yi Cheok was threatened at gunpoint to issue an order to disband Ikki by the pro-Japanese cabinet, but he refused to comply.

Despite having drunk coffee and been partially disabled, Yi Cheok was no fool who would listen to the people who killed his father.

Above all, the fact that the Japanese army was being pushed back in Manchuria was already spreading as a rumor even within the palace.

The French ambassador to Korea comforted Yi Cheok.

“In the battle at Lushun, one wing of the Japanese army was crushed. Korea’s Joan of Arc will surely save Crown Prince Yi Cheok. Endure this humiliation.”

The news of the complete annihilation of the Japanese forces at Lushun, carried out by the French military advisers who had trained the troops in the area, was deeply moving to the French ambassador.

He was further moved to learn that the hero of the battle was a Korean, Ok Jinseo, who had once expressed her desire to become Korea’s Joan of Arc.

The ambassador privately urged Yi Cheok not to bow to the Japanese.

“To the protesters and the resistance fighters! We must be prepared to die and protect the northern part of the Great Han until our army in Manchuria returns! Defend the Imjin River! Fight to the death and avenge our country’s enemies!”

“At the Imjin River, the protesters who had been driven out of Hanseong joined forces with the Pyeongan garrison and the resistance fighters under the command of Lieutenant Nam Sangdeok. Together, they formed a defensive line with thousands of soldiers.”

The Korean Peninsula was not going according to Japan’s plans.

Meanwhile, in the Korea Strait…

“It’s the Japanese fleet! Even though we have British support, we already know their movements, so we will never lose!”

“Open fire! Attack them!”

Boom!

The Baltic fleet, having joined the Pacific fleet, opened fire on the Japanese Combined Fleet, and the Battle of Tsushima began.

***

On the way to Fengtian, I investigated who Oyama Iwao was through Daeyeok Gallery.

[Daebong03: Oyama Iwao requested peace with Russia several times. Even Kurokpatkin didn’t engage right away because he was dealing with the Korean Empire army.]

[JinwidaeBingija: So Oyama Iwao showed his defeat?]

[Daebong03: The Korean Empire army approached Fengtian, and he couldn’t find a way out, so he was only trying to make peace with Russia and fight the Korean Empire army. But when Kurokpatkin didn’t trust him, he ended up requesting surrender under the condition of preserving his army. Kurokpatkin was also in no position to delay the battle, as the Bloody Sunday incident had just occurred in Russia.]

So the Bloody Sunday incident finally happened.

In that case, negotiations might proceed, but since Japan suffered significantly more damage than in actual history, a peace agreement might be reached at a reasonable level.

However, this should not happen.

At the very least, all Japanese forces in Manchuria must be wiped out.

Japan has suffered a great deal.

They failed at the 203 Heights and didn’t do too well in the naval battle either.

Choosing to preserve their forces is the right decision.

By now, Japan will probably be trying to seek peace, as they have already lost control of the Korean Empire.

They will try to negotiate as best as they can.

Whether Russia will accept their proposal remains to be seen, but if the Bloody Sunday incident occurs as it did in history, everything could change.

One thing is certain: no matter how the negotiations go, Oyama Iwao will try to preserve his army.

“Before agreeing to peace, we must attack and finish them off. If we just destroy the Japanese army in Manchuria, only the Kuroki 1st army will remain on the Korean Peninsula.”

That army will still be harassed by the remaining garrison forces and resistance fighters.

We need to act quickly and take care of Oyama Iwao.

“How do you plan to capture Oyama Iwao?” Lee Beomyun asked.

I smiled slightly.

“It’s simple. As usual, we’ll charge with cavalry. We won’t give them a chance to negotiate, we’ll stir things up with the cavalry.”

The enemy will have no choice but to fight.

“We’ll strike them from behind, just like always.”

“Do you think they’ll fall for it again?”

Whether they fall for it or not doesn’t matter.

In the first place, if we attack first, there’s no reason to worry about getting caught.

At that point, it would be best to take Oyama Iwao’s head.

“I’ll go and cut off Oyama Iwao’s head. That will cause their collapse. Then we can wipe out the Japanese forces and solidify Russia’s position as an ally.”

The problem is how to provoke Oyama Iwao.

Oyama Iwao kept requesting peace with Russia, didn’t he?

From that, it seems he might request peace even in this situation.

Since Russia might accept the peace offer, we need to end this situation now.

“But when will we get the chance to attack? We can’t just rush in blindly.”

“Hmm.”

‘How will Kurokpatkin move?’

‘If we are to destroy Oyama Iwao with the Korean Empire alone, we need to seize the advantage of surprise, but even if I attack, the cost might be significant.’

‘That’s why we’re doing this, right?’

‘After all, the enemy’s forces are twice as large as ours. We definitely need Kurokpatkin’s help.’

I’ll have to meet with Kurokpatkin.