Chapter 59: Manchurian Arms Factory (Yeongchin)

Factories have started to pop up in southern Manchuria.

Well, calling them factories might be generous—it’s really just that our CEO Choi dismantled some machines in Japan and did his best to piece them back together here.

Now we need to build an arsenal and start producing weapons. I’ve been wrestling with this a lot.

The problem is, I still don’t know exactly what kind of rifle we should be using.

During the Russo-Japanese War, the unfortunate truth is that Japanese rifles outperformed Russian ones.

‘Would something like the Russian Mosin-Nagant be unsuitable, then?’

“So, we’ve finally broken ground, huh?”

I had to think long and hard about what the standard-issue rifle for the Korean Empire should be.

If we keep mixing different rifles, we’ll end up with a disaster like the Battle of Namdaemun again.

So I started discussing potential rifles with ambassadors from various countries.

Among the candidates I considered—at least for now—were the Russian model, backed by Count Ok, and the Japanese Arisaka.

There was also the French Gras rifle. I was basically tossing out feelers and waiting to see who’d bite.

Honestly, we don’t have many choices.

No matter what these major powers showed us in the last war, how many of them would actually be willing to give us a license to produce their firearms?

Personally, I’m partial to the German models.

There’s just something about Prussian engineering—it’s impressive.

Not that I’m blindly obsessed with Germany, but Russian rifles feel a bit outdated.

Now, Germany is saying they’ll help us act as a regional balancing force, so they might be willing to offer broad support.

That naturally drew my attention to the Arisaka Type 30, the one we’re currently using.

That rifle played a major role in Japan’s victory in the Russo-Japanese War.

It supposedly outperformed the Russian Mosin-Nagant.

We’re already producing it.

It was thanks to Choi Jaehyung, who had dealings with the now-defunct Mitsui & Co., that we got the rights to manufacture the Arisaka.

In the original timeline, Mitsui tricked the Japanese military attaché in Korea and sold them off—who knows what they were thinking.

Anyway, we managed to get them again this time through Mitsui.

***

Some time passed, and I headed to the barracks of the protest forces to inspect candidate rifles for our new standard-issue weapon.

Bang!

The first one wasn’t bad.

“The rifle you just fired, sir, is the Gras rifle.”

“Is that so?”

Not bad, but… it doesn’t quite sit right with me.

Relying too heavily on France might become a problem.

Well, I wouldn’t even call it influence, really.

Korea right now has to borrow from various countries across a wide range of fields.

If we only referenced one country and adopted only their systems, we couldn’t serve as the balancing force of the East.

We’d be seen as pro-Russian, pro-Austrian, pro-French, or pro-American—something like that.

As for the pro-Russian stance, the Treaty of Paris already set us up as a neutral buffer state by giving up lease rights to Tsushima Island.

Anyway, Count Ok is in the picture.

The army has been influenced by France, while Germany offered to help us develop our navy.

‘So then… whose rifle should we model our standard issue after?’

“As you probably already know, sir, this was the main weapon of the Sapo unit. The French officers gave them these rifles to help them fight better. France seems favorably disposed toward you, so I believe they’d allow license production.”

“I did see a few of them back in Manchuria.”

It was the rifle used by the Sapo troops.

But the Gras was issued mainly during formal training by French officers—the unit’s mainstay had been the Russian Berdan rifle.

Still, it wouldn’t be ideal to be too dependent on French arms either.

I decided to look at the next candidate.

“This one?”

“This was a gift from a German officer during his recent visit to Korea.”

Nam Sangdeok showed me the next rifle.

Honestly, they all look about the same to me.

‘Maybe Emperor Gojong also thought they all looked the same and just grabbed whatever was available.’

Of course, referencing various rifles when selecting a standard issue weapon is expected.

“I see. So he didn’t just visit, then.”

“It’s called the Gewehr 98.”

Ah, the Gewehr.

I think I’ve heard of that.

‘Isn’t that the one people kept praising as an ideal rifle?’

If I remember right, over 9 million units were sold during its heyday.

It even served well throughout World War I.

The Arisaka Type 30 and the Gewehr 98—those two are the most appealing to me.

“German rifles really are top-notch. Didn’t this one sell like crazy?”

“That much, sir?”

“If we can get the license and produce it ourselves, it might work out well. I suppose we’ll need to negotiate with them about that too.”

Germany isn’t some pushover empire.

They’re not going to just hand things over if I go begging.

I’m not Nicholas II.

Even the promise to share submarine technology was probably a huge favor on their part.

Since they know we can’t afford to run a large navy, they’re probably offering us U-boat tech instead.

Adopting a standard-issue rifle, though, is a much smaller request.

‘Would it be okay?’

That would leave the French Gras rifle out of the running—but then again, France already did a lot to help us professionalize the Manchurian army.

I can’t exactly ask for too much more from them.

“What’s this one?”

Another rifle suddenly caught my eye.

“Manli… something? I think it’s called a Mannlicher. From Austro-Hungary, apparently.”

‘Was it the Mannlicher rifle I’d heard about before?’

It was my first time actually seeing one, and I was a little curious.

‘Wait, Austro-Hungary is showing interest in Korea’s standard-issue rifles?’

‘Wasn’t this made by Steyr?’

“They sent someone over for this? All the way to the Far East?”

“Apparently there’s been a lot of buzz in Europe about what Korea will choose for its standard rifle. They didn’t come themselves—seems they worked through the German embassy.”

“Seriously? It’s that big of a deal?”

It seemed like this had gotten more attention than I thought.

‘Maybe my name had spread further than expected?’

Austro-Hungary, huh.

‘Maybe I should look this one up.’

“Let me think about this a bit.”

As I said that, I opened Daeyeok Gallery right away.

***

[Author: Imperial Guard Roleplayer]

[Title: What do you think about the Mannlicher as Korea’s standard rifle?]

‘What Will the Daeboongis Choose?’

[Comments Section]

[Daeboongi01: Didn’t the Korean Empire adopt the Arisaka rifle too? What do you think about using it?]

[JinwiPossessor: From a story development point of view, it feels a bit off to have everyone using Japanese weapons after wiping out all the Japanese.]

[Daeboongi01: You’re not the one who killed them, though. Why so sensitive? Besides, firearms often end up in enemy hands anyway.]

‘Because I did kill them. That’s right. Damn it.’

For now, I’ve decided to wait and see.

There will be more comments with different opinions anyway.

‘Maybe it’s worth watching this play out just once.’

I wonder what the rest of the comments will say.

[Daeboongi02: Considering the state of the Korean Empire at the time, Russian Mosin-Nagants were a fairly easy option. But since Japan was a potential enemy, using something inferior to the Arisaka seems questionable.]

[JinwiPossessor: What did Ok Jinseo use then?]

[Daeboongi02: To be honest, it doesn’t really matter what she used, but Ok Jinseo actually tried to improve on the Arisaka herself and gave up. The Mannlicher–Schönauer was upgraded around 1903, and it’s solid. Greece even used it effectively during the Balkan Wars.]

Hmm, then maybe it’s better to go with a rifle from another country.

Continuing to use Japanese-made rifles when the perception of Japan is already terrible… doesn’t sit right.

And if we already failed trying to adapt the Arisaka, might as well just switch to something else.

The Mannlicher is almost cutting-edge.

And if it’s something offered directly by Austria-Hungary, it’s not a bad deal. That country is kind of neutral anyway.

Even if the performance of rifles is mostly similar, the Mannlicher checks all the boxes.

The next best option would be the Gewehr.

***

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

“Nothing. Just narrowing it down to the Gewehr, the Mannlicher, and the Arisaka. That last one’s still in production, at least.”

“Let’s go with just those three for now.”

“Technically, we can still produce Berdan rifles, but newer ones are always better.”

“The Japanese rifles are admittedly good. And we’ve already produced them in our own arsenals, so let’s be honest—mass-producing those would be quicker.”

Nam Sangdeok said this while holding an Arisaka Type 30.

“Of course, for now, we probably have no choice but to keep using the Arisaka—but there’s this lingering discomfort.”

“It just feels… off. Even if we normalize diplomatic ties with Japan, what would they say if we kept using their rifles exactly as-is?”

That discomfort is really the main issue here.

Even if we have to keep using Arisakas for a while, let’s just produce them under a different name for now, then transition to something else later.

“Yeah, that’s fair. Apparently, the guy who designed the Arisaka collapsed after the war and died recently.”

“Why?”

‘So he left behind only the Arisaka rifle?’

Well, that alone probably pleased the Japanese.

After all, it was the weapon that secured their major victory in the Russo-Japanese War.

Weapons exist for moments like that.

“You know the Siege of Port Arthur? The one where His Excellency slit that Nogi guy’s throat?”

“Yeah, why?”

‘How is that related to the Arisaka?’

I mean, sure, the Arisaka was used during the Russo-Japanese War, so maybe there’s a link—but it felt like Nam Sangdeok meant something else.

When I asked, he just smiled.

“Apparently, Arisaka himself gave advice on how to capture Port Arthur. But not long after that, His Excellency crushed them in battle.”

“I see… In a way, I’m that man’s mortal enemy then. But does it matter?”

Well, I guess we should be grateful the Arisaka can still be produced.

“It’s fortunate, at least, that we can produce the Arisaka.”

Even if we’re just making it on our own terms.

“Still, I heard the court slipped some money to the Mitsui group.”

Ah, so that’s how we got the equipment.

‘Did Choi Jaehyung bring in funds again?’

We took over Mitsubishi instead of Mitsui, but even so, Mitsui was involved too? That’s surprising.

‘Wasn’t Mitsui involved with the Rothschilds and Rockefellers or something?’

Anyway, this isn’t bad.

‘Should I go with the Arisaka after all?’

“Hmm, it still doesn’t feel right. Even if we slap a new name on it.”

Still, the fact that it’s Japanese-made is unsettling.

It’s not that I’m like, ‘Why would we use Japanese stuff? Never!’

It’s not just blind hatred of Japanese things.

The fact that the Arisaka proved itself in the Russo-Japanese War means it’s reliable even in wars against white nations.

Considering that the Type 30 was produced relatively recently, it’s a state-of-the-art rifle.

Purely from a performance standpoint, mass production wouldn’t be a bad idea.

‘Should I just go with it?’

But there’s that hard-to-describe uneasiness.

‘What would Koreans think?’

At the very least, if Japan took a completely humble approach toward us, it might not be so bad.

“There are even some Japanese workers in the factories, apparently.”

“Japanese workers in our factories?”

No matter how poor they are, they’re probably still better off than people in the Korean Empire.