Chinese Warlord From Joseon - Chapter 441



Only Krnovel

Battle 2

“Command has collapsed! All forces, retreat!”

“The city has been raided! The munitions depot is on fire!”

“Move to the rearguard! Protect your lives now!”

The term ‘Abigyuhuan’ was appropriate.

What burns more brilliantly than the dawn is the rising flame.

Shells fired ceaselessly, bullets rained down from all directions.

Even in the morning, the acrid, black smoke that was suffocating obscured the view of the battlefield.

In addition to the nightmarish battle situation, what made the soldiers even more desperate was the urgent news that reverberated throughout the army at some point.

“Marshal Hanshin has died in battle!”

People from all over the country gathered in Wuhan.

I rode the train, climbed into a truck, rode in an armored car, and walked hundreds of kilometers.

The battlefields of North Africa have finally been reached.

The basis for their daring to fight, risking their lives, was their pride in participating in Hanshin’s war.

“I repeat! The Commander-in-Chief has been attacked! All forces! You must retreat!”

Most of the Chinese soldiers who made up the force were born after the Xinhai Revolution.

Young men who grew up hearing tales of the heroic actions of the unrivaled general from a very young age.

There was no one who did not imitate Hanshin’s strategy while playing war games in the alley.

Born the son of poor immigrants, he raised the first torch of revolution as a mere battalion commander.

A famous general who sought only victory without a single defeat in the decades of fierce war that followed.

A general who, despite the constant blackmail and plots of anti-Korean forces, ultimately brought about the new government of the United States of China.

The respect that the younger generation had for Hanshin had already transcended class and nationality.

Neo-Chineseism has also been called Hanxinism since some time ago.

They revered Hanshin as a man of unrivaled national power, no, unrivaled both in ancient and modern times.

Soldiers composed entirely of volunteers.

Soldiers who want to remain in a scene from the myth that Hanshin is recording.

But the screams that came were terrifyingly harsh.

“The Marshal’s final instructions were not to announce His Excellency’s death, but the situation is so urgent that it cannot be hidden! The British are entering Benghazi! If we do not retreat, we will all be annihilated in this city!”

Can a single life be so precious on the battlefield?

The news of Han Xin’s death brought about an immediate and strong response.

“I can’t believe it! We’re going to the command center!”

“Wrong! The bunker collapsed in an air raid, so what’s the use of going there? We’ll just be exposed to enemy attacks!”

“How could the general go back? He is not the type of person to give orders so frivolously. Even flying bombs avoid the place where he is!”

“We’re all dead… We’re all going to die… We’re all dead…”

In an instant, confusion set in.

But on the outskirts of Benghazi, fierce British offensives were still underway.

However, the urgent news that spread widely through the communication network drove the Chinese army’s will to fight underground.

There were also soldiers who tried to hold their positions and continue the fight.

Most of them reacted in disbelief and left their seats.

Benghazi’s defenses were soon riddled with holes.

And in the midst of that terrible chaos.

The 3rd Battle Group of the French Foreign Legion was already deep into the city.

***

“Uh… Your Majesty? I just received urgent news…”

“Why are you taking so long? What is it? Tell me.”

“Your Majesty has died in battle.”

Is the adjutant’s blank expression my own right now?

“Who is this Your Majesty?”

The adjutant stuttered.

“uh···.”

“Could it be me?”

“yes···.”

“What the hell are you talking about? You spent all night praying and now you’re out of your mind?”

“No. This is definite news coming through the emergency network!”

I’m fucking sure.

Before he could ask the adjutant any further, his staff came running from another room.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Where are you!”

“Find the enemy! Quickly!”

“Your Majesty! Are you alive?”

Your Majesty is a piece of shit.

I walked away from the curtain and asked.

“Why are you calling?”

Immediately, I had to hold my breath from the smell of sweat from the men.

“Eww! What the heck are you doing!”

An untimely baptism of hugs.

There was also a guy who would rub his balls against my chest.

“Thank goodness you’re alive!”

“Suddenly···, urgent news came that His Majesty had passed away···.”

It’s the same story with the adjutant.

After pulling the men away, I headed to the operations conference room.

As soon as I appeared, cheers filled the room.

In the meantime, the adjutant who had just come to his senses came running and whispered.

“If information has reached the Supreme Command here, we will need to check the Central Communications Room to properly understand the situation.”

The central communications room is located approximately 500 meters from the underground bunker.

It’s not that difficult to just go and come back for a bit…

“First, try calling by radio.”

“yes.”

“Make sure to find out what kind of nonsense you’re talking about on the internet that’s causing such groundless rumors. Ghost stories are a dangerous element that can destroy military morale in an instant.”

Something similar happened in the past when we fought the Japanese army.

Did the soldiers mistake the destroyer for a battleship?

The battle was ruined when a rumor spread that the Nagato battleship was firing its cannons, causing the terrified soldiers to run away without even fighting.

A moment later, the liaison officer reported the radio results.

“There’s nothing wrong. The communications room is also trying to figure out what’s going on.”

“Okay? Okay, then quickly issue a special alert to the entire army to correct the false information. Han Xin is alive and well, and he’ll be playing mahjong in Wuhan’s gambling halls until he’s 100.”

“All right.”

Even the Central Communications Office doesn’t know what’s going on?

I couldn’t believe it.

Let’s stay still.

The supposed scenario is that some guy witnessed a massive bombing by a bomber and got so scared that he thought the bunker had collapsed.

That news was distorted and spread to the point where it became a rumor that I was dead…

So, is he lying and saying nothing happened to cover up his mistake?

But it wasn’t long before another possibility occurred to me.

Suddenly I felt a chill and looked for my adjutant.

“Hey, where did you go? I have something to do.”

An officer answered.

“If you’re looking for Major Lee, he went out for a moment to check on something at the central communications room.”

“what?”

Without even telling me?

Because you’re such a stupid kid.

“Call him quickly. He must have brought the radio with him.”

After the world’s longest waiting time.

“Uh… I don’t accept it.”

I immediately called the operations officer.

“How many reserve forces are there that can be mobilized immediately?”

“Right now? It depends on what kind of operation it is.”

“dogfight.”

“With that, we can call in a battalion-level force within 5 minutes.”

“Call me now. I guess we’ll have to make a big deal out of it.”

I stopped the operations officer from picking up the radio.

“You go yourself. You might be wiretapped.”

“Huh? Eavesdropping? Who···?”

“Time is running out. Run quickly!”

A little bit of outside air seeped in through the gap where the officer had jumped out.

In the strong smell of gunpowder mixed in the air, I thought I tasted blood.

***

September 12th.

9 o’clock in the morning.

In the plains just a few hundred meters away from me, a battle between life and death was taking place.

At first they were thought to be British infantry, but their unfamiliar uniforms and the language they were shouting soon revealed their true nature as the enemy.

“It’s the French army.”

I guess there is a way.

I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve had my life threatened so closely.

The command was depressed and waited for news of victory.

However, the enemy, who had captured the friendly buildings and were using the friendly forces’ cover to fight back, was not easily defeated.

“Because the communications room has been taken over, false information is not easily corrected. Urgent reports to Your Majesty are lowering the morale of the soldiers.”

Now, it has reached a point where I cannot believe it even if I am told to.

The Supreme Command clearly reported that Hanshin was alive, but the soldiers on the front lines did not believe it.

On the contrary, there were soldiers who tried to commit insubordination by hiding the death of the unrivaled general.

I wanted to run out of that stuffy underground bunker so many times.

So, I wanted to clearly show that I was alive.

I wanted to stand on the front lines and face the wind, just like when I personally captured Wuchang Castle with 500 men of the 18th Corps during the Xinhai Revolution.

But I endured it.

At 10 AM, an hour after the ordeal.

A radio message came from the reserve battalion saying that the central communications room had been recaptured.

At the same time, the fierce battle with the British army was in its final stages.

Although there were unnecessary casualties on some fronts due to untimely attacks, many soldiers steadfastly held the defensive line.

Moreover, they managed to collect several Matilda tanks, so it was a great victory.

Despite this, I still felt gloomy.

The sun I saw again seemed hotter than usual.

Why is the 500-meter distance from the underground bunker to the communications room so long?

My eyes were aching at the sight of corpses strewn about the streets.

“He’s definitely French. But he’s dressed like a Libyan, so it was hard to identify him at night.”

The captured French soldiers looked in my direction and shouted something.

There were even those who spat.

I didn’t show any reaction and just went into the communications room.

“They were really bold. Planning a plan to infiltrate our military camp during the war and disrupt our communications. What I still don’t understand is how the French managed to hack into our military’s codes and spread false rumors in Chinese. When the commanders who received urgent reports from the field heard about it, they heard that their opponents spoke Chinese very fluently…”

To my surprise, the soldiers brought in another prisoner.

As soon as I saw the prisoner with his head down, I knew what was going on.

The identity of the prisoner is neither French, British, nor Libyan.

chinese···.

I squatted down in front of the prisoner.

I grabbed Jeong Su-ri and raised his head, but the prisoner avoided my gaze.

“Your face looks familiar. Have we met before?”

“···.”

“Hold on a second, not all of the humans I’ve awarded ranks to were worthy. There’s always been some scum mixed in, and now I feel like I’m dealing with one of those scum.”

Suddenly the prisoner shouted in anger.

“That’s right! I’m Heo Yi-jeong-shi, who lived off of military rations from your unit! You’ve really put it nicely when you say trash! I’m a survivor of the garbage heap you threw away in a faraway land!”

“Was it the Spanish expedition?”

“···okay!”

“We’re fighting through a desert storm to rescue soldiers taken prisoner by the French, and this is getting tiresome. Was it worth fighting for this crap?”

“Oh, you came to rescue me?”

“If not, why do you think we are toiling away in the desert?”

The soldiers swore at the bewildered prisoner.

“You son of a traitor to your nation!”

“Look at that vicious nature! You are not Chinese! You are not qualified!”

“He must be executed immediately!”

The crime of serving France, selling military information, and acting as a stooge is serious.

Even if he is sent back to China, it will be difficult to avoid the death penalty.

I arranged for the prisoner to be handed over to the intelligence service.

The expeditionary force that surrendered to the French army in Barcelona.

Even though it wasn’t a situation where I could give up so easily.

At that time, Commander Ma Bufang’s actions were somewhat suspicious.

If you interrogate the prisoner, something will come out.

By the time we came back out, it was already afternoon.

The sun was passing through the zenith of the sky as usual, as if there had never been a bloody fight.

The officers lined up and reported belatedly.

“We destroyed about 10 tanks and captured about 10 tanks.”

“We believe the British have the capacity to mount another offensive, but they will need at least two weeks to regroup.”

There was also good news from the armored units that had gone to finish off the French forces.

The garrison was completely destroyed, and its commander, de Gaulle, was believed to have escaped and joined the British forces.

“If we sum it up, it’s a great victory.”

But still in the air, the smell of steel, gunpowder, and blood mingled.

On the way back from the communications room, I came across a corpse that I hadn’t noticed on the way there.

He was lying there as if sleeping.

I returned to my office after watching the scene blankly.

I immediately picked up my pen to write a letter.

I have to report to Song Zhaoren.

How bravely the Chinese army achieved victory, breaking through the sea of ??fire pouring down on the desert.

But for some reason my hands wouldn’t move.

After hesitating for a few times, I tore up the paper I was using and opened a new one.

Then, he began writing a letter to the parents of a young man who had graduated at the top of his class from the Woochang Military Academy and was ashamed of his Christian faith, explaining how honorable he had been.