NIS Agents Tearing Up the Japanese Empire - Chapter 130



Only Krnovel

The nature of infantry (2)

The explosion that occurred in Jemulpo.

No, the military was delighted to hear about this incident, which could not be determined to be an accident or an act of terrorism, and the Government-General was immersed in grief.

“As expected, heaven helps the just!”

“Haha! Those Governor-General’s bastards… … They couldn’t even manage their weapons properly, so they threw this away.”

“I received my punishment. Yes, that’s right.”

“It seems that we have gained momentum now, Your Majesty! Now is the time to attack Gyeongseong, drive out the wicked traitor Saito Makoto, and hang his head on the highest point of Gyeongseong so that Tokyo will know our loyalty!”

The troops sent to defend the colony prove their loyalty by cutting off the colonial governor’s head.

If you think about it for a moment… … No, it was a strange thing to say even just hearing it, but no one among the people gathered here felt anything strange.

“Of course. Our original goal was Jemulpo, but since the Governor-General has taken care of the work for us, it seems better to focus on Gyeongseong now.”

The commander of the Joseon army, Shinnosuke Kikuchi, completely revised his plan to launch a special attack on Jemulpo with the 80th Regiment from Daegu while the troops in the north were distracting the attention of the Governor-General and burn or capture the enemy’s weapons.

His new plan was to have the 77th Regiment in Pyongyang and the 80th Regiment in Taegu attack Gyeongseong from the front and rear without such complex maneuvers and finish off the Government-General of Korea.

“It’s clearly a military operation.”

“I wonder how they managed to sneak that much explosives into Jemulpo without us knowing.”

“I never thought that strengthening the inspection would turn out to be poisonous… … .”

The Jemulpo affair put the brakes on the Governor-General’s path, which had been going smoothly until then.

The Government-General’s grand strategy of arming the police with firearms brought in from Shanghai and using existing weapons to create a local militia loyal to the Government-General to fight against the military went awry.

“… … .”

“… … .”

“Oh my… … .”

From the governor to a single chief, there was not a single person who was not depressed.

Although no one said it out loud, everyone felt that the situation at the Government-General was at an alarming level.

But that doesn’t mean there’s anything they can do.

Although troops were advancing from Pyongyang and Daegu toward Gyeongseong, the Government-General had neither the power nor the ability to stop them.

“Where did the explosion start?”

“I heard that a bomb exploded in a warehouse on the port side, and that the ship exploded, so the exact facts are not yet known.”

“There is also testimony that before the explosion, someone shouted that they had found a bomb.”

“And according to the words of Inspector Sasaki, a high-ranking detective from the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai who was rescued at the scene, it seems that everyone on the ship except for himself died.”

“The explosion could have occurred in a coastal warehouse… … or it could have originated from the ship.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Governor-General Saito was originally from the navy, so he was quite knowledgeable about ships.

So, I analyzed this incident in my own way.

‘If there was an explosion on the ship, it’s clear that someone tampered with the ship’s boiler or the weapons on board.’

If this was just an incident where a ship sank and it ended, it would have been a man-made disaster caused by someone’s mistake, but this was not simply an incident where a ship blew up.

It was a huge incident, as if the entire large port of Jemulpo, a part of Joseon, had been blown away.

‘It’s not a battleship… … . Just because a boiler on a transport ship exploded doesn’t mean the entire surrounding area will be blown away.’

Of course, even if a transport ship’s boiler explodes, the impact on the surrounding area is considerable, but at most, it only sinks one ship and slightly swept away the surrounding area.

But this incident wasn’t just a matter of the surrounding area being swept away, the entire Jemulpo area was affected by the explosion, the coastal area was completely blown away, and the outskirts suffered considerable damage, with cracks in buildings, broken windows, and trains derailing.

‘Even if we assume that the ammunition inside the ship exploded in a chain reaction, the damage was too great.’

If so, there is only one answer.

Someone took action and caused the damage.

Like planting explosives on a ship, or planting explosives in a warehouse in Jemulpo Port without anyone knowing… … something like that.

If someone had a hand in it, there are two immediate culprits that come to mind.

‘Shinnosuke Kikuchi and the Ghost of Keijo.’

However, since it would have been nearly impossible for an individual to obtain and hide this much explosive without the knowledge of the Governor-General, it was highly likely that the Joseon military had already prepared this explosive.

As always, they had stolen explosives in Jemulpo, and it would be reasonable to think that they would use them on this occasion…

“Preserve the crime scene and thoroughly investigate it so that we can find the culprit.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Governor-General Saito had already identified the culprit in his head, but he verbally ordered an investigation.

If Shinnosuke Kikuchi is really involved in this incident, then it won’t end with just a case of treason.

“How about we open the armory and distribute weapons to citizens loyal to the Governor-General?”

Finally, someone who couldn’t stand to watch this spoke up.

“Are you saying we should give guns to Koreans now?”

But everyone was surprised by his suggestion to put guns in the hands of Koreans and scolded him.

“The situation is urgent right now.”

“But that won’t do! Even if the situation is resolved well, the home country will hold us responsible for this problem later. Then, who will take responsibility then?”

“Are you saying we should just sit still and take this?”

“That’s… … . But… … .”

“Still, I am absolutely against putting guns in the hands of Koreans.”

At that time, the stuffy meeting continued without anyone having any specific plan.

The governor opened his mouth.

“… … If arming Koreans is the problem, how about increasing the number of Korean troops in Gyeongseong?”

“… … ?”

When everyone tilted their heads and looked at each other at the Governor-General’s strange words.

The conference room door opened and someone came in.

“You are talking about the Joseon Infantry Corps.”

“What?! Those useless guys?!”

The person who showed up late to the conference room was Miwa, the class president, with a bandage wrapped around her head.

“Your head… … ?”

“I got hurt a little bit in Jemulpo.”

“what?”

Miwa naturally found an empty seat and sat down, then spoke directly to the Governor.

“Mobilizing the Korean Infantry seems like a good idea. But before that, there are some things you should know.”

“Tell me.”

“I saw the ghost of Gyeongseong in Jemulpo.”

The governor showed interest in Miwa’s words.

“Tell me more.”

“As soon as the last meeting was over, I ran straight to Jemulpo.”

“You went to Jemulpo, not Paju?”

“Yes, I expected that if it was the ghost of Gyeongseong, it would definitely come to Jemulpo, so I went to Jemulpo… … Fortunately or unfortunately, when I arrived, a bomb had already exploded and the area was in chaos.”

Miwa did not forget to describe the situation in Jemulpo, which had become a mess five minutes before the explosion, and she also did not forget to describe a man she had seen.

“That guy… … . It was my first time seeing his face, but he seemed familiar.”

“… … ?”

As the story of Miwa encountering the ghost of Gyeongseong in Jemulpo began, questions began to appear on the faces of everyone in the conference room, including the Governor-General and the Chief of Police.

“For someone who lives near the sea, he didn’t have the salty smell of salt on him, and for someone from outside the sea, he didn’t have the faint smell of coal.”

“Wait a minute… … So. How did you and Miwa find the ghost of Gyeongseong… …?”

“Yes, this is the nose.”

Miwa pointed to her nose.

As if he were very proud of it.

‘By smell?’

‘It’s not a person, it’s a dog.’

‘Even a dog would have a hard time with that.’

‘He’s a solid guy.’

Whether or not, Miwa’s words continued.

“As soon as I caught sight of the ghost of Gyeongseong, I immediately pulled out my pistol and arrested him.”

“What! You caught him?!”

“Where is that guy! Just the number of my subordinates who have been defeated by that guy is enough to fill up the Governor-General’s Office!”

“This damn ghost or whatever it is needs to be thrown into the thorn box immediately!”

Everyone was so excited by the news that they had captured a ghost that they blurted out words one by one.

But their joy did not last long.

“I… … . caught it. I caught it, but… … .”

“?”

“I was suddenly attacked by that bastard’s comrades and… … I lost it.”

“her.”

In an instant, Miwa’s reputation, which had risen to the level of a hero of the Japanese Government-General of Korea within the conference room, fell to that of a sloppy guy who couldn’t even properly manage a single criminal he caught.

But Miwa also had an excuse.

“We missed him, but we still managed to get one new piece of information.”

“Information? What information are you talking about?”

“There is new information that there is a being that cooperates with the Ghost of Gyeongseong.”

“?”

“Don’t you know? The Ghost of Gyeongseong has been planning and acting alone all this time. That’s why I didn’t have any doubts when I caught him, and I focused only on him! But… … . Someone attacked me from behind.”

Miwa asked in a low voice.

“So, if the ghost of Gyeongseong intervened in this Jemulpo incident, who would benefit the most from helping him?”

“… … !!!”

The corners of Governor Saito’s mouth went up.

“Are you trying to say that Shinnosuke Kikuchi and the Joseon army are in a cooperative relationship with the Gyeongseong Ghost?”

“That’s what I’ve been researching from the beginning.”

* * *

The Sparrow Tea House at the entrance of Jongno was, as usual, full of customers: a Japanese man in a police uniform with a cast on his arm, and two strange Koreans who were neither grim reapers nor messengers of death, but rather wore black shirts, black coats, and black fedoras.

The young and pretty madam of the Sparrow Cafe glared at the customers with a sullen expression as the customers just ordered coffee and took up their seats.

“… …Madame is glaring.”

“It’s okay. That’s just how she is.”

“I can hear everything.”

“Oh, really? Oh! Inspector Sasaki! What are you talking about! Even if Madam is the owner who is always paying attention to the customers, how can you say that her face is pretty but her personality is not! When the customers are talking about something important, you are just a watchdog watching them from the side! Is it okay to say something like that?”

Madame let out a sigh as if she was really fed up and went back into the kitchen.

Then, Inspector Sasaki asked me with great nervousness.

“Is this okay?”

“Do you think it will work?”

“no…….”

“That’s it.”

“… … ?”

I sipped my coffee quietly and thought about what I could say to Madame later to appease her.

On the other hand, Sasaki just sipped his coffee with a bewildered expression, not knowing what was going on.

“You don’t drink?”

“I like tea more than coffee.”

“Hmm! As expected, the study abroad group!”

Sasaki stared blankly at Guncheol, then turned to me and covered his mouth with his hand as he asked.

“What is that guy?”

“This time, there’s a new guy learning something new in my studio.”

“Ah… … . Are you my disciple?”

“If I had to make a metaphor, it would be like a mop for cleaning the floor.”

“… … ?”

“You are as big as a mop.”

“???”

Inspector Sasaki blinked and looked at me, unable to find a way to continue the conversation.

I asked Inspector Sasaki about that.

“So, what is the current situation within the Government-General?”

“It’s a portrait. We’ve internally decided to first intercept the 77th Regiment coming down from Pyongyang and regain the upper hand… … .”

“What do you think?”

“It seems difficult. Although there are a lot of police officers, they are lacking in quality… … .”

“I guess so.”

If the army enters Gyeongseong and destroys the Government-General, then I will be in trouble.

In this incident, rather than one side seizing the opportunity, it would have been better for both sides to perish together or for it to end in a state of confusion with both sides exhausted.

“Oh! By the way, there was also talk of expanding the personnel of the Joseon Infantry Corps and sending them to the front lines.”

“Joseon Infantry Corps?”

This one was kind of interesting.

NIS Agent Tears the Japanese Empire Episode 131