NIS Agents Tearing Up the Japanese Empire - Chapter 168



Only Krnovel

NIS Agent Tears the Japanese Empire Episode 168

Dawn is Coming (4)

A fairly warm morning in Hamgyeong-do for winter.

The Japanese advance party appeared at the Seongcheon River.

“I bet you’ve done enough pre-barrage?”

“Yes, we conducted a preliminary bombardment for about an hour before the main attack, which allowed us to remove a significant amount of barbed wire and mines.”

“A mine? Were there any mines there?”

“According to the observers… … .”

“Just tell me whether it was or not.”

“There was.”

“hmm.”

When he heard that the enemy had even planted land mines, General Kanno ran his hand through his tangled hair and became lost in thought.

‘They even laid mines in the trenches, barbed wire, and bunkers… … It seems like they put more effort into building the defense line than I thought… … ?’

What kind of thing is a landmine?

It is a terrifying object that is buried in the ground without the enemy knowing, and if a poor, unaware person walks over it and touches it, it explodes, causing serious injury or, in severe cases, killing them.

But now Kanno’s enemies are using it.

‘Where did you get that?’

It goes without saying that in Korea or Japan, landmines were not available to anyone except the military.

Although landmines were not something that had to go through a complicated manufacturing process, they were still quite dangerous for a rebel group with no income and who were supported by someone else’s support to possess.

‘The same goes for barbed wire and bunkers.’

There, the enemy laid barbed wire on the defensive line and even built bunkers.

When I looked around a few days ago, I thought they were just a bunch of rebels, but when I thought about it for a moment before launching a full-scale attack, something seemed strange.

‘Is that thing sticking out of the bunker… a machine gun?’

Trenches and bunkers protected by barbed wire and mines, and machine guns placed there… … .

An ominous thought rose in Kanno’s mind.

‘Could it be… … that the Bulyeongseon people are following Western defensive tactics?’

But soon he shook his head.

Because even he thought it didn’t make sense.

‘No, how could they possibly learn and use Western tactics? It would have to be purely coincidental, otherwise… ‘

Otherwise, there is only one answer.

‘Someone intervened in the group of the disobedient people.’

To be honest, the probability of the former was extremely low.

If so, then the answer is that there is someone standing behind those immortals standing there.

At that moment, General Kanno’s mind suddenly recalled what his staff had said a while ago.

“Inoue.”

“Yes, Your Majesty! We are almost ready to attack.”

“I didn’t mean to ask that… … Didn’t you say a few days ago that the armed group of rebels in the North had a sponsor?”

“North… … . Ah! Yes, that’s what I said.”

“Do you have any more information about that sponsor?”

“Ah… … . It should be in Pyongyang now… … . Should I send a telegram to Pyongyang and tell them to bring it by train?”

“No, then that’s fine.”

Kanno was very curious about the identity of the sponsor, but for now, defeating the enemy in front of him was more important.

‘America? Russia? Or maybe Britain? No… … . Maybe it’s a scheme by France to solidify its hegemony in Indochina.’

Kanno’s head became even more complicated.

“Your Majesty, I have received a report that the advance battalion is ready for battle. Shall we order the attack to commence?”

“hmm.”

Kanno hesitated to answer the adjutant’s question.

If it had been a few days ago, I would have asked my adjutant why he was asking such questions and immediately ordered an attack… … But now, I couldn’t do that.

‘What if someone is really interfering with this situation behind those guys?’

What if the armed group of Manchurian rebels he had been ignoring turned out to be much better armed than he had expected?

It was still just a hypothesis, but the more he imagined it, the more the word confidence began to fade from Kanno’s mind.

‘They’ve put up mines, barbed wire, bunkers and machine guns, so why wouldn’t there be artillery?’

Perhaps, as we had heard reports before, they have a formidable artillery force.

If an enemy shell lands on your head during battle… … the unit that is sent in first will certainly suffer great damage.

There… … .

‘They say that a lot of the barbed wire and mines have been removed through pre-barrage, but… … the defense line still looks intact to me.’

Apparently the staff told him that they had cleared the obstacle with sufficient pre-barrage fire.

But whether it was due to a lack of cannons or sheer lack of firepower, the enemy’s bunkers and trenches appeared impenetrable.

The barbed wire that was supposedly removed by artillery fire was still scattered all over the battlefield after it was destroyed, and it seemed as if it would become a hindrance without anyone knowing, and the craters created by the artillery fire actually became a new obstacle.

‘The ground near the river is quite soft… … If we go in by mistake, won’t we all get trapped?’

Immediately, Kanno’s mind began to recall many battles in which similar events had occurred.

And the sight of soldiers trapped in pits, screaming, and then collapsing under enemy crossfire was vivid.

Although it hadn’t happened yet, a cold sweat broke out on Kanno’s forehead as he felt a sense of uneasiness that something like that might happen.

‘Should I order them to stop attacking? No… … . I said something on the way up here, what do you mean by stopping here!’

Since I had made all sorts of boasts on my way up here, I couldn’t stop the attack here.

If he immediately says that he will hold off on attacking because the enemy’s defenses are strong, he will save the lives of his soldiers, but his reputation will be that of a pathetic man who only talks big.

‘That won’t work.’

It doesn’t matter if some soldiers die, you’ll hear some harsh criticism later, but if you just send a postcard to the mainland, fresh new soldiers will come over.

But once a reputation is lost, it can never be restored.

So, in this situation, it was decided what Kanno would say.

“What are you hesitating for? Begin the attack immediately!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

This was also something Kanno said to herself.

There is no more time to hesitate.

For now, as I said a few days ago, we can only break through that defense line with blood, faith, and steel.

At Kanno’s command, his adjutant raised his white-gloved hand above his head, waved it twice, and pointed straight at the enemy’s defensive line.

Then, the flag bearer, who was watching from afar, waved his flag here and there to send a signal, and the trumpeter blew his trumpet in time with the flag bearer’s signal.

-Bam baam! Bam baam baam!

“In battalion battle march formation! Forward!”

“Keep the lead! The Engineer Battalion will take the lead, and we will cover the friendly Engineer Battalion until the pontoon bridge is built across the river!”

“Engineer Battalion, forward!”

* * *

“Ugh… … . It’s finally coming.”

“If you don’t want to die, bow your head and come to your senses.”

“You take care of yourself. You take care of yourself.”

“Even if you worry about it, it’s still bullshit.”

Private Oh Chang-sik of the advance battalion of the Korean Independence Army, who was waiting in a trench on an island in the middle of the Seongcheon River, the front line of defense, adjusted his helmet and gripped the handle of his machine gun tightly.

“Changryeol, hold on to your belt tightly.”

“It’s hot, it’s hot! Not hot, hot! Hot!”

“Yes, Changryeol.”

“Ahh… … Really.”

“Coming!”

As soon as Chang-sik passed the tree marked by the suicides walking slowly toward the river, carrying a heavy lump of iron that looked heavy at first glance, he pulled the trigger.

-Tuda dadada!

As Chang-sik moved his fingers, the bullet belt that his second-in-command, Chang-yeol, was holding was instantly sucked into the gun barrel.

The muzzle of Chang-sik’s gun, which had been greedily eating bullets, spat out bullets with a sound like a sewing machine.

As his gun barrel moved, as if it was aligned with the target, a Japanese soldier in yellow uniform fell down.

“Commence firing!”

As Chang-sik started shooting, other trenches also started firing, turning the heads and torsos of Nakamuras and Ichiros, who were struggling to carry the pontoon bridge, into beehives.

When the engineers came under concentrated fire from the friendly forces, the Japanese infantry waiting behind them hurriedly came forward and returned fire, and a fierce gunfight between the two sides began… … . But it didn’t last long.

-Tuda dadada!

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

“What?! I didn’t hear about a machine gun!”

“If you don’t want your head to fly off, lower your head!”

“Ugh… … .”

The soldiers tried their best to counterattack, but the difference in firepower was too great.

While each platoon of the independence army had two or three machine guns, each platoon of the Japanese army had only a limited number.

Moreover, it was difficult to properly fire firepower because the Japanese army was concentrated in one place while crossing the river, and the independence army was located at a slightly higher altitude than the Japanese army.

If you look down from above and pull the trigger, one or two of the Japanese soldiers will fall down screaming.

“Shoot!”

-Pong!

-bang!

“Enemy fire!”

“Where the hell is this flying in from!”

-Bang! BANG! BANG!

The artillery unit of the Independence Army, which had been hiding to avoid enemy artillery fire, took out their mortars again and fired shells at the heads of the Japanese soldiers.

However, perhaps because of their low skill level or because they had miscalculated while rushing, the shells of the independence army scattered around rather than falling on the heads of the Japanese soldiers.

“Enemy! Shells! Drop!”

“Get down!”

Well, from the Japanese military’s perspective, the ground was shaking and explosions were going off everywhere, so they didn’t have time to worry about that.

Everyone was busy lying face down, afraid of being hit by a shell or a blinding bullet.

“This can’t be happening! Everyone, raise your heads and move forward! If you want to survive, you have to cross the river somehow!”

When the vanguard was tied down by the fierce resistance of the independence army, the battalion commander who was commanding them stamped his feet and shouted.

“How long are you all going to bury your heads in the ground! Get up! Get up and cross the river! If you stay still, you’ll all die! Get up and cross the river!”

But in a battlefield where bullets and shells were flying, the battalion commander’s voice did not reach the soldiers’ ears directly.

The soldiers were still lying face down on the ground, firing their guns, or just hiding behind cover and watching.

“Damn it! Kanemura! Where are you, Kanemura! Get out in front of me right now!”

“Yes! Captain Naomi Kanemura is here!”

“Go and rescue the Engineer Battalion, clean up this mess, and somehow get them across the river!”

“I will follow your orders.”

The battalion commander called the smartest guy under his command and had him clean up the situation.

Captain Kanemura, as befitting an officer who was completely trusted by his battalion commander, ran into the bullet-filled battlefield without any hesitation and shouted at the frozen men.

“Everyone, what a disgrace this is! Why should the men of Yamato be tied up in a place like this?!”

Then he snatched the battalion flag the rider was holding and threw it straight into the river.

The large ship swept away by the river drifted along with the waves and safely landed on an island on the other side.

Captain Kanemura, who saw that, shouted again without even lowering his head even as bullets rained down.

“Our flag crossed the river first. Who will come with me to retrieve the flag from across the river?”

“… … .”

“He asked who I was!”

Captain Kanemura now drew his sword as if to tell others to shoot him, and hung his helmet on the end of it.

Then, as if for everyone to see, he raised it high into the air and pulled out a pistol with his other hand.

“Don’t look at anything else, just look at my hat and follow me! The enemy is just a coward who is afraid of us and has dug a hole like a rabbit and hidden!”

The soldiers also seemed to have gained courage from Kanemura’s madness and one or two of them ran towards the river.

Then other soldiers followed suit, ran to the river, and threw themselves into the river.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the Seongcheon River did not have much flow even though it was downstream.

“Look! It’s still winter, so the water is shallow enough to cross on foot!”

Captain Kanemura, who had reached the front of the line without realizing it, ran forward, dodging the bullets raining down on him like a ghost.

Then the soldiers who had been terrified regained their confidence and immediately followed him.

“Whew… … The first one to cross the river was me, Naomi Kanemura from Tottori!”

Kanemura, who was fully aroused by the heat of the battlefield, picked up the battalion flag that had been soaked in water, straightened it, and held it up high so that the soldiers could see it clearly.

“Wow-”

“Long live Captain Kanemura!”

Then the soldiers’ morale immediately rose.

Kanemura confirmed that the casualties among his soldiers were less than he had expected and thought that the tide had turned again.

‘Good. If we clean up this island like this, the victory will completely go to our side!’

Thinking like that, Kanemura decided to push himself just a little harder for the last time.

‘If we plant a flag on top of that bunker over there, everyone will see it.’

Kanemura bravely stepped forward once again.

No, I was trying to go out.

-Click.

“uh?”

-bang!

That was Kanemura’s will.