Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 23



Only Krnovel

#23. That wasn’t right.

“You want to set up a training center within 10 days? “Right now, just building the airfield is going to kill me?”

“Hey, Colonel Oh. “There’s nothing you can do about this situation, right?”

“Better kill me! can not! You can never do it! “Slit your stomach!”

Engineer Oh Byeong-moo, who was growing thinner, cried out.

I still feel like I’m going to die, but what about a training camp?

“Do you really want me to cut it?”

“…”

“I know you and the Corps of Engineers are having a hard time, but there’s nothing you can do about it, right? If we don’t get replacements and train them as soon as possible, things could get difficult. It’s a race against time. I’m sorry too, please forgive me.”

“Ha, commander”

“why?”

“No matter how much modern heavy equipment we bring, we basically need manpower. But what more can we do with only 500 members of the Corps of Engineers? Besides, are we just building an airfield now? “There are about 100 people hanging out at the second camp of the expeditionary force near the county office, right?”

“It might be a little tough…”

“Just a little! How can that be so little! “Don’t use the word ‘a little’ carelessly!”

“Hey, this is real. sudden···.”

“…”

As Colonel Oh Byeong-moo continued to struggle, Lee Kang-cheol’s eyebrows twitched, and Colonel Oh Byeong-moo also closed his mouth like a clam.

If I folded it any further, I felt like I could really smell the incense behind the folding screen.

“Hey, Chief of Staff.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“How many prisoners are there now?”

“There are about 1,000 people in total. why? Are you going to mobilize them?”

“What do you do when you make fun of people with intact limbs? “Mobilize all of them.”

“Is that so?”

“Oh Colonel, was it okay to do this?”

“…”

In just 10 days, a temporary training center measuring 100,000 pyeong was completed.

Of course, this was possible because most of the accommodations were replaced with tents for 24 people.

– 1st Army Training Center –

‘Fostering a strong soldier from the cradle of the nation’

Approximately 3,000 trainees who passed the first physical examination were admitted through the main gate with the large signboard that seemed to have been seen many times.

This was the maximum number of people that could be received at one time, and since the next rider would be enlisted at four-week intervals once the previous rider had completed basic training, the maximum number of people to be accommodated was 6,000.

Because of this, some parts of the training center were still under construction.

“Please take off all the clothes you have worn, put a name tag on them, and hand them out! “Everything, including underwear!”

“Persons who take off their clothes will have their heads shaved and then proceed with quarantine procedures!”

As expected, most of them brought with them lice or bedbugs, so thorough quarantine procedures were essential.

Therefore, everyone had no choice but to shave their heads.

In order to differentiate themselves from the Japanese military, they tried to leave the bangs for sport, but it was thought that doing so would lead to lice infestation, so it was later decided to allow about 5cm of bangs.

“How is the recruiting situation?”

“Although it is not as much as the first time, we are providing continuous support. Certainly, providing food and daily necessities to enlisted families was a big factor. In any case, I don’t think there will be a shortage of military resources anytime soon. “We can recruit more than 20,000 people just from the river and nearby areas.”

“The river system is really big.”

“The population of Ganggye-gun alone is over 200,000, and including the nearby areas secured so far, the population is over 300,000. A wormhole really appeared in an exquisite area. Although it is remote, it is a place with a rich population and economic power.”

“It is not an empty statement to say that heaven helped.”

“you’re right.”

Apart from recruiting and replenishing troops, expansion into nearby areas continued.

On May 23, the expeditionary force occupied Chosan-gun, west of Yuwon-gun.

On May 24, the remaining areas of Huchang County and Jangjin County were secured.

On May 29, during the occupation of Heecheon-gun, the first battle-like battle took place since the expeditionary force came over.

This was because the Japanese army, frustrated, gathered combat troops from the remaining troops of the 30th Division and sent a number of personnel that were almost the size of a battalion.

However, the expeditionary force, which had already seen in real time the approaching troops of the 30th Division through Albatross, was already prepared.

Fire and lightning began to fall on the heads of the Japanese 30th Division dispatched troops as they approached Myeongmun-dong, north of Heecheon-eup.

bang! bang! Quack!

“Artillery, artillery fire! Everyone spread out and evacuate!”

“Ugh!”

“Aaaah!”

Even 155mm self-propelled guns like K9 or K55 were not needed to hit them.

For the dregs of the 30th Division, the K105A1 wind-wing 105mm wheeled self-propelled howitzer was sufficient.

bang! bang! bang!

The power of the 105mm, which automatically radiates heat and fires shells at a speed of up to 10 rounds per minute, was truly incredible, and it soon became a disaster for the Japanese military.

Barely any damage was of no use.

After watching with Albatross, the corrected position was immediately transmitted, and K105A1 immediately fired a shell using the corrected shooting parameters.

Quack! bang! bang!

“Kwaaaak!”

“My legs! “My legs!”

Finally, after about 3 minutes of rapid shooting.

“Stop shooting! Stop shooting! “Stop to save ammo!”

“Hey, I was thinking about shooting now…”

“Shut up and raise the outriggers! “Stop acting like a fool and go back.”

Hell unfolded in the area where the 30th Division dispatched battalion was located.

It was full of the corpses of dead Japanese soldiers and the groans of wounded soldiers who had not yet died, and some of the surviving soldiers were in a dazed state after the bombardment stopped.

The officers and executives who survived the shelling shouted and tried to calm things down.

“Pagaya! You’re out of your mind! Why don’t we hurry up and gather weapons and equipment for the wounded! “You never know when the bombardment will start again!”

“Radios! “Where’s the walkie-talkie?”

“The radio has been destroyed.”

“Holy shit! hey! “Leave the dead guy alone!”

Captain Tadayoshi Ito tried his best to gather the remaining troops on behalf of the battalion commander who died shortly after the bombardment began, but the pace of recovery was slow as there were less than 100 troops who appeared to be in good health.

But then disaster struck again.

K-21A1 infantry fighting vehicles and K200A2 armored vehicles, which had started moving before firing, attacked them.

Grumbling.

“What does this mean? no way?”

Sure enough, it soon appeared before my eyes.

“Hey, it’s a tank! It’s a tank! Everyone run away!”

To Tadayoshi, who had only seen the Type 97 Chi-ha tank equipped with an improved Type 1 mobile 47mm rapid-firing gun, the sight of the K-21 infantry fighting vehicle with a 40mm main gun was no different from a tank.

No, it was actually several times larger than the Chiha tank.

As of now, even if we resist, we are only destined for a one-sided massacre.

Captain Tadayoshi Ito’s order to flee was a fairly correct decision compared to the average Japanese military commanders of the time.

But, there was nowhere to run.

This is because enemy tanks and armored vehicles surrounded us on all sides.

Tata…

Boom!

“Ugh!”

A few brave soldiers tried to resist with Type 96 light machine guns, but before a few bullets could be fired from the muzzle, they were slaughtered by a hail of bullets accompanied by the dull sound of a machine gun.

The sound of a loudspeaker comes next.

“You are surrounded! Surrender! “If you surrender, you will be spared!”

Tadayoshi relaxed.

It’s really over now.

In the end, he gave instructions to the military commander next to him.

“Raise the white flag. “I surrender.”

As soon as he could speak, Gunjo took off his underwear and shook it.

It was a shame because the only remaining officer was Captain Tadayoshi Ito, who seemed to have some common sense. If he had been like the dead battalion commander, he would have charged a tank with a bayonet and left, so I was secretly relieved.

“It’s over. Tell them to thoroughly collect the enemy’s weapons and equipment. “Make sure no one misses out.”

“All right.”

“And the special task force is told to take over the entire Heecheon-gun by today, and additional troops are deployed to Yongbyeon-gun and the border area. “Yongbyeon-gun has a population as large as Ganggye-gun and is a plain area, so you have to be careful.”

“Yes, Commander.”

Heecheon-gun was incorporated into the territory of the expeditionary force that day.

And by June 2nd, Yeongwon-gun, southwest of Ganggye-gun, was secured, and on June 5th, the jackpot was achieved.

They occupied Unsan-gun.

In Unsan-gun, there was the Unsan Gold Mine, which was not only the first on the Korean Peninsula but also world-famous.

Perhaps it was because of the gold mines, but Unsan had significant troops drawn from all over, but the result was the same.

It was an overwhelming battle, and it was over.

“That’s awesome! It’s gold! gold!”

“Do you like it that much without even seeing it?”

“noisy. Anyway, gold is good.”

“Well, that’s true. But now it seems like it’s time for the Japanese to get really pissed off?”

“Not really. It will come out in earnest now. Let’s prepare too.”

“Then when are you going to occupy Pyokdong County?”

“We’ll do that later. “If you touch the Supung Dam, there will be an uproar.”

“I feel like there’s already chaos.”

What Chief of Staff Go Seok-man said was true.

June 5, 1944, 4 p.m.

The Joseon Government-General building within Gyeongbokgung Palace, Gyeongseong-bu.

bang!

“Chick show! What on earth is going on? “Even Unsan-gun lost contact!”

“…”

Koiso Kuniaki, the 8th Governor-General of Joseon, was so angry that he almost went crazy.

Starting with Ganggye-gun, communication was lost for unknown reasons, and now, 20 days later, the loss of communication has spread to Unsan-gun.

I wish I knew the cause, but I don’t.

When everything went that way, the news stopped.

Even the troops sent from the 30th Division of the Joseon Army.

“If you have a mouth, speak out! “How on earth did this happen?”

“…”

“Commander Itagaki! You speak up. “What on earth happened to aerial reconnaissance?”

“Hum hum, it’s no longer difficult. There are already 29 fighter jets and reconnaissance planes that took off and have not returned so far.”

Seishirō Itagaki (板垣征四?), the commander of the Korean army, answered with a perplexed expression.

“Then what are we going to do! Are you saying we should stay like this!”

“That’s not true, Your Excellency. “We have sent the 75th Regiment of the 19th Division to Hoeryong, so there will be news soon.”

“This can be done by sending a regiment!”

“Your Excellency, I know you are frustrated, but other regiments must protect the north.”

“Then what about Byeokdong-gun? What will Byeokdong-gun do? If we lose Byeokdong-gun, we will lose Supung Dam! “You probably don’t know what that means, right?”

“…”

It has already been four years since Seishiro Itakaki served as commander of the Joseon Army.

There was no way I didn’t know what the Supung Dam was.

Most of the power on the Korean Peninsula depended on the Supung Dam hydroelectric power plant.

If we lose Supung Dam, it is the end.

But there was little he could do as commander of Itakaki.

All divisions under his command, except for the 19th Division, lost their troops to the south.

No, even the 19th Division was weakened as the 74th Regiment was given away when the 30th Division was established.

It’s frustrating because all that’s left is the independent mixed 101st Regiment and the 19th Division in Gyeongseong.

“We will gather all the remaining troops from the 30th and 20th divisions and send them to Pyokdong County.”

“Can I have that?”

“If we pull everything together, something will work out.”

“What about the independent mixed 101st Regiment?”

“dismissal! The 101st Regiment is the last bastion. If even the 101st Regiment is sent away, Joseon will truly be empty.”

“Holy shit!”

Then someone opened their mouth.

“Well, Your Excellency. First of all, it is best to request help from the Kwantung Army through the headquarters…”

“Chick show! no!”

“Pagaya! What are you talking about! 75th Regiment! “It will be resolved when our 75th Regiment goes!”

“…”

Governor Koiso and Commander Itakaki both swore and opposed the idea.

Asking for help while in the safety of Joseon is the same as advertising their incompetence.

That wasn’t right.