Episode 930: The Imperial March 2 – Assault return, running on the ground. (18)
“Cannon? A cannon…”
The French generals nodded in response to the Mnese officer’s answer.
It is well known that the imperial army is ‘madly’ fond of cannons.
Still, there were some parts I didn’t understand.
“It is well known that the Imperial Army attaches great importance to cannons. But that’s it. Aren’t the walls surrounding Mn rebuilt to ount for such cannon attacks? But it fell so quickly? We thought we couldst at least 15 days. However, considering the time when you arrived and when you heard the information that ‘the Imperial Army has arrived in Mn’, wouldn’t it havested less than ten days? How did Mn fight?”
To a question that meant, ‘Didn’t they just surrender without fighting properly?’, the Mnese military officer answered with an angry face.
“We, the Mnese army, did our best to resist!”
“Resistance, not defense? I don’t know any more. How on earth did it fall? No, correct me. How many days did it take until it was taken over?”
To the questions of the Pras army generals, the Mn army officer bowed his head and answered.
“…one week.”
“one week? “In such a short period of time?”
“….”
“her!”
In response to the French general’s sarcastic response, the Mnese officer had no choice but to keep his mouth shut and lower his head.
Because there was one thing he couldn’t say until the end.
‘The actual battlested three days!’
* * *
The process of the Empire-Florence alliance’s attack on Mn was left behind in a famous poem.
It was a poem written in sorrow by an unknown poet living in Mn.
The poem he wrote was like this:
‘first day.
The Eastern army arrived in front of the walls of Mn.
The proud walls of Mn were high and majestic like the Tower of Babel, and the trenches dug by the Eastern army were deep and shabby like a graveyard.
A day has passed.
Second day.
A messenger sent by the army in the East advised surrender.
The bravepatriots of Mn looked at the lion andughed, and the lion also looked at hispatriots andughed.
Another day has passed.
third day.
The Eastern army’s cannons destroyed the first wall.
The messenger came again and urged us to surrender, but our bravepatriots refused to surrender.
The lionughed at us again. But half of ourpatriots couldn’t smile.
Another day has passed.
Fourth day.
The Eastern army’s cannons destroyed the second wall.
The messenger again urged us to surrender, but our strong-willedpatriots again refused to surrender.
The lionughed at us again.
Among ourpatriots, not a single one smiled.
It’s been a long day.
Fifth day.
Thest wall copsed.
Our wounded and exhaustedpatriots raised a white g and demanded negotiations, but were rejected.
The day barely passed.
Sixth day.
Thepatriots of Mn surrendered unconditionally.
From the positions of the Eastern army, ck smoke from merciless steel horses rose into the sky, and from our poor hometown of Mn, ck smoke from burning the dead rose into the sky.
All our poorpatriots cried.
Another day has passed.
Seventh day.
The armies of the East rested. But ourpatriots could not rest.’
This poem, titled ‘A Week of Downfall’, waster published in an Italian textbook.
* * *
Although it is not mentioned in this poem, Mn was not left helpless.
When thebined imperial-Florence forces first arrived, the Mnese army immediately went to intercept them.
-They must be tired froming all this way! Regain your energy and strike before the position isplete!
-In particr, we need to inflict as much damage as possible before the imperial artillery can properly establish itself! Only then will you be able to survive the siege for a long time!
It was a reasonable decision no matter who looked at it.
After receiving orders, the Mnese cavalry and infantry kicked down the gates and charged towards the Allied forces.
However, the Mnese army, which charged with such high morale, suffered serious damage and had to retreat.
This was due to the disregard for the fact that the imperial army carried as many freight cars and toys as it did artillery pieces.
The Mnese army, caught in the crossfire of the imperial army’s boxcars, boxcars, and small and heavy vehicles, was literally torn apart.
After the battle was over and the battlefield was cleared, the imperial troops, both high and low, muttered the same thing.
“I heard that Hwacha and Bigyeokjincheonroe are the best for stopping people flocking in groups.”
“I was a little worried about the newly made Bigyeokjincheonroe and toys, but they are useful!”
The new bigyeokjincheonroe and toys mentioned by the imperial army were mortar shells and mortars.
* * *
Among the various artillery and bombs used by the imperial army, the most frequently used was, of course, the Bigyeokjincheonroe.
Bigyeokjincheonroe showed clear effectiveness against natives without proper armor, bandits armed with guns, and troops.
Although it was a bigyeokjincheonroe and toy that appeared in almost every battlefield, it was also disappointing.
“It would be great if it were easy to carry…”
Because of the shape of the toy, even the smallest small toy required a cart pulled by a horse or donkey to transport.
Hyang noticed this and proceeded with the development of a mortar to satisfy Deoksim. However, when it was first developed, it was not adopted right away.
“Existing toys and Bigyeokjincheonroe are sufficient, so is there a need to develop a new model?”
“If you have the money to spend it, I think the priority is to improve and produce artillery and ammunition!”
Due to the priority of funds, King Sejong and the ministers all opposed it and it was buried.
As time passed, funds became avable, and small-scale irregr warfare became more frequent thanrge-scale regr warfare, and the new toy and bigyeokjincheonroe ns began again.
As a side note, there was a reason why Hyang continued to use the names Toy and Bigyeokjincheonroe instead of the names Mortar and Mortar Bomb.
“’Fired at a high angle and falls on the enemy’s head.’ ‘Rtively short range.’ A lightning strike or a mortar is almost fifty paces away, right? Then there is no need to use the name ‘Made in Japan’ called Mortar, right? And at this time, the name ‘toy’ is more familiar than the word ‘mortar’.”
In this way, mortars and mortar shells inherited the names of toys and bigyeokjincheonroe.
* * *
In the Mnese army’s interception battle against the imperial army and the Florentine army, the imperial army’s freight cars and heavy vehicles and small toys boasted a quick response speed.
Also, the quantity was no joke.
‘Battle is firepower! Firepower is artillery!’
The Imperial Army, especially the Imperial Army, was faithful to this concept and once again modified the existing five-point organization.
The smallest group, ‘Oh (伍)’, consisted of three long rifle soldiers, amander of the rank of military officer or military officer, and one fire wagon soldier who operated a Gap-type light wagon. .
The ‘Dae (隊)’, which is a collection of 5 units, isposed of 3 gun units, 1 box car unit that operates 2 fire wagons, and 1 toy unit that operates 1 small toy unit.
‘Yeo (旅)’, which consists of 5 battalions, included 3 rifle corps, 1mand corps, 1 central guard corps, 1 medic, 1 supply unit, and 1 unit in charge of supply.
As firepower ovepped and strengthened in this way, the power of the imperial army became exponentially stronger as the group grew.
Naturally, the consumption of supplies, including bullets, increased exponentially, and the supply staff could not let go of the shells and barrels. In addition, officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economy.
In any case, because the imperial army was so serious about firepower, it destroyed the Mnese army with only light armored cars and heavy-duty and small-type boxcars.
The eyes of the Swiss and Florentine armies lit up when they saw the Mnese army attack with the intention of inflicting damage, but instead retreated as if running away after suffering heavy damage.
“That light truck looks useful too. It would be nice to have more toys….”
“The small toys were small and looked funny, but it was okay. It would be even better to use while traveling around the mountainous regions of the Alps. “I have to ask for more for mypatriots back home.”
Themanders of the Florentine and Swiss armies, who recognized the value of light vehicles and small toys that had been neglected in favor of heavy artillery and tow trucks, muttered as they took out bottles of high-quality wine hidden in their luggage.
“Who should I roast and boil to deliver it to His Majesty the Emperor the fastest?”
* * *
“Mn has already fallen, so let’s find the next best solution.”
French generals quickly acknowledged the reality and put their heads together to find an alternative.
“Now that Mn has fallen, there are two directions for the imperial army to go. One is Genoa and the other is Venice. I think they will try to deal with Genoa first.”
“Genoa? Considering the firepower of the imperial army that captured Mn, would there be a need to send additional troops to Genoa? “Do you think it makes sense to go to Venice?”
“Think about supply. Why did the imperial army bother to upy Genoa first? Aren’t you trying to supplyrge quantities quickly and easily by ship rather than the long andplicatednd route? “Rather than wasting time fighting Spain, we will focus our forces and try to deal with them quickly.”
“Right.”
The French generals who heard the story all nodded.
“And they must have realized that our French army has arrived, so they will definitelye this way.”
“He is like that too. “Then where should we fight?”
The French generals, who were confident that the imperial army that had captured Mn woulde down to the south, ced the map in the center and wondered where it would be best to fight.
The generals, who were struggling to find a good ce, soon focused their attention on one ce.
“How about Fabia?”
“Favia?”
“It’s about 45 leagues (about 189 km) from here.”
“45 leagues…”
An average adult male could walk 1 league in an hour. Even taking into ount rest time, meal time, and sleep time, if you walk a little diligently, you could walk 10 to 11 leagues a day.
“Then we can arrive in about five days.”
“But isn’t Pavia too close to Mn?”
When the conservative general pointed out this problem, the general who first rmended Fabia responded right away.
“I think that makes it even better. Will the people of Mn stay quiet if word spreads that we are approaching? “The imperial army will not be able to move easily.”
Another general followed suit.
“The people in Mn are probably still in a rebellious mood. “We need to stoke the me even more before the Mnese lose their momentum.”
“He is like that too… but still a bit…”
When the new generals were convinced but could not easily agree, the general who first rmended Fabia emphasized why it was Fabia.
“If we can really drive a wedge into Pavia, we can block the supply route from Genoa to Mn. And if the Spanish guys do well, we can push down to Bologna.”
“aha!”
The generals who examined the map all eximed in exmation.
Pavia was located in the middle of the transportation route from Mn to Genoa. And if you go a little further east, you can take the road from Mn to Bologna.
It was an important transportation route that had been used since ancient Roman times.