The artillery exchange between the Liaodong and Joseon armies – or more precisely, the shells fired by Liaodong forces at Joseon positions – created numerous craters of varying sizes along the Yalu River bank and around the iron wire nets.
Of course, these weren’t the massive craters created by 20th and 21st-century shells. However, in the soft ground of the riverbank and surrounding areas, they were deep enough that a grown man lying on his side could hide half his body.
Liaodong soldiers who had breached the first three layers of wire nets and halted before the fourth used these craters and the corpses of fallen comrades as cover from Joseon gunfire.
Once they found shelter from Joseon fire, the Liaodong troops desperately began digging with everything they had – from the helmets on their heads to the swords and shields in their hands.
The gun troops and archers who had followed the vanguard to the fourth wire net faced the same situation.
The gun troops and archers, who had tried to stand stiffly as trained to prepare their shots but had tasted bitter medicine from Joseon’s coordinated fire, hid among the scattered corpses and began digging.
“Quick! Quick!”
“Hurry! Hurry!”
The Liaodong gun troops and archers frantically dug with helmets stripped from their heads.
But their progress was snail-paced. They had to dig while staying tightly crouched to the ground.
If they raised their bodies even slightly, Joseon bullets would immediately fly in.
“Guh!”
When a comrade digging right beside Wang Yi briefly raised his head and died with a short cry, Wang Yi quickly pressed himself flat against the ground.
After momentarily freezing, when Joseon gunfire didn’t continue, Wang Yi pulled his dead comrade’s body over to overlap with the corpse already shielding him.
Thinking he was now safer, Wang Yi’s eyes met his dead comrade’s face. The comrade’s eyes stared at Wang Yi, having died without even closing them.
Wang Yi raised his hands, filthy with blood and dirt, to close his comrade’s eyes while muttering.
“Namu Amitabha, Namu Amitabha…”
Wang Yi chanted the Buddhist invocation with clasped hands for his comrade’s peaceful rest and his own atonement.
Thud! Thud-thud!
When bullets suddenly struck the comrade’s corpse shielding him, Wang Yi again grabbed his helmet and frantically resumed digging.
***
The archers and gun troops weren’t digging frantically just for shelter. They also needed the holes to properly utilize their weapons.
Bang!
After pulling the trigger aimed at a Joseon soldier’s head visible beyond the wire nets, Yi Sam quickly ducked down into his hole to reload.
Lying at an angle, Yi Sam pulled down his matchlock and carefully poured powder into the muzzle. According to training, he should have stood straight to reload, but that was impossible in the current situation. He could only hope that enough powder would flow down the tilted barrel.
After inserting the bullet and tamping it down several times with the ramrod, Yi Sam filled the pan with an appropriate amount of powder and closed the pan cover.
Finally, after pulling back the flintlock-equipped hammer to complete preparations, Yi Sam carefully raised his head above the hole and aimed.
Bang!
After pulling the trigger again, Yi Sam immediately hid without even confirming if he’d hit his target and repeated the process.
Right now, the most important thing for him was to stay alive and maintain continuous fire.
To keep firing until either the enemy retreated or his own forces withdrew.
The situation was even worse for the archers. While gun troops could shoot while prone, archers needed to raise at least their upper bodies to properly draw their bows.
Therefore, the Liaodong archers had to focus all their efforts on digging rather than drawing their bows.
In the process, many archers became targets for Joseon forces and ended up as cover for their comrades.
***
The fierce battle between those trying to take and those trying to defend gradually settled into a lull as the sun set.
As the western sky turned red, the Liaodong forces who had been attacking desperately began to withdraw.
“The enemy is retreating!”
“Have they crossed back over the river?”
At Lee Jing-ok’s question, his staff officer shook his head.
“No. It seems they’ve withdrawn to their bridgehead on the riverbank.”
“Hmm…”
Making a small grunt, Lee Jing-ok rose and climbed up to the tower.
Surveying the surroundings from the tower, Lee Jing-ok furrowed his brow.
“How many enemy casualties do you estimate from today’s battle?”
“Current estimates suggest between 40,000 to 50,000.”
“40,000 to 50,000… So many dead…”
Seeing corpses everywhere he looked, Lee Jing-ok shook his head.
“They haven’t given up even after losing 50,000? Well… I couldn’t give up either in their position. The moment they retreat, everything ends…”
***
Regarding this war, both the General Staff Office and Foreign Ministry had reached the same conclusions:
-No matter how brutal Zhu Qizhen’s nature might be, he wouldn’t start a war with such unreasonable demands. There must be backing.
-Therefore, this is Emperor Xuande’s bait.
-For Emperor Xuande, whether Zhu Qizhen’s provocation succeeds or fails would be acceptable.
-They are merely consumables meant to drain our Joseon’s strength.
-This battle is just the opening act.
Based on these conclusions, as soon as war broke out, Joseon mobilized its reserves and entered total war footing.
***
While such grand schemes were being drawn, the one commanding those Liaodong forces would move desperately, even if he was merely a chess piece.
Because if he failed here, he would be the first to lose his head, bearing all responsibility.
Thinking of this, Lee Jing-ok muttered quietly.
“Now the only choice left to him is what Xiang Yu chose at Wu River.”
Having lost his competition with Liu Bang for control of the Central Plains, Xiang Yu sent his remaining soldiers south across the river at Wu River before taking his own life.
Unless he could capture Insan Fortress, suicide would be his only remaining option.
After surveying the surroundings once more, Lee Jing-ok turned around.
“Check our casualties, proceed with rest and resupply. Ah! Maintain strict vigilance as there might be night raids.”
“Yes, sir!”
***
Meanwhile, at the Liaodong army’s main camp across the Yalu River, a meeting was in full swing.
The command tent where Zhao Bingde and his officers gathered was filled with heavy air.
Starting with Zhao Bingde, all the officers sat silently with gloomy expressions.
“Sigh~”
After a long sigh, Zhao Bingde finally spoke.
“First, everyone worked hard today. It was a brutal day and a brutal battle. Just keeping the soldiers holding their positions in such conditions deserves high praise.”
“You’re too kind.”
“You honor us too much.”
Though his subordinate officers expressed humility at Zhao Bingde’s praise, he shook his head.
“No, considering the vanguard was Jurchen, you all commanded exceptionally well.”
Zhao Bingde had placed the Jurchen troops, who were close to mercenaries, in the vanguard. Despite the battle turning into the worst situation, the Jurchen troops fought to the end without deserting.
Pointing this out, Zhao Bingde issued orders to the unit commander.
“Provide the soldiers with plenty of alcohol and meat, and let them rest.”
At Zhao Bingde’s order, the commander stood, made a fist salute, and shouted loudly.
“Thank you, sir!”
After issuing rewards to the Jurchen units, Zhao Bingde moved to the main topic.
“What are today’s losses?”
“Combining dead and wounded, 38,000 sir.”
“Not a small number.”
Frowning, Zhao Bingde continued his questions.
“The heavy losses today were due to losing the artillery exchange. What’s the status of our artillery units? Excluding the Fire Dragon Cannons.”
“Many artillery pieces deployed along the riverbank were destroyed by Joseon fire. Therefore, we’re sorting through the destroyed pieces to find what can be salvaged.”
“So what are today’s losses?”
“About 60 percent, sir.”
“Including what can be salvaged, how much can be recovered?”
“50 percent, sir. And that would take at least three days.”
“Make it two days.”
At Zhao Bingde’s order, the artillery commander made a troubled expression.
“Sir, we’re short on manpower.”
At those words, Zhao Bingde turned to the Jurchen unit commander.
“Deploy your soldiers to support the artillery unit. We won’t need them until we suppress those damn walls anyway.”
“Yes, sir.”
None of the commanders showed dissatisfaction with Zhao Bingde’s order. Today’s battle had shown that assault troops armed only with swords and shields were useless.
“Restore to at least 60 percent capacity within two days. Even if breaking the walls is impossible, we absolutely need artillery to suppress those trenches.”
“We’ll do our utmost.”
After hearing the artillery commander’s response, Zhao Bingde turned to look at the Fire Dragon Cannon unit commander.
“Were all the Fire Dragon Cannons destroyed?”
“The surviving craftsmen are working their hardest to repair them, sir.”
Zhao Bingde’s face brightened at the Fire Dragon Cannon unit commander’s response.
“Can they be repaired?”
“At present, we believe we can restore one cannon.”
Zhao Bingde’s face filled with disappointment at the answer.
“One is too few…”
“I’ll push the craftsmen harder.”
“We need at least two to crush their trench lines. Remember, if we can’t crush the trench lines, we’ll have to continue this damned siege warfare.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, sir.”
***
The meeting continued.
Pointing at Insan Fortress on a map hanging to one side, Zhao Bingde continued speaking.
“We suffered heavier losses than expected in today’s battle. This means this fortress’s defenses were stronger than anticipated. In other words, Joseon invested great effort in this fortress’s defenses. And this could mean that once we capture this fortress, what follows will be easier.”
The officers nodded at Zhao Bingde’s observation.
According to intelligence gathered by Ming so far, Joseon’s total military strength was less than 200,000, with about half being naval forces.
And the Joseon forces confirmed in today’s battle numbered about 50,000.
This meant that breaking through this fortress would eliminate half of Joseon’s ground forces.
Of course, if that happened, Joseon would increase their forces through conscription, but untrained rabble wouldn’t be a match for Liaodong forces.
After pointing this out, Zhao Bingde continued.
“Therefore, our immediate task is to restore our artillery forces with all our strength. As today’s battle showed, scaling those damn fortress walls results in too many casualties. We’ll destroy the wire nets with artillery and outflank them. And then…”
Zhao Bingde used his command baton to draw an imaginary path circumventing Insan Fortress on the map.
“We’ll starve this damn fortress to death.”
“They won’t just sit by and watch that happen.”
When a subordinate officer pointed out this issue, Zhao Bingde nodded.
“Indeed. That’s what I’m counting on. Getting those bastards crouching in that damn fortress to come out.”