The imperial troops stationed in Suez weren’t exactly having an easy time either.
“Don’t miss a single one—gather them all up!”
On the flatbed cars returning from battle, imperial soldiers were sweating as they performed what could hardly be called cleaning.
Soldiers with brooms, shovels, and dustpans collected spent shell casings, ammunition belts, and cartridge boxes scattered across the flatbed floor into one place.
Meanwhile, a group of soldiers huddled together, sorting through mountains of shell casings.
“Undamaged ones in this sack, dented ones in that sack…”
Beside them, other soldiers were similarly occupied with sorting cartridge boxes and ammunition belts according to their condition.
Most impressive were the soldiers wielding chisels.
The flatbed car floors, made of wooden planks laid side by side, naturally had many gaps, and numerous shell casings had become wedged in these crevices after being kicked and stepped on by soldiers rushing about during battle.
The job of soldiers with chisels was to pry out these trapped shell casings.
“Do we really have to go this far?”
One soldier, tired of extracting shell casings while hunched over, complained to the military instructor—equivalent to a modern sergeant—supervising them.
The instructor responded to the soldier’s protest with an indifferent face, pointing to the sacks of shell casings piled to one side.
“That’s all copper, you know? You know how expensive copper is, right?”
“Our empire isn’t exactly a poor country, is it?”
“So you want to waste it all, then later not get your salary? No, forget the salary—how would you like to be swinging a sword while everyone else is firing guns? Sounds good, right?”
“…”
“Get back to work.”
At the instructor’s words, the soldier resumed his task while silently cursing.
In another area, other soldiers were also complaining.
“Sigh~ Just our rotten luck… Other guys are all having fun while we get dragged out to battle, which is unfair enough, and now we’re collecting shell casings under the scorching sun…”
“Tell me about it…”
“Some guys with just scratches on their arms are lying down claiming to be wounded… Damn it all.”
The soldiers assigned to cleaning and collection had participated in the recent battle. They expected to rest after returning from combat, but after just one day of rest, they were mobilized for this work.
“After the collection is complete, maintenance of the gun carts and rifles follows! If the maintenance is substandard, your pay will be cut immediately, so do it properly!”
“Yes~”
“What kind of response is that? Should I dock your pay right now?”
“We will do it properly, sir!”
The soldiers who had been responding halfheartedly snapped to attention at the threat of pay cuts. However, as soon as the commander turned away, they grumbled in low voices.
“Using our salary to threaten us, how petty…”
“I wonder who came up with the punishment of pay cuts…”
At that moment, in the temporary palace at New Frontier, Hyang was rubbing her ear and muttering.
“Who could be badmouthing me so much?”
While soldiers were suffering under the blazing sun, high-ranking officers were observing them and conversing nearby.
“These kids haven’t even had proper rest after battle—this might seem too harsh.”
In response to his subordinate officer’s concern, Lee Dam, who had given the orders, shook his head.
“No, we need to tire their bodies out. You saw it too, didn’t you? As soon as the battle ended, they were vomiting everywhere just from seeing enemy corpses. If we had let them loose to recover from battle fatigue on their own, few would have slept properly at night. We need to exhaust them so they sleep without thinking. Besides, replacement troops will arrive in a month, and we can rotate them out then.”
“That may be true, but…”
Seeing his subordinate commander still worried, Lee Dam patted him lightly on the shoulder and continued.
“It’s something I learned from the Amnok River defense. The effects are definite.”
***
While the imperial troops were busily engaged in resource recycling inside the fortress, the alliance messengers were heading home with meticulously prepared reports clutched to their chests.
Just as on their way in, the messengers passed by the railway construction site on their return journey.
“How much longer did they say the construction would take?”
The French messenger asked the Portuguese messenger beside him. After searching his memory briefly, the Portuguese messenger answered.
“They said it could be completed in three years, assuming there are no more bloodshed incidents like before.”
“Three years…”
The French messenger trailed off as he gazed at the site, then muttered quietly.
“I wonder if travel will be easier by then?”
***
Upon returning to their countries, the alliance messengers immediately sought audience with their rulers.
“You’ve worked hard traveling to and from the Council. Now, did you see the new gun carts in question?”
“We did see them, Your Majesty, but couldn’t properly verify their performance. However, we were fortunate.”
The messengers reported to their rulers and high officials about the battle that broke out when bandits attacked the railway construction site.
“We used that opportunity to deploy spies and learn something about the performance of the imperial army’s new gun cart, the Byeong-style gun cart.”
After finishing their explanation, the messengers submitted the reports they had brought.
“This is the report written by the commanders stationed in Suez, and this contains my humble opinion.”
The reports brought by the messengers captured the attention of not only the alliance rulers but also high officials in the military and administration.
After carefully reading and analyzing the reports from the Suez commanders and messengers, all the alliance rulers and officials wore troubled expressions.
“The performance is indeed overwhelming.”
“Isn’t the problem that such overwhelming performance surely comes with an equally overwhelming price?”
“That is true.”
“There’s another issue, Your Majesty. The overwhelming firing rate compared to the Eul-style gun cart means that much more ammunition is required. All the ammunition for the gun carts is imported from the Empire, and we must consider that cost as well.”
“What do the generals think?”
“The performance is certainly exceptional. Honestly, it’s a very tempting weapon. However, battles aren’t just about defense—there’s also offense. Offense requires even more supplies, so would the logistics be feasible?”
The reactions from the officials who analyzed the reports were mostly negative, regardless of whether they were from the military or civil administration.
They had felt the light and shadow of gunpowder weapons to their very marrow through the recent Suez battle.
If the power of gunpowder weapons was the light, then the military expenditure—several times more than before—was the shadow.
Therefore, most of the alliance powers were heading toward similar conclusions:
-Even with our current weapons, we maintain a clear advantage over those of enemy countries.
-Introducing new weapons in this situation would be wasteful.
Just as the decision seemed to be leaning toward not adopting the new weapons, someone raised an objection.
“But what if one of our alliance partners, excluding ourselves, adopts the Byeong-style gun cart? What then? We may be allies now, but who knows what the future holds?”
At this problematic remark, the power holders once again wore serious expressions.
“The enemy was within…”
***
Though bound together by the name of alliance and the common interest of the “Suez Railway,” it was in reality a very precarious cohabitation.
There were immediate religious issues between Islam and Christianity, and differences in national power were also problematic.
- -France: A European power nearly finishing the Hundred Years’ War and stretching once again.
- -Portugal: Strong in naval power but significantly lacking in land forces.
- -Florence: Possessing Europe’s strongest capital but unable to escape the limitations of a city-state.
- -Ottoman: The rising power of the Middle East.
Among these, France, Portugal, and Florence were most wary of the Ottoman Empire.
Mehmed II, who had taken over and completed the Suez War started by his father Murad II, was again passionately conquering surrounding areas.
Particularly, rumors that Mehmed II—who had secured artillery and musketeers tempered through the Suez War—would soon attack Constantinople were becoming almost an accepted fact.
- If the conquest of Constantinople succeeds, what would be Mehmed II’s next target? Perhaps Suez? No, Suez is most likely.
Because of these concerns, Portugal, France, and Florence drew the Ottoman Empire even closer.
This was why the alliance commanders in Suez moved together, and why they acted together in matters related to the Empire.
It was to keep the Ottoman Empire within sight and under surveillance.
That’s not to say relations among the three Christian countries were entirely harmonious.
Florence was the best example.
***
Though they had brought in France to resolve an unavoidable situation, France was the most dangerous opponent. Except for capital strength, France was a country that dominated Florence in every aspect.
For now, Florence could keep France in check with the money they had lent, but this could be reversed at any time.
-If the lender ceased to exist, wouldn’t there be no need to repay the debt?
France was a country that could reach this conclusion and strike Florence at any time.
It wasn’t just Florence. For France, all of Italy was tempting prey.
***
Because of these internal circumstances within the alliance, the matter of adopting the Byeong-style gun cart was reconsidered from the beginning.
The officials, measuring this way and that, collectively sighed.
“Huu~ To think we must decide to adopt it because of our allies rather than our enemies…”
“It’s quite a predicament.”
“At least it’s fortunate that it uses the same ammunition as the Eul-style gun cart. Otherwise, we might have had to buy completely new ammunition too.”
“That’s actually the bigger problem. If the ammunition had been completely different, we could have used that as an excuse to block the adoption…”
After much deliberation, the officials submitted a report to their superiors recommending “the adoption of at least a small quantity.”
“Huu~ Can’t be helped.”
The high officials who reviewed the report submitted it to their rulers and advised:
“It would be best to send envoys to the Empire.”
“Let it be so.”
***
While the alliance capitals were selecting envoys to send to the Empire, the alliance commanders stationed in Suez wore serious expressions.
The alliance commanders’ gaze was fixed on imperial troops conducting field maneuver training.
“Now they’re doing it openly…”
“Indeed they are.”
Until recently, the Empire had kept their weapons hidden within the fortress, unwilling to show them, but now they were openly training with them outside.
The Ottoman commander, frowning as he observed the training, sighed while watching the Byeong-style gun carts being pulled by soldiers.
“Huu~ The Eul-style gun cart always needed at least one horse or donkey to move it, but the Byeong-style gun cart requires just one soldier.”
The Byeong-style gun cart was similar to the Russian PM M1910 from the history before Hyang’s intervention.
As a result, the gun mount of the Byeong-style gun cart had wheels similar to the PM M1910.
Thanks to this, the Byeong-style gun cart could be easily moved anywhere with just one or two soldiers.