“The enemy is retreating!”

“The enemy is retreating!”

Caught in an unintentional “hammer and anvil” tactic between Admiral Ahn Sang-su’s troops and the bridgehead garrison, the Aztec warriors could not withstand their accumulated losses and withdrew.

Imperial warship shells continued to rain down on the Aztec warriors fleeing into the jungle.

Seeing the Aztec warriors desperately escaping under the intense bombardment, the imperial soldiers at the bridgehead removed their helmets, waved them high, and shouted triumphantly.

“Woaah!”

“Victory! Victory!”

Some soldiers, overcome with excitement, climbed atop the parapets made of sandbags, raised their rifles high, and chanted “Victory!”

Meanwhile, Admiral Ahn Sang-su’s troops reached the bridgehead.

“Shouldn’t we pursue the retreating enemy?”

Though his officers, intoxicated with victory, requested permission to give chase, Admiral Ahn shook his head.

“Request denied. True, the enemy has suffered heavy casualties. But we must not forget that the jungle is familiar territory for them and unfamiliar to us. Besides, our soldiers are exhausted.”

As Admiral Ahn pointed out, the faces of the soldiers who had just finished fighting were filled with fatigue.

They had accumulated considerable weariness from maintaining constant vigilance while traversing the perilous jungle.

Though they hadn’t noticed during the battle against the Aztec warriors, once they saw the enemy fleeing, all their accumulated fatigue hit them at once.

After forbidding pursuit, Admiral Ahn ordered his subordinate officers:

“Our most urgent tasks are treating the wounded and assessing our losses. Signal the warships to request military doctors.”

“Yes, sir!”

***

Following Admiral Ahn’s orders, military doctors busily treated the wounded while commanders tallied the casualties.

“Hmm… Fortunately, we have relatively few fatalities.”

Admiral Ahn felt somewhat relieved after reviewing the casualty figures compiled by his officers.

According to the tally, a total of seven soldiers had died in the battles at Tenochtitlan and the bridgehead combined.

Given the ferocity of the fighting at both locations, this was a remarkably low death toll.

“It must be the difference in weaponry… The military rifles were indeed excellent.”

Stroking his chin whiskers as he analyzed the reason, Admiral Ahn identified the superior weaponry as the main factor.

As he thought, the rifles carried by imperial soldiers had proven their effectiveness. They could fire five rounds in rapid succession, and even drug-crazed native warriors could be neutralized with a single shot.

***

The bullet’s potency in the military rifle was due to Hyang’s design.

“For the time being, small-caliber high-velocity rounds would just be a burden.”

Though small-caliber high-velocity ammunition had become the “trend of the era” after World War II, Hyang had judged that it had more disadvantages in their current situation.

He had several reasons for this assessment:

• Most countries still fight wearing armor. Though small-caliber high-velocity rounds can penetrate armor without much trouble, considering the armor and quilted vests worn underneath, it’s concerning.
• Thinking of the jungles of the New Frontier and the natives living there, certain stopping power is more important than penetration power.
• Along with the above reasons, there’s a theory that guns are less effective against those who are unfamiliar with them.

Hyang had made this judgment based on memories from something he’d read on the internet in his previous life.

According to an analysis by American police—he couldn’t remember if it was LAPD or NYPD—many who died from gunshot wounds actually died from shock.

In other words, they didn’t die because they were hit in a vital spot, but from psychological shock: “Oh! I’ve been shot! I’m going to die now!”

“Too much can be a bad thing. Knowing too much can be poisonous. The opposite must also be true.”

Those who didn’t know about guns, or more precisely bullets, would keep attacking unless they were hit in a truly vital spot.

“That’s actually why the Colt .45 was created…”

The .45 ACP round was what the U.S. military chose based on experience fighting Filipino natives. Its penetration was inferior to the 9mm Parabellum, but its stopping power was undeniable.

“And finally…”

-The jungles of the New Frontier are teeming with all kinds of predators besides humans. We need reliable stopping power to neutralize them with one shot.

“We can’t carry separate weapons for people and beasts. The supply officers would have a fit.”

These considerations determined the caliber and power of the military rifle.

***

After initially highlighting the military rifle, Admiral Ahn quickly amended his assessment.

“No, it would be wrong to limit it to just the military rifle. No matter how excellent the rifle is, it can only take down one person per shot. So the real credit goes to… the gun carts, naval mines, and cannons.”

As Admiral Ahn noted, the gun carts, naval mines, and cannons had once again proven their worth in these battles.

With each volley from the gun carts, with each explosion of the naval mines and cannon shells, many native warriors perished.

If the military rifle delivered “certain death,” then the gun carts, naval mines, and cannons inflicted “irreplaceable losses.”

“While we can’t do without gun carts, carrying naval mines and cannons separately is inefficient. What the imperial army needs going forward is artillery—powerful artillery. Only one answer remains: artillery that can sweep away everything standing in the empire’s path, from people to fortresses.”

Just when he was making sense, Admiral Ahn slipped into the “quintessentially imperial” conclusion of “powerful artillery.”

***

After analyzing the reasons for the low death toll, Admiral Ahn moved on to the next matter.

“The vast majority of injuries are fractures… and specifically to the shoulder?”

Intrigued by this unusual pattern of injuries, Admiral Ahn reviewed the military doctors’ reports.

“Sling stones were the cause?”

Looking at Aztec battle tactics, they typically positioned macuahuitl-wielding warriors and spearmen at the front, with slingers, archers, and javelin throwers providing support from behind.

In this formation, sling stones had caused the most damage to imperial soldiers. Arrows and javelins had caused surprisingly few casualties.

The bows used by Aztec warriors were inferior in many ways to the empire’s famous composite bows. The most significant difference was the flight speed of the arrows. The same applied to javelins.

But sling stones were different. The pebbles launched by slings were often too small to spot with the naked eye, and they flew at tremendous speeds.

Aztec warriors had aimed their sling stones at the heads and upper bodies of imperial soldiers.

Thanks to their helmets, imperial soldiers had avoided head injuries, but their shoulders had suffered numerous injuries.

Having identified the cause, Admiral Ahn added a sentence to his report:

• Troops mobilized to punish these barbaric practitioners of human sacrifice and cannibalism should be equipped with protective gear for the shoulders and neck.

***

Having safely returned to the bridgehead, Admiral Ahn immediately prepared to return home.

Of course, completely destroying the bridgehead before departure was a necessary task.

“We put so much work into building this!”

“Shit!”

“Why are you cursing?”

The soldiers erupted in frustration as they demolished the watchtower soaked with their blood, sweat, and tears.

After destroying all facilities and equipment that the natives might use, Admiral Ahn led the fleet on the journey home.

As the admiral’s ships gradually sailed into the open sea, Aztec warriors hidden in the jungle emerged.

“The foreigners have left. Inform the Tlatoani.”

After relaying orders to the messenger, the Jaguar warrior gazed at the sun hanging in the sky and prayed fervently.

“Please, may they never return…”

***

Upon returning to his home port, Admiral Ahn immediately dispatched his report to Hyang via a waiting Haeung-class warship.

Receiving the report, Hyang placed his hand on his forehead and muttered quietly.

“Damn it, this doesn’t deviate from our expectations.”

Admiral Ahn’s report contained meticulous records of Aztec human sacrifice and cannibalism.

• The accompanying natives, especially the one called ‘Ssyang,’ actively learned the imperial language. According to ‘Ssyang,’ the native state in question calls itself Mēxihcah. They offer human sacrifices to their gods and subsequently use the corpses as food.
• All surrounding tribes, including ‘Ssyang’s’ tribe, practice cannibalism. However, none sacrifice as many people as the Mexica do, in numbers too great to count.
• To elaborate, ‘Ssyang’ has no way to count beyond 20. Based on ‘Ssyang’s’ expression of “more than 20 times 20 times 20,” we can estimate that the number of victims ranges from hundreds to potentially tens of thousands.
• Therefore, I believe these Mexica require proper punitive action and eradication.
• Only by eradicating the Mexica will surrounding tribes abandon this evil practice.

“‘Eradication’… That doesn’t sound pleasant at all.”

After reviewing the report’s contents, Hyang felt uncomfortable with the word “eradication.”

After all, Hyang had received a “democratic education” in the 21st century, and “eradication” was a difficult term to accept.

Even though being born in Joseon and fighting against the Jurchen and Ming had diluted his modern sensibilities considerably.

“Still, there’s no other answer right now. People back home would certainly have the same reaction. And…”

Pausing briefly, Hyang sighed deeply before continuing.

“Sigh~ Still, crushing them to some extent would be more comfortable. Human sacrifice and cannibalism are issues we can’t simply overlook. This won’t be a conquest but a punishment.”

Having accepted that the “Aztec punishment” was unavoidable, Hyang reviewed the battle report.

After examining the combat report jointly submitted by Admiral Ahn and his subordinate commanders, Hyang nodded slightly.

“So it was indeed thanks to the gun carts and naval mines that we avoided a ‘Night of Sorrow’…”

***

The “Night of Sorrow” referred to a battle between Cortés’ Spanish forces and Aztec warriors.

In that battle, which began with an Aztec ambush, the Spanish suffered devastating casualties.

At the time, the Spanish were armed with matchlock guns, crossbows, and cannons, but they couldn’t overcome the numerical advantage of the Aztec warriors.

This was inevitable.

The most powerful weapon the Spanish possessed at that time was the cannon, which simply fired stone or iron projectiles.

Of course, they could also fire grapeshot, but it couldn’t compare to the power or rate of fire of naval mines.

And the gun carts that imperial forces had dragged all the way to the palace of Tenochtitlan were the true heroes.

The existence of 5-shot military rifles, gun carts, and finally naval mines had enabled them to avoid the “Night of Sorrow” that the Spanish had experienced.