When part of the allied forces was detached to intercept the Mexica army advancing from the north, it wasn’t only the native leaders who showed enthusiasm.
The expedition force command headquarters and senior officers commanding units also showed enthusiasm.
—General Lee Jing-ok must command the main force here and maintain contact with headquarters!
—Then the force moving north must be led by someone other than General Lee Jing-ok!
—The battle against these Mexica or whatever they’re called is already anticipated to be victorious! As long as we don’t do anything stupid.
—Then this is the best opportunity for future promotion!
Whether they were combat branches directly engaged in fighting or rear branches handling supply and administration, victory in battle was the best stepping stone for promotion.
Therefore, to seize the best opportunity to earn the title of “General,” commanders insisted to Lee Jing-ok that he should appoint them as commander.
“I can clearly see what you’re all thinking…”
Lee Jing-ok, looking at his subordinate commanders with an amused expression, immediately turned sharp-eyed as he regarded them.
“You haven’t forgotten what’s most important in our Imperial military combat doctrine, have you? Recite it.”
At Lee Jing-ok’s command, the commanders simultaneously shouted in loud voices.
“Victory with minimal casualties!”
***
From before the Empire, even during Joseon, the biggest problem for Joseon’s military had been ‘insufficient population.’
Especially when Ming became the most powerful hostile force, this problem became one that absolutely had to be solved.
As a solution to this, Sejong and the Joseon military chose cannons and war carts.
—Actively utilize cannons and war carts to reliably intercept hostile forces from long distances.
—Avoid close combat and melee fighting as much as possible.
Based on these basic premises, the Joseon military transformed its nature.
They didn’t simply expand the size of combat branches, but also expanded supply, fortification, communications, and medical branches together.
The standards for evaluating commanders’ qualities were the same.
Even commanders who achieved victory faced criticism if they had high casualty rates.
—A commander who prepares properly is a true master general.
—Consume bullets and shells instead of consuming soldiers.
This was the basic operational doctrine of the Imperial military.
***
After the detachment departed, Lee Jing-ok steadily proceeded with the work to capture Tenochtitlan.
He completely severed all causeways connecting to Tenochtitlan and cut off the waterways supplying fresh water.
At the same time, he methodically built and stockpiled wooden pontoon bridges and materials to reconnect the severed causeways, along with boats and rafts.
That wasn’t all.
The expedition force’s artillery units regularly fired shells at Tenochtitlan every day.
The expedition force’s artillery turned various parts of Tenochtitlan into ruins.
“If those powerful magical devices concentrated their magic in one place, wouldn’t we not need to wait like this or cut roads?”
Chicoteacatl—a chief title—of the Nahuatl tribe, which had the greatest power among various Tlaxcaltec tribes, asked Lee Jing-ok after watching the expedition force’s bombardment.
To Chicoteacatl’s question, Lee Jing-ok answered with an expression suggesting it was nothing special.
“The enemy’s spirit is still alive. If we charge in recklessly, casualties will be severe. It’s better to kill their spirit before attacking.”
“Ah, indeed…”
At Lee Jing-ok’s answer, Chicoteacatl nodded and withdrew.
Watching other tribal chiefs gather around the withdrawn Chicoteacatl to converse, Lee Jing-ok asked nearby young officers.
“There are two things that kill the most soldiers on the battlefield. One is combat, what do you think the other is?”
At Lee Jing-ok’s question, the young officers pondered briefly before beginning to speak one by one.
“Isn’t it insufficient food?”
“Isn’t it disease?”
The young officers mentioned these two first. At the young officers’ answers, Lee Jing-ok smiled and spoke.
“They’re similar, but not the correct answer. It’s water.”
“Water, sir?”
“Correct. When treating wounded soldiers, without clean water, wounds fester and they die. If you cook with dirty water, food becomes poison. If you drink any water when thirsty, epidemics immediately spread and people die. Therefore, water—specifically clean water—is important. One of the things that caused the biggest losses to Ming forces in the Yodong battle was Yodong’s dirty water.”
“Ah…”
At Lee Jing-ok’s explanation, the young officers nodded. Looking at the young officers like a grandfather watching young grandchildren, Lee Jing-ok continued.
“The reason we always pack water purifiers when preparing for expeditions, and why we always filter even clear-looking water through purifiers before boiling and drinking it, is precisely because of this. And artillery firing incendiary shells at various parts of the enemy capital is the same. Look at that enemy capital. It’s in the middle of a lake, so why do they go to the trouble of building separate waterways to get drinking water?”
“Because the lake water is dirty!”
“Exactly! Since we’ve cut the waterways, they’ll soon lack drinking water too. And with continued artillery attacks like that, there will be continuous casualties. Drinking dirty water and treating wounded will soon cause epidemics. That’s when we attack.”
“Ah…”
“Sun Tzu’s Art of War also says the supreme excellence is winning without fighting. And our Imperial military doctrine is the same. Always keep this in mind.”
“Yes!”
“Then get back to your duties.”
“Yes, General!”
Watching the young officers return to their posts, Lee Jing-ok soon muttered with a serious face.
“This is problematic. Those who experienced the Yodong battle are also approaching retirement age, but there are too few young ones with actual combat experience. Experience isn’t something you can gain just by listening and reading, but we can’t wage unnecessary battles or wars either…”
After pondering briefly, Lee Jing-ok headed toward his tent.
“I should write a letter to His Majesty…”
***
Nearly a fortnight later, the detachment that had gone to intercept returned.
“We are victorious!”
“Well done. What were our casualties?”
“For the expedition force, 35 wounded and 8 dead. For the natives, about 2,000 losses.”
“What about enemy numbers and casualties?”
“About 5,000 troops, completely annihilated. The 600 prisoners captured by the expedition force are all there are.”
“Did you bring prisoners?”
“We left them in a nearby native city. We strongly demanded they be kept alive, just in case.”
“Well handled. Good work.”
Lee Jing-ok lightly patted the detachment commander’s shoulder in commendation and continued.
“Submit your report then. I’d like to see it quickly.”
“…Yes.”
After dismissing the detachment commander, Lee Jing-ok stared across the lake at Tenochtitlan and muttered.
“When they hear the relief force they were waiting for was annihilated, will their spirit die down somewhat?”
Considerable time had passed since cutting the waterways and beginning the siege operation, but the Mexica of Tenochtitlan were still holding out stubbornly.
“Hmm…”
Looking at Tenochtitlan and pondering, Lee Jing-ok soon reached a conclusion.
“Now we must attack. If we delay any longer, we’ll tire first.”
Already, many expedition force soldiers showed clear signs of fatigue. Most volunteers had volunteered expecting what would come after the war’s end.
The longer the war dragged on, the faster they would tire.
The natives who joined after the last battle were the same.
Having not properly seen the expedition force’s true firepower, as time passed they would either look at the expedition force with suspicious eyes or would not just cower and watch nervously as now. And they would certainly make their own political calculations.
Having firmed his resolve, Lee Jing-ok called his staff officer.
“Three days from now, we attack the enemy capital. Gather the commanders and chiefs.”
“Yes, General!”
***
Three days later, as soon as dawn broke, the expedition force’s artillery began firing in unison.
BOOM! KA-BOOM! BOOM!
The expedition force’s shells, unlike before, concentrated around the planned landing points.
While the expedition force’s artillery turned the landing site and its surroundings into scorched earth, boats and rafts full of natives began crossing the lake.
“Reconnect the roads!”
“Yes!”
As soon as the expedition force commanders’ orders fell, waiting natives began reconnecting the severed causeways using pre-positioned materials and wooden pontoon bridges.
“Heavy artillery will have trouble crossing, but war carts can certainly go.”
“Fully possible.”
Standing on a cart and surveying the situation, Lee Jing-ok looked up at the sky.
Checking the signal from the observation balloon in the sky, Lee Jing-ok muttered quietly.
“Going smoothly!”
“The road is connected!”
“Send the natives!”
“Yes, General!”
As soon as the causeway was connected, heavily armed native warriors began running down the causeway, pouring into Tenochtitlan.
After the native warriors’ deployment ended, the expedition forces, mainly consisting of war carts and light carts, began pushing into Tenochtitlan.
***
The urban warfare in Tenochtitlan was fierce.
Though the Mexica were weakened by hunger and disease, they still showed formidable combat power with faces full of venom.
This was the same for the attacking native allied forces.
Native warriors who had suffered much from the Mexica’s human sacrifices and cannibalistic acts over a long time also threw themselves at Mexica warriors with faces full of venom.
In this battlefield where such venomous people clashed, humanity did not exist.
Neither side left the wounded alone, nor accepted surrender.
***
As time passed, the war situation headed toward Mexica defeat.
This was because they were not only weakened by Lee Jing-ok’s siege operation but also outnumbered in troop size.
And from this point, the expedition force joined the fray.
Wherever Mexica warriors still held out stubbornly, the expedition force was deployed.
Rat-tat-tat-BANG! Tat-BANG!
When Mexica warriors’ positions collapsed under fire from war carts and light carts, native warriors rushed in to finish them off and ran toward Tenochtitlan’s center.
***
As the battlefield gradually moved toward Tenochtitlan’s center, the expedition forces following the native warriors began to frown.
“This is a bit much…”
“Same difference either way…”
The native warriors conducting urban warfare didn’t just pass by Mexica houses.
There were quite a few natives who immediately broke down doors, entered, and killed all Mexica inside regardless of age or gender before moving to the next house.
“Should we stop this…?”
“It’s too much…”
While expedition soldiers were having such concerns, another soldier examining a house shook his head.
“Just leave it.”
“Why? It’s too harsh, isn’t it?”
“Come inside and look at this.”
Following their comrade’s words, the expedition soldiers who entered the house lost their ability to speak upon seeing what hung on one wall.
There hung a well-smoked human arm.
“These crazy bastards…”
“We were forgetting this…”
Since such things were too common, most expedition force members became observers.
“Let’s just leave it for now. When they get tired of killing like that, they’ll come to their senses.”
While regular soldiers became observers saying this, commanders waited for the right moment, remembering Lee Jing-ok’s orders.
—If you see enemy monarchs or nobles, definitely intervene and capture them alive.