Having passed through the city gate, the Assault Troops soon pushed into the maze-like residential district. At the head of the troops, who were pushing forward without hesitation, were the Type A assault vehicles.

CHOO-CHOO! GRIIIND!

Amidst the deafening noise of the steam engines and tracks and the heavy vibrations that shook the road, the Type A assault vehicles moved slowly forward along the street. The Type A, as it passed through the city, presented a peculiar sight. On the railings built on the left and right of the cockpit, which was raised about half a story higher than the forward fighting compartment, stood Assault Troop soldiers, monitoring all directions.

Their mission was to eliminate enemies that suddenly appeared from the shadows of the city buildings or to identify in advance any buildings that posed a risk of blocking the advance of their allies and inform the cockpit.

***

Through the various drills and mock battles that followed the initial deployment of the assault vehicles, their strengths and weaknesses were revealed.

• —It is the ultimate weapon for breaking through enemy stockades or trench lines built on open plains.

• —However, once it enters urban warfare, it suddenly becomes a blind man.

On the wide plains, they could move while checking the signal lamps on the command vehicle. Not only that, but because they were moving in a wide-open area, they could also move while immediately checking the movements of their allied assault vehicles or infantry.

However, once they entered a city, it was impossible to check the command vehicle’s orders in real time. It was also not easy to deal with enemies who popped out from the blind spots created by the thick armor plates that surrounded the vehicle. In the wide-open plains, the assault vehicles could cover each other’s blind spots, but in urban warfare, that was impossible.

It was a small mercy that there was a speaking tube¹ connecting the fighting compartment and the cockpit, allowing for some degree of communication within a single vehicle. In the end, when entering urban warfare, the personal judgment of the vehicle commanders who commanded the assault vehicles would determine everything about victory and survival.

Ultimately, to solve this headache of a situation, the ‘somewhat’ usable methods were to operate a large number of messengers, or to have soldiers ride outside the cockpit to act as their eyes.

Hyang, after confirming the contents of the report, clicked his tongue with a face full of disappointment. “In a way, you could call this a case of ‘the body suffering because the head is stupid.’ This is an era where wireless communication is not even imaginable… even after all that effort.”

Though he had worked the researchers at the institute to the bone and even listed it in the Challenge Log, the research on electricity, which had been named ‘Lightning Energy,’² was sluggish.

“Even after all that work, people’s cognitive sphere just hasn’t expanded that far yet… Haaa~. I’m dying for some electricity. I’m starving for it.”

Of course, if Hyang put his mind to it, he could create things like a basic generator or a telegraph. But the problem was what came next.

• —How are you going to explain it?

It was an impossible task with the knowledge Hyang had accumulated through his ‘entrance exam prep education.’ No, even if it were possible, the problem was huge. It was a problem of ‘how?’

• —How did you come to know this?

• —You, who doesn’t even have enough time to look after the ten thousand affairs of the Empire that come up from all over the country?

• —Are you even human?

It was precisely because of this problem that Hyang could only wait for the time to be right. “Though it’s certain that will be after I’m dead…”

***

In any case, to compensate for these shortcomings of the assault vehicles, Assault Troop soldiers surveyed all directions from the passages on the left and right of the vehicle’s cockpit.

“Halt! Halt!”

The soldiers, seeing their allies running from the corner up ahead, shouted at the top of their lungs at the cockpit.

GRIIIND! SCREEECH!

As the assault vehicle stopped and the soldiers kept watch on all sides, the soldier who had run up stated his business. “Around the right corner ahead, 30 meters, a bell tower!”

“Right corner, 30 meters ahead, bell tower! Confirmed!”

“Confirmed!”

The soldier who confirmed the message relayed it into a firing port³ drilled into the cockpit.

GRIIIND! SCREECH!

A moment later, the Type A assault vehicle slowly rounded the corner and aimed at the bell tower in question.

KRA-BOOM!

With a deafening roar, the bell tower, which had been monitoring the actions of their allies, collapsed. The bell tower was far too weak to withstand a siege shell made to attack thick fortress walls.

Similar events occurred in various places throughout the city of Pavia. Not only the cathedral’s bell tower, but also stone buildings over four stories high were systematically brought down by the assault vehicles’ bombardment. The only small mercy was that if there were only civilians in the building, they were evacuated first before it was blown away. If there were French soldiers in the building who resisted, the Assault Troops immediately fired their cannons.

***

• —Penetrate the urban area of the city of Pavia via the shortest route and seize the bridges and ferry crossings of the Ticino River.

The assault vehicles of the Assault Troops faithfully carried out the orders they received. Starting from the city gate where they had first entered, a wide, straight road, decorated with ruins, was steadily stretching toward the bridges and ferry crossings in question. As an aside, this passage would later become the ‘Central Avenue’ even after the city of Pavia was rebuilt.

The Assault Troop soldiers who had disembarked to protect their allies following behind began to clear the surrounding alleyways. A bloody battle that reeked of gore began to unfold in the small alleys of Pavia.

In the urban warfare that took place in the small alleys, the Assault Troops moved strictly in squad (O) and company (Dae) units. The weapons most favored by the Assault Troops, who moved as one in groups of five to twenty-five, were grenades, light hwachas, and small hwachas.

Enforcement Officer O Dal-su, who was commanding his squad at the head of a company of Assault Troops chasing the French down an alley, stopped in his tracks as he came to a corner that opened to the right at a dead end, and raised his clenched fist high.

The Assault Troops behind him, seeing O Dal-su’s hand signal, immediately pressed themselves against the left and right sides of the alley, and O Dal-su carefully walked to the vicinity of the corner. Reaching the corner, O Dal-su flattened himself on the ground and peeked his head out to survey what was beyond it. Confirming that a group of French musketeers had set up a position with a hwacha, O Dal-su carefully pulled himself back.

“What’s there?”

Company Commander An Taek-gil, who had approached at some point, asked, and O Dal-su answered in a small voice. “An enemy force of about one company has set up a position with one hwacha. The distance is about 12 meters.”

“Can you pin them down?”

“I think it’s possible.”

“I’ll leave it to you.”

An Taek-gil lightly patted O Dal-su’s shoulder and went back again.

A moment later, the soldiers of the other squads, excluding Dal-su’s, pressed themselves against the entrances of the houses in the alley. O Dal-su, confirming the movement of the other squads, sent a hand signal to the squad he was commanding. A soldier carrying a light hwacha, seeing his signal, took up a position right behind Dal-su. As the light hwacha gunner, crouching low, nodded, Dal-su took out a grenade, twisted off the cap on the handle, and slammed the percussion cap hard against the wall.

Click! Ssss!

The fuse inside the grenade handle began to burn, and Dal-su counted softly. “…two, three!”

With the word ‘three,’ Dal-su leaned out, threw the grenade, and immediately hid himself again.

BANG! Thud-thud! KRA-BOOM!

“Aaargh!”

The moment they saw Dal-su, the ambushing French soldiers all pulled their triggers at once. But at almost the same time, the grenade Dal-su had thrown exploded, and the French soldiers wounded by the shrapnel screamed.

Just then, the light hwacha gunner who had been crouching behind Dal-su leaned out and began to fire the light hwacha.

RAT-A-TAT-A-TAT!

CRASH!

The moment Dal-su’s grenade exploded and the light hwacha gunner pulled the trigger, the Assault Troops behind them kicked open the doors of the houses in front and poured inside.

“Kyaaaak!”

“Aaargh!”

Amidst the screams of the residents who were huddled in the corners of the houses, trembling, the Assault Troop soldiers ran across the inside of the houses or went up to the second floor.

CRASH!

The soldiers who crossed the first floor kicked open the back doors and ran to the neighboring houses. Meanwhile, the Assault Troops who went up to the second floor ran to the windows and opened them. Seeing the French ambush position below the open windows, the Assault Troops began to pull their triggers without mercy.

BANG-BANG-BANG! RAT-A-TAT-TAT!

Under the fire of the Assault Troops, the ambushing French soldiers fell bleeding or began to flee to the rear. Just then, the Assault Troops who had moved across the houses spotted them and immediately began to pull their triggers.

***

The closer the Assault Troops got to the bridges and ferry crossings in question, the stronger the French resistance became. To cover their own and their comrades’ escape, the French soldiers desperately clung to the Assault Troops.

BOOM! RUMBLE!

To block the advance of the Assault Troops, the French forces also began to use their cannons unsparingly. The French cannons spewed fire, aiming to block the path the Assault Troops would approach from, or targeting the buildings they saw the Assault Troops enter. Because they were not high-explosive shells like the ones the Imperial army used, there was no secondary explosion, but the buildings hit by the French shells had large holes blown in their walls or collapsed.

And the ones who suffered the greatest sacrifice in the artillery duel that broke out between the two sides were the residents of the city of Pavia.

***

As the battle intensified, the Type B assault vehicles began to move busily, taking on their second mission. It was to transport the wounded Assault Troops from the battlefield or to move around carrying military surgeons and medics.

Before long, a temporary Imperial field hospital had been set up on one side of the Pavia city gate. Tents with the Hanja character for ‘Medicine’ (醫) largely inscribed on them were set up in a row, and in the temporary hearths made on one side, pots were boiling water.

“This is for sterilizing medical equipment, this is for boiling bandages and blankets. This is water for the wounded to drink. Ah! Don’t forget that the water for the wounded must be boiled vigorously once and then be sure to let it cool before storing it!”

“Yes, sir!”

It was the Imperial Medical Corps, which had established its own system through the large and small battles it had experienced so far.

“How’s the installation of the water purifier going!”

“It’s all done, sir!”

“We must have plenty of clean water for the wounded to drink!”

“Yes, sir!”

“You must not forget the words handed down by His Majesty the Emperor Emeritus!”

“We are keeping them in mind, sir!”

In the Imperial military hospitals that were still being built all over the Empire, a wooden plaque inscribed with Hyang’s words was hung.

• —A son of the Empire is a son of the Empire, even if he dies or is maimed! He is my son!

Accordingly, the military surgeons belonging to the Empire’s military hospitals did their best to treat the wounded. If a problem arose due to negligent treatment, it would be the ‘crime of harming the Emperor’s son.’

The existence of such an Imperial field hospital became an object of envy for both friend and foe. And here, Hyang and Hyeon’s clever trick was activated.

• —Establish a hospital for the Swiss soldiers employed by the Empire!

• —All necessary funds will be covered by the imperial family and the personal assets of the Emperor Emeritus Hyang!

It was a clean finishing blow for those who had opposed ‘providing the same veterans’ benefits policy as the Imperial army.’

***

In this era, the wealthiest entity in the Empire was the imperial family. A considerable number of the most profitable businesses were operated by the merchant guilds belonging to the imperial family. And not just in operation. In terms of investment, the imperial family was also seeing considerable profits.

—Since it’s the imperial family, didn’t the Emperor know in advance and make a move?

When such words began to circulate, Hyang neatly solved the issue by entrusting the matter to an audit by the Board of Audit. When the Board of Audit, the successor of the old Three Offices[1], released its findings of ‘no issues,’ those who had expressed their doubts all fell silent. “We know what kind of people the Board of Audit has…”

Though the imperial family was this wealthy, Hyang’s own personal assets were also considerable. It was thanks to ‘intellectual property rights.’