Chapter 46: Laughing at Obsession, Crying at Obsession. (11)
It took ten days for the Military Command to prepare the demonstration of the cannons and firearms.
The reason it took ten days was that the initially planned small-scale demonstration of just cannons and firearms had transformed into a formal firepower demonstration mobilizing cavalry and infantry.
"Since I ascended to the throne, I have not properly seen the appearance of our Joseon military except during the conquest of Tsushima Island. Along with this cannon demonstration, I wish to see the cavalry and infantry demonstrations as well."
"I humbly obey your command!"
Following Sejong's order, armored soldiers and infantry were drafted from the Ten Divisions—which had increased to Twelve Divisions immediately after his enthronement, then reduced back to Ten—and artillerymen and firearms troops were selected.
While the soldiers were being prepared, the location for the demonstration was also decided.
"The riverside in front of Yongsan would be best, would it not?"
"That location would be most suitable."
Following the ministers' decision, a site for the demonstration was prepared at Yongsan. The solid ground facing the river was designated for the infantry and cavalry demonstrations, while the sandy beach by the riverside was set as the location for the cannon and firearms demonstrations.
Determining the location was not the end of everything. Scarecrows to serve as targets for the soldiers were made, and all-night work continued without pause to paint wooden boards that would serve as targets for arrows, cannons, and firearms.
And ten days later, the long-awaited demonstration was held. Though it was a busy time for farming, hearing that the King was coming, farmers and scholar-officials flocked to the road from the capital to Namdaemun and from Namdaemun to Yongsan.
"Make way! His Majesty is passing through!"
When the majestic music of the military band and the calls of the eunuchs were heard, the commoners gathered on the streets knelt on the ground.
"To see His Majesty's royal face is the glory of a lifetime!"
"Long live His Majesty!"
"Long live!"
"May you live for ten thousand years!"
After the implementation of smallpox inoculation, the people's support for Sejong was nearly absolute.
Though life was still hard, just the fact that they had blocked smallpox, a fatal infectious disease, made the people ready to feign death if Sejong told them to die.
When Sejong ascended the temporary platform built at the demonstration site, the general commanding the soldiers shouted loudly to the troops.
"Military salute!"
"Yes!"
Sejong, responding to the soldiers' salute, sat in his chair and gave the command.
"Begin."
"Yes!"
Following Sejong's command, the Joseon military's demonstration began.
The demonstration began with the cavalry.
Cavalrymen dressed in iron lamellar armor and leather lamellar armor, followed by chainmail, mirror armor, and plated armor, began to move slowly in formation.
"A combination of spear cavalry and archer cavalry?"
As the demonstration began, Hyang's eyes gleamed while he unfolded his writing board. On the paper pre-inserted in the writing board, items such as spears, swords, bows, cannons, and firearms were written in Chinese characters, and items to check were listed in order.
These charts were Hyang's precaution against any possible accident. That possible accident was a meteorite-level disaster where he might unconsciously write in Hangul while absorbed in the demonstration.
"Hmm…."
Hyang first carefully observed the appearance of the spear cavalry preparing to charge. The spears used by the cavalrymen looked almost identical to those of the soldiers guarding the palace.
"Looking at the spears I saw at the palace…."
The specifications of the spear Hyang had seen were a shaft length of 10 cheok (210cm) and a spearhead of 1 cheok 5 chon (31.5cm).
Recalling his memory while looking at the spear cavalry, Hyang muttered softly.
"Much shorter?"
Hyang tilted his head and made check marks on the pre-made items.
While Hyang was making negative assessments, the cavalry's full-scale demonstration began.
"Fire!"
At the cavalry commander's order, the archer cavalry positioned in the rear formation released their bowstrings simultaneously.
Swish-shish-shish!!!!
With the chilling sound of flight, arrows flew in parabolic arcs toward the scarecrows set up far away.
"Charge!"
"Yah!"
"Waaaa!"
As soon as the commander's charge order fell, the spear cavalry kicked the flanks of their horses.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Amidst the sound of galloping horses shaking the earth, the spear cavalry who charged right up to the scarecrows' faces deftly adjusted their horses' speed and direction, thrusting at the scarecrows with their spears.
"Thrust and withdraw? Reducing speed?"
Hyang continued to tilt his head. This was because it didn't quite make sense with the common knowledge he knew from the 21st century.
According to the knowledge acquired through movies and the internet in the 21st century, cavalry units were like tanks that broke through enemy lines.
Their role was to collapse the enemy's front line with spears, then swing cavalry swords to penetrate the enemy formation. The moment cavalry stopped, they became easy prey for infantry.
"Why reduce the speed they worked so hard to gain?"
Hyang continued to tilt his head in puzzlement.
However, this was Hyang's misjudgment. For spear cavalry to perform properly, their flanks had to be protected. Furthermore, a spear cavalryman's attack route was limited to a straight line from the front. In cavalry-versus-cavalry combat, if the opponent was an experienced rider, they could evade the attack by slightly twisting or tilting their body. Then diving inside the spear's range and counterattacking was the basic tactic.
And the Jurchens were sufficiently experienced riders.
Therefore, the method of the mounted spear technique test in Joseon's military examinations was as follows:
The candidate had to thrust twice at five scarecrows set up at certain intervals. At this time, the candidate had to assume five different postures each time they thrust at a scarecrow. If they hit the scarecrow's face, they received 7 points, and for each additional hit, 7 more points were added.
Later, when Hyang learned this fact, he sighed.
"Huu~. Nothing is easy."
After the cavalry demonstration ended, the infantry demonstration followed. Under the cover of archers, spearmen and skirmishers constructed a defensive formation.
"The enemy is retreating! Charge!"
"Waaaa!"
At the commander's order, some of the soldiers forming the defensive formation rushed forward with battle cries.
However, the unit that had been forming the defensive formation at the very front maintained their ranks and protected the main force. After the charging unit slashed the scarecrows serving as virtual enemies and shouted victory cries, the demonstration of cavalry and regular infantry came to an end.
"Next will be the demonstration of cannons and firearms."
At the mention of the cannon demonstration, Hyang's eyes began to sparkle even more.
Shortly after, large and small cannons were brought out to the demonstration site mounted on carts.
"The largest is the Cheonja cannon, next is the Jija cannon… and finally the Janggun firearm, an improved version of the Cheonja cannon."
"Begin."
At Sejong's command, the commander loudly ordered the artillerymen.
"Fire!"
Boom! Boom!
Following the commander's order, the artillerymen fired the cannons. Each time the cannons spewed fire, large arrows soared into the sky and created pillars of water in the Han River.
"Wooooh!"
Each time water pillars rose in the Han River, the ministers exclaimed in admiration. The ministers' admiration reached its peak when firing the Janggun firearm last.
This was because the arrow that flew diagonally across the Han River from the demonstration site toward Dongjakjin (Dongjak-dong) reached the opposite riverside.
"Truly impressive! What distance is that approximately?"
At Sejong's admiring question, the commander answered with a proud expression.
"It is 1,300 paces (approximately 1.6km)."
"Truly impressive! Crown Prince, what do you think?"
At Sejong's question, Hyang was lost in thought and could not answer immediately.
"Crown Prince?"
Only after Sejong called again did Hyang come to his senses and hurriedly answer.
"Yes? Yes?"
"What do you think of the Janggun firearm's power?"
"If mounted on warships, it would be excellent. Since the Japanese pirates' habit is to board our ships and engage in close combat, wouldn't it be best to destroy them before they can approach?"
"I see."
While Sejong nodded, the commander looked at Hyang with a pleased expression.
'To know military strategy so well at such a young age, this is Joseon's good fortune!'
"Now begin the firearms demonstration."
"I obey your command!"
Following the commander's order, soldiers who would operate the firearms stepped forward carrying the firearms.
"What is mounted on that cart is the Ilchongtong."
"I see. Proceed."
"Fire!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Following the commander's order, various firearms began firing starting with the Ilchongtong. Only the Ilchongtong, which had the longest range, was fired toward the Han River, while the others were fired at targets approximately 100 paces (approximately 120m) away.
When the demonstration ended, Sejong commended the commander.
"Truly a magnificent sight. You have worked hard."
"I am overwhelmed with gratitude!"
"Crown Prince, what do you think?"
"With such elite commanders and soldiers, I feel truly reassured."
"I am overwhelmed with gratitude!"
When even the Crown Prince praised them, the commander smiled broadly and bowed his head. After finishing his words, Hyang turned to Sejong.
"Father, may I briefly inspect the targets and speak with the soldiers?"
"Why do you wish to do so?"
"There is something I need to confirm."
At Hyang's answer, Sejong's eyes narrowed.
'This child? Does he have some ulterior motive again?'
After briefly pondering, Sejong nodded.
"I permit it."
"Thank you, Your Majesty! General, please accompany me!"
* * *
Accompanied by the general who had commanded the demonstration, Hyang headed to where the soldiers and weapons were. Upon seeing Hyang, the soldiers all paid their respects simultaneously.
"We greet the Crown Prince!"
"You have worked hard. With soldiers like you, I can sleep peacefully. I am truly grateful!"
"We are overwhelmed with gratitude!"
At Hyang's praise, the soldiers' morale surged. Looking at such soldiers, Hyang carefully checked the situation.
"Are the armor they wear something you procured yourselves?"
"That is correct!"
"I see…."
'No wonder? I thought there were all kinds of armor.'
In Joseon, when recruiting soldiers, the conscripted soldiers had to procure their own weapons and protective gear. In particular, armored soldiers had to provide their own horses as well, so most were sons of wealthy families.
'Because of this, later when the number of armored soldiers increased and all sorts of random people came in, real armored soldier descendants devoted themselves to studying for the civil service exam. As a result, a vicious cycle occurred where national defense fell into chaos… Damn it! I went off on a tangent again!'
After briefly criticizing himself, Hyang diligently inspected the equipment.
What Hyang was most interested in were the cannons and firearms. After examining the interiors of the cannons, Hyang nodded.
"As expected…."
The current main cannons of the Joseon military were the non-partition type. The internal structure, like a combination of a long funnel and a tin can, could not use earth partitions. This was because the inner diameter of the powder chamber was wider than the narrowest part of the breech. In this case, only large arrows could be used.
Nodding while examining the cannons of Cheon-Ji-Hyeon-Hwang-Ga grades, Hyang examined the Janggun firearm.
"It's the partition type… is that correct?"
"That is correct, Crown Prince."
"Hmm…."
Hyang looked at the cannons with a contemplative face.
'How should I improve that? Should I start by upgrading the firearms after all?'
After repeated contemplation, Hyang turned to the general.
"I would like to see the firearms."
"Yes, Crown Prince."
Heading to where the firearms soldiers were, Hyang carefully examined the firearms. After examining the interiors of the firearms and the arrows and chaotic pellets they used, Hyang headed to where the target boards were.
"As expected."
Upon arriving at the target boards, Hyang nodded. The arrows embedded in the targets were clearly fewer than the number fired.
'With area fire and one-shot multiple-arrow method, only area suppression is possible.'
While examining the target boards, Hyang asked a question to the commander who had followed.
"How is the penetration power?"
"Penetration power, you say?"
"The Jurchens would also wear armor, correct?"
"That is correct."
"How do they compare to our Joseon forces?"
"They can be considered largely similar. Smaller tribes mainly wear leather armor, while tribes with some power wear chainmail or plated armor."
"What happens if you shoot plated armor with these firearms?"
At Hyang's question, the commander made a troubled expression.
"We have not tested it… However, looking at reports from the northern regions, there was a report of killing a Jurchen who came within 40 paces (approximately 50m)."
At the commander's answer, Hyang stroked his chin.
'In the video I saw on the internet, even an arrow shot point-blank bounced off? I really need to start from here.'
"I have seen well. Now let us return."
"Yes, Crown Prince."
Moving his steps toward where Sejong was, Hyang muttered softly.